What has Beatty seen out of the receivers so far?

Taysir and Maurice both have a lot of experience but not a ton of production last year. What do you think their potential is with a healthier share of targets?
Beatty: I think those guys have had a great camp. I think they’ve got unlimited potential. I think they can be as good as any group in the conference. We’ve just got to get better at the small details, the route-running and things of that nature. They’ve been really listening to what we’re trying to get coached and where we’re trying to get done, so I’m really happy with where they are. I think they’ve got a chance to be really good.

Are they setting good examples for the younger guys on details, route-running, those kinds of things?
Beatty: They’ve been outstanding. Aaron Mathews as well, Tre Tipton - all of those guys have been great. They’ve accepted me, they’ve accepted the way I coach, the way we’re trying to do things, the changes in Coach Whipple’s offense, they’ve been really receptive to that. They just want to get better every day. They want to be a part of helping us win instead of feeling like they’re watching us win. I’ve been really happy with him.

You mentioned Aaron. He’s a guy who seems like he hasn’t been able to find a role. What do you think an ideal role would be for him?
Beatty: He’s a big guy so we use him in various different ways. Inside, outside, tighter alignments - he’s one of those guys, really smart, really perceptive, whatever you teach him in the classroom, it goes over to the field. I think he’s one of the guys we can use in multiple spots because of his size and his length. And his knowledge puts him in position to be able to know what to do.

Tre has had some injury issues. What has he shown you?
Beatty: He’s been awesome. Really detailed in his work, really great attitude, he plays like a vet, he’s smart, he’s been coached - you know, Coach Sherman did a nice job with those guys before I got here, so it’s just trying to take them up another level hopefully. I think he’s done an outstanding job being a leader for the younger guys. He’s been good all the way around.

There’s a large group of younger guys there - Dontavius, Michael Smith, Shocky. What have you seen out of those guys?
Beatty: A lot of potential. I really like Dontavius. He does a lot of things. He’s a big, strong, physical guy with really strong hands and he’s a gym rat. He’s always around, watching film, doing those things, so I’m really happy with him. I think Shocky’s got great speed. Michael’s got great size. So they’re all trying to learn, trying to get better at their craft. All of those guys have had their moments; now we just have to get them consistent to where they’re doing that on a consistent basis, as opposed to every other day or every third day.

Do you feel like you have a good mix of guys who can do different things?
Beatty: I do. I think you don’t want to be a bunch of one thing. I’ve been that in my past. You want to have different ranges. Nowadays, it’s a jump ball; that’s what people do nowadays. So you want to have some size to be able to go after those jump balls and then have some variety to be able to have change of pace and different personnel groupings to put people on their heels. I like the way we are. We have a nice blend of big guys and then quicker guys and we really don’t have many small guys. I’ve always been taught, big guys beat little guys, so we’ve got our share of those. I’m happy with the way the roster’s been constructed.

Taysir and Maurice both had a few moments last year when they won downfield one-on-one battles. Do you think that’s a part of their game that can be developed even further? Can they do that more regularly?
Beatty: Without a doubt. The offense also - that plays into what we’re trying to do offensively. Down the field, you want to be able to stretch the defense horizontally and vertically, so those guys give us a chance to. Taysir’s had a great camp. He’s really paid great attention and he’s been healthy, which has been kind of a knock on him. And Maurice is the same way. He’s 10.6 100, 10.5 100, so he’s one of the guys who can take a top off a defense. So those guys have to give us that area of the field.