Mitchell Herbert, Jayshawn Gates and Justin Paige all broke into Montana State’s starting lineup as freshmen during a season in which the Bobcats scored more points than any team in school history.
All three contributed to the top scoring offense in the Big Sky Conference as sophomores last fall. Yet outside Herbert — a 6-foot-4, 205-pounder who earned third-team All-Big Sky honors last season — the rest of Montana State’s wide receivers remain in a heated battle for spots in the rotation.
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“The last couple of spots will be very interesting,” Choate said. “When we get to the Sac State game (MSU’s road conference opener) and we have to cut down to 58 (roster spots) for travel, there’s going to be some very tough decisions there.”
Gates served as MSU’s speed threat out of the slot last season, backing up bubble-screen extraordinaire Mitch Griebel. The 5-foot-8, 158-pounder averaged 14.4 yards per touch on 23 chances, scoring three total touchdowns. But third-year sophomore John D’Agostino, a walk-on out of Bozeman High, earned the No. 1 spot on the depth chart at the position coming out of spring drills. And Kevin Kassis, a true freshman from El Dorado, CA who offensive coordinator Courtney Messingham calls “sudden”, has shown his talent as a standout thus far in MSU’s fall camp.
Herbert, who caught eight touchdowns last season, seems entrenched at the “X” position. The “Z” position is an intense battle between Paige, one of the league’s most explosive big-play threats and Cam Sutton, a 6-foot-6, 190-pound redshirt freshman who could present one of the most daunting matchups in the league if he can find the mentality to match his physical gifts.
Add in senior Brandon Brown — a former Baylor transfer who Choate openly praised earlier this week — and Will Krolick, a steady senior who traveled a season ago and Keon Stephens, a slithery raw yet talented redshirt freshman and the competition to get on the bus is one of the most contested of MSU’s fall camp.
“That’s a good problem to have,” said first-year wide receiver coach Matt Miller, himself a former standout wide receiver during four years starting at Boise State. “I have a great group of guys and I love all of them. I’m very fortunate to have such a deep group in my first year as a position coach. It’s good to have these tough decisions.”
Choate and Messingham each singled Herbert out as the receiver they expect to be the playmaker and leader of the group.
The Sheldon High (Eugene, Oregon) product is one of Montana State’s most productive returning players. As a true freshman, Herbert burst onto the scene by catching a game-winning touchdown to lift Montana State to a 59-56 win over Sacramento State in a classic shootout. By the end of his rookie year, Herbert had 28 catches, 339 yards and a team-high four touchdowns as MSU scored a school-record 496 points.
Last season, Herbert proved himself as one of the top red-zone threats in the Big Sky. Of his 42 catches (for 562 yards), eight went for touchdowns. Herbert is already in the top 10 all-time with 12 career TD catches; he needs nine more touchdowns to match tie Kelly Davis’ (1983-1986) school record.
“I have to do a better job of moving Herby around a little bit and get him on the field however we can,” Miller said. “Mitch is going to be a doctor so he’s definitely one of our smartest guys. He’s definitely smarter than I am. He can handle it.”
D’Agostino has been one of the breakout players on the Bobcats since Choate and his staff took over. The 6-foot-1, 185-pounder has stayed ahead of Gates, Kassis, Brown and all other players taking reps in the slot because of his ability to find holes in pass coverage and his sure hands.
“He did a great job in the spring and has really continued in the fall,” Messingham said. “As far as understanding where he fits in the offense, not necessarily as an individual but as an offensive player. He’s done a nice job of finding windows to get open, getting open when it is man to man. I’m very happy with what Johnny D has done.”
Back in 2013, D’Agostino was a big-play receiver who finished second in the state with 11 touchdowns on Bozeman High’s Class AA state title team. But he was largely overshadowed on a team that featured Grant Collins, Will Dissly, Will Weyer and Hunter Gappmayer. Collins started for Montana State as a redshirt freshman at middle linebacker and is battling to earn MSU’s starting “Buck” defensive end spot this camp. Dissly is battling to start at tight end at the University of Washington. Weyer was the Class AA Offensive Player of the Year and a quarterback at Montana for two seasons. Gappmayer led Class AA in rushing and is currently at Montana Tech.
D’Agostino walked on to MSU and started to make waves last season.
“I feel like I’ve always had the feeling I can compete at this level,” D’Agostino said. “I knew I needed to work on some things, get stronger, get a little bigger, get a little faster but I’ve always felt like I could compete here.
“It’s just hard work. I always come out here ready to work and to play my ass off.”
Sutton’s story lies on the other side of the spectrum. The towering wide receiver chose Montana State over Montana and a preferred walk-on offer from Washington after a standout career at Norco (California) High. Some thought Sutton might challenge for playing time last season but he ended up redshirting.
“The hardest part was not being able to contribute to my team,” Sutton said. “We didn’t travel but the home games, I sat on the sidelines and cheered on everybody.
“Coach Miller has given me a chance. I think redshirting really humbled me coming in as a big recruit, I expected to play. It humbled me a lot.”
Sutton showed flashes during spring drills and has continued to push Paige thus far in fall camp. The duo has seen their fair share of starter reps thus far.
“He (Sutton) has a little more maturity in the last six, seven months,” Miller said. “He’s getting out of that freshman mindset. He knows he has to contribute this year. He’s put the time and the work in this summer so I’m really proud of him for that. He came to camp ready to go.”
Choate said Sutton struggled academically his first semester at MSU. Then he started “hanging around with Mitch Herbert”, a pre-med major who is one of Montana State’s best students.
“It’s funny how when you roll with that crew, you tend to rise a little bit,” Choate said. “I’m very pleased with his maturity.”
Sutton will have to beat out Paige, perhaps the most singular big-play threat in the Big Sky. The speedster out of Katy, Texas hauled in eight receptions of more than 40 yards as a freshman, averaging 31.7 yards per play on 12 receptions and scoring three touchdowns. Last season, he touchdowns of 40, 43 and 64 yards last season. All told, he hauled in 14 passes for 452 yards, averaging 34.8 yards per catch.
“That’s a kid who has worked as hard as anyone since we got here,” Choate said.
Messingham talked in detail about the physical diversity of his potential pass catching options. He called Sutton and Herbert “BLT – big, long and tall”. Gates is “the short, quick guy who can make it happen.” Krolick and D’Agostino are “explosive, smart and tough.” Stephens “brings both, a guy who isn’t small but is pretty quick twitch.” He calls Brown crafty and praises Kassis for his crisp routes.
“You need to have diversity in body type but diversity only goes so far,” Messingham said. “You can be the best looking guy in the world but if you don’t make plays on Saturday, that doesn’t matter. It’s easy enough to go look at the (New England) Patriots and see their wide outs. You always wonder where that guy is from but he always seems to make a lot of plays, whoever he is. That’s what our guys need to do: make plays when opportunities come to them.”
[/restrict]Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
