Rivals officially (and finally) listing Benton for LSU

for every USC player that isn't ready, there is another player out there who makes the leap and is ready.

Keiland Williams comes to mind here. Without him in 2006, LSU loses more than 2.

 

I don't know a ton about coaching or WRs, but I'd think the coaching aspect of WR is more route-running than actual catching.

you can't really teach someone to catch. you can teach them how to get open, though...

so if he was open and didn't catch the ball, that's no ones fault other than the WR.

Hargrave's job is to get someone ready for the speed and the pace of the game, so if he was open, they did their job.

 

You can definitely teach someone to catch. Michael Lewis, formerly of the Saints, immediately jumps to mind.

The difference between his rookie season with the Saints and his sophomore year was like night and day. He could not catch a cold, but he spent the entire offseason learning just how to catch and he became pretty good at it. Went to the Pro Bowl as a returner because of it and played some at receiver.

Then again there are those who simply have no affinity for catching the ball like our own Devery Henderson. He's as inconsistent catching the football as anyone I've ever seen. He's just not a natural receiver, but due to his incredible game-changing speed he'll continue to have a nice career in the NFL.. probably on a few different teams though.

 

I think the only reason Benton hasn't been listed was because of DeAndre Brown.

 

I think that Brian was referring to Lewis catching punts. He didn't know how to read them and dropped quite a few his first season. He spent the offseason working every day. He told me himself that he caught 100 a day froma juggs machine.

His biggest improvement though was his strength. After his first season in the NFL was the first time he ever lifted weights. He added a few pounds of muscle and gained strength in an effort to be able to avoid be jammed at the line. It worked because he was not only invaluable as a return man, but he was impressive as a gunner.

Lewis never was regarded much as a receiver because no one gave him a chance. When he did play a handfull of snaps a game, it seemed like he was good for at least one big play a game.

 

Michael Lewis did indeed have a lot of trouble catching the football. He couldn't field kickoffs and punts cleanly at all, and he was not even worthy of taking reps at wide receiver. He spent an entire offseason working simply on catching the football in his special teams role, and he improved dramatically. Ended up making the Pro Bowl for his return skills.

The next offseason was spent working on his ability as a wide receiver. He actually saw game action, and when he was thrown to he made big plays. Due to his diminutive size, though, the Saints were reluctant to use him very much because the margin for error was so small. Throw it up to a Colston and he'll position himself and snare the catch. You have to hit a Michael Lewis perfectly with the ball. Anyway, he definitely did end up becoming pretty good at wide receiver catching the ball. MLU is spot on with that.

You can be taught to catch the football. Then there are those like Devery who are not natural to the position (remember he came to LSU as a tailback) and will always "fight" the football instead of catching it cleanly.