EARLY SPRING PREVIEW: Receivers need consistency, new players to step up

Cats Illustrated continues with our position-by-position look at what Kentucky returns and adds with spring practice approaching.

The receiver position has received a lot of hype before each of the previous two seasons, only to turn in sporadic collective efforts.

Is this the year the unit breaks out?

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Kentucky returns almost everyone at the receiver position with the notable exception of Jeff Badet, who announced his intentions to transfer from the program at the end of the Cats' season, and also Ryan Timmons. Badet is a big loss. He had 31 catches for 671 yards and four touchdowns last season, emerging as Stephen Johnson's preferred deep threat in the play-action passing game.

But most everyone else returns. Before both the 2015 and 2016 seasons Kentucky's receivers were hyped, only to post mediocre-to-modest numbers collectively. Not all of that has been their fault, but that 2014 recruiting class (Johnson, Baker, Bone) has one last opportunity to breakthrough with the kind of year fans and coaches have been hoping for from them.

Baker had nagging injuries that kept him off the field or less than 100-percent for much of last year, but he made big touchdown catches against Louisville and Georgia Tech at the tail end of the season.

Johnson's production was very modest in most of the Cats' games last year with the exception of the season-opener against USM (6 catches, 143 yards, 2 TD) and the season finale against Louisville (5 catches, 164 yards, 2 TD).

Darin Hinshaw has hinted that Kentucky's coaches may want to work some younger receivers into the rotation this year because of the void that those looming departures will leave after the 2017 season, and some experience could be valuable in the longer term. That means players ranging from Tavin Richardson and Jabari Greenwood to redshirt freshmen Dakota Holtzclaw and Zy'Aire Hughes, on down to the incoming true freshmen will have an opportunity to find their way onto the field.

It seems likely that Johnson and Baker are going to get plenty of targets and opportunities to improve on their stats, assuming both are healthy. With Badet removed from the equation and the passing game's need to improve, and the likelihood of improvement behind center strong, there's every reason to believe Baker and Johnson can improve on their numbers.

It's also likely that this is Bone's best chance to step up, although he didn't do much in 2016.

Furthermore, it's likely that fans will see much more Tavin Richardson than ever before. He was fantastic in the first half of the season's first game, when Drew Barker found him on two long balls.

It's likely that Zy'Aire Hughes and/or Dakota Holtzclaw find their way onto the field at some point after redshirt freshman seasons in 2016.

And, finally, it's likely that one or two true freshmen break into the rotation to at least some level. Lynn Bowden is probably a safe bet, although it's tough to define his position, and Clevan Thomas could have a little leg up because he's arriving a semester early.

Who will be Stephen Johnson's new go-to receiver? It's not as though Badet caught a huge number of balls last season, but he did average well over 20 yards per catch and was on the receiving end of more than a few passes in the intermediate and long-range game. Will Garrett Johnson step up in the same role? Will Johnson look to Baker to make more plays downfield? After all, those big catches against Louisville and Georgia Tech could be a good omen.

Which young receivers will step up? You can define young however you want. Tavin Richardson seems like one of the more likely candidates if you broadly define "young receiver" as an underclassman who hasn't had a big role yet. Richardson has proven he can make big plays and he seems to have a penchant for making highlight-reel catches. There are huge expectations already for Bowden, who will not arrive until the summer. This is probably when the coaches will want to see Jabari Greenwood or Kayaune Ross step up, as they'll need to be big factors in the passing game in 2018. Could JaVonte Richardson, Isaiah Epps and/or Joshua Ali surprise as true freshmen?

Will drops continue to be an issue? Drops are tough to measure because there aren't as many advanced statistics available at the college level, but anyone who watched Kentucky closely in 2016 could tell you that drops, a persistent problem in recent years, were still something plaguing this unit. The problem hasn't been confined to just one or even two players. It's been a unit-wide problem, culminating most famously in Badet's dropped touchdown-turned-bobble-turned-interception against Georgia, that most pivotal play in that game.

Let's avoid the hyperbole and take more of a "wait and see" approach with the wide receivers. That's probably something everyone should have done in recent years.

On paper there are some talented players. At times Baker and Johnson have looked very good. The problem, or one of the problems, has been consistency. If Johnson is throwing well, if those two are healthy and if they hit their stride, they can be a nice 1-2 receiving duo in the SEC.

There are several young players with the ability to come in and make a relatively early impact, but beyond Johnson and Baker the players in this group have a lot to prove. There isn't a depth crisis, but there's not a lot of proven depth.

A safe projection for this group is that they will have the playmaking potential to look really good some weeks, but some players need to step up for the first time and it would be helpful if this group proves to be more consistent than they have been in recent years. It's understandable that many would be jaded by some of the drops and lack of production in recent years, but at least this group did finish the year on a relative high note, and Lamar Thomas gets credit for that.

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