The BYU Offense Is Making Changes in 2010

The 2010 season marks the return of the wide receiver for the Cougars.

The BYU offense will look a little different this season. Expect to see more receivers on the field and fewer double tight end sets.

BYU is well known for employing its talented tight ends with great effectiveness, but this year the combination of inexperience at tight end and depth and talent at wide receiver will necessitate a change in the way the Cougars approach things.

As usual, there is talent galore at tight end, but there isn’t a single tight end on the roster that has played so much as one snap in an FBS college football game.

Luckily for the Cougars, the wide receiving corps is here to save the day, led by McKay Jacobson and O’Neill Chambers. Both of them went through their own physical and mental metamorphosis this offseason, and both of them have returned this fall committed to taking their games to the next level.

The Cougars will also change the way they use Jacobson, employing him more as an inside receiver and looking to create mismatches with him in the slot.

By moving the speedy and sure-handed McKay to the inside, the offensive brain trust at BYU can create situations where he will be covered by safeties and, on occasion, linebackers. Advantage Jacobson.

Chambers has entered fall camp looking like he is in the best shape of his life. He has been working this summer on utilizing the size and strength advantages he has on most cornerbacks.

O’Neill was singled out by the BYU entourage at Mountain West Conference Media Day as one of the players on the team who has most improved his effort and commitment during the offseason. Despite dropping a key pass in practice today, one gets the feeling that Chambers is set to have an excellent year.

The Cougars also return experience in the form of Luke Ashworth and Spencer Hafoka. Ashworth is not a particularly explosive player, but he is a solid route-runner with good size and sticky hands.

Meanwhile, keep an eye on Hafoka this season. He has been slowed with health issues during his career, but he has the ability to be a valuable asset on the field. Spencer also brings some ability to stretch the defense vertically.

If the Cougars really want to get serious about going vertical, they can turn to freshman Ross Apo.

Although the opportunity to show what he can do has been limited so far in fall camp, Ross is an incredible talent with an unusual package of size, speed, soft hands, long arms, and the ability to leap over a building with a single bound (that last part is a bit of an exaggeration). It will be interesting to see how Apo works his way into the rotation as camp progresses.

Apo’s biggest obstacle is that his competition in high school was mediocre at best, so he may struggle some with the adjustment to college. That said, it shouldn’t take too much adjustment for the 6′4″ true freshman to just line up on the outside and streak down the field on some poor, unsuspecting 5′10″ cornerback.

One cannot help but think about the possibility of Jacobson, Chambers, and Apo at receiver, with Devin Mahina at tight end and JJ Di Luigi coming out of the backfield. Did someone say something about rebuilding this year?

The question that needs to be asked is which BYU trigger man is best suited to get the ball to this group of receivers. We’ll try to answer that question in out next segment.