Step it Up Spring: The Wide Receivers

Connor Nelligan is the consummate possession receiver

You'd have to excuse Columbia fans if they come into this spring believing they have an embarrassment of riches at the wide receiver position.

Three breakout stars emerged last season and they're all back for 2013.

The first is rising junior Connor Nelligan, when led the team in receptions and overall gutty play week in and week out. Nelligan is not afraid to lay out for a catch, go into the middle of a defense, and try to run over any defenders after a reception. 

Second is rising sophomore Chris Connors, who also showed a healthy reckless abandon and seemed to get better and better as the season wore on. 

Third is fellow rising sophomore Isaiah Gross, the human embodiment of "what might have been" for the 2012 season. Head Coach Pete Mangurian raved about Gross in the preseason, and the freshman lived up to the hype with some stunning play in the first two games of the season. 

Then, Gross got injured in the early going of the Princeton game in week 3 and he never saw the field again all season. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I think Mangurian shut Gross down for the season to prevent him from appearing in four games and thus keeping him eligible for a 5th year medical red shirt. Yep, Gross could be that good and that worth keeping around for as long as possible. 

The Ivy League is known for having a dearth of top flight RB's and defensive tackles. I would say that legitimate deep threat WR's are also in relative shorter supply lately and that's what makes Gross a super commodity. Connors also established himself as a deep corner and sideline threat which helped raise his stock. 

But wait... there's more! Transfer WR Jake Wanamaker, who is a rising junior, was also injured for a good part of the season but was impressive when he did get on the field for parts of seven games. 

Each one of the above-mentioned WR's needs to step up their games, (or at least proves their 100% back from injury), this spring, but they are all squarely "on the radar" so to speak and won't need to do anything crazy to get noticed.

The other returning WR's are all "on the bubble" to borrow a NCAA tournament term, and they could be under big pressure to step things up this strong before the very large number of freshmen WR's join the fray in August. 

Rising senior Louis DiNovo seems to be one of those players. He played in all 10 games last season and had a spectacular run-after-the-catch TD versus Fordham. But he needs to regain the coaches' confidence again.

Rising junior Ryan Flannery seemed to see his stock rise as the year went on, getting more looks and designed plays going his way. But it's not clear if that momentum will carry over to this season.

Another dark horse for more touches is rising sophomore Scooter Hollis, who emerged as a possible scatback weapon last season and his speed would seem to demand giving him another good shot to prove himself this spring. 

Two rising seniors, Joey Andrada and Bruce Grant, just haven't made an impact yet and it's not clear that they will in 2013. But we certainly don't know enough to count them out. 

Younger players like rising sophomore, Andrew Dobitsch, and rising juniors Kal Prince, John Keefe, and Dan Slivka,  all have a tough road to make the top spots on the depth chart. 

With 13 returning veteran WR's and at maybe five more incoming freshmen at the position, no Lion receiver can afford to be complacent.

TOMORROW: The Tight Ends