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2006 BP Awards: The Boston-Carter (Best Receiver)

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LordJeffBuck

LordJeffBuck

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BP Recruiting Team
Over the past two decades, Ohio State has produced a number of great receivers, but two of the best very were Cris Carter and David Boston, and we have named our Best Receiver Award for them. The recipient of the 2006 Boston-Carter Trophy is Georgia Tech's Calvin Johnson, who caught 67 passes for 1,016 yards and 13 tocuhdowns in an offense not generally regarded as a proficient aerial attack. Props to Calvin for being named the nation's best receiver by the members of BuckeyePlanet!

The top finishers are set forth below, with number of first place votes in parentheses:

Calvin Johnson (Georgia Tech) - 201 (23)
Dwayne Jarrett (Southern Cal) - 101 (7)
Ted Ginn, Jr. (Ohio State) - 94 (1)
Robert Meachem (Tennessee) - 79 (2)
Anthony Gonzalez (Ohio State) - 70
Mario Manningham (Michigan) - 67 (1)
Jeff Samardzija (Notre Dame) - 58 (1)
Jarret Dillard (Rice) - 42 (3)
Steve Smith (Southern Cal) - 24
Johnnie Lee HIggins (UTEP) - 22 (2)
DeSean Jackson (Cal) - 15
Limas Sweed (Texas) - 10
Adarius Bowman (Oklahoma State) - 8
Rhema McKnight (Notre Dame) - 5


Last year's results
 
I am going to get crucified for this but here it goes...

This was the one award I was anxious to see how people voted, and I am not surprised. First off, Ginn was not one of the 3 best WRs in the country this year. He is a great WR, but he is not that good when it comes to the criteria used to determine these awards...some serious homerism by the BP voters there. But for Dillard to finish 8th in our voting doesn't surprise me but I think it is a travesty...start with watching some film of the kid and then look at the numbers he put up this year: 82 catches (7th nationally) for 1,176 yards (7th) and 20 TDs (1st and it isn't even close...Rhema McKnight was 2nd with 15 TDs). He had 4 TDs in their first four games (0-4) and 16 TDs in their last 8 games (7-1). Without him, they are not playing in the New Orleans Bowl. I think he an Meachem were arguably 1 and 1A. Johnson was an easy pick for BP and for the Blitnekoff people because of the total body of work, but his numbers this year weren't that spectacular (and neither were Ginn's), but Dillard should have gotten a lot more pub nationally.

Here are the stats for some of our finalists:

Dillard (Rice): 82 catches 1,176 yards 20 TDs 98.0 yards/game
Ginn (OSU): 59 catches 781 yards 9 TDs 65.1 yards/game
Johnson (GT): 67 catches 1,016 yards 13 TDs 78.2 yards/game
Meachem (UT): 67 catches 1,265 yards 11 TDs 105.4 yards/game
McKnight (ND): 64 catches 885 yards 15 TDs 73.8 yards/game
Higgins (UTEP): 82 catches 1,319 yards 13 TDs 109.9 yards/game
Manningham (UM): 32 catches 624 yards 9 TDs 78.0 yards/game
Jarrett (USC): 59 catches 810 yards 10 TDs 73.6 yards/game
 
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I don't think level of competition plays a whole lot into these awards...as long as you are playing D1 everyone is on the same playing field. Is that the way it should be? Of course not. Maybe all of the BP voters took that into account and I am an idiot. I just think it is tough to ignore a kid who had 20 TDs on the season. Let's face it, Johnson had this award wrapped up the moment this season started. Career work means a lot in these awards (see Mike Hass in 2005). And small school players are rarely overlooked because of their schedule: look at 1996-1998...you had Maurice Harris of Wyoming in 1996, Randy Moss in 1997 and Troy Edwards of Louisiana Tech in 1998. Those guys won the award solely because of the numbers they put up.

That explains Higgins and Dillard...but Meachem put up his numbers in the ACC. Third in the country in yards/game behind Higgins and Chris Williams of New Mexico State.
 
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Bucky Katt;682692; said:
Agreed on Dillard and Meachem. I had them 2nd and 3rd (behind Calvin Johnson), not that I remembered to send my ballot. :!
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I also had Johnson, Dillard, and Meachem 1-2-3. But just to be different, I sent mine in. :wink2:

A note on Dillard:

He has logged a TD reception in each of the Owls' 12 games, matching an NCAA record shared by Larry Fitzgerald and Randy Moss. His string of 14-straight games with a TD catch, dating to the end of last season, is the second-longest in NCAA history.

That's good company. And his streak is still active, so he's got a good chance to break Fitzgerald's record of 18.
 
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Dillard and Higgins both play in passer friendly offenses, and are both in C-USA.

Pass Efficiency Defensive Ranks in C-USA:

Tulsa #26
Southern Miss #28
East Carolina #41
Houston #60
SMU #80
UTEP #84
Marshall #92
UCF #97
UAB #103
Tulane #105
Rice #109
Memphis #116

Two-thirds of the league is worse than 70% of all D1A programs at defending the pass. Color me unimpressed at receivers posting PlayStation-like numbers.

EDIT: Doesn't mean they're not good receivers, or won't be successful at the next level. Just means, IMHO, there are other receivers who have proved just as much against better competition.
 
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Do you think Randy Moss and Troy Edwards were worthy of the award? Those guys played against inferior competition as well. Luke Staley won the Doak Walker in 2001 solely because he lead the nation in scoring. Same with Byron Hanspard in 1996. Tyrone Carter from Minnesota pretty much won the 1999 Thorpe because of the career tackle numbers he put up. Point is, many times these awards are based on numbers more than anything else. 20 TDs for a season? Color me impressed.
 
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Okinawa's#1Buck;682747; said:
I like the honest, unbiased opinions. I thought DJ's second place finish was and uneducated selection by the BP voters.
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All name recognition...where was he in their tight games this year? Where were his signature moments, like last year against ND? There were none...Smith was every bit as valuable to USC this year as Jarrett was.
 
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wadc45;682752; said:
All name recognition...where was he in their tight games this year? Where were his signature moments, like last year against ND? There were none...Smith was every bit as valuable to USC this year as Jarrett was.
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I'm guilty of over-looking Dillard. Meachem I left out because the games I saw, he didn't impress me. He seemed more like a product of the system from the games I got to see Tenn. (FL and Ark)
But at least I kind-of got Jarret and Ginn somewhat right. I voted Jarret 5, Ginn 6 -- mostly just to finish my ballot. I was much more impressed with Steve Smith and Gonzalez. I feel kind of bad though that I completely glazed over Dillard.
 
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There is no right or wrong 23, but this is good discussion. I feel like a lot of people missed Dillard. But I agree with where you had Ginn and Jarrett ranked.
 
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Confession Time:

I didn't think of this before I sent in my ballot; but I should have looked up who the highest rated DB was that each receiver went against (and vice versa for the Assassin Award) and see how they performed against the best.

I definitely would have moved Jarrett down. I was probably swayed by his highlight reel moments, which I now realize didn't happen when his team needed them most. I might have moved Ted Ginn Jr. up, as he took the Thorpe Award winner on a tour of DKR.
 
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