Position Breakdown: Army Receivers

Unlike the fullback or slotback position, the Army Black Knights are not losing a single contributing receiver from the 2018 season. Seeing as QB Kelvin Hopkins has established himself as a credible passer, having an experienced receiving corps will only benefit Army as they seek to keep opposing defenses guessing. Let’s take a look at Army’s receivers.

Wide Receivers

Army’s Spring Roster featured 11 names at wide receiver. Of those 11, four receivers ended up on the stat sheet in 2018 - Christian Hayes, Camden Harrison, Glen Coates, and Kjetil Cline. Hayes, Coates, and Cline are rising seniors, while Harrison will be a junior. The Black Knights’ receivers put up decent numbers last year for a team that boasts a formidable running attack.

Out of Army’s receivers, Cline was the only one who didn’t post over 100 receiving yards. Hayes led the way with 152 yards on 7 receptions, Harrison posted 129 yards on 4 catches, while Coates hauled in 8 passes for 121 yards. Hayes and Harrison were responsible for two out of Army’s six receiving touchdowns.

Look for several other wideouts to be in the mix as well, including sophomore Kevin Hamilton and senior Chris Gregg, who both made the two-deep coming out of spring practice.

As was mentioned in Army’s running back position breakdown, Army’s slotbacks play a big role in the passing attack. In fact, perhaps the biggest loss in the receiving game from last year will be Jordan Asberry. He led the team in receptions, receiving yards, and touchdowns last year. Returning slotback Kell Walker amassed 170 yards on 11 receptions and a touchdown to go along with his 300+ rushing yards. Expect Walker and Army’s other slotbacks to be big factors in Army’s passing game this season, and for Walker to continue to pick up where Asberry left off!

Tight Ends

While Army does have five tight ends listed on their roster, and reserve a space for them on the depth chart as well, they are used very infrequently in the passing game. They are brought in to serve as basically a sixth offensive lineman at times, but they rarely fill up the stat sheet. In fact, last year, there was only one reception by a tight end for the Black Knights, a 14 yard catch by Quinten Parker against Eastern Michigan.

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However, given Hopkins’ throwing ability and Army’s relatively experienced receiving corps, perhaps Monken and company might throw in some different looks which might feature a tight end and lead to more opportunities in 2019.

Senior Zach Saum and sophomore Chris Cameron are listed at the top two positions for tight ends on the depth chart.

Regardless, Kelvin Hopkins will have no shortage of receiving targets going into the 2019 season, and that should make Army fans very excited. Only 51 days until Army beats Rice!