The mad passing pirate is still making changes to his wide receiver room in Starkville. After a relatively quiet spring, two Bulldog receivers hit the portal in Geor’quarious Spivey and JoVonta Payton. Mike Leach wasted no time filling an open spot with Jamire Calvin, a former 4-star recruit of his who showed promise in his Air Raid offense.
Jamire Calvin to join crowded WR room
Jamire Calvin enjoyed modest success playing for Mike Leach at Washington State. In two seasons under Mike Leach, Calvin caught 75 passes for 797 yards and 4 touchdowns. Calvin is now a Bulldog, and he will join a very crowded WR room with freshman reinforcements still waiting to join the roster.
Jamire Calvin has the same body type as young Bulldog receivers Lideatrick Griffin and Rufus Harvey. His addition can be looked at as Leach not having confidence in the current receivers or Leach adding a talented player with a history of success in the Air Raid offense. Either way, his addition will impact the WR room in some form or fashion.
The Bulldogs need to have a platoon of receivers to attack the blanket coverage defensive scheme that teams used last year. Adding a player like Calvin that knows the offense will be a help as he can help the younger receivers, but his presence will take away practice and game reps.
I feel like Calvin’s addition is truly a positive one because of his familiarity with the offense and his former recruiting rating. On paper, Mississippi State has one of the deepest WR corps in the SEC.
The question to ask, is can Leach, Nichol, and Spurrier get the most out of the weapons they have assembled?
Calvin is the prototypical slot receiver. After watching some highlight film of Calvin, he is not afraid to go across the middle and has the ability to make the first defender miss. Calvin looks to have great hands as he adjusts well to make difficult catches.
Mike Leach continues to shape the Bulldog offense into a passing machine. I cannot wait to see how Leach attacks defenses next season. Check out a highlight reel of Calvin below.