(10-07-2009 10:38 AM)bitcruncher Wrote: (10-07-2009 07:46 AM)cuseroc Wrote: Top 10 recievers in the BE
Mike Williams Syra 5 41 623 124.6 15.2 66 5
Mardy Gilyard Cinc 5 38 517 103.4 13.6 56 7
Jonathan Baldwin Pitt 5 9 428 85.6 22.5 79 2
Carlton Mitchell SFla 5 21 377 75.4 18.0 85 3
Tim Brown Rut 4 15 358 89.5 23.9 68 1
Jock Sanders WVU 4 32 327 81.8 10.2 38 2
Armon Binns Cinc 5 22 279 55.8 12.7 54 1
Scott Long Loui 4 18 264 66.0 14.7 32 0
DJ Woods Cinc 4 18 261 65.2 14.5 45 1
Bradley Starks WVU 4 12 243 60.8 20.2 58 1
That list is for top yardage receivers. Set it up for TDs, number of catches, percentage of balls thrown to that the receiver actually catches, or any other statistic, and the list changes radically...
Here is an article that you may find interesting Bit. Mike Williams is like a freak of nature with his athleticism. He actually won a slam dunking contest agaisnt former SU power forward and NBA player Donte Green:
Mike Williams is on his way to a record-breaking season at Syracuse University
By Donnie Webb / The Post-Standard
October 08, 2009, 6:00AM
Syracuse, NY -- The games of backyard catch between Mike Williams and his father carried a constant message - if the football is in your area code, go get it.
They’d play twice a week, sometimes more, back in those childhood days in Buffalo. Wendell Williams would fire the football high into the sky and expect his young son to fly like superman and catch the ball. Sometimes, dad would send the ball straight up and teach his son to run, leap and bring it down.
To see Mike Williams soar these days is to see those simple lessons from his dad play out because Mike Williams is having one of the best seasons by a wide receiver in Syracuse University football history.
Through five games, the senior from Buffalo (he’s a junior eligibility wise) has 41 catches for 623 yards and five touchdowns. Williams is on pace to smash nearly every receiving record – career or season – on the SU record books.
Going into the Orange’s Big East Conference game against West Virginia on Saturday, Williams leads the league in every receiving category and is ranked among the national leaders.
Last weekend in a 34-20 loss to South Florida, Williams caught 13 passes for 186 yards and two touchdowns. Prior to that game, the Bulls defense had not given up a touchdown pass all season.
On both catches from quarterback Greg Paulus, South Florida had two defensive backs around Williams. He used his jumping ability along with maneuvering his body into catching space to beat the coverage.
“Sometimes you see, I go up before the corner (does), always,” Williams said. “I think I can get it at a higher point, before they even jump. That’s what my dad used to say – make a decision quick. Go up and get it.
“I think I can attack the ball anywhere on the field. No matter how the pass is thrown to me, I think I can get it. If it’s in my area, like my dad always said, it’s yours. No way, I don’t care if it’s a bad pass, if it’s in your area, get it. I think I can do that no matter where it’s at. I always tell Greg, just put it somewhere by me, I’m going to get it.”
Williams is on pace to catch 98 passes this season for 1,495 yards and 12 touchdowns. If he hits those marks, Williams will obliterate school records for most catches and receiving yards in a season. He could also break former Pitt receiver Larry Fitzgerald’s Big East record of 92 catches in 2003.
Despite playing in an offense not based in Cincinnati, Williams leads every receiving category in the Big East and is ranked among the national leaders. Williams is seventh nationally with an average of 8.2 catches per game; he’s fifth nationally in receiving yards per game at 124.6; and he’s third nationally in total receiving yards with 623.
ESPN.com blogger Brian Bennett asked Wednesday if Williams should be considered the league’s best wide receiver. “Right now, yes,” Bennett writes. He also handicapped the Big East offensive player of the year race and ranks Williams third at the moment behind Cincinnati quarterback Tony Pike and West Virginia tailback Noel Devine.
“He is a big target … and he is a go-to guy,” said West Virginia coach Bill Stewart. “He is 6-foot-2, 211 pounds, and I know a lot of teams around the country that would like to have him. I do not know how we are going to stop him; I only hope we can contain him. We are going to have to get some double help.”
That is a fear of Syracuse head coach Doug Marrone. He said that the Orange is desperate for its other wide receivers to become more consistent and prominent. If not, he said defenses will have the capability of bracketing their coverage around Williams and taking him away.
It may not matter if Williams continues to use his athleticism to dominate defenses.
“He’s the best athlete I think I’ve ever seen in person,” said Syracuse middle linebacker Derrell Smith. “Ridiculous athlete.”
Syracuse receiver Donte Davis said Williams won a dunking contest at Manley among football players sometime during the year. “The receivers won,” Davis said, “just because of his dunks. He was doing some crazy dunks. He’s got hops.” Williams points out he won a dunking contest awhile back against former Syracuse basketball star Donte Greene, who now plays for the NBA’s Sacramento Kings. The winning dunk came on a pass point guard Jonny Flynn tossed against the back of the backboard. Williams caught it just as it came off the board, flew underneath the basket and slammed home a reverse dunk.
Davis said there’s no one on the team that can out jump Williams with a running start.
“I can jump a little bit,” Williams said with much laughter. “With a running start, yeah. I think I can go up with LeBron James sometimes with a running start. That’s what it is.”
During his brief career as a walk-on with the SU men’s basketball team, Williams once stood on the scorer’s table at the Carrier Dome and did a back flip onto the floor. Williams said that’s nothing. He said he can perform a series of round off back handsprings like a gymnast on a tumbling pass. Williams said he can do forward flips, too.
“I just get a mood where my legs feel great,” Williams said. “I just do a flip or two. I can do every back flip out. Anything, I can do it. I just learned it. One day I tried, I flipped; fell on my head; thought I’d never do it again. One day, my uncle (James Williams) said, ‘just jump a little higher.’ I flipped and I landed it. I never stopped. I’ve been trying to do every back flip. I’ve been watching the gymnastic people. They keep going and keep going. Sometimes, I try and keep going. Right now, I’m up to eight in a row. I can go either way with it.”
Is it any wonder Paulus throws so many passes in the direction of Williams?
“I’ve said it a lot of times with him making plays that he probably shouldn’t make or that you don’t expect someone to make, he makes it look easy,” said Paulus. “Great athlete.”
“When his number gets called, he just makes the best of it, really,” said Syracuse senior receiver Lavar Lobdell.
Williams said he’s having a blast being back with the team after a year away to address academic issues. He thought initially it was going to be stressful. Instead, it’s been beyond his expectations.
But as good as it’s been individually, Williams said his main goal this season is to win games and help the Orange get to a bowl game.
And no matter how the season ends up for him individually, Williams said he will not let that success dictate whether it forces him into the NFL.
“No way,” Williams said. “I’m really looking forward to coming back. I’m not even going through that process right now of thinking about leaving or nothing.
“I have made that decision coming back. I think so. It’ll be good for me because I sat out a year. All the problems I went through and stuff when I sat out, I feel like I really have to come back.”
