Tweet me!This group of receivers could be the best from top to bottom that the University of Cincinnati has ever had. They are both talented and experienced. Leading the way are veterans Armon Binns, D. J. Woods and Vidal Hazelton. Woods and Binns are returning starters while Hazelton and Marcus Barnett have also been college starters in the past.
Woods appeared in fourteen games as a true freshman catching 14 balls for 168 yards but also came into his own last season when he grabbed 51 passes for 640 yards. Playing in the slot, Woods should get the ball in his hands even more often in 2010.
Vidal Hazelton is Cincinnati's first five star recruit although he spent three years playing at USC before transferring to UC last season. The fifth year senior started nine times for the Trojans as a sophomore catching 50 passes for 540 yards. Hazelton has 57 catches in his college career but will be hoping to double that number in 2010.
As a redshirt freshman, Marcus Barnett caught 62 passes and was named 2nd team All-Big East Conference, but his numbers have dwindled ever since as he even played some defense last season. But the fifth year senior has started almost two dozen times in college and has over 100 career catches. He will hope to end his UC career the same way he started it, with a flurry of catches.
If junior college star, Kenbrell Thompkins, wins his appeal with the NCAA and becomes immediately eligible, this group of talented players gets even deeper. Thompkins originally signed with Tennessee but changed his mind after Lane Kiffin suddenly bolted for USC. Thompkins' appeal is schedule for the last week in July so he should know something definitive before summer practices start on August 9.
Veterans Orion Woodard, Tomaz Hilton and Danny Milligan are all talented players but are trying to find their niche at UC, and so far their best shot at getting onto the playing field has been through special teams' play. Woodard and Hilton will both be redshirt juniors and have spent one season on defense before returning to wide receiver last year. Hilton made 11 tackles on special teams in 2010 while Woodard was credited for making 7 stops. Milligan has practiced as a place kicker and punter, but none of this trio has yet caught a pass in live action.
Of the three true freshmen receivers, four star recruit, Dyjuan Lewis, has the best shot at playing in 2010. Lewis has good size and speed and is academically cleared to play this season. Montrel Robinson is still working his way through the NCAA Clearinghouse but could join the Bearcats in August while Anthony McClung might not be ready to enroll until January.
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