ESPN College Football

For the past two seasons, Rutgers has had the most feared receiving duo in the Big East.

Kenny Britt and Tiquan Underwood each went over 1,000 yards in 2007 and combined for 1,850 yards and 12 touchdowns last season.

With both of those stars now waiting on their NFL futures, the only fear surrounding the Scarlet Knights wideouts is whether the team can find a way to replace their production.

It's a green group that took another couple of hits over the weekend. Redshirt freshman Marcus Cooper suffered what coach Greg Schiano called a "freak cooking accident" and will likely not practice again this spring. Fellow freshman Eddie Poole left Saturday's scrimmage with an ankle injury and is probably done until the fall as well.

"Like I said the other day, if we lose another one it'll get interesting," Schiano told reporters after the scrimmage. "And now we're deep into 'interesting.'"

Rutgers isn't completely without experience. Senior Tim Brown, who was the team's third option the past two seasons, is back after leading the Scarlet Knights in yards per catch (20.9) and scoring six touchdowns in '08. Schiano has hope that Brown will emerge as a main target this year, though his 5-foot-8, 165-pound body doesn't match the prototype of a No. 1 receiver.

After Brown, the next leading returning receiver is junior Julian Hayes, who played in 11 games last season but made only one catch. He's currently listed as one of two starters at the position.

"Any experience is good experience," the 6-foot-1, 215-pound Hayes said. "Strength-wise, I'm a big target and a hard worker. I try to run crisp routes and get in and out of my breaks well. The thing I need to work on is consistency."

The need for bodies at the position led Schiano to move running back Mason Robinson to wideout this spring. Robinson has played tailback his whole career, but the Scarlet Knights have a logjam at that spot with Kordell Young, Joe Martinek and Jourdan Brooks all angling for carries. Robinson caught 12 passes out of the backfield last season and is a former state high school 100-meter champion.

Robinson didn't get a lot of time this winter to work on the switch, since he was told just a couple of days before spring ball began.

"I'm just trying to get some playing time," he said. "I guess it's a good move. Either position is going to be a battle, and I have to work hard no matter what position I play.

"I keep picking things up day by day. It's going to be a learning process all throughout the spring and fall."

Other candidates for the job include senior Andrew DePaola and freshmen Keith Stroud and Tim Wright. The newbies haven't exactly wowed anybody this spring, as dropped balls have been a near-constant issue.

Complicating matters is the fact that Rutgers has a new offensive coordinator and no established quarterback yet. It's hard for the wideouts to develop rapport with any one signal-caller as Dom Natale, D.C. Jefferson and Steve Shimko split reps in the spring. Tom Savage and Jabu Lovelace will enter the competition this summer.

"At some point, whoever is out there is out there," Hayes said. "You can't really focus on building chemistry with just one person."

The Scarlet Knights just hope enough receivers figure things out to become productive this season, even if the unit won't be nearly as feared as it was the past two seasons.

"We're just trying to be the best we can be," Robinson said. "We can't try to match the past. We just have to do our no matter which receiver is in there."