Column: Coleman could be best bet at WR

By Tom Keegan     Mar 29, 2015

Nick Krug
Kansas receiver Rod Coleman pulls in a catch as he falls to the ground against Texas during the second quarter on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2013 at Darrell K. Royal Stadium in Austin, Texas.

Signs of spring: Flowers budding, birds chirping louder, the scent of fresh-cut grass floating in the breeze and jaws dropping watching Kansas University wide receiver Rodriguez Coleman, long, lean and, above all, fast.

Anyone who watched him run under long passes with such an effortless stride couldn’t stop talking about him last spring.

And then the season arrived. He began it serving a suspension and ended it with just three receptions for 37 yards. He was arrested in December for his role in a fight outside The Cave.

Yet, the best guess as to the identity of which wide receiver will lead the team in reception yardage in 2015 would be Coleman.

Nick Harwell (44 catches, 470 yards, five touchdowns) is gone. Nigel King, 537 reception yards and 17.9 yards per catch, bypassed his final year of eligibility in hopes of landing with an NFL team.

The wide-receiver cupboard is as bare as any position for Kansas, although Coleman’s potential remains intriguing. He averaged 26 yards on his eight receptions in 2013. Tre’ Parmalee (four receptions, 21 yards) and Darious Crawley (one catch, seven yards) are the only other wide receivers on the roster who caught a pass last season.

Aside from Coleman, the most promising receivers this spring are sophomores who bring more speed than size.

Bobby Hartzog Jr. and Crawley both are listed at 5-foot-11, 189 pounds. Hartzog’s a burner. Last season, asked to name the second-fastest player on the team, Tony Pierson named Hartzog. Crawley, switched from receiver to running back in mid-season, is back at his original position. Derrick Neal, a 5-10, 170-pound explosive athlete, switched from receiver to cornerback in mid-season as a freshman and is back at receiver.

True freshman Chase Harrell, 6-4, 200, who graduated from high school at the semester, is long and raw. Red-shirt freshman Tyler Patrick, 6-foot, 179, is really fast and very raw.

A trio of two-star receivers from Texas high schools — Jeremiah Booker, Emmanuel Moore and Steven Sims — hit campus in June.

The relative inexperience of wide-receivers coach Klint Kubiak, 28, isn’t as great a concern with offensive coordinator Rob Likens, who has a long, strong history of developing college wide receivers, on board.

An argument could be made that KU could be as good or better at quarterback, running back and offensive line as a year ago, but even if Coleman unleashes his exciting potential, it would be tough to make that case at wide receiver.

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