Potential. The Meriam- Webster dictionary defines it as: existing in possibility; capable of development into actuality.

 

It’s a scary word for coaches, yet one that fans use every off season to talk themselves into their team being loaded. We used it quite a bit this off season while talking about West Virginia’s receivers. 

 

They had ‘potential.’ They had shown flashes of brilliance. But, could they move from developing to actually producing? That was the key question entering the season.

 

If you had totaled the CAREER statistics of Ka'raun White, David Sills, Gary Jennings and Marcus Simms, here’s what you would have seen entering the 2017 season:

 

93 catches for 1,365 yards and 11 touchdowns. 

 

Here’s what those four players have done THIS SEASON with two regular season and one bowl game remaining:

 

217 catches for 3,245 yards and 34 touchdowns. 

 

Eye-pooping numbers, to say the least. 

 

Here’s some more:

 

• Heading into the game today, Gary Jennings has 938 yards receiving. Ka'raun White sits at 907 and David Sills has 856. 
• Sills needs the most yards of the three to reach 1,000, but with three games remaining he only has to average 50 yards per game to get there (he’s currently averaging 86 yards per game). 
• West Virginia is on pace to have two receivers with 100 or more catches for only the second time in history. The first since Stedman Bailey and Tavon Austin each had 114 catches in 2012. 
• This group has produced the first pair of receivers with at least 10 touchdown receptions in a season since Kevin White (10) and Mario Alford (11) did it in 2014. This year is only the third time in WVU history it has been done.
• David Sills continues to lead the nation in touchdown receptions with 18. 

 

He holds an odd distinction at this point in the season. Jennings currently has the most catches in WVU history with the fewest touchdowns. 

 

Jennings has piled up 82 catches, but has just one touchdown reception.  The only receiver that is close to that record was Jock Sanders in 2009. Sanders had 77 catches and three touchdowns. 

 

Given Will Grier’s arrival and this offensive system’s ability to generate big numbers for receivers, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised at the numbers this group is putting up this season.

 

What is surprising is that all of them are having success this year. Generally, when you have questions about multiple position groups or multiple players, you will end up some hits and some misses. 

 

Some players will live up the potential, others will still be a year away or never pan out. This group has hit big with three (Sills, Jennings, White) and a fourth (Simms) has been productive as well. 

 

That’s a rare success rate at one position when there wasn't much of a track record to point to prior to the breakout season. So enjoy what you're seeing out of this group of receivers for the last few games. You may not see another group like them for a while. 

 

Do you think three of receivers will end up with at least 1,000 yards receiving? Leave a comment or tweet me @BradHowe07.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo is of David Sills, followed by Ka'raun White and Gary Jennings.