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Player Spotlight: Desmond Gee
By Jason Roberts | August 26, 2008
In college football today, one thing becomes apparent: the more avenues by which a wideout has the ability to make things happen out on the ball field (run, punt return, direct snaps), the better potential that player has to put up huge numbers.
Perhaps no clearer is this the case than with receivers such as Percy Harvin of the Florida Gators or Jeremy Maclin of Missouri, players who can attack opposing defenses not only downfield as elite pass catchers, but also in the midst of designed plays by team coaching staffs which utilize the respective speed and agility of each receiver on the ground as well, the wideout rushing the ball from a slot position or out of the backfield in the role of a non-traditional tailback.
Fantasy owners know the challenge with such players; generally, they are so few and far between that by the time the majority of fantasy owners get an opportunity to secure them as a draft selection, receivers like Harvin and Maclin are already long gone.
I found one on a lesser-known team in a lesser known conference - Desmond Gee, wide receiver, Middle Tennessee State University Blue Raiders, (above, Icon SMI) member of the Sun Belt Conference.
In his first two years with MTSU, Gee acquired over 2100 all-purpose yards for the team, accumulated through his involvement not only in the Blue Raiders rushing and passing attack, but also as a key component of the program’s special teams unit as well.
In 2006, as a freshman, Gee ran the ball 62 times for 277 yards and added to those numbers 27 receptions for 351 yards, along with eight total trips to the endzone. As a sophomore last year, the 5′8″ and 166 pound tailback ran for a less impressive 162 yards on only 39 carries, but was more involved in the passing game, taking 29 receptions for 382 yards, with four total touchdowns scored in 2007.
Gee’s presence on the field last season became even more pronounced in 2007 as he managed to lead the team in statistical plays taken for 20 yards or better with a total of 26 - a measurement epitomized by Gee in MTSU’s contest against Louisiana-Monroe last November, in which he took four catches for 139 yards and two touchdowns and finished the game with a personal best 203 all-purpose yards gained against the Warhawks.
The combined result of such efforts over the last two seasons - being named to the All-Sun Belt Conference team not once, but twice, in a row as an all-purpose specialist.
Given that Gee led MTSU in overall all-purpose yards last season with 1323, it is a safe bet that 2008 will bring even more opportunity for the young back from Greenville, Florida to make a tremendous impact on the overall offensive game plan for the Blue Raiders in the upcoming fall.
Fantasy owners may be skeptical by the fact that although Gee plays almost equally at wide receiver, he is listed as a co-starter in the backfield with fellow-junior Phillip Tanner — who last year rushed the ball 64 times for 299 yards and four touchdowns. Splitting carries as such, team owners may determine Gee seems limited in terms of what he can do with the ball only because the potential exists for his physical presence on the field to be hindered by the need for Tanner to get touches.
Such reasoning is understandable; however, factor in that Tanner has a propensity to get injured, often leaving Gee as the premier back in the MTSU backfield. Such was a major in 2007, as Gee was named starter on seven separate occasions.
Former senior DeMarco McNair has now graduated, leaving Tanner and Gee the two primary backs. Quarterbacks Dwight Dasher and Joe Craddock both saw a significant amounts of carries in 2007 and will continue in 2008; but with Murray gone, both Gee and Tanner should see a significant increase in their overall number of carries and a corresponding increase in their overall offensive production.
Oh, and one other thing: according to the coaching staff at MTSU, there’s no reason to believe that Gee won’t be fostered into the Blue Raiders offense as a the top option at both running back and wide receiver. In other words, he’s going to get a substantial increase in the proportion of the MTSU offensive gameplan that features Gee as a key component.
With Dwight Dasher back healthy at quarterback, expect the MTSU offense to regain its offensive firepower, with Dasher’s dual-threat capacity continuing to drive an offensive unit that in the six games in which the Blue Raiders quarterback was a starter, saw the team go 5-1 and break the 40-point mark on three separate occasions.
Subsequently, and given the chance to fully engage his talents as a featured player, expect Harvin or Maclin-like numbers for #2 in 2008, but in a conference and playing on team that many would never bother looking for such an athlete.
Topics: College Football, Jason Roberts, Player Spotlight, Preview, Running Back, Series |
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