James Madison Football Position Preview: Wide Receiver

By NOAH FLEISCHMAN
Daily News-Record
Jul 19, 2023 Updated 59 min ago
When James Madison hits the field for its season-opener against Bucknell on Sept. 2 at Bridgeforth Stadium, it might take some fans in the stands a few drives to get used to who’s catching passes for the purple and gold.
After a trio of senior wide receivers ran out of eligibility after the fall, head coach Curt Cignetti reloaded his room of route runners with a mix of proven players from the transfer portal and true freshmen.
With a new-look receiving corps, JMU’s offensive personnel will look different on Saturdays in the fall, but it’s expected to look the same scheme-wise as the Dukes found success with their potent attack last fall.
Position Outlook
Departing Players: Kris Thornton (graduation), Terrance Greene Jr. (graduation), Devin Ravenel (graduation), Anthony Johnson (transferred to Stony Brook), Marion Haley (transferred to Shepard), Maxwell James (transferred to Lackawanna College), Holt Egan.
Returning Players: Reggie Brown (redshirt senior), Prophett Harris (redshirt junior), Shea Jeffers (redshirt junior), Payton Hunter (redshirt junior), Desmond Green (redshirt sophomore), Blake Barnes (redshirt sophomore), Troy Lewis (redshirt sophomore), Jayden Mines (redshirt freshman), Erick Harris (redshirt freshman).
Additions: Phoenix Sproles (North Dakota State transfer, redshirt senior), Omarion Dollison (South Florida transfer, junior), Taji Hudson (East Carolina transfer, redshirt sophomore), Elijah Sarratt (St. Francis transfer, sophomore), Maxwell Moss (freshman), Yamir Knight (freshman), Chris Lofton (freshman), Rykin Maxwell (freshman), Ibrahim Barry (freshman).
What We Know
After the three seniors departed at the end of last fall, JMU only had two players on the roster that had recorded a catch in a Dukes uniform: Reggie Brown and Peyton Hunter.
Brown logged 24 receptions for 401 yards and four touchdowns last fall to increase his career numbers to 40 catches with 632 yards and seven scores, while Hunter recorded one reception for 14 yards against Norfolk State.
But for a team that finished at the top of the Sun Belt Conference East Division standings last fall, quality depth would be needed to replace the output of Greene, Thornton, and Ravenel.
Enter the transfer portal.
Cignetti nabbed four transfer wide receivers, three of whom have played consistent snaps on offense, to rebuild the wide receivers room.
Elijah Sarratt was an FCS Freshman All-American at St. Francis (Pa.) last fall with 700 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns, while North Dakota State’s Phoenix Sproles and South Florida’s Omarion Dollison solidified themselves as collegiate wideouts at their previous stops.
Sproles, a speedster with the Bison, caught 61 passes for 888 yards and five touchdowns in five seasons in Fargo, N.D., while he also racked up 125 rushing yards and two scores on the ground. Dollison, who played with JMU quarterback Jordan McCloud for one season at USF, has totaled 55 catches with 639 yards and one touchdown in his three-year college career.
JMU also added ECU transfer Taji Hudson, a special teams standout with the Pirates and logged his first catch against Coastal Carolina in the Birmingham Bowl last fall.
In addition to this year’s transfer portal additions, the Dukes liked what they saw from Troy Lewis, who transferred in from ECU before last season. In spring practice, he worked his way into the first-string group and recorded two catches for 31 yards in the Dukes’ spring game.
“He was feeling his way in the fall,” coach Curt Cignetti said of Lewis in April. “He probably started the spring third or fourth on the depth chart and today he went with the ones because he’s consistently been making plays.”
What We Don’t
How will the Dukes’ freshmen work into the equation this season?
JMU signed four wide receivers in its 2023 recruiting class, including three-star wideouts Ibrahim Barry, Maxwell Moss, and Yamir Knight.
Barry stands at 6-foot-5 and is the tallest wide receiver on JMU’s 2023 squad. He committed to the Dukes over Syracuse and West Virginia, among others. Moss recorded 72 receptions for 1,415 yards and 21 touchdowns in his senior season at Archbishop Spalding High School.
Knight, whose older brother, Wayne, is a sophomore on the team, was named the 2022 Delaware Gatorade Player of the Year after he logged 871 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns, while he recorded another 793 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns on the ground.
Though JMU brought in highly-touted freshmen, it might be a season before they hit the field with the offense for consistent snaps with the depth of veteran wide receivers the Dukes signed from the transfer portal.
While that may be the case, all four of JMU’s freshman wide receivers could find themselves on special teams this fall to increase the Dukes’ depth on return teams. A year ago, JMU struggled with special teams depth at times when injuries started to pile up in the middle of the season.
That shouldn’t be the case this fall, with the Dukes ramped up to the FBS scholarship maximum of 85.
The ‘X’ Factor
Reggie Brown is set to be JMU’s top wide receiver this fall, but he looks ready for the opportunity.
Being the longest-tenured wide receiver at JMU, Brown has taken a leadership role within the Dukes’ position group to fill the shoes that Thornton and Ravenel left last fall.
While he’s taken the veteran role off the field with the newer wideouts, Brown can also be the Dukes’ go-to option on offense.
After he broke into the offense during the 2021 season — 14 receptions for 219 yards and three touchdowns — Brown’s presence was felt rather quickly last fall. In JMU’s season-opener against Middle Tennessee, Brown caught five passes for 78 yards and two touchdowns to set the tone for the rest of the fall.
The Lakeland, Fla., native recorded 24 catches last fall for 401 yards and four scores as he played in eight of JMU’s 11 games. He missed three games with a hand injury he sustained early on against Louisville but returned for the Dukes’ season finale against Coastal Carolina and didn’t disappoint.
In his final game with Todd Centeio at quarterback, Brown recorded two receptions for 55 yards and a touchdown.
After he finished last fall on a high note, Brown doesn’t consider being the go-to receiver a tall task. Instead, he welcomes it.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a challenge, but it’s something I’ve always thought about — being the man,” Brown said during spring practice in April. “I feel like I’m ready for it.”