UNM position preview: As injuries mount, Lobos leaning on freshmen and veteran receivers

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Wide receivers

If fall camp is expected to provide a clear picture of each position, no outlook has been more muddled than that of New Mexico’s receivers.

Three expected contributors — de facto WR1 Keagan Johnson, Kader Diop and Isaiah Blair — have been sidelined for the majority of camp with injuries. Johnson is slowly ramping back into practice activities, but Diop and Blair still remain sidelined. It is unclear when they might return.

Of course, that’s all on top of the questions the room already had. UNM returns only nine catches from last season, eight courtesy of former reserve Michael Buckley. And over half the room is composed of unproven — if talented — underclassmen.

How does a position coach manage that?

“(Head coach) Dan Lanning, (when I) coached at Oregon, (he) always used to say, ‘if you’re old enough, you’re good enough,’” New Mexico wide receivers coach Colin Lockett said last week. “And what he pretty much means by that is, if you’re able to put on a helmet, shoulder pads, and you’re eligible to go out there and play, you’re good enough to go out there and play.

“It doesn’t matter if they have the experience or not … you’re good enough to go out there and play football. And that’s the confidence I try to instill in them every single day.”

In other words: roll with what you got. And despite injuries and inexperience, there might be more to UNM’s receivers than what initially meets the eye, especially among the underclassmen.

Namely, Zhaiel Smith. The 6-foot, 184-pound freshman from Portland, Oregon has vaulted himself into a starting role after a strong camp, one that’s seen him flash as a scoring threat down the field and out of the backfield.

“We had him on our development field for maybe a practice or two,” Lockett said, “and then it was like, ‘hey, you need to be on this (veteran) field.’ Because he was showing that he knew the plays, he knew how to execute, and he was making the play.”

The inexperience isn’t limited to just freshmen. While juniors Shawn Miller and Buckley aren’t new to the program, neither has recorded 10 or more catches in a season. The former only has one career catch to his name.

But both appear set for their biggest roles yet, with Buckley making an impact with his consistency throughout camp. Lockett said both have been leaders in the room befitting their “maturity level,” both on and off the field.

“Understanding how to attack the meeting room is important for those guys because you want football to slow down as you get older,” he added. “Those guys are (doing) a great (job) as leaders in that room, (taking) it from the meeting room and to the field, and then going out there and holding the standard of the wideout room.”

When healthy, Johnson will have perhaps the most pronounced role of any receiver. The 6-0, 199-pound Kansas State transfer has 73 career catches for 949 yards and five touchdowns across five seasons with the Wildcats and Iowa.

Head coach Jason Eck previously said he’s optimistic Johnson will be available for the season opener at Michigan.

“We’re gonna expect him to make plays and be out there for the majority of the time,” Lockett said of Johnson. “But at the end of the day, we’re expecting all skill positions to be able to make the play, whether it’s the running back or the tight end or the receiver.”