Fifth-year senior wide receiver Nick Westbrook has just six receptions in three games this season after leading Indiana with 590 yards last year.
It’s no secret that Kalen DeBoer’s offensive system gives Indiana quarterbacks the ability to spread the ball to multiple receivers, but Westbrook was expected to be a meaningful contributor to the passing attack in 2019.
Two seasons ago, Indiana wide receiver Nick Westbrook suffered a season ending ACL injury on the first play of the year against Ohio State. After missing the entirety of 2017, he returned to the Hoosiers’ lineup last season and eventually posted a five-catch performance against the Buckeyes, going for 109 yards and a touchdown.
Westbrook led the team with 590 yards to go along with 42 receptions last season, just one year after his injury. With the addition of offensive coordinator Kalen DeBoer to the Indiana coaching staff, Indiana’s veteran pass catcher was poised to succeed in a new, pass-heavy offense.
Last week against the Buckeyes, his trio of catches accounted for just 31 yards. Westbrook’s inconsistency has been alarming, but why has he been so largely ineffective in the first three games this season?
“He just needs to rise up and make those big plays, and he knows that,” Indiana head coach Tom Allen said of Westbrook.
He’s caught just six total passes this season. Three in the season-opener against Ball State, and three last week in a loss to Ohio State.
The 6-foot-3 wide receiver went without a catch in a 52-0 blowout of Eastern Illinois in week two, and has registered a total of 136 yards receiving this season. Even more alarming is that more than half of his 136 yards this season came on one play: a 75-yard touchdown reception against Ball State
His ability to haul in deep throws has been evident throughout his collegiate career. Pro Football Focus made note that Westbrook led all returning Big Ten receivers in passer rating when thrown to on passes of 20 yards or more.
“No question about it, Nick is one of our key guys on the offense that we need to be focused on,” DeBoer said on Monday.
Now a team captain for the Hoosiers, Westbrook was challenged to go beyond just leading by example. While he’s stepped up as a vocal leader, his production hasn’t been up to par. However, the only stat he and the rest of the Hoosiers concern themselves with is the number in the win column.
“I haven’t really thought about it too much,” Westbrook said on Monday. “I just gotta do my job and if I’m open, the ball will come to me. I just gotta make my plays too, I had a couple plays this past game that I missed out on.”
Execution will be crucial as Indiana will enter the bulk of its conference schedule following this Saturday’s game against the University of Connecticut.
Getting Westbrook more involved in the passing game as a physical presence on the perimeter could help DeBoer’s offense settle into manageable situations.
“When he gets his opportunities he's got to make those plays, so he will continue to be targeted,” Allen said. “We took some shots and obviously those are contested balls, even this past game, and sometimes you're going to have to make some great catches.”
While redshirt freshman quarterback Michael Penix Jr. is throwing the football, Indiana’s receiving corps has elevated the offense’s potential.
Even with junior Peyton Ramsey at the helm against Ohio State, the football was dispersed throughout the offense, or at least it was attempted. Reworking Westbrook’s role might just open up other pass catchers, such as junior wide receiver Whop Philyor or sophomore tight end Peyton Hendershot, and subsequently bringing balance to the offense.
“We’re not really thinking about what’s going wrong, what’s going right,” Westbrook said. “We’re just going to focus on ourselves as a receiver group and do everything we can to lead this offense in the right direction.”
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