Gift of grab

Editor’s note: This is the third of nine position outlooks on the 2008 Washington State Cougars. Today we examine the wide receivers. Coming Friday: running backs.

PULLMAN – Back in July, Brandon Gibson perused the list of Washington State wide receivers and compared them favorably to the 2006 Cougars unit.

“We’re not as deep as the 2006 receivers,” he said then, naming Jason Hill, Michael Bumpus, Chris Jordan and himself. “But as a whole and ability-wise, it’s as good as it’s going to get.”

But that was before Jeshua Anderson’s hernia, before Daniel Blackledge’s hamstring strain, before a series of nagging or debilitating injuries depleted the Cougars’ core group of receivers.

“It doesn’t help any having Jeshua and Daniel out with injuries,” assistant coach Mike Levenseller put it simply earlier this week. “We’re not real deep.”

But one man’s injury is another’s opportunity and such is the case at the flanker spot, which was scheduled to be Blackledge’s.

Michael Willis, a junior who sat out last season with academic problems, has seized his chance with two hands and, because of his play, the missing don’t seem as critical.

“It’s pretty evident when (Michael’s) on the field, we’re a better football team,” head coach Paul Wulff said. “We didn’t know that, for sure, until we’re out there practicing. … He’s done well, he’s working himself through a couple little nicks like everyone has to at this time, and he’s growing as a player.”

The starters: It all begins with Gibson, who caught 67 passes for 1,180 yards last season. A preseason all-conference pick, the senior should challenge Bumpus’ all-time WSU record for career receptions (195). Gibson starts the year with 125, the same number with which Bumpus began his senior season.

Gibson, who is 10th on WSU’s all-time list with 2,083 career receiving yards, should also threaten Jason Hill’s school mark of 2,704.

But his presence is even more important to Levenseller.

“You always have to have a guy you can say, ‘OK, we’re struggling, we’re not getting it verbally, watch this. Brandon, come here,’ ” Levenseller said. “And that’s how you work it. … They get to see him put it in motion. Usually, if they can see somebody doing it right, they can step right behind him and try and get it right.”

Willis is one guy who’s benefited from Gibson’s tutelage.

“Brandon’s been helping a lot,” said Willis, who played safety his first two years in Pullman. “He sees me make some mistakes – he comes over when he gets a chance and lets me know, ‘Fix this, fix that.’ I have sometimes run certain routes and he’s like, ‘If you do this, the defensive back will do this, and then you can do that.’

“I went and used it and it worked right away.”

At the other spot is Benny Ward, a senior who has caught three passes, all last season. He has been the beneficiary of Anderson’s injury, as the sophomore, who caught 12 passes for 372 yards – a 31-yard-per-catch average – and two touchdowns, was penciled in as the starter.

The reserves: Blackledge and Anderson will, if nothing else, add depth when they return. Until then, a couple of freshmen, 6-foot-4 Jared Karstetter from Spokane, and 5-9 Kevin Norrell, have stepped up. Both should play this season.

“They’re doing a good job filling in,” Willis said of the freshmen. “We’ve got a lot of guys banged up. … It’s only been a week and (Norrell’s) been picking it up pretty fast. Coach likes his stature. He’s vertically challenged and what not, but he uses that to his advantage.”

The outlook: Even without the injuries, other than Gibson, the entire Cougars receiving corps enters the season with 16 career receptions.

“You try to move through spring football and we were babies then,” Levenseller said before mentioning the injuries. “Now we’re back to (where we were in) spring ball, where we have a lot of guys who haven’t played.

“We’re trying to run an offense that, well, you have to have some thinkers in there, and (guys who have gone through) core repetition. And we have a lot of guys who haven’t had that.”

Willis understands, but he’s looking beyond that. What happened in the past doesn’t matter. All that’s important is the next game – and the next play.

“The main goal is just making plays,” he said. “There’s no such thing as a bad ball. If it’s in the air in your vicinity, you should catch it. If it’s with your hands, great, but sometimes you might have to catch it with your body. It’s still a reception.

“As a corps, we just want to make plays.”