There is not a great answer. At least, not one that would satisfy all parties. But it is hard to justify the fact that the wide receiver room — outside of Eric McAlister — is underperforming and one of the best weapons is withering away on the sidelines.
Prince Strachan, the 6-foot-5, 196-pound freshman from the Bahamas, is the Broncos’ tallest receiver. He is arguably the most athletic. Yes, he is young. Yes, he is inexperienced. But he sure is talented.
And he is hardly playing.
One could conjure up a couple of reasons as to why — and there really are only two. Either he is injured or he is pulling a Johnny Manziel and hasn’t even opened the playbook. That’s it.
But when asked about Strachan, head coach Andy Avalos took the answer in a far different direction.
“To be honest with you, we came into the season and everybody wanted to ask about the wide receivers,” Avalos said. “But we feel like we’ve got some veterans that are very productive and are gonna be very productive this season.”
Boise State WR runs with the ball during a fall practice. (Photo by Boise State Athletics)
Huh.
Avalos, for whatever he does to galvanize his players behind the scenes, struggles to stand behind a microphone and explain his decisions.
On Monday, he was asked a specific question about Prince Strachan, talked for 66 seconds and did not say the words: he, him, Prince or Strachan. Instead, he spoke of competition, expectations, the standard and a bunch of other coaching cliches no one wants to hear.
One word he did not use: Talent. He can stand at the podium and with a straight face say that there are three receivers on his team with more knowledge, experience and understanding of the playbook than Strachan. He would not pass a lie detector if he said there are three receivers with more talent.
And right now, Boise State needs more talent. It needs to put its best players on the field, regardless of their age or experience level or, heck, knowledge of the playbook.
Redshirt sophomore Eric McAlister was OK during the first two weeks of the season, but broke out on Saturday. The Texas native caught six of his eight targets for 143 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He seems like the Broncos’ No. 1 option right now.
Sixth-year senior Stefan Cobbs has been solid this season. He has 13 catches for 131 yards, including a masterful 28-yard touchdown late in the Broncos’ loss to UCF. But Cobbs has been targeted 26 times, meaning he is catching half the time it’s thrown to him. Now, obviously, a vast majority of those aren’t his fault, but it’s still not a great mark.
More concerning is sixth-year wide-out Billy Bowens, who has been targeted 13 times and has reeled in just four passes for 47 yards. The starter dropped at least two balls against Washington in the season-opener. Against North Dakota last week, he didn’t have a catch until garbage time and couldn’t hang on to a pass over the middle on 2nd and 18 that would have been a first down.
“Though that ball can be better thrown,” Fox Sports 1 analyst Devin Gardner said on the broadcast, “that’s got to be caught. You’ve got both hands on it. Both eyes on it. You’ve gotta make that catch.”
The Broncos punted two plays later.
Strachan, meanwhile, was targeted just one time. He ran a go-route up the right sideline, got into the blind spot of the defender and snatched a 26-yard back-shoulder pass. The Broncos scored a touchdown five plays later.
“That was one of the better plays I’ve seen in a long time,” offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan said of Strachan’s catch.
The fans agree, Bush. So why is Strachan not playing more? He must not know the plays, right?
“Really, I have a great grasp of the playbook,” Strachan said. “I’m learning and studying hard and, every day at practice, (I’m) just executing the plays.”
Ok, so if he knows the playbook, then why isn’t he seeing five to six targets a game?
“I’m not really sure of the specific reason,” Strachan said. “All I can keep doing is working and just keep focusing on me. Just keep getting better. Just keep showing the coaches that I’m ready and that anytime they need me, I can go out there and execute.”
So, what is it?
When asked by Bronco Nation News if he thought there was more to be desired by some of his veteran receivers, Hamdan didn’t push back.
“I think there’s been targets,” he said. “In those first couple games, there’s been opportunities, right? But, as you know, I don’t wanna say we’re feeding the hot hand, but when a guy is going out there and making plays, we’re looking for opportunities in those situations to put the right guys in the right spots.
“We have a ton of confidence in both Stef and Billy and, again, week-to-week things change,” Hamdan continued. “You look at what Stef did at the end of that UCF game to put us in position to win that game. That was incredible. Obviously, you want a situation where everyone is getting an equal share, but you never know where the ball is gonna end up.”
Here’s to hoping, for Boise State’s sake, it ends up more often in the hands of Prince Strachan.
