A Prime Candidate For The Best WR Room In 2024

A room filled with luxury Louis Vuitton luggage plus a Heisman candidate at QB equals... #WeComing?

Jan 26, 2024

Martinis are like breasts, one isn’t enough, two is fine, three is too many, and four is a party.

- Tim Dillon, comedian

NOTE: This article was originally written before La’Johntay Wester’s transfer. Some post draft additions were added in to account for the latest move.

“But coach, we already have three other playmakers in the WR room, why do we need another one?”

As the Sanders family made their descent in their private jet, returning from their holiday back to Boulder, CO, Deion Sanders Jr. posed this question to his father.

In response, Coach Prime chuckled, before imparting his wisdom, “You know, son, when it comes to my Louis, one bag just doesn’t cut it, two is acceptable, three might suffice, but four? Well, that's a party, and I do love to party…

With what we have in the room now—oh yea, it’s finna be a party in Colorado next season, believe that.”

What Sanders is referring to, of course, is the potential starting four of Jimmy ‘Himy’ Horn, FAU transfer La’Johntay Wester, Vandy transfer Will Sheppard, and TCU transfer Cordale Russell. There are other bodies in the room, but those four stand out as the best positioned to be featured weapons in the offensive toolkit next Fall. And where does dual position standout, Travis Hunter, stand in all of this? We’ll get to that shortly.

In today’s article, I’m going to cover each of these players, and provide some early thoughts on what my expectation of this WR room will be in 2024, from a College Fantasy Football (CFF) perspective. We’re going to look at the staff in place as well.

Cordale “Hood Shrek” Russell — 6’4, 210

I wasn’t going to start with Cordale Russell in this section, but the post I saw on his instagram above forced my hand. It’s absolutely fire, and as a result, has bolstered my valuation of his CFF stock headed into 2024.

The rising redshirt freshman out of South Dallas joins Colorado by way of TCU. In addition to that sick instagram post, another reason I wanted to start off with Russell was because there isn’t much to cover on his profile.

He played in four games this season, and caught only one pass for 48 yards. A pretty nice yards per catch average, I’d say, but besides that, not much to write home about.

The former four star has multiple seasons of eligibility left in college, so it’s not a forgone conclusion that he’ll be a ‘starter-or-bust’ type of transfer for Colorado. Given what the Buffs brought in (and return at the position), the WR group will be interesting to monitor in the spring. My inclination is that Russell will at least be a heavy rotation player, with Sheppard, Horn, and (Edited: Wester) as the starters.

The spring reports will be the make or break factor in determining where Russell lands in drafts (or if he’s even drafted at all). For now, he looks like an undraftable player, unless you’re in a deep format (cool instagram post notwithstanding).

Will ‘Mr. September’ Sheppard — 6’3, 200

Could this be the year that Will ‘Mr. September’ Sheppard expands his name to simply: ‘Mr. 2024’?

With a Heisman candidate QB returning, and a volume-concentrated pass offence to operate in—not to mention some defence-optional BIG12 opponents clogging up the schedule in 2024—there are some tantalizing ingredients cooking here.

I know that most people are already familiar with Mr. September, but just in case you’re not: Sheppard is entering his fifth season headed into 2024. He spent his first four with Vanderbilt. As you can imagine, it’s very hard to score when you play for a team that is getting dunked on constantly.

Sheppard performed admirably in the OOC schedules, though, which provided a glimpse into what he could be in another location. This past September, for example, in the four non-SEC games he played in, Sheppard scored 20 or more points in three of them. He actually scored 20 or more points in four of his first five games (one of them came against Mizzou on September 30).

In light of Wester’s transfer, I think the situation is a bit murky now. There are a lot of mouths to feed. But, I actually like Sheppard the most of the room. He comes from the P5 level (the best conference no less), and has already proven to be a good player in the past. Wester comes in with the higher statical output, but he also played in a weak conference at FAU.

The larger concern is that maybe there just won’t be a pig in this offence. That’s a reason to discount each of these WRs in your rankings. For me, Sheppard is the one I’ll reach for first. I’m willing to take a shot here based on Weaver’s production last year. But even then, it wasn’t like Weaver was a world-beater for the Buffs. I think Sheppard’s probably a better player, though (just based on pedigree alone).

Jimmy ‘Himy’ Horn — 5’10, 170

Editor note: As mentioned above, FAU slot receiver La’Johntay Wester has transferred to Colorado. He’ll probably compete for slot reps with Horn. I would discount Horn given this latest news.

Horn finished his first year with the Buffs with a serviceable PPG average— 13.3 in PPR formats. That’s not good enough to be a mainstay on rosters in regular league formats. Prior to the Wester transfer, I would have said Horn would be the second WR I’d go for behind Sheppard. Now, it is not clear how the reps will be split, or who will be playing where.

I’d probably avoid Horn, barring something concrete coming out of camp about Horn’s role in the offence.

Travis Hunter — 6’1, 185 (DB?)

Originally from Florida, Travis Hunter became a high school football legend in the East Atlanta football circuit at Collin’s Hill High. There, he caught passes from Mizzou QB Sam Horn, and torched many a DB that you’ll see lining up for Alabama, Ohio State and UGA. He also locked up some of the best receivers in the state during his time there also.

So of course, it caught everyone by surprise when he flipped his long-time commitment from FSU to Jackson State on early signing day in December of 2021. The move proved to be a momentary one, as he then followed coach Prime to Colorado a season later. His first year in Boulder was a successful campaign: Hunter managed to hold his own in coverage vs. P5 WRs, and also had the odd big-time performance on the offensive side.

All in all, Hunter played in nine games, and he finished with an average PPG of 17.7. That’s a good average—generally, for WRs my marker is 17+ points for good/elite players on the season.

He had a season-high of 39 points vs. Stanford, which is ironic because that was a low point on the season for him on the defensive side (anybody remember that Elic Ayomanor performance vs. the Buffs?). In fact, the only two performances that I would classify as bad games came against UCLA and Colorado State, and against the Rams he left early due to the injury.

So, I think the writing on the wall is clear, if Hunter is lining up at WR often during the game, he’s going to soak up targets galore. The critical question remains: how much does he do that next year?

Editor note: FAU slot receiver La’Johntay Wester has transferred to Colorado. Therefore, it seems probable that Hunter will be lining up mostly at DB in 2024.

Others

*Post draft addition* La’Johntay Wester probably didn’t leave his 100+ targets a year to sit on the bench in Boulder, CO. He’s a slot player by trade, and that spells trouble for Jimmy Horn in particular. What it does tell us, however, is that Travis Hunter is probably going to play a lot more DB than WR next season. So at least there’s that insight.

True sophomore Omarion Miller out of Louisiana had a breakout game in 2023 vs. USC, scoring a total of 32.6 points off seven receptions for 196 yards and a score. He was pretty quiet the rest of the season, though, and coach Prime eluded to the fact that Miller needed to improve his practice habits during his press conferences. That’s not a unique feature to Miller, younger players typically undergo a transformation from their high school practice habits to college.

The fact that Colorado continued to be aggressive in the portal to acquire veteran bodies tells me they are probably not comfortable relying on Miller yet. Is he a live for a big game here or there? Of course. But he’s not a guy I’m drafting in most formats.

On of those veteran bodies alluded to earlier includes NC State Terrell Timmons. Timmons is a big-bodied boundary player, who failed to make any kind of heatwaves in his first two years at NC State. His season-best up to this point is 195 yards in 12 games. The battle between him and Cordale Russell will be one to watch, as I’m pretty sure Shepp and Horn are locked into two starting roles. Hunter will likely frequent in and out of WR reps.

True freshman Kamron Mikell also enters the program. He’s one of the few to come through via the high school ranks. His development will be a chance for the CU staff to mold a homegrown product, and show this to other high school players to attract more signees in the future. As someone who follows the UGA program closely, I know the Dawgs wanted him as a DB. Other programs like Tennessee and UK, were able to gain traction by offering Mikell a shot at WR. Colorado did the same, and what sealed the deal (apparently) was the prospect of playing on both sides, like Travis Hunter.

As far as what I know about Mikell: he lined up at QB most of the time for Statesboro High in 2023, and his team were shut out multiple times during that campaign. That shouldn't happen when you have a truly elite athlete playing QB for you at the high school level. I’ll be in wait-and-see mode as far as his prowess as a pass-catcher. I don’t expect a meaningful contribution from him in year one.

Incoming freshman Drelon Miller flipped his commitment from the Aggies to Colorado late in the 2023 cycle also. He’s a highly rated receiver (top-100) who comes in by way of Texas, and — if CU adds another receiver with the last name Miller — I’m going to lose my mind writing these articles. The room is pretty clogged up, so it’s hard to see Miller making a meaningful impact in year one.

The last name (as if there wasn’t enough already) is Cincinnati transfer TE Chamon Metayer. You’ll see below that I have covered Pat Shurmer’s history as a play caller with respect to the patterns of receiving production on his teams. I didn’t focus specifically on TEs (I will do that in another article at a later date), but I know that it must be an upgrade from the last OC— Sean Lewis, because, well… anybody would be an upgrade for TEs over him.

Coaching & System

When I wrote about Will Sheppard in December, I included a section on OC Pat Shurmer’s background. Here it is for your convenience:

Shurmer last served as OC of the Denver Broncos in 2020 and 2021. Prior to that he was the head coach of the New York Giants for two seasons (2018, 2019), and the OC of the Minnesota Vikings for one season (2017). He served as the TEs coach for the Vikings the year before, and actually became the interim OC later in that season (2016). From 2013 to 2015 he had his most successful run from a WR standpoint, OCing the Philadelphia Eagles with Chip Kelly as the head coach.
Starting with Denver, his two seasons there were not pretty. His offences failed to produce a 1000 yard receiver in either season, with the lead target man— Jerry Jeudy in 2020, catching 52 passes for 856 yards. He was targeted a staggering 113 times that season over 16 games, which is a bout seven per game, so that’s nice.
The production was better at his previous stop. Odell Beckham Jr. cleared the thousand yard threshold in 2018, catching 77 of his 124 targets for 1052 yards and six scores— the kicker being that he did this in 12 games (average of 10 targets per contest). That’s a pretty nice concentration of volume from our man Coach Shurm.
What’s even filthier is that two other receivers that season also got over 100 targets. Ironically, one of them is also named Sheppard— Sterling Sheppard to be precise, who caught 66 of 107 targets for 872 yards and four scores. The other was actually RB Saquon Barkley, who was targeted 121 times! This season tells me one thing about Shurm: if he’s got elite playmakers, he wants to funnel the volume to them. I imagine that with a player like Barkley in particular, he was so good that they probably just wanted to find ways to get him the ball in space as much as possible.
Unfortunately, the following season was not a success from the WR production standpoint. The leading receiver ended up being Darius Slayton, who caught 48 of 84 targets for 740 yards and eight scores.
He had a pretty epic run from 2013 to 2018 though. I’ve already mentioned that legendary season with the Giants above, the year prior, his leading receiver while he OC’d the Vikings was Adam Thielen. Thielen caught 91 of 143 targets for 1276 yards and four scores. Shurm also had another receiver come close to 1000 yards in a quiet and unassuming Stefon Diggs, who caught 64 of 95 passes for 849 yards and eight scores.
Both of those WRs came close to 1000 yards in the 2016 season, which is where Shurm took over as the interim OC midway through the year.
His best stint by far, however, came with the Eagles in the early 2010s. He essentially had three straight seasons of a 1000-yard receiver (Jordan Mathews was three yards short in 2015). In 2014, it was Jeremy Maclin, who caught 85 of 143 passes for 1318 yards and 10 scores in 16 games. The 2013 season was Desean Jackson’s turn to pass the 1000-yard milestone, catching 82 of 126 targets for 1332 yards and nine scores in 16 games. In each of those seasons (2013-2014), the WR2 amassed over 800 yards.

Closing

If I were to channel my inner Tim Dillon, and apply his quote above to WRs with a CFF twist, I’d put it like this: two is fine, three is too many, four is definitely too many, and one is a gorgoeously fat volume pig.

Ideally, one big dog is what we want in CFF. However, the Colorado pass-attack was so heavily concentrated amongst its top three WRs last season, that all three were viable assets to hold at different times. Can that be extrapolated to four? I think that’s pushing it, like—including Tim Dillon’s joke as an opening quote for a CFF article pushing it. It could work—some creativity will be required to do so, more than likely there will be a problem though.

That brings me to my next point. I think Travis Hunter — in his NFL-draft season — will be used more at DB than WR.

As far as my stance on each of the WRs, I felt better about Horn prior to Wester’s transfer. I’ll be curious to hear from the coaches in the spring about what the plan is regarding the slot receiver position. I still feel pretty good about Mr. September, but even with him I am slightly concerned now with another WR on board.