While Wake Forest is trying to determine which quarterback is going to be throwing the ball this season, the Demon Deacons receiving corps is working on its next step forward. The group mirrors previous years’ units. It has a mix of veteran experience, some up-and-coming youth, and a dash of freakish athleticism thrown in for good measure.
Above the Line
The receivers’ group is arguably the most complete unit on this year’s team. While the above-listed attributes are all important, the real key is the depth of the position. Head coach Dave Clawson likes to talk numbers. How many guys are, “Above the line.” That is, how many can step onto the field at any moment in a game and contribute. Observationally at Fall camp, it looks like the number is high.
“I’m really pleased with our younger receivers,” Clawson said this week. “I really think guys like Deuce Alexander, Micah Mays, and Ben Grice have had excellent camps.” Add that to the known entities like Taylor Morin and a healthy Donavon Greene and you can understand Clawson’s touch of optimism. “You’re starting to feel like we’re getting back to where we used to be at receiver.”
The Greene Impact
The starting point is Greene, who missed all of last season with his second major injury. While he was medically cleared for Spring camp Clawson held him out for precautionary reasons. It’s not as though the guy has not already taken plenty of snaps in his college career. He knows the offense.
Now, in the Fall he is back to full speed. Wide receivers’ coach Ari Confesor told us last week that having Greene back is more than another option to throw to. “It brings a sense of comfort in the room for the young guys. He’s someone they can look up to.” When Greene missed the entire 2021 season with an injury, he came back the following Spring in peak physical shape, having spent much of the rehab time working on upper body strength.
Having now had to go through a missed season and rehabilitation again, Greene appears to have done it again. The upper body strength seems to be at a whole other level. “His talent and his attitude going into this season is like nothing I have seen before,” Confesor said. “He’s laser-focused and so excited to be out there.”
Working on the Breakout Season
One of the guys happy to see Greene back is Horatio Fields. “Having Donny back has helped me because he teaches us the mental part of the game. He has played so much football.
Clawson has been telling us since the end of last season to keep an eye on Fields, saying he was going to break out of the pack. Fields told us he believes this is the season where that happens. “Ever since the end of last season, I worked to make sure that I am going to be better for this upcoming season.”
Wake lists him at 6’-3” and 202 pounds. Putting the height listing aside, Fields has had the physical skill to play the position. And then he went and tried to up that level even more. He spent a week in the Spring and another week in the Summer at the well-known Gold Feet speed training center in South Florida. He also went on a high-protein diet to reduce body fat while increasing muscle mass.
“I feel like a different. My feet work faster. My physicality is better. A lot of things feel different,” Fields said.
Confesor is sold on the new product. “He’s put in so much work. He wants this so badly,” Confesor told us. “If you notice, just from Spring to now, he’s making some of those plays he wasn’t making the Spring.” Confesor said Fields has always had the talent, but the mental approach to the game has stepped up, along with a new level of confidence based on his training and conditioning.
Youth Adds Depth
Confesor said the depth at the position is coming from some of the younger players starting to grasp the mental aspect of the game. “They learn to take it more seriously from a standpoint of nutrition, resting your body, going to the treatment room. It’s about doing all the little things beyond the field,” he said. “I think you are starting to see a lot of the younger guys like Horatio and Deuce starting to take that approach and handle the maturity aspect of it.”
Confesor is also high on the potential for Alexander this season. “He gives you a level of speed and separation out there and does unbelievable things in terms of route running. He’s a guy that we are excited about. He’s starting to understand the maturity aspect of it and do the little things to give himself a chance to be successful.”
The Working Together Part
Since there is a legitimate quarterback competition in camp for the first time in a few years, the receivers are having to get used to working with guys throwing the ball. Confesor acknowledged that the rhythm between quarterback and receiver is important. He said his receivers spent the Summer running extra drills and routes with both Michael Kern and Hank Bachmeier. “At the end of the day, I don’t care if my mother’s throwing the football. You’ve got to come down with the football.” No, we did not attempt to reach out to Confesor’s mother about her ball-throwing acumen.
Part of that Summer work came in the form of the team bonding journeys that players took together. We had the good-natured controversy over the team wiffle ball tournament. Bachmeier touted his team’s victory in the competition, while Kern insisted there were some questionable calls needing review. And he wanted us to know he had the highest on-base percentage. There was also the bowling tournament with apparently no disputed results.
Fields had his own issue with the wiffleball tournament. “Trying to grip that little wiffle ball is crazy,” he said. “I think it was messing with my arm.” He has his claim to Summer bonding excellence. “They felt me in paintball. Me and Taylor [Morin] were like Seal Team Six out there in paintball.”
