BTI's Rants and Ramblings: For the Love of God Can We Get Some Wide Receivers?

Was anyone else concerned by Liam Coen's comments about the wide receivers?  Whether or not you are or whether or not you believe anything coaches say at this point in the offseason, the fanbase should certainly be in unanimous agreement that the unit that has underwhelmed most consistently under Mark Stoops has been the wide receiving core.  Despite having a couple great talents in Dorian Baker, Juice Johnson, and Lynn Bowden, the passing attack has really never been a factor under Stoops.  Now they have compensated with a few amazing rushing seasons and improvement from the defense but it would be nice to see the wideouts perform at an elite SEC level just once. Just how big has the gap in production been between our wideouts since 2015 and the rest of the league?  I broke it down in 3 major categories: receptions, receiving yards, and touchdowns.  And used some fairly average parameters for a good receiving season.  Just how many total in each category have the 14 SEC schools accomplished in the last 8 seasons: Over 50 receptions in a season Texas A&M: 14 Alabama: 11 Ole Miss: 9 South Carolina: 8 Missouri: 7 Vanderbilt: 7 LSU: 5 Mississippi St: 5 Arkansas: 4 Auburn: 4 Florida: 4 Tennessee: 3 Kentucky: 3 (Dorian Baker 2015, Lynn Bowden 2018, Josh Ali 2020) Georgia: 1 Over 600 yards in a season (average of 50 yards per game in a 12-game season) Alabama: 18 Ole Miss: 17 Texas A&M: 15 LSU: 11 Missouri: 11 South Carolina: 11 Auburn: 10 Florida: 7 Georgia: 7 Mississippi St.: 7 Vanderbilt: 7 Arkansas: 6 Tennessee: 4 Kentucky: 4 (Juice Johnson 2015, Dorian Baker 2015, Jeff Badet 2016, Lynn Bowden 2018) 5 or more TD receptions in a season Alabama: 21 Texas A&M: 20 Ole Miss: 19 Georgia: 14 Missouri: 14 Florida: 11 LSU: 11 Mississippi St.: 10 Arkansas: 9 South Carolina: 9 Auburn: 7 Vanderbilt: 7 Tennessee: 6 Kentucky: 3 (Javess Blue 2014, Juice Johnson 2016, Lynn Bowden 2018) So that would be 2nd to last, dead last, and dead last in those 3 categories.  Not only have UK's wide receivers not performed consistently over the last 8 years, they really haven't even had a fluke great year in there.  Some of that was the offense, no doubt.  UK just didn't throw the ball as much as many of the other SEC schools.  But when Vanderbilt can find a way to have 7 guys catch 5 or more touchdowns in a season, Kentucky needs to be able to match that. Want Kentucky to take the next step?  My eyes look squarely at the wide receivers in 2021.