CHAPEL HILL, N.C. --- As North Carolina nears the opening of the 2021 season, consistent standouts have emerged at wide receiver while lingering injuries at the position have hampered the development of the group overall.
"We've had more guys out at the wide receiver position... and that has really slowed the progress for those guys," Mack Brown said during a Sunday afternoon press conference.
Sophomore Khafre Brown, senior Beau Corrales, sophomore Tylee Craft, and freshman J.J. Jones have been limited as they are at different levels in their recovery from injuries.
A sports hernia for Corrales required season-ending surgery in December that forced him to miss the Orange Bowl as well as spring practice. UNC’s medical staff has been cautious in bringing him along in training camp. Brown missed the bulk of spring practice due to injury and has been slowly working back as well. Craft and Jones' injuries happened this preseason.
"We've got Khafre, who we feel like is well now and he'll be able to get back in there and go," Brown said. "We've got Beau, who continues to work his way back in... You've got Tylee Craft, who was doing so well, and then he got slowed a little bit with a lower-body injury, but he'll be back in there and ready to go."
Jones, a freshman from South Carolina, has been out during camp with an upper-body injury. "We were really excited about him," Brown said.
Those injuries have painted a clearer picture of the preseason standouts. On Sunday, Brown named four wide receivers that have separated themselves: Josh Downs, Emery Simmons, Antoine Green, and Justin Olson.
“Josh Downs continues to play really well,” Brown said. “He did some great things yesterday, he caught a deep touchdown pass against the ones with Sam. I'm really impressed with him. He competes, he has worked every day. He is a valuable piece of who we are moving forward.
“Then you've got guys like Emery Simmons, who’s taking every snap. He's a warrior. He can run and does everything right. And he's doing a better job of getting separation and getting open. And then probably one of the most improved players is Antoine Green. Really impressed with him. He's got so much ability. He's big. He's pretty catching and running. And we've always just said, ‘Come on man, give us some production here,’ and he's never been very confident. And I'm just seeing that confidence grow. I like what I see out of those three.”
Green said that his speed is back after recovering from his injury. A renewed confidence and a focus on the mental side of the game has helped him emerge.
>>> UNC's Antoine Green Playing With 'Totally Different Mindset' <<<
The newer name is Olson, a 6-foot-2, 200-pound redshirt sophomore wide receiver from Huntersville. N.C., who has had a breakout preseason camp in 2021.
“Justin Olson has a unique knack to catch the deep ball,” Brown said. “We're looking at him at both as the slot and the outside guy. So he's playing a lot of different places. He's another one that hadn't had a snap off at all. In fact, those four guys have been the guys that have taken every snap and they've got to be exhausted. We've had to slow down a little bit in some of their drills just to let them rest some.”
Olson's ability to make plays on deep routes and fill a role both on the outside and inside at the slot has stood out to the staff.
"I like to take the top off (of a defense). If you can take the top off and go deep, then they have to respect that, which makes other routes easier, like the curls. I try and make every route look the same," Olson said last Tuesday.
Olson said it has been a slow process and a lot of hard work to get where he is now. "I feel like I have been chopping at the tree. It started last fall, just knocking at it... I just had to wait my turn and keep learning," Olson said. "I feel like I get better over time. My freshman year I was on practice squad, so every day I was practicing against Storm Duck and Trey Morrison, who was a cornerback then. Last year I was watching Dyami (Brown). You can't not get better watching Dyami and Beau play."
Brown also mentioned Stephen Gosnell, who had two touchdown catches in Saturday's scrimmage.
"Those four (Downs, Simmons, Green, Olson) would be the four," Brown said. "Khafre is the fastest guy we've got. We need him back and we need him on the field and we need him playing. And then you just hope that the young ones continue to grow.
"There are enough bodies there. We've just got to get them healthy."
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