Although Tulsa has had some solid wide receivers recently, it has been several years since anyone appeared close to filling the shoes of Steve Largent, Dan Bitson, Chris Penn and other TU greats. After losing two of their top three wideouts from last season, Tulsa Head Coach Steve Kragthorpe must sort through the talent to find the right pieces to fit together with a new starting quarterback.
The All-American kick returner was the second-leading receiver for the Hurricane last season. He actually had more touchdowns returning kicks (5) than he did as a receiver (1), but he made several long grabs and proved that he can get separation and stretch the defense. As a junior, he caught 30 passes for 462 yards, an average of 15.4 yards per catch and 38.5 yards per game. Davis was the most impressive receiver during spring scrimmages, making 10 catches for 182 yards and a score. He also ran three times for 32 yards. Davis may be small, but he makes big plays.
McQuillar missed last season with a knee injury, returning for spring drills after surgery. He has the opportunity to get in the mix this season, but he could be a bit behind the curve due to the time off. He has the size and speed, but will be up against a large amount of competition.
Keopple came to Tulsa as a quarterback and spent time holding for place kickers. He still often takes on holding duties, but switched to wide receiver as a sophomore and saw the field at that position as a junior. Although he only caught one pass for 10 yards last season, he proved this spring that he has fantastic hands and can often come up with a highlight grab. 'Kep' caught two balls in spring scrimmages, one for 5 yards and one for 48.
Johnson is yet to break-out as a receiver, but saw the field as a junior, catching one pass for 7 yards. He possesses good hands and good leaping abilities, and has always been solid in workouts. Johnson should compete for more time during fall camp and could see his name called more often this season. In the spring game, he caught three passes for 24 yards.
Garrett is speedy and caught special attention from our staff during spring drills. He often got separation for the deep ball and made very good cuts. If he continues his progress in fall camp, he could find himself making a contribution in games. In spring scrimmages, Garrett caught three passes for 16 yards and one score.
Ousley is still a bit of an unknown. Other than catching a 6-yard pass for a touchdown during the first spring scrimmage, he didn't really stick out in the crowd of wide receivers. Ousley showed promise during his redshirt year, but didn't build on that promise in the spring.
A transfer from Allan Hancock Junior College in Santa Maria, California, Bugg started both his freshman and sophomore seasons at wide receiver. He was a second team all-conference selection in the talent-heavy Western States Conference. Bugg, who was a track star at Atascadero (CA) High School, has great speed and leaping ability. As a sophomore last season, he caught 49 passes for 816 yards and seven touchdowns on his way to being named his team's Offensive MVP.
Moss was named a SuperPrep All-American as a high school senior, as well as being listed as a Top-100 prospect by virtually every recruiting service before signing with UCLA and seeing time on the field. He then transferred to Chaffey (CA) College, where he was the second leading receiver in the Foothill Conference with 52 catches for 762 yards and six touchdowns in 11 games. Moss also utilized his 4.4-second speed in the forty yard dash to lead the conference in kickoff returns with 10 for 341 yards -- a 34.1 yard per return average.
Meyer was an All-Conference and Class 6A All-State player as a senior, yet seemed to fly under the radar as far as recruiting was concerned. He has the size and speed that colleges look for in a receiver, and he excelled on both sides of the football. As a senior, Meyer caught 36 passes for 811 yards and nine scores on offense, while recording 45 tackles and four interceptions on defense. With TU adding some JUCO talent at his position, it should give Meyer some time to develop.
• THE BREAKDOWN
Although Tulsa has had some solid wide receivers recently, it has been several years since anyone appeared close to filling the shoes of Steve Largent, Dan Bitson, Chris Penn and other TU greats. The most recent player to come close to that status was Donald Shoals, who went over 1,000 yards as a junior and caught a total of 155 passes for 2,103 yards and 9 scores in his last two seasons.
Over the first two years under Head Coach Steve Kragthorpe, "TU" has become "TEU", or Tight End University. Tight end Garrett Mills has led the Golden Hurricane in receiving over the last two seasons, while the graduated Caleb Blankenship finished among the top three.
To make things even more interesting, two of Tulsa's top three wideouts from last season have finished up their eligibility – Jermaine Landrum and Montiese Culton. Thus, the wide receiver position is a bit of a question mark heading into fall camp.
Senior Ashlan Davis is a proven commodity, but the other returnees are not. They will be battling for positions on the depth chart and will have stiff competition from JUCO transfers Ryan Bugg and Idris Moss, who are expected to be instant impact players.
With the position being so wide-open, freshman Jesse Meyer has a chance to compete for time and has good size and speed. Others that will be in the mix include junior Monroe Nichols (6-0 / 196) and redshirt freshman Rod Foster (5-9 / 165).
Fall camp will shed light on this position and the competition should be intense, but as Offensive Coordinator Charlie Stubbs told us at this time last year, "at receiver, it's easy to run a happiness camp."
THA Staff Writers Scott Bennett and Catbird contributed to this report.