MORE: Wednesday takeaways
Wide receivers coach Dennis Springer doesn't like to think that the Wildcats are "replacing" their three starting wide receivers from last season. Ramaud Chiaokhiao-Bowman, Riley Lees and Kyric McGowan combined for 95 of the team’s 174 catches in 2020.
To Springer, all of those stats that left the locker room don’t really matter. It’s a new year and a new room.
“I don’t know if you replace, you just move on to the next group,” said Springer. “It’s a great opportunity for a lot of guys in the wide receiver room. We like our competitive depth right now. They’ve had a good camp.”
Springer doesn't have much in terms of production coming back from last season. Bryce Kirtz is his leading returning wideout from 2020, and he made just six catches. But he does have a few receivers returning who played sparingly or not all last year due to injury -- guys like Malik Washington, Berkeley Holman and J.J. Jefferson. He also has others, such as Genson Hooper-Price, Wayne Dennis and Ray Niro III, still looking for ways to make a bigger impact.
Two of the major pieces of the wide receiver group that Springer will lean on heavily this season will be Kirtz, a redshirt sophomore, and graduate transfer Stephon Robinson Jr.
At Kansas, Robinson Jr. amassed 75 catches for 1,092 yards (14.9 yards per catch) and nine touchdowns -- that’s 14 more career catches than the rest of the Wildcat receivers combined. Kirtz’s half-dozen catches went for just 67 yards last year in his only season of action in Evanston, but he showcased good hands and route-running ability. He was also the most impressive of NU's receivers this spring according to reports.
Robinson Jr. played only three games last season because of an ankle injury that he had surgery on in October, but he feels healthy and ready to go with just eight days until Northwestern's 2021 season gets underway.
"Last year my season ended because of an injury, so I just wanted to make sure I was healthy enough to play, and I got through fall camp healthy," he said.
A healthy Robinson Jr. brings a big-play ability that Northwestern's offense has sorely lacked in recent seasons. Northwestern averaged only 4.7 yards per play in 2020, which ranked 117th among 128 FBS teams. Robinson Jr. averaged 16.2 yards per catch in 2019, his last full season at Kansas; NU averaged just 10.2 yards per catch last season.
With the receivers room in flux, Robinson Jr. has had to balance being both a veteran leader and a newcomer. He turns to his roommate, redshirt senior Holman, for tips on the playbook, but he is also always trying to help the underclassmen get better.
His biggest piece of advice for the young guys: make the spectacular play consistently.
"If it's a good ball, just try to make the routine plays. If it's a bad ball, make the spectacular play that no one expects you to make," Robinson Jr. said. "Once we get to doing that, spectacular plays become routine."
Kirtz is stepping into a bigger role this year, but his preparation hasn't changed.
"I've always prepared to be a starter," he said. "Looking up to (Chiaokhiao-Bowman, Lees and McGowan), they taught me early how to do that. So I feel like I've always had that pattern to be prepared, and I think it's going to translate here."
Kirtz does some have experience being a starter. With McGowan in the transfer portal, Kirtz got the start in Northwestern's Vrbo Citrus Bowl win over Auburn. He finished the game with a pair of catches for 20 yards, and the experience of his first career start has been a springboard heading into 2021.
"It made me comfortable with the speed of the game," he said. "Just getting that first start, it's like the first for everything, excited but nervous at the same time. I'm glad I got it over with."
Now that Kirtz is comfortable being one of the Cats' top targets, he's ready to make plays all over the field. He said that his best ability is being able to spread out a defense with his speed. He's dangerous on vertical routes or horizontal, crossing routes.
Kirtz has also taken on a leadership role this season as one of the more experienced players in the receivers room. Whereas Robinson Jr. is more of a vocal leader, Kirtz is a quieter guy who leads by example and lets his play do the talking.
Together, Kirtz and Robinson Jr. will likely be among new quarterback Hunter Johnson's top targets in 2021. Johnson isn't really a "new" quarterback to Kirtz, though. The two are both graduates of Brownsburg (Ind.) High School and played together for one season for the Bulldogs.
"It's been fun," Johnson said of playing with Kirtz again. "It's not very often that you get to play with a high school teammate in college ball. Having that chemistry has been great. He's one of my guys."
Even All-American safety Brandon Joseph has picked up on the connection between Johnson and Kirtz in practice.
Having Johnson named the starting quarterback has been a big help for the receivers. When they take the field on Sept. 3 against Michigan State, they will have had about two-and-a-half weeks of working extensively with Johnson.
Both Kirtz and Robinson Jr. said that Johnson is a calm, smart quarterback who also likes to push the ball downfield with his arm. That's an area where both receivers can excel and help Northwestern's offense take the next step.
