Are the second-year guys ready, or is the sophomore slump awaiting?
As I said, Terrell and Lewis were a nice surprise in 2023. We started hearing good things about Lewis as early as the Orange Bowl practices in 2022. Terrell kind of snuck up on us a bit. He didn’t see a bunch of playing time until the second half of 2023.
Injuries and opt-outs put those two in the starting lineup in the Gator Bowl against Kentucky. Things weren’t always good – the secondary gave up some big plays to the Wildcat offense that wasn’t known for big plays through the air – but in the end, they both showed a lot of promise for the future.
Now they are sophomores, and as we have said, there isn’t much experience behind them. This would be a very bad time for either of them to suffer the sophomore slump.
Unless there is movement in fall camp, Terrell will likely be on the opponent’s primary receiver. He played well as a freshman, but I doubt any opponents will intentionally try to avoid him the way they avoided Nate Wiggins.
That said, we saw Kentucky pick on Lewis a bit. I wouldn’t be surprised for 2024 opponents to use that strategy too. Both Lewis and Terrell are going to need to grow up fast.
Next: Are any freshmen going to contribute?