Post-spring football position breakdown: Wide Receiver
5/23/2018 10:58:00 AM | Football
Share:
Senior Olabisi Johnson leads group with significant potential
Colorado State
Warren Jackson
 will be without All-American wide receiver Michael Gallup this season, after posting a program-record 100 catches for 1,413 yards and seven touchdowns in 2017. In addition to Gallup, the Rams lose WR Detrich Clark who contributed 41 catches, 504 yards and six touchdowns. CSU boasts no shortage of pass catchers, as senior Olabisi Johnson leads the young position group along with returning letterwinners Warren Jackson, Brendon Fulton and Darius Wise.
Johnson, the lone senior in the receiver corps, brings sixteen games of starting experience to a young receiving core. The Lakewood, Colorado native recorded 41 receptions for 595 yards and two touchdowns for the Rams last season, having his best performance against Marshall in the Gildan New Mexico Bowl. He led the Rams with 119 yards on six catches. Johnson has shown a knack for producing on the big stage recording seven catches for 265 yards and two touchdowns, against Idaho in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in 2016, setting the CSU single-game receiving record.
Warren Jackson was one of just five true freshman to play in all thirteen games last season, recording fifteen catches for 265 yards and two touchdowns. The towering, 6-foot-5 receiver showed a lot of potential in his first collegiate season pulling in two touchdowns against No. 1 Alabama, making him the only receiver to haul in multiple touchdowns against the Crimson Tide all season. Jackson's 17.7 yards per reception also ranked first among CSU pass catchers.
Wide receivers Brenden Fulton and Darius Wise each saw playing time on special teams last season. Fulton, a redshirt junior and Greely, Colo., native appeared in six games on special teams last season. Wise saw two games of action in his true-freshman season, all on special teams. Both players could see time at wide out in 2018, particularly in a slot receiver role.
Preston Williams, a redshirt junior, looks to make an impact for the Rams after sitting out last season after transferring from Tennessee. In his two seasons at Tennessee, Williams played in twelve games, starting in three of them and totaling 16 catches for 249 yards and two touchdowns. The redshirt junior was named SEC freshman of the week on Sept. 21, 2015 for his two-touchdown performance against Western Carolina. Williams, named the top rated high school receiver and a five-star prospect by Scout, played in the 2015 Under Armour High School All-Star game.
Redshirt freshmen EJ Scott and Tyler Smith, were teammates together at McEachern High School in Georgia. Scott had a strong preseason in 2017 before suffering a season-ending knee injury in camp. Smith has also battled injuries since arriving on campus, but was a four-star prospect out of high school.Â
