Tim Brown will shoulder load for Rutgers receivers in ’09

Supporting cast to include Cooper, DePaola, Hayes, Robinson, Sanu and Stroud

BY MIKE VORKUNOV

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

RUTGERS PREVIEW: WIDE RECEIVERS

Tim Brown can produce in December. When the weather turns cold, he gets hot. Of his 1,122 career receiving yards and 11 touchdowns, 364 of those yards and five touchdowns have come in just three December games. Thrown in his 57 receiving yards and a score against Ball State in the International Bowl against Ball State during the 2007 season and it seems Brown might be better off just hibernating till the winter time.

This year, he won't have that luxury. This year Brown will be counted on to be Rutgers' number one receiver and biggest offensive threat. Well, as big as a 5-8 guy can be.

With Big East record holder, and arguably the greatest receiver in Scarlet Knights history, Kenny Britt leaving early for the NFL and running mate Tiquan Underwood joining him there after graduating, Brown is the only one of last year's top receivers to come back. Dennis Campbell was kicked off the team for violating team rules.

Rutgers will lean heavily on the senior because he is the only known entity they have from the wide receiving corps. Seniors Julian Hayes and Andrew DePaola also return but they are mostly special teams players, catching one ball between them last year.

Mason Robinson and Mohamed Sanu are expected to play an important role in providing outlets for the eventual starting quarterback, but are inexperienced at wide receiver. Robinson was a running back his first two years at Rutgers. He caught 12 balls last year but has shown shaky hands in the past, being removed from punt returns because of an inability to catch and hold on to punts.

Sanu, a freshman, enrolled early last year and was able to join the team for spring practice. Recruited as a defensive back, he moved over to receiver and showed enough promise that coach Greg Schiano has decided to keep him there for the upcoming season. Physically, Sanu fits the bill, standing 6-2 and 215 pounds.

Redshirt freshman Marcus Cooper and Keith Stroud came into camp last year expecting to make some contribution but both were either ineffective or injured.

THE BIG EAST: Cincinnati returns the best receiving corps in the conference. Mardy Gilyard comes off of a 1,268 yard, 11 touchdown season and is the best at wide receiver position in the Big East. The Bearcats graduated Dominick Goodman and lost Marcus Barnett to defense (although he will play both ways), but there is expectation that sophomore Armon Binns will step in smoothly.

Syracuse will return Mike Williams after he missed last season due to academic reasons (mainly that he did not pay much attention to them). As a sophomore he caught 60 balls for 837 yards and 10 TDs. West Virginia's Jock Sanders will also have to overcome adversity this year as he was arrested for DUI this offseason. If he plays, he will try to build on his 462 yard, seven touchdown performance of last year.

South Florida sports a formidable and speedy receiving tandem in Jesse Hester and Carlton Mitchell as targets for Matt Grothe. Last year they combined for 984 yards but only four touchdowns.

NEXT UP: Defensive backs

OTHER PREVIEWS

Head coach

Running backs

Defensive backs