WVU Football: Who will emerge at wide receiver for the Mountaineers in 2017?

For WVU football, the wide receiver position is like a revolving door – players coming and going. Will any particular Mountaineer become a household name in 2017?

With the number of players on a college football roster, the minimal opportunities and possible play-calling issues, predicting which offensive player will have a breakout season is a tough task. However, every year it happens: Tavon Austin in 2010, Stedman Bailey in 2011, Kevin White in 2014 – just to name a few Mountaineers in recent memory.

With the 2017 season fast-approaching, who could be the next Mountaineer to burst on to the scene?

Ka’raun White

Ka’Raun White – younger brother of former ‘Eer Kevin – is the obvious choice. While Kevin flourished in his second season in Morgantown, it’s taken Ka’Raun a year longer. The older White brother tallied 507 yards and five touchdowns in his first year for the Mountaineers before his 109-catch, 10-touchdown senior campaign in 2014. He accumulated 1,447 receiving yards that year – good enough to get chosen 7th overall by the Chicago Bears in the 2015 NFL Draft. Ka’Raun caught just 15 passes for 275 yards his first year on campus.

Stat-wise, Ka’Raun’s second season playing for WVU was almost identical to his brother’s first year, evidenced in the chart above. A familiarity with Dana Holgorsen’s offense should cause a spike in those numbers, and if he can stay healthy – lookout Big 12 defenses!

David Sills

Another option for WVU football at wide receiver is David Sills. You may remember him as the 7th-grade, childhood quarterback prodigy who received a scholarship offer from Lane Kiffin and USC. Or – if you tuned in to the 2017 Mountaineers’ Gold-Blue spring game – you witnessed a chemistry-building scrimmage that could pay huge dividends in the near future; Sills hooked up with quarterback Will Grier six times for 96 yards, making things look easy.

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Sills’ college stats are lacking at this point of his career, which makes him the perfect candidate for a breakout performer. During his freshman season, he tallied only seven catches for 131 yards and two scores, but also hauled in the game-winning touchdown reception against Arizona State in the Cactus Bowl.

It’s not about what he’s already accomplished, though, more so what he will do. Sills stands 6-foot-4 inches tall, making him a threat even if he isn’t open. (Guys with that kind of height are always open, ask one – they’ll tell you.) And how many college defensive backs actually play good man-to-man coverage anyways? The game is so wide open defenders are basically on islands. Sills’ football-IQ coupled with his stunning size makes for a weapon in college football many other’s can’t duplicate.

Other options

Jovon Durante and Gary Jennings are two other receivers with breakout potential for the WVU football squad. Neither have starred in their roles since arriving in Morgantown, but with Grier under center expectations are high. The two combined for 45 catches, 496 yards and two scores apiece in 2016.

Next: 5 Big 12 teams that can dethrone Oklahoma in 2017

The Mountaineers’ top-two leading wide receivers from a year ago – Shelton Gibson and Daikiel Shorts – have graduated to greener pastures. Following them are a combined 106 catches, 1,845 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns. With (one of) the White brothers, a childhood prodigy-QB-turned-wide receiver in Sills, and two seasoned juniors in Durante and Jennings, the West Virginia passing attack has a plethora of weapons at its disposal. Who will emerge as the go-to guy?