No one said that any particular one of the WR will be a star. I said there were 15 to choose from, and from those, I’m hoping that 3 emerge who are very good, and another 3-6 emerge who are good and/or are role players. There are a lot of different skills that help to make a WR good, including, among other things, pure speed, shiftiness, route running precision, ability to catch the ball in traffic, and, of course, blocking ability. All are important, but no two of the receivers are going to have identical skill sets.
I have no idea what the skill set of Olson is. He clearly has height, which can be an advantage when lined up against a shorter DB. He appears to be fairly fast. How is his route running? Can he block? Can he make tough catches over the middle when he knows that he is going to get hit? If so, he may have a place, or perhaps not. The only other thing I know about him is that he was good enough to earn some playing time under Poggi, and had 2 receptions for 35 yards.
If I was going to guess who will emerge at the top, I’ll guess McGowan, Spillman, and Mason, with Gibson as my #4 pick. Probably, though, someone else will work his way into the mix by impressing the coaches during winter conditioning and Spring practice. That said, if they move Gainey or Rutledge to WR, one of them may start. Those types of guys, you want to find a way to get the ball in their hands.
I feel comfortable that, when all is said and done, WR will not be a weak spot. I would urge all 15, whether walkon, or scholarship, or transfer, to approach Winter Conditioning and Spring practice with the attitude that they want to do their absolute best, because, right now they have a blank slate, and any one of them has an opportunity to earn a place on the field.
