By John Dell, JOURNAL REPORTER
When the Winston-Salem State Rams passed the ball last season, the results weren’t all that great.
There’s no statistic to get the exact number, but the Rams had plenty of dropped balls from their wide receivers. Nick Calcutta, the new offensive coordinator, has seen the films of last year’s games.
“We’ve tried to improve on that all preseason and for the most part they have done very well in that department,” Calcutta said.
The Rams are hoping to be more balanced, but to do that the receivers must catch the ball a lot better. The top four receivers from last season all exhausted their eligibility, which means that this season’s receivers are very inexperienced.
Despite the youth, Calcutta is optimistic.
“They are catching the ball a lot better, making the tough catches and they are all going after the ball,” Calcutta said. “Nobody is waiting for the ball to come to them and they are taking care of it when they do catch it.”
The expected starters will be sophomore Michael Scarbrough, who missed all of last season with a broken leg, senior Brent Thomas, who had three catches last season, and Bryant Bayne, a sophomore who saw little playing time last season.
Scarbrough has the chance to be one of quarterback Monte Purvis’ top targets.
“We worked on that over the summer because there were some dropped balls last season,” said Scarbrough, who has four career catches. “And we did a lot of ball-control things in camp as well.”
The Rams threw the ball 155 times last season, an average of 14 a game. That average is expected to go up this season.
Also hoping to add to the production is Jonathan Kinzer, a sophomore who had eight catches last season but fell out of the rotation late in the year. Freshman Avyd Baldwin, who has an eye infection and has missed practice time, could also play a big role.
Thomas has the most experience of the wide receivers, but he has four career catches. He will likely be Purvis’ possession receiver who can get open in the middle of the field.
“Everything has been going great in practice,” Thomas said. “The new offense is looking good for the wideouts and we are excited about it.”
Even though the receivers will be called upon to catch more, they also will have to take their turns blocking. It’s a premise that Kevin Downing, the wide receivers’ coach, has been stressing.
“They are responding very well to everything,” Downing said. “Some of the things we can’t control if they do drop some balls, but we can control our blocking so we’ve been focusing on that.”
Said Thomas: “Blocking is still something we need to do. We are working on that with making moves upfield and other things.”
If the Rams are going to be more of a balanced team instead of relying on their running game, it’s up to the receivers to respond.
“We’ve been working on seeing the ball all the way in,” Downing said. “I’ve loved working with those guys and we are pleased with how things are going.”
Calcutta has three scrimmages to base his judgment on how the receivers have fared, but he hopes that when the lights come on Saturday night against N.C. A&T the receivers will be ready.
“I’m sitting here with my fingers crossed, but we’ve been blessed with the way the receivers have picked up what we are trying to do,” Calcutta said. “They are trying to master it and we are going to play a lot of those receivers because we are always going to be moving.”
When the Winston-Salem State Rams passed the ball last season, the results weren’t all that great.
There’s no statistic to get the exact number, but the Rams had plenty of dropped balls from their wide receivers. Nick Calcutta, the new offensive coordinator, has seen the films of last year’s games.
“We’ve tried to improve on that all preseason and for the most part they have done very well in that department,” Calcutta said.
The Rams are hoping to be more balanced, but to do that the receivers must catch the ball a lot better. The top four receivers from last season all exhausted their eligibility, which means that this season’s receivers are very inexperienced.
Despite the youth, Calcutta is optimistic.
“They are catching the ball a lot better, making the tough catches and they are all going after the ball,” Calcutta said. “Nobody is waiting for the ball to come to them and they are taking care of it when they do catch it.”
The expected starters will be sophomore Michael Scarbrough, who missed all of last season with a broken leg, senior Brent Thomas, who had three catches last season, and Bryant Bayne, a sophomore who saw little playing time last season.
Scarbrough has the chance to be one of quarterback Monte Purvis’ top targets.
“We worked on that over the summer because there were some dropped balls last season,” said Scarbrough, who has four career catches. “And we did a lot of ball-control things in camp as well.”
The Rams threw the ball 155 times last season, an average of 14 a game. That average is expected to go up this season.
Also hoping to add to the production is Jonathan Kinzer, a sophomore who had eight catches last season but fell out of the rotation late in the year. Freshman Avyd Baldwin, who has an eye infection and has missed practice time, could also play a big role.
Thomas has the most experience of the wide receivers, but he has four career catches. He will likely be Purvis’ possession receiver who can get open in the middle of the field.
“Everything has been going great in practice,” Thomas said. “The new offense is looking good for the wideouts and we are excited about it.”
Even though the receivers will be called upon to catch more, they also will have to take their turns blocking. It’s a premise that Kevin Downing, the wide receivers’ coach, has been stressing.
“They are responding very well to everything,” Downing said. “Some of the things we can’t control if they do drop some balls, but we can control our blocking so we’ve been focusing on that.”
Said Thomas: “Blocking is still something we need to do. We are working on that with making moves upfield and other things.”
If the Rams are going to be more of a balanced team instead of relying on their running game, it’s up to the receivers to respond.
“We’ve been working on seeing the ball all the way in,” Downing said. “I’ve loved working with those guys and we are pleased with how things are going.”
Calcutta has three scrimmages to base his judgment on how the receivers have fared, but he hopes that when the lights come on Saturday night against N.C. A&T the receivers will be ready.
“I’m sitting here with my fingers crossed, but we’ve been blessed with the way the receivers have picked up what we are trying to do,” Calcutta said. “They are trying to master it and we are going to play a lot of those receivers because we are always going to be moving.”
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