Forget about anointing the receivers unit as ‘dangerous.’ Forget about the big play capabilities. Forget about the depth.

Mike Williams says it’s all about catching the ball. That’s step No. 1, and while it seems so simple, 2006 proved otherwise for Syracuse’s receiving corps.

Even given that, when Williams faced the media last week, he wasn’t afraid to make a bold prediction for 2007.

‘I think this year we’re going to catch the ball,’ Williams said. ‘For real. It’s gonna happen this year.’

Generally, when receivers have to say that, it can’t be a good sign. But Syracuse returns plenty of talent and depth at the receiver skill positions – including Williams and rising senior Taj Smith, who returns from a broken collarbone.

Williams led Syracuse in receiving yardage last season as a true freshman with 461 yards on 24 catches. He scored four touchdowns, also a team high. The 6-foot-2 leaper has an eye for the big play and late in the season, after Smith went down, Williams emerged as quarterback Perry Patterson’s primary target, especially downfield.

Still, that’s not enough, Syracuse head coach Greg Robinson said.

‘The moment you think you’ve arrived, there’s never that,’ Robinson said of Williams. ‘There’s always something you can work on.’

And that something is catching the ball.

Dropped passes tormented the Syracuse offense all season in 2006. The culmination of it all was seven dropped balls in a devastating 17-3 loss at Cincinnati on Oct. 17, basically dooming any faint postseason hopes the Orange had. The receivers accounted for just 119 yards. Williams had one catch for 31 yards and a drop.

‘As a group, we put all of the pressure on ourselves,’ rising redshirt sophomore Lavar Lobdell said. ‘We know the offense lives and dies with the quarterback and the running back, but we play a huge part in that – catching the ball and opening up stuff for the running backs.’

Lobdell knows the pressure is on him, too. Coming to Syracuse from nearby Christian Brothers Academy as a heralded recruit, Lobdell has yet to make his presence known on the field. After missing 2005 with a broken leg, Lobdell caught just five passes for 68 yards last year.

He will compete for the coveted third and fourth receiver spots, along with four others. Rising senior Rice Moss, rising sophomore Donte Davis, rising redshirt sophomore Jeremy Horne and rising redshirt freshman Dan Sheeran make up the rest of the spring depth chart.

Moss, especially, is an interesting case. One of SU’s starters for game one against Wake Forest last season, Moss had only one touchdown all season: the Orange’s first of the season at Wake. He enters the season behind Smith and Williams on the depth chart – a sign that Robinson will not play the most seasoned players just because they have experience.

‘It’s been real competitive,’ Williams said. ‘We say it in the film room everyday, we’ll be playing around, like, ‘If you drop that pass again, you’re not going to be out there.”

Williams said the relationship in the film room has extended beyond just the receivers to include the two quarterbacks Andrew Robinson and Cameron Dantley.

Robinson said he began developing relationships with his receivers during the winter by just tossing the ball around every other day. That important bond, from passer to catcher, has translated to the spring; something Williams admits wasn’t so visible last year.

‘We’re talking to each other in the film room,’ Williams said. ‘It’s looking real good for us. Last year we didn’t really have that communication with the quarterback. Now we’re in the film room with the quarterbacks watching film together, talking about throwing it up and playing around with each other.’

In the meantime, Robinson praised the improvement he’s seen this spring in the receivers’ ability to catch the ball – and hold onto it.

‘I know that I can make not a perfect throw all the time and they’re going to come down with the ball,’ Robinson said. ‘Even if I do make a perfect throw and they catch the ball, they can get some extra yards out of the catch.’

Greg Robinson conjured images of former SU wideouts Marvin Harrison and Art Monk, both legendary NFL players. He praised the work ethic he’s seen from those two at the NFL level as evidence that receivers can always improve – something he’s stressed to his bunch this spring.

‘There’s some history here of receivers that just have continued to develop, and I’d like to think that’s what’s going to happen with our young players,’ Robinson said.

Williams knows there has been improvement so far. He says he and the rest of the receivers like to call themselves ‘the best receiving corps in the nation.’ While that label may be unjustified now, Williams said at least the receivers know they can catch the passes thrown at them – a monumental step if you consider last season’s results.

‘It’s confidence,’ Williams said. ‘We are receivers in Division I, so you know we can catch. You gotta go out there and have the confidence to catch those passes.’

Published on April 15, 2007 at 12:00 pm