ULM Warhawks

By Paul Letlow, ULMWarhawks.com Online Columnist
 
MONROE, La. – For pure excitement during spring drills, it always pays off to spend time watching ULM's wide receivers in action.

With an amazing collection of established star power and rising young talent, the Warhawk wideouts are built to thrill.

"It's killers and playmakers man," RJ Turner said. "When it's time to get dirty and get down, you do what you need to do. When the plays need to be made, the play needs to be made. The play doesn't care who makes it. It just wants to be made. Somebody just needs to go make the play."

ULM's first-year receivers coach John Carr marvels at his inheritance of talent. Despite their flashy skills, the receivers are actually a blue-collar bunch that stays tuned in during meetings and on the field.

"I followed ULM last year and knew they'd had a lot of success offensively, especially in the receiver group," said Carr, a former head coach at Ouachita High School in Monroe. "When I got here and started to meet them, you couldn't ask for a better group of guys that are eager to keep learning and developing. They want to master their craft."

Carr joined the staff in January after spending two seasons as assistant head coach and offensive coordinator at Jones County Junior College in Ellisville, Mississippi.

"He brings juice and energy every day," All-America all-purpose player Marcus Green said. "That's all he preaches every day: bring the juice and bring the energy. He brings that, and we bring what we have to the table. By the end of practice, he lets us know if we brought the juice. He's always on us about that."

Like explosion plays? ULM brings back five receivers whose longest touchdown covered more than 40 yards last season, including Green (longest of 80 yards), Turner (57 yards), D'Marius Gillespie (54 yards), Xavier Brown (64 yards) and Markis McCray (46 yards).

"The only limit we have is ourselves," Turner said. "I say that because everybody has a role and everybody's role is important. If everybody does their role as needed, then nothing can stop us."

All the numbers are nice, but this is no collection of divas. Turner said the receivers take pride in handling all their responsibilities.

"People just see us catching passes, but it's more than that," Turner said. "It's blocking and knowing what to do and when to do it. It's just helping the next man. If you help him do his part, then he'll help you do your part. It all works together."
 
Green made a name for himself as an All-America kickoff returner, but he also was ULM's leading receiver last year with 55 catches for 847 yards and five scores.

"He has really good hands, good feet, good body control and gets in and out of breaks," Carr said. "He envisions things and is a great route runner. There's no wasted movement. He's a one-cut guy who gets north and south. He's been awesome in meetings and is a sponge. He wants to develop his craft, not only as a return man but as a slot receiver."

Said Green: "As a receiver, you've always got to work on your footwork and the timing of your routes with your quarterback, along with anything that factors into getting better as an offense as a whole. We work on the cone drills out here with Coach Carr. We try to just put it all together as a team in practice."
 
Turner had 39 catches for 686 yards and scored six touchdowns.

"He's a big strong receiver with length," Carr said. "He's got a great catch radius, strong hands and a big body. He does a lot of things really well. He can track the ball well in the air and has a lot of football savvy. He had success last year, but I can see him really wanting to push himself to see what he can get out of himself."

Gillespie had 12 catches for 255 yards with two TDs.

"He's the solid old vet," Carr said. "He's the solid guy who knows every position and does a lot of things well. He's not as flashy as the other two as far as body type or speed, but he just gets it."

Brandius Batiste had four catches for 39 yards last year as a red-shirt freshman.

"He's got some explosion, and I think his hands have gotten better," Carr said. "He's understanding the offense a little better. He's put on some weight and gained a little more confidence. He's made some plays this spring, and he's one we'll count on the fall to continue to get better."

McCray is in the conversation for ULM's fastest player. He caught 10 passes for 139 yards in 2017.

"He can really stretch the field," Carr said. 'He's explosive on the perimeter and is a very good perimeter blocker too."

The next generation of receivers is in great hands with a whopping four red-shirt freshmen moving up in the ranks from the 2017 class. The foursome includes Zachari Jackson, Bryant Badie, Perry Carter and CJ Fletcher.

"With Perry Carter, if Markis is not the fastest, then he is," Carr said. "He's starting to really understand the offense after redshirting last year. He's gaining more confidence with each practice and can really run. He's electric and can make things happen.

"Zach Jackson is a physical presence … strong and rangy with thick legs. He's a great perimeter blocker and a good X receiver into the boundary. He had a really good scrimmage in the first scrimmage we had.
 
"Badie is one that gets better in each spring practice. He needs to be a little more consistent. He was a high school quarterback, so it's taking a little more time. But he's in that group in meetings who want to be good and will come around."

Fletcher dislocated a finger during voluntary drills and just got back on the field for the second half of spring drills. The receiving corps also returns Darius Rodrigue (three catches for 32 yards) and has Jonathan Hodoh (six catches for 53 yards, TD) and Brown (21 catches for 228 yards, two TDs) on the mend from injuries.

"It's been a great, awesome group as a whole to work with," Carr said. "The young guys are learning from the older guys. The older guys learned from guys before them. When you have 15 guys and so many returning that got playing time and had varying degrees of success and are motivated to get better, all those things are encouraging."

Warhawks On The Rise: ULM head coach Matt Viator couldn't wait to see his 2017 recruiting class receivers compete during spring ball.

"Right now, they're doing good," Viator said. "They've really progressed, they're talented and I think they get better each day as they get more comfortable with what they're doing."

Each player brings a unique talent to the offense.

"We try to look at guys who do different things," Viator said. "We have two inside guys in Badie and Carter, who are shifty and can do some stuff. We think Zach Jackson is a prototype X receiver at 215 (pounds). Fletcher is a fuel guy, who can do some things. When you recruit multiple guys, you never want to recruit the same guy."
 

This positional spotlight is part of a continuing spring series you can find at ULMWarhawks.com.