If you asked me before the season to set an over/under for the number of games in which Marquess Wilson would lead WSU in yards per target, I would have said 11.5 and probably taken the over. After two games, I would already be wrong and it has nothing to do with Wilson.
Against Idaho State, the wide receiver group combined for a good but not great performance. Wilson led the way with a holy crap this guy is outrageously good type of game, but the backup units struggled. Somehow in week two, the opposite happened. Wilson turned in another above average performance, but he actually brought down the team averages. If you missed it last week, here is further explanation of the charts below.
WSU wide receivers vs. UNLV
Player
Targets
Catches
Yards
Drops
1st Downs
YPT
Catch%
Drop%
1st Down%
Isiah Barton
4
4
69
0
4
17.25
100.00
0.00
100.00
Bennett Bontemps
1
1
10
0
1
10.00
100.00
0.00
100.00
Henry Eaddy
2
2
22
0
0
11.00
100.00
0.00
0.00
Jared Karstetter
7
6
66
0
3
9.43
85.71
0.00
42.86
Isiah Myers
3
2
35
0
2
11.67
66.67
0.00
66.67
Bobby Ratliff
2
1
32
0
1
16.00
50.00
0.00
50.00
Gino Simone
1
0
0
0
0
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
Kristoff Williams
5
4
89
0
3
17.80
80.00
0.00
50.00
Marquess Wilson
8
5
102
0
4
12.75
62.50
0.00
50.00
WR Totals
33
25
425
0
18
12.88
75.76
0.00
54.55
The important thing to remember here is the average YPT for a wide receiver is somewhere around 8.0. Double digits are typically reserved for the elite college receivers. So the fact seven of the nine receivers averaged at least 10.0 YPT, even in a small sample, is somewhat absurd. Think about this for a second, in 2010 Justin Blackmon, one of the best receivers in college football, averaged 12.0 YPT with a 75.0 catch%. The WSU receivers combined for those numbers against UNLV. Don't be too alarmed by Karstetter's lower YPT, it's a product of the role he plays as a possession receiver. His value is boosted by his high catch%.
WSU wide receivers season numbers
Player
Targets
Catches
Yards
Drops
1st Downs
YPT
Catch%
Drop%
1st Down%
Isiah Barton
8
6
103
1
6
12.88
75.00
12.50
75.00
Bennett Bontemps
2
1
10
0
1
5.00
50.00
0.00
50.00
Henry Eaddy
7
3
32
0
1
4.57
42.86
0.00
14.29
Jared Karstetter
10
8
90
0
4
9.00
80.00
0.00
40.00
Isiah Myers
8
4
51
0
3
6.38
50.00
0.00
37.50
Bobby Ratliff
6
5
78
0
4
13.00
83.33
0.00
66.67
Gino Simone
3
1
20
0
1
6.67
33.33
0.00
33.33
Kristoff Williams
7
5
109
1
4
15.57
71.43
14.29
57.14
Marquess Wilson
13
9
193
0
8
14.84
69.23
0.00
61.54
WR Totals
64
42
686
2
32
10.72
65.63
3.13
50.00
The competition hasn't exactly been elite, so these numbers will regress, but it's an encouraging start. Barton's fast start is especially encouraging, he averaged 5.50 YPT on 30 targets last season. Wilson continues to produce at an elite level despite catching only one pass over 40 yards thus far. His numbers aren't inflated by a couple of 80-yard touchdowns. So far so good, now let's see how they do as the competition gets more difficult.