STATE OF THE U: WR depth chart analysis

Ahmmon Richards (934 yards as a freshman, 439 in an injury-marred 2017) is one of the nation’s best when healthy … and after sitting out this spring he’ll be back at full strength for the start of fall drills. He set a Miami freshman record for receiving yards two years ago and there's no reason he won't be an improved version now that he's back off injury. Mark Richt said recently that he can't imagine Richards not having a 1,000-yard season if he remains healthy this time around.

Jeff Thomas flashed his game-breaking ability with big gains last season and should make a big step up in Year 2 - he had 374 yards including a 78-yard TD last season. He came in as a consensus four-star prospect and wound up starting four games. His 22.0 yard-per-catch average led the Canes and is a sign of things to come, and he'll pick up a lot of the lost yardage with Braxton Berrios' departure.

Together Thomas and Richards should be one of the most explosive duos in the ACC if not the nation.

Then there’s guys like Lawrence Cager (237 yards) and Darrell Langham (209 yards, including the game-saving catches vs. FSU and Georgia Tech). Neither is a star, but both can make plays and are big, physical receivers who can present mismatches in certain games.

Cager saw action in 10 games with five starts last year but had just 16 catches; he'll have to hold off talented freshmen to get starts this season. The former highly regarded recruit's progress was hampered by knee surgery two seasons ago, and we'll see if he can finally round into form and live up to his potential this fall.

Langham? He is a guy many thought should have either transferred or moved to tight end in prior years ... heading into last season he was a scout team guy as a true freshman, redshirt freshman and redshirt sophomore. A criticism was his lack of speed, and that he didn't play as big as his 6-4, 220-pound frame. He figured that out to some extent last season and made the most of his chances. But because he's not the fastest guy and isn't as consistent as some others, he may have an uphill climb getting more reps this season. Recall that if it wasn't for Richards' injury last year, fans would likely not even be mentioning Langham's name - the banged up Richards being on the sidelines gave Langham his reps.

What really makes this position exciting is the addition of newcomers like Brian Hightower (highly touted recruit who had 100 yards and 2 TDs in spring game) and Dee Wiggins plus the newly arrived Mark Pope (5-star) and Marquez Ezzard (4-star).

Hightower was rated as a consensus four-star recruit and he was ranked as the 36th wide receiver in the nation by Rivals.com. As a senior at IMG, he led team with 35 catches for 445 yards and five touchdowns (as a sophomore at Calabasas High School in California in 2015 he caught 71 passes for 1,344 yards and 14 touchdowns. His offer list included Alabama, Clemson, USC, Florida State, and Georgia. As you could see from his spring performance at UM he has a great combination of size and athleticism.

Ezzard? Like Hightower he was a consensus four-star prospect, and he was rated the 44th wide receiver and 31st player in Georgia by Rivals.com. In his high school career he had 175 catches for 3,302 yards and 38 touchdowns. That included catching 46 passes for 1,023 yards and 13 touchdowns as a senior ... and his other offers included Florida State, Alabama, Auburn, Florida and Oregon.

Pope is one to watch closely through fall camp and early in the season. He has dynamic skills, and if he can pick up the offense quickly it will be impossible to keep him out of game plans because of what he can bring to the table. Pope enters UM as a consensus five-star prospect who was rated the nation's No. 5 wide receiver, No. 9 prospect in Florida and No. 28 recruit nationally by Rivals.com. He totaled over 1,000 yards receiving and 12 touchdowns throughout his prep career. His offers included Alabama, Georgia and LSU. His game-breaking speed will be a huge asset.

Wiggins was on campus this spring but faces a learning curve, Rivals rated him a 3-star, and he was listed as the No. 65 player at his position. He scored four touchdowns and had nearly 300 yards receiving over the final two seasons of his prep career, so he hasn't put up huge numbers. But he has a ton of upside, which was evident from an offer list that included Georgia, Alabama and Florida.

A holdover is Mike Harley (great downfield blocker but has to get better separation on routes) whom the coaches love in many ways but might just not have a place because of the great skill around him. The former four-star recruit saw action in 11 games with five starts but had just 91 yards, and with so many other options it'll be interesting to see where he might fit in.

Don’t sleep on redshirt freshman Evidence Njoku, either. David's younger brother very much looked the part before going down with injury last fall and could round back into form this fall camp. He has the size and athleticism to present a mismatch with pretty much any cornerback, and his three-star ranking out of high school belies his ability level.

This is what a perennial championship team should start to look like at almost every position.

And the truth is that receiver has been a strong spot for a while - in five of the last eight years the Canes had a wide receiver go in the NFL Draft, most recently Braxton Berrios.

Will Berrios be missed?

Sure.

But there’s more than enough talent here.

The challenge for Mark Richt is going to be finding ways to get all of his talented guys involved in the offense. The new redshirt rules that allow players to participate in four games and still be redshirted could come in handy with the young guys. There might be a good opportunity here to redshirt Wiggins and Ezzard, for example, and maintain depth for future seasons.