| 22 November 2011
(Photo by Shotgun Spratling)
Last Monday, the 10 semifinalists for the Biletnikoff Award, given annually to the top college receiver in the country, were announced. This week, the three semifinalists were announced (which I believe are incorrect).
Since the beginning of the season, I've been accumulating stats for the top receivers, beginning with an article I wrote about just how good Robert Woods had been through the first five games.
I've added a receiver every week or two when they've jumped toward the top of the national leaderboards for the primary receiving stat categories of receptions, yards and touchdowns. Going beyond those three categories, I culled through stat sheets and the play-by-play records of each game to see how many times these receivers had the ball thrown to them, aka targeted.
After looking at all the data, I continue my rankings of the 10 Biletnikoff semifinalists (in ascending order with their candicacy pros and cons):
Robert Woods (USC)
| Targets | Rec | Yds | TD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota | 21 | 17 | 177 | 3 |
| Utah | 11 | 8 | 102 | 0 |
| Syracuse | 14 | 8 | 82 | 1 |
| Arizona St | 12 | 8 | 131 | 0 |
| Arizona | 15 | 14 | 255 | 2 |
| Cal | 15 | 5 | 36 | 0 |
| Notre Dame | 15 | 12 | 119 | 2 |
| Stanford | 18 | 9 | 89 | 1 |
| Colorado | 12 | 9 | 130 | 2 |
| Washington | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
| Oregon | 12 | 7 | 53 | 2 |
| TOTALS | 152 | 99 | 1179 | 13 |
Reception % - 65.13
Yards per Target - 7.76
CONFERENCE TOTALS: 102 targets, 62 receptions, 801 yards, 7 touchdowns
Reception % - 60.78
Yards per Target - 7.85
Candicacy: Robert Woods may actually be the most difficult receiver to cover in the nation. He's extremely quick, has good speed, a great burst and catches just about everything. Plus, he's seemingly always open when the ball is coming his way because of his prestine route-running. But that's a healthy Woods.
A month ago, Woods was a frontrunner to win the Biletnikoff Award. He was battling for the national lead in receptions and receiving yards. But then all the small chinks in his armor began to build up as an ankle he sprained in the spring began to give him troubles again. Elbow and shoulder injuries significantly hampered the sophomore.
After the Notre Dame game, Woods was catching 69.9 percent of the passes thrown his way and was averaging 8.76 yards per target while averaging 129 yards per game. Since then, Woods has caught only 55.1 percent of the passes Matt Barkley has thrown him and averaged only 5.65 yards per target while averaging 60 yards FEWER per game.
Woods' 7.76 yards per target is the worst of any of the Biletnikoff semifinalist (5.26 yards less per target than leader Patrick Edwards) and his reception percentage is eighth on the 10-man list. The game Woods had against Washington (two catches for five yards on seven targets) was the worst performance by any of the Biletnikoff semifinalists this season.
Woods is currently fourth in the nation in receptions, tenth in receiving yards and fifth in receiving touchdowns. He's still a threat, evidenced by the five touchdowns he has scored the last month. And even a beaten up Woods draws enough attention of opposing defenses that freshman Marqise Lee has been able to capitalize on single coverage on the opposite side of Woods. (Lee has broke out with 33 catches for 479 yards and scored six touchdowns, five receiving, over the last four games).
But the Biletnikoff is given to the nation's best receiver, not the best decoy. I know Woods isn't playing at 100 percent, but that's not a viable excuse to me. If you are on the field, you are expected to produce if you want to win individual awards.
That's why I have a problem with Woods even being one of the three Biletnikoff finalist. When you only pull in 277 yards in four games during the stretch run of the season, then you aren't one of the top three receivers this season. Houston's Patrick Edwards had more than that in one game!
I'm a huge fan of Robert Woods. I love the way he plays and everything about his game. I also think he's a great kid with his head on straight (not always the case with receivers of his caliber). However, I would rather have any of the other nine Biletnikoff semifinalists at 100 percent over a 60 to 80 percent Woods, which is what I think is what we've seen this last month.
Shotgun Spratling
