The Best of West WRs - Part I

This is the first of a four part series on the best of west at the wide receiver position. Many players who line up at receiver today would have been running backs years ago. The trend for younger players is to want to play wide receiver. Now teams want to line up with guys who can do more than run a great route and catch the ball. You still have to do that, but now with the ball control passing game so much in vogue, now wide receivers have to run like running backs.

Cameron ColvinClick In part one we will profile in order of rank the top five wide receivers on the west coast. Of course this is a work in progress and other prospects could emerge. Here to view this Link. (photo) (6-2, 193, 4.38) from Concord (Calif.) De la Salle leads the way for the class of 2004 at the wide receiver position. Colvin has impressed everywhere he has been and even walked off with the MVP wide receiver award at the Miami Hurricane camp held in June.

Colvin’s stock turned red hot after he was selected MVP at the Nike Camp held at Stanford in May. At that camp Colvin ran a 4.31 and a 4.38 forty. He also had a smoking 3.85 shuttle. Colvin benched 185 pounds 14 times on a bum shoulder the day of the camp.

Rivals.com saw Colvin up close in Hawaii last September. He made catches that were reminiscent of NFL great and hall famer, Lynn Swann of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Colvin’s Godfather Jay Lightner agreed with our comparison. “I told him the same thing,” Lightner said. “Cameron does remind me of Lynn Swann. I even went out and made a tape of Lynn Swann for him to see. He just said wow. He was impressed with Lynn Swann and was pleased to think anyone would think of him in the same light.”

Colvin lists UCLA, Oregon, Michigan, Miami, LSU and Florida State as his early leaders, but as we said many times before; a player with Colvin’s options is apt to change his mind at anytime. Especially since he is going to through the recruiting process and takes all five visits. An early commitment is highly unlikely.

If Colvin isn’t the number one wide receiver in the state then Derrick Jones (6-0, 170, 4.4) from Long Beach (Calif.) Poly undoubtedly is. If speed kills, Jones is downright deadly.

Jones caught 39 passes for 1,476 yards and 16 touchdowns while averaging an astronomical 37.7 yards per catch. He was selected all-state, all-area and all-league as a junior.

Speed is the only calling card for this talented wide receiver. Jones also runs good routes and has soft hands. He also has good footwork, reads coverage well and is a go-to guy, and big play receiver.

Rivals were very impressed by Jones when we saw him in Hawaii a year ago. He was able to get off the line of scrimmage and used his overwhelming speed to beat his opponent several times that night.

Jones has over 20 offers to date and will probably participate in football and track on the collegiate level.

Just partial list of the schools that have offered Jones are USC, UCLA, Arizona State, Washington State, Washington, Oregon, Cal, Miami, Florida State, Kansas State, Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Alabama and San Diego State.

Our third player on the list is Michael Bumpus (6-0, 185, 4.5) from Culver City, Calif., this guy as the softest hands we have seen this season. Add that to his precise route running and his ability to make things happen after the catch and you have a dynamite wide receiver.

Bumpus caught 75 passes for 1,081 yards and 11 touchdowns as a junior. He was selected first-team all-CIF, all-area and was an all-league member for the second year in a row in 2002. Bumpus was also a sophomore All-American two years ago.

Currently Bumpus lists a top six of USC, UCLA, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, and LSU. LSU and UCLA are the only schools in his top six that has yet to officially offer him a scholarship.

Nate Kimbrough (6-3, 175, 4.5) from Santa Fe Springs (Calif.) lands at our fourth spot. Kimbrough took the suspense out of his recruitment early when he accepted an offer to continue his education and play football for Arizona State.

The Devils get very good with Kimbrough coming aboard. He has that long running stride that makes his speed look very deceiving.

Once he gets into space he runs by opponents as it they were standing still. He has great instincts as a runner and is terrific after the catch. He’s great open field runner who follows his blocks and gets up field.

Kimbrough had 43 receptions for 772 yards while averaging 18 yards per catch and scored eight touchdowns as a junior. He also selected all-league on both sides of the ball.

Kimbrough chose the Sun Devils citing early playing time and liking facilities and the direction the program is going under head coach Dirk Koetter.

At number five on our list we find Myrio Davis (6-3, 200, 4.5) from Chandler (Ariz.) Hamilton. When the season of 2003 is said and done, Davis could end up being the most sought after prospect in the Grand Canyon State.

Davis plays for the program that has turned out future first-round draft choice Terrell Suggs and believe it or not Davis is drawing comparisons with the defensive end that starred for the Arizona State Sun Devils.

In an earlier interview with rivals.com Hamilton head coach John Wrenn said, “Myrio is as athletically gifted as Terrell Suggs. There is no telling how good Myrio will become.”

Wow, what a statement.

Davis was selected all-state and all-region as a junior. Davis caught 38 passes for 667 yards and six touchdowns while averaging 17.5 yards per catch in 2002.

ASU has offered but the two Los Angeles schools UCLA and USC have the inside track for Davis’ services.