Cal Football Receivers Roundtable: Keenan Allen, Marvin Jones, And The Crew

Did the receivers perform above, at, or below expectations? Evaluate them individually and/or collectively.

Kodiak:

Keenan Allen - As advertised before he got hurt.  It also helped when we flung catchable balls in his direction.  Let's try that next year.
Marvin Jones - Below expectations.  Expected to be our #1 receiver and benefit from having playmakers (Allen/Miller) not allow the D to focus on him.  He made some brilliant catches, but had some absolutely horrible drops.  Also suffered from subpar/inconsistent QB play.  But, the drops on routine balls that hit him in the hands just can't happen to our #1 go-to guy.
Jeremy Ross - Probably met expectations.  Showed some improvement in making tougher catches this year.  Always a threat and a thrill running with the ball.  Gave good effort blocking downfield.  No idea if his route-running improved.  It's a real shame he missed his last two games.
Michael Calvin - Met expectations.  Showed improvement throughout the year and stayed healthy.  Not a bad blocker thanks to his size.
Coleman Edmond - Never made the Tucker-like push towards the end of the year to demand playing time.  Incomplete.

Berkelium97: I expected them to range from great to mediocre, with several maddening drops (like we've seen since 2008).  They mostly delivered what I expected.  Keenan Allen was a pleasant surprise and he should develop into a DeSean-esque talent in the coming years (assuming our passing game doesn't fall off a cliff again).  The rest of the guys were serviceable, with some good and bad moments.  It's a shame Loggy didn't see the field more.  Short passes over the middle to him were an important staple in our offense late in the '09 season.

solarise: Overall no significant improvement from 2009 IMO. They are not the source of our offensive woes but the dropped passes & penalties really hurt @ times. Marvin Jones' ill-advised miscues killed drives. Allen's versatility is well documented but defenses key in. Ross was most improved. His speed & strength showed and let us to a win @ Pullman.

Of the few good things this season that occurred, we discovered the talent of Keenan Allen. If we have a quarterback who can get him the ball consistently, could we return to a 2006/2007 type offense rather quickly?

Kodiak: Only if we can also return to an '06-'07 offensive line.

Berkelium97: We need an adequate O-line to turn the offense around like that.  That is the top priority.

solarise: There's enough talent coming in @ WR & TE IMO for us to return to a quick strike offense. Both Tevin Carter & Kaelin Clay have trackstar speed. Montgomery could be the Wes Welker type of slot receiver and spell Isi Sofele. Maurice Harris is faster than he appears to be w/ pillow soft hands. Richard Rodgers is a stud & physically mature beyond his years. I look forward to the day when Cal offense will strike fear again in the Pac-12, when we find that accurate QB to deliver the ball to our playmakers.

I thought Marvin Jones would be a surefire pro prospect next season, but he's developed a case of the dropsies. Are the quarterbacks throwing inaccurate balls?

Kodiak:  Yes. But that's not why he's dropping the ball.  Several of the drops have been on time, on the money, in his hands throws. It's a question of focus.

TwistNHook: Some were inaccurate, certainly, but he's gotta grab them.  If he can get two hands on it, he's gotta grab them. I saw many games where he had two hands on them and still dropped them.  :(

Berkelium97: The most irritating thing about the combination of QB inaccuracy and dropsies is that the passes most often dropped are the ones where the QB delivers the ball right between Jones' numbers.  Sometimes he'll catch an uncatchable pass, but sometimes he also drops the very catchable passes.  The dropsies epidemic on our team is troubling and speaks very poorly of Daft.  You can't coach a guy to haul in the ball every time, but these drops are very peculiar.

solarise: I think Marvin is well aware of the passes he should've caught this year. We caught glimpses of his talent & ball skillz to adjust to badly thrown passes. Even DJax dropped a few in his career. We need to cut Marv some slack and I'm confident he will put it all together next year.