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Anderson’s injury means Utah loses a big-play threat

In the game on Saturday night against Arizona State, it was clear the Utes were missing wide receiver Dres Anderson. The offensive captain was ruled out for the rest of the season, and the Utah offense will feel this impact in the remaining games.
The passing game against the Sun Devils was virtually nonexistent for the Utes. Travis Wilson finished 12-for-22 for a very unimpressive 57 yards. Not even Jerry Rice is going to have a good game with a quarterback putting up numbers like that. However, Anderson’s speed and explosiveness would have helped the offense tremendously in this game, and not having him in future games will definitely limit the offense’s effectiveness.
I’m not going to say the Utes would have won if Anderson had played against Arizona State, but I will say his absence was noticeable. With the passing game already struggling, losing the top receiver doesn’t bode well for the offense.
Anderson was the type of player who could test opposing cornerbacks and attract extra attention from defenses. His vertical speed was always a threat. Without Anderson, the team loses a talented leader who is popular both with the players and the fans.
Anderson’s stats weren’t particularly amazing for the year. Before shutting down for the season, the star receiver recorded 22 receptions for 355 yards and four touchdowns.
However, the most important stat I want to highlight is his 16.1 average yards per catch, which clearly illustrates his big-play skillset. The team as a whole is only averaging 11.3 yards per catch, with Anderson having a large influence on that number. Without their top big-play guy on the field, defenses are able to focus on other aspects of their coverage.
One particular focus has been the run game.
That brings me to my next point, which is that Anderson’s absence will be felt more in the running game than it will in the passing game. Even though it sounds backwards, I think the running game is going to be less effective without him. Not having a deep threat like Anderson creates an opportunity for a safety to come down closer in the box and help stop the run. Opposing defenses often have put a safety over the top of Anderson to help cover him. Now those defenses don’t necessarily have to do that.
With more men in the box, Devontae Booker will have less room to run than he has had all season. While he still had a very good game on Saturday with 146 rushing yards, it took a season-high 37 carries to do that. Future opponents are going to see this as an area that can be exposed.
Losing Anderson for the season does make a big difference for the team going forward, especially in the run game. The Utes lost an impact player and a big-play threat. Utah will be tested, and the loss of Anderson might be too much for the Utes to handle.
 
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Utah will survive despite losing Anderson’s talent

Dres Anderson is or, rather, was a big part of the Utah football team. In addition to his on-the-field productivity, he is looked to as the vocal leader of the team. But Utah’s loss to Arizona State last Saturday was not due to Anderson’s absence.
The star receiver does have great potential and possesses great talent. But there are two glaring reasons Anderson has not been a serious factor for the Utes so far this season and why his absence really won’t matter going forward.
Anderson has not been the consistent, big-time wide receiver we all expected him to be. The first two games may have led us to believe so, but the defensive backfield of Idaho State and suffering Fresno State is not much of a test for a Pac-12 wide receiver.
In conference play and against Michigan, Anderson has caught 15 passes for 160 yards and two touchdowns. That makes for a whopping 32 yards per game. On top of that, in the game against Washington State, he had no catches at all but was targeted multiple times.
While some of his catches have made a difference in a couple of games, such as the touchdown pass against UCLA or the grab in the final drive that helped Utah beat USC, Utah’s success in becoming bowl eligible was not because of Anderson’s play.
Utah is where it is thanks to a strong defense, a newfound running game and tremendous plays from the special teams.
The second big reason, Utah’s lack of passing plays, is not entirely Anderson’s fault. Utah’s poor passing attack is due to the quarterback play, and the Utes have now gone to the ground game. The continuity just isn’t there between quarterbacks and wide receivers, and it’s growing tiresome.
Relationships between quarterbacks and receivers are important because they know one another’s tendencies. But even though Wilson has been the one slinging the passes for a large percentage of play, you can tell he has been toned down quite a bit. Wilson has yet to throw an interception this season, but he also has thrown fewer touchdown passes than in previous seasons. He hits the much shorter routes rather than going for the deep ball with Anderson, or anyone else for that matter.
With the emergence of Devontae Booker, Utah has become more of a rushing offense, which has been the most effective way of moving the football. They have not found the right formula to balance running the ball and throwing it because the wide receivers (not just Anderson) have been dropping passes or not making the catches.
While he is not completely responsible, part of this does rest on Anderson’s shoulders. A good wide receiver gets open no matter who is throwing to him. Maybe Utah’s opponents have started adding a safety on top to guard Anderson, but much of the time he has not been open.
Anderson is a great athlete with some potential at the next level. But as far as the rest of the season goes, the Utes won’t miss him all that much.
 
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