Salas knows offense inside out
By Stephen Tsai
HawaiiWarriorBeat.com Editor
How good is University of Hawai'i receiver Greg Salas?
Good enough to be listed as the co-starter at both slotback positions. The Warriors yesterday released their offensive depth chart.
Thing is, Salas, who will be a fourth-year junior, had not played slotback until this past spring. He was the starting left wideout last season.
But UH coach Greg McMackin said he is confident Salas will make an easy transition.
"You look at the great receivers, the receivers who are tall and quick, like (Terrell Owens), and they're tough to defend," McMackin said. "I'm not comparing Greg to those guys. But we think he's one of our best receivers, and we can do a lot of things with him."
At 6 feet 1 and 200 pounds, Salas has a size advantage against nickelbacks. He also is fast enough to cause matchup problems for linebackers.
"People can't just line up a defender against him and take him out of the game," McMackin said. "He gives us a lot of options. He can line up as a slot at either side. We can line him up outside and throw to him there, or we can line him up outside and motion him to the inside. He's quick, he can run, he has great hands and he's tough to defend."
McMackin said moving Salas to the inside creates more opportunities for the other wideouts. Rodney Bradley, who transferred from Texas' Navarro Junior College in January, and Royce Pollard, a third-year sophomore, will enter training camp as the top left wideouts.
Malcolm Lane, the only senior receiver, and Jovonte Taylor will compete at right wideout.
The top slotbacks are Salas, Kealoha Pilares, Jon Medeiros, Dustin Blount and Ryan Henry. Pilares was used mostly as a running back the past two seasons.
Blount, Henry and left wideout Mike Tinoco redshirted last season after transferring from junior colleges. Taylor played two games before suffering from a stomach infection. He withdrew from school, and was granted a medical hardship.
Although slotbacks Davone Bess and Ryan Grice-Mullins relinquished their senior seasons to apply for the 2008 NFL draft, McMackin chose to still redshirt Blount, Henry and Tinoco.
"The most important thing is they received an extra year of college, plus summer school," McMackin said. "Our goal is to graduate our players, and that will help. And it gave them an extra year to learn the offense."
McMackin said he plans to rotate "six to eight" players at the four receiver positions.
"That will keep them fresh," McMackin said.