The 2024 Memphis Tigers will be contending for a top 25 ranking, an AAC Championship, and, if everything goes perfectly, potentially even a college football playoff spot. We have already explored how a lot of the roster is shaping up, and in this next edition of Memphis Football position previews, I want to talk about the wide receivers.
Seth Henigan lit up opposing defenses last season, and he’s already been named a preseason player to watch in the race for the Walter Camp Player of the Year award, but the football isn’t catching itself. Regardless of how good Henigan is, he needs this Memphis wideout unit to play just as well this season to realize their ambitions.
Depth Chart
1. Roc Taylor
2. DeMeer Blankumsee
3. Koby Drake
4. Jyaire Shorter
5. Keonde Henry
6. Marcello Bussey
7. Ja’Koby Banks
8. Jamari Hawkins
9. Markese Williams
There’s no reason to beat around the bush here. While the depth chart in the running back room is somewhat cloudy, this wide receiver group is quite the opposite: Roc Taylor is the clear X, and Demeer Blankumsee is the clear Y.
While there wasn’t as clear of a gap at WR3, the now-graduated Joseph Scates’ 400 yards and six touchdowns were good enough for the title. The updated depth chart for 2024 projects Senior Kobe Drake, who had 350 yards in 2023, to be the new WR3, but I wouldn’t necessarily trust that due to Memphis’s major acquisitions.
2023 Review and Key Players to Watch
Roc Taylor had an amazing junior year in 2023 as the primary benefactor of Henigan’s rise to being one of the best signal callers in the country. Taylor was rock solid on the campaign, not missing a game for the Tigers en route to 1,081 yards and four touchdowns on 69 receptions.
Let’s compare Taylor’s season to some more publicly appreciated college wideouts to give a perspective on how good these stats are. In 2023, Roc Taylor had more yards than two wide receivers who had just been selected in the first round of the NFL draft, Xavier Worthy and Ricky Pearsall. Taylor finished less than 100 yards short of Brian Thomas’ 1,171 and about 130 shy of Marvin Harrison Jr and Luther Burden, who tallied 1,211 and 1,212, respectively.
Sure, you can argue that Roc didn’t earn these gaudy stats as much as Marv and Burden, who played in the Big 10 and the SEC, indisputably the two best conferences in college football. But if you take a closer look, in Memphis’ most difficult game last year against the Missouri Tigers, Taylor posted one of his best outings of the season, bringing in 7 balls for 143 yards. Missouri’s defense was no slouch last year: they finished 25th in points allowed in the country and boasted one of the best cornerback duos in college football last year with Ennis Rakestraw and Kris Abrams-Draine. If you look at all three of Memphis’ losses last year, Taylor averaged a ridiculous 132 yards per game.
Roc’s stats alone are impressive, but it becomes clear just how dominant he was when contextualized with the film. Taylor is amazing at utilizing every ounce of his 6’2, 225-pound body to out-leverage and outplay opposing corners. One-on-one coverage against Roc is essentially a death sentence; not many corners can physically match up against Taylor, which makes things especially easy for Henigan, who can spot the mismatch before the ball is even snapped. Corner fades, comebacks and mid-range posts were Taylor’s bread and butter, and almost all his snaps came from lining up wide against opposing teams’ top man-coverage corners.
So, if you didn’t know already, now you do. Roc is the real deal, and with another year under his belt, he could be eying a season as one of the top 10 wideouts in college football.
Taylor isn’t the only exciting wideout in this Memphis offense, as the Tigers are returning Senior wideout Demeer Blankumsee, who had 900 yards and 7 TDs last year. Blankumsee sliced and diced opposing defenses out of the slot last year, utilizing his slender 5 ’10 frame and 4.4 speed to terrorize the hash marks. What happened after the ball was in Blankumsee’s hands often made the difference. For someone his size, he showed incredible resolve to not give up on plays and create massive chunk yardage after the catch, usually twisting, turning, and sometimes fully stopping to reverse field on defenders like a punt return. If Taylor wasn’t enough to deal with on his own, the one-two punch with Roc on the outside and Demeer in the middle certainly is.
We’ve spent a lot of time talking about Memphis’ returning wideouts, but they also made key additions that could impact this season as soon as possible. A big recruiting win for Memphis in the 2023 offseason was bringing in 4-star Texas wideout Keonde Henry, who will start as a true freshman this season. He’s already even bigger than Taylor, at 6’3, and possesses blazing speed to torch corners in man coverage. Henry probably will need to put on some weight to become a bigger contributor to this offense, as he currently sits at 185 lbs, but he has the chance to make a huge impact in his first year. Not only does he have the size and speed of a great receiver, but his contested catch ability jumped off the high school tape, and he often made the best of some poorly placed throws, embarrassing defenders in his path.
The other exciting addition is Jyaire Shorter, a big-bodied vertical threat who can stretch the field. Now, in his 6th season, Shorter is coming off a career-high 628 yards and 11 touchdowns. His imposing frame and physicality will make him a popular target for Henigan, and while he isn’t the fastest, he makes up for it with good route-running and stop-start ability.
Expectations for the Season
With that being said, this Memphis offense is going to be scary. The Tigers have to capitalize this year on a roster coalescing to be one of the best Memphis has put together in some time. Multiple key skill position players are entering their senior year, including Seth Henigan, Roc Taylor, Demeer Blankumsee, and running back Mario Anderson Jr.
Memphis has to be perfect to push for the playoffs. Their schedule is very easy overall, so I believe the Tigers’ floor for 2024 is another 10-win season, but that means a win against the Florida State Seminoles in week four is necessary to remain true contenders for top 12 consideration. Otherwise, Memphis plays no other teams that ended the season ranked inside the top 25 last year. If the Tigers continue to lean on “the Roc,” though, no amount of success is out of the question.
