FSU Preseason Position Breakdown: Wide Receivers and Tight Ends

Who will be tasked with getting them the ball is an unknown at this point, but Florida State’s corps of pass-catchers for 2016 is extremely deep.

For just the second time in six years last season, the Seminoles had three players finish with at least 600 yards receiving. They all return along with a slew of new faces who could help FSU in the passing game, but not all necessarily right away.

At wide receiver and tight end, Florida State has a nice mix of youth and experience as well as a good mix of speed and size. The Seminoles may return three receivers who finished with more than 600 yards receiving last season, but the talent behind them could make a push for reps.

1. The Name to Know: Travis Rudolph
A junior from South Florida, Travis Rudolph increased his production from a stellar freshman season in which he finished with 555 yards receiving. In 2015, Rudolph led the Seminoles with 59 receptions for 916 yards and seven touchdowns.

Most of Rudolph’s production however, came in the second half of the season as more than 600 of his yards came over the final six games of 2015. At 6-1 and 190 pounds, Rudolph has the ability to become a complete receiver. Rudolph averaged more than 15 yards per catch last season and should be able to fully separate himself as the clear go-to guy for whoever is under center for the Seminoles this coming season.

2. Burning Question: Which Big Receiver Will Step Up?
As mentioned before, Rudolph has the ability to become a complete receiver, but FSU’s second and third leading receiver were small speedy guys in Kermit Whitfield and Jesus Wilson. While both were productive a season ago, they don’t necessarily provide the big target that quarterbacks can throw the ball up to in critical situations or the red zone.

Fortunately for FSU, those type of receivers are on the roster. Sophomores George Campbell, and Auden Tate, freshman Keith Gavin and juniors Ermon Lane and Ja’Vonn Harrison are all 6-2 or taller with Campbell and Tate standing at 6-4 and 6-5, respectively. Sophomore Da’Vante Phillips is also a big receiver at 6-1 and 205 pounds, but in 2015, Campbell, Tate, Lane, Harrison and Phillips combined for just 15 catches for 221 yards and a touchdown that came from Harrison in a Week 1 rout of Texas State.

During the spring, Tate made tremendous strides with Campbell not far behind. Gavin will be new to the system, but for Harrison and Lane, their time to make an impact is running out.

3. Put Your Future Stock In: Keith Gavin
The 6-3, 210-pound freshman out of Wakulla already has a Division I body and can burn defenders deep. The Seminoles lost Gavin once during the recruiting cycle, but he decided to re-commit to FSU and head coach Jimbo Fisher is happy he did. It’s questionable how much Gavin will contribute as a freshman, but don’t expect him to be relegated to the sideline much beyond 2016.

4. Other Names to Know: Nyqwan Murray, Ryan Izzo, Mavin Saunders, Jeremy Kerr, Naseir Upshur
Nyqwan Murray was the most productive of Florida State’s freshman receivers a year ago, finishing with six catches for 65 yards. Murray has work to do to become part of the rotation, but is shifty and a guy FSU will look to get the ball to in space.

The other three on the list are tight ends. Ryan Izzo, Mavin Saunders and Jeremy Kerr are all big targets at 6-5, 6-5 and 6-6. Saunders is the best athlete of the bunch, but needs to improve as a blocker. Izzo surprised many with how productive he was as a redshirt freshman, catching 14 passes for 210 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Kerr has been used primarily as a blocker.

Naseir Upshur, an incoming freshman from Philadelphia, may have the most upside of the bunch. Upshur is a bit smaller at 6-2 and 230 pounds, but does his best work as a pass-catcher. With the depth at the position, Upshur will likely be redshirted, but has a very bright future. Redshirt freshman Jalen Wilkerson and converted defensive end Chris Casher are also each on the depth chart at tight end.

5. Food for Thought
It was mentioned that Florida State was deep with pass-catchers, but just how deep is pretty staggering. Although some are backs, FSU returns its top 13 receivers from a season ago and 14 of the 15 players who caught a pass in 2015. The only subtraction is Mario Pender, who was dismissed from the team this offseason.

No one can say for sure whether Travis Rudolph will spend four years in Tallahassee, but if he does, he could rewrite the FSU record books. In two seasons, Rudolph has 97 catches for 1,471 yards, which is well shy of the pace needed to surpass all-time leading receiver Rashad Greene in both categories. Through two seasons however, Greene had only 95 receptions for 1,337 yards.

Last season, Jeremy Kerr caught just one pass for one yard and a touchdown. The last player to do that before Kerr was tight end Ja’Baris Little in 2011.