BOONE, N.C. — With the Aug. 1 start of fall camp, the 2019 football opener against East Tennessee State is just eight days away. Today is the final installment of an eight-part, position-by-position breakdown series presented by Clean Eatz.
Part 8 of the series focuses on the Appalachian State wide receivers and tight ends. As targets for the Mountaineers' quarterbacks and blockers in the run game, they will serve important roles in the scheme of new App State head coach and offensive coordinator
Eliah Drinkwitz.
Accomplished veteran
Pat Washington (national title with Tennessee in 1998) is the program's first-year receivers coach, and
Justin Watts helped many of the 2019 juniors at that position excel as sophomores a season ago. Watts is now coaching a tight end group led by senior
Collin Reed and sophomore
Henry Pearson.
"It's great to have a coach who's willing to go out there and learn something every day, just like you," Reed said. "Having a coach like that and having somebody who cares a lot about us, there's nothing more you could ask for out of a coach.
"In this offense, it's awesome and we're having a fun time with it."
App State junior quarterback
Zac Thomas has seven of his top eight targets from last season back for 2019, and
Corey Sutton is coming off a sophomore year in which he made 44 catches for 773 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Thomas Hennigan has started 26 straight games since his true freshman debut at Georgia in 2017 and is close to surpassing 1,000 career receiving yards. Slot receiver
Malik Williams, who also started at Georgia as a true freshman, opened a solid sophomore season with two fourth-quarter touchdowns at Penn State.
Another big-play option at receiver is a fourth junior in
Jalen Virgil, who has been named the Sun Belt Conference's fastest receiver based on his sprinter's speed. He hauled in a 35-yard reception to set up App State's first touchdown in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl victory and is averaging 16.3 yards per catch in his career.
"We have really good experience," Washington said. "Those guys understand how to prepare, how to get themselves ready to play, and that's the biggest thing right now. We're probably not as consistent as we need to be as a receiving corps, but I think the experience will help these guys be ready for Game 1."
Jake Henry is among a group of developing returners at receiver, and the newcomers of note include graduate transfer
Keishawn Watson, who has made several acrobatic catches in August. A season with 41 catches highlighted his time at Western Michigan.
True freshmen such as
Dashaun Davis,
Raykwon Anderson and
Christian Wells have all shown flashes of their potential this preseason.
"I've dealt with a lot of different people at different levels," said Washington, whose first 32 years in college coaching involved stops at Auburn, Louisiana, TCU, Baylor, Tennessee, Kansas State, Mississippi State, Southern Miss, Kentucky, Missouri and South Carolina. "We've had several conversations in our meetings where I've talked to them about guys they've seen play on television. I tell them what they were when they were freshmen, and they all say, 'What?' It's a building process. You have to start from the bottom and work your way up, particularly with the younger guys."
At tight end, Watts takes over a talented and opportunistic group.
Reed leads active Sun Belt tight ends with nine career touchdown catches, including eight during the previous two seasons, and Pearson is one of the strongest players on App State's team. He made two starts and hauled in two touchdown receptions as a true freshman.
Mike Evans is a big target who is eligible after sitting out last season as a Lenoir-Rhyne transfer,
Trey Ross added helpful weight while redshirting as a true freshman in 2018 and
Miller Gibbs appeared in four games last year as a true freshman. The newcomer to the group,
Ricky Kofoed, caught 14 touchdown passes over his final three high school seasons.
"No offense to any of the guys I've played with in the past, but I told them before camp that this is my favorite group that I've been with," Reed said. "It's been an honor to be able to lead these guys on and off the field. We have great talent and a lot of guys in the room that can play."
