{"id":62412,"date":"2024-08-13T15:00:56","date_gmt":"2024-08-13T19:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=62412"},"modified":"2024-08-14T09:36:14","modified_gmt":"2024-08-14T13:36:14","slug":"the-demon-deacons-receiving-corps-is-working-on-its-next-step-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2024\/08\/13\/the-demon-deacons-receiving-corps-is-working-on-its-next-step-forward\/","title":{"rendered":"The Demon Deacons Receiving Corps Is Working on Its Next Step Forward"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u2019 units. It has a mix of veteran experience, some up-and-coming youth, and a dash of freakish athleticism thrown in for good measure.<\/p>\n

Above the Line<\/h3>\n

The receivers\u2019 group is arguably the most complete unit on this year\u2019s 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, \u201cAbove the line.\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really pleased with our younger receivers,\u201d Clawson said this week. \u201cI really think guys like Deuce Alexander, Micah Mays, and Ben Grice have had excellent camps.\u201d Add that to the known entities like Taylor Morin and a healthy Donavon Greene<\/a> and you can understand Clawson\u2019s touch of optimism. \u201cYou\u2019re starting to feel like we\u2019re getting back to where we used to be at receiver.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Greene Impact<\/h3>\n

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\u2019s not as though the guy has not already taken plenty of snaps in his college career. He knows the offense.<\/p>\n

Now, in the Fall<\/a> he is back to full speed. Wide receivers\u2019 coach Ari Confesor told us last week that having Greene back is more than another option to throw to. \u201cIt brings a sense of comfort in the room for the young guys. He\u2019s someone they can look up to.\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

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. \u201cHis talent and his attitude going into this season is like nothing I have seen before,\u201d Confesor said. \u201cHe\u2019s laser-focused and so excited to be out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Working on the Breakout Season<\/h3>\n

One of the guys happy to see Greene back is Horatio Fields. \u201cHaving Donny back has helped me because he teaches us the mental part of the game. He has played so much football.<\/p>\n

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. \u201cEver since the end of last season, I worked to make sure that I am going to be better for this upcoming season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wake lists him at 6\u2019-3\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like a different. My feet work faster. My physicality is better. A lot of things feel different,\u201d Fields said.<\/p>\n

Confesor is sold on the new product. \u201cHe\u2019s put in so much work. He wants this so badly,\u201d Confesor told us. \u201cIf you notice, just from Spring to now, he\u2019s making some of those plays he wasn\u2019t making the Spring.\u201d\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

Youth Adds Depth<\/h3>\n

Confesor said the depth at the position is coming from some of the younger players starting to grasp the mental aspect of the game. \u201cThey learn to take it more seriously from a standpoint of nutrition, resting your body, going to the treatment room. It\u2019s about doing all the little things beyond the field,\u201d he said. \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Confesor is also high on the potential for Alexander this season. \u201cHe gives you a level of speed and separation out there and does unbelievable things in terms of route running. He\u2019s a guy that we are excited about. He\u2019s starting to understand the maturity aspect of it and do the little things to give himself a chance to be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Working Together Part<\/h3>\n

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. \u201cAt the end of the day, I don\u2019t care if my mother\u2019s throwing the football. You\u2019ve got to come down with the football.\u201d No, we did not attempt to reach out to Confesor\u2019s mother about her ball-throwing acumen.<\/p>\n

Part of that Summer work came in the form of the team bonding journeys that players took together. We had the good-natured controversy<\/a> over the team wiffle ball tournament. Bachmeier touted his team\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Fields had his own issue with the wiffleball tournament. \u201cTrying to grip that little wiffle ball is crazy,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it was messing with my arm.\u201d He has his claim to Summer bonding excellence. \u201cThey felt me in paintball. Me and Taylor [Morin] were like SEAL Team Six out there in paintball.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Demon
Photo courtesy: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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\u2019 units. It has a mix of veteran experience, some up-and-coming youth, and a dash of freakish athleticism thrown in for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1534,"featured_media":62416,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7],"tags":[102,9945,1135,33958,33957,8964,1249],"class_list":["post-62412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-acc","tag-acc","tag-ari-confesor","tag-dave-clawson","tag-deuce-alexander","tag-horatio-fields","tag-taylor-morin","tag-wake-forest-demon-deacons"],"modified_by":"Tony Siracusa, CFB Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1534"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62412"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62412\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}