With the Summer B term just begining, all of the 2013 Florida Gator signees are on campus and are ready to make an impact. With position battles open across the board, the one that will be the most watched is the wide receiver position. Entering the 2013 season, the Gators will only have two of their top six receivers from a year ago and will be relying on freshmen to step up to make an impact.
The Gators signed arguably the top wide receiver class in the country, with outside receivers Ahmad Fulwood, Demarcus Robinson and Marqui Hawkins, to go along with slot wide receivers Alvin Bailey and Chris Thompson.
Bishop Kenny High School (Jacksonville, FL) wide receiver Ahmad Fulwood will be one of the one’s counted on the most this summer. The 6-foot-4, 189 pound Fulwood, who attended “The Opening” and was an Army All-American, is coming off of a slight shoulder injury that he suffered in the final game of the season.
With only 647 receiving yards returning to the Gators for the 2013 season, Fulwood has a chance to have an impact next season.
Gator Country sits down to take a look at the 4-star wide receiver on film.
Fulwood has the prototypical size that Will Muschamp is looking for in his wide receivers – tall with a well-built frame. In Will Muschamp and Brent Pease’s offense, they are looking for tall, strong wide receivers that can run crisp routes, go up for the ball and block around the edges. Fulwood posseses all of those traits. With his frame, Fulwood is tough to tackle and needs to be solidly hit to be brought down. He has great leg strength that allows him to fight through leg tackles and enough upper-body strength to break through arm tackles.
He is not going to be the fastest, or quickest guy on the field, but for his size he has very good speed and is deceptively fast at times. Fulwood carries his weight very well during his route running and moves with ease. He will need to work on his initial acceleration off the line and after making a cut, but that can be improved over a summer.
Fulwood is a good vertical threat and catches the ball well in the air. He is not afraid to go up in the air and grab the ball in traffic. Coupled with his size, Fulwood fights well in the air and is not easily bullied by safeties or cornerbacks.
Fulwood has solid hands. He does a very good job of using his hands to catch the ball and then bring it in, rather than using his body. He catches most things that come his way and has a couple of acrobatic catches in his highlight film.
Fulwood has great vision of the sideline and makes the necessary modifications to continue to stay in bounds when his momentum would otherwise take most out of bounds – a skill you cannot teach very easily.
Fulwood has an opportunity to play next year for the Gators. I am slightly concerned about his lack of initial speed, but I think his size will make up for it. He is a prototypical wide receiver for Will Muschamp and can become a great receiver for the Gators, but it may take a year or two for Fulwood to find his stride in the Southeastern Conference.