Mizzou Freshman Preview: Wes Kemp | Tiger's Roar

Wes Kemp, WR, DeSmet High School, Creve Coeur, MO

Wes Kemp is the top wide receiver recruit coming into Mizzou from this class. Originally committed to Wisconsin, he decommitted and signed with Missouri, thanks to Blaine Gabbert. When the two were both sophomores in St. Louis, they had promised each other they would go to Mizzou together. When Gabbert committed to Mizzou, he called Kemp, and Kemp came too. Kemp had an amazing sophomore year, catching 46 passes for 1,062 yards and 7 TDs. In his junior year, he was injured for 3 games but still caught 39 passes for 769 yards and 8 TDs. His biggest moment was the in the MSHSAA Class 6 State Championship whe he caught about 12 passes and went over 200 yards in the game.

Kemp is a big bodied wide receiver who might move inside to tight end at Mizzou. He is big, athletic and has the frame to really bulk up to be strong receiver. He shows good speed. He has good hands and focus on the ball and his 6'4" size can be a big target in the endzone for Chase Daniel. He is a much better underneath target than he is a vertical threat because his speed is not explosive to stretch the field. He lacks great route awareness and aggressiveness to attack the ball on a consistent basis. He could improve his route running and work on his moves, to have more big play potential, and also be a bit quicker off the line. He is a great downfield threat and has the ability to beat jams.

At Mizzou, Kemp would play well in the spread offense and can learn better route running from Jeremy Maclin. After losing so many receivers like Will Franklin and Martin Rucker, Kemp should step in to keep Mizzou's receiving corps deep. He could run underneath routes to complement Jeremy Maclin's deep threat, or vice-versa, since both can do either.

Here's a some video of Wes Kemp in action:

Wes Kemp Highlights-This is when he still was committed to Wisconsin, but it shows a lot of his high school action. Notice how he can go deep but also underneath. He's #88 in the game, but #24 in the beginning (in gray). The one part that I think he could've worked on is breaking tackles after the catch, on that little swing pass.