Is the best big receiver in America playing for Vanderbilt? Yes.
Looking for reasons to explain last year’s late season surge by Vanderbilt, and it might take a while to land on Caleb Scott.
That’s the conclusion of Bill Connelly of SB Nation, who took an analytical approach to finding the best receivers in America. Connelly ranked Scott No. 1 in his “best basic receivers (large)” category.
Connelly noted that Scott made 18 of his 24 catches in Vanderbilt’s final five games, including four catches for 117 yards in the upset over Tennessee. While his 24 catches and 466 yards were fourth on the team, he was only targeted 36 times, or less than three per game.
Since he’s not even the most well-known receiver on his own team, Scott is more likely to be seen as a secret weapon than mentioned in the same breath as Christian Kirk or Calvin Ridley, widely described among the best SEC receivers in 2017.
Wrote Connelly:
“Not going to lie: I didn’t expect a Vandy receiver to top one of these lists, but here’s what the 6-2, 202-pound junior produced last year: 24 catches with a 67 percent catch rate, 19.4 yards per catch, and a 67 percent success rate. He was the primary reason for Vandy’s late-season offensive improvement — 18 of his 24 catches came in VU’s last five games. He had four catches for 117 yards against Tennessee.”
Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports
As the clear big-play receiver on the Vanderbilt roster, Scott was the only Commodore who averaged more than 14 yards per catch, and also had more than 11 yards per target.
Put another way, if Scott had qualified with enough catches last season, his 19 yards per catch would have ranked second in the SEC.
Scott also has a unique place in the memories of SEC fans because he was on the receiving end of the “Sneaky Pete” trick play that helped Vanderbilt beat Kentucky in 2015 in a season when he played in every game. In the trick play, Scott was near the Vanderbilt sideline after a timeout and squatted down. A Kentucky player didn’t pay attention to him until it was too late. He also played in 11 games as a freshman.
He suffered some injuries in 2016, particularly early in the season, but showed plenty of potential in the Tennessee game as a deep threat, when one catch went for 45 yards in the second quarter.
Given the Vanderbilt offense this season, and experience with Trent Sherfield, C.J. Duncan and Ralph Webb, it’ll be interesting to see if Scott’s big-play ability is highlighted more in the Kyle Shurmur-led offense.
SEC receivers were represented on Connelly’s lists of five types of receivers, but they didn’t overwhelm the position.
There weren’t any “best basic receivers” in the small category from the SEC, or the “best possession” category or “Mr. Go Route/Mr. Play Actions,” and just Josh Malone and Josh Reynolds of Tennessee and Texas A&M made the cut in Scott’s category of best basic receivers (large). But Auburn’s Darius Slayton and Ole Miss’ Van Jefferson each made the top 10 among freshmen.
