Preseason Camp Notebook: Stevenson and Barbon talk about roles in offense

OwlScoop.com is providing a story after every preseason camp press conference with updates from the team’s players and coaches to prepare fans for the start of Temple’s season on Sept. 2 when the Owls travel to Rutgers.

On Wednesday night, wide receivers Jose Barbon and Ronnie Stevenson spoke to the media about their progress during fall camp and their role in Temple’s offense.

With former wide receiver Branden Mack leaving for the NFL last season, Temple’s outside wide receiver position is wide open. While mainstay wide receivers Jadan Blue and Randle Jones will likely fill that position in some packages, Barbon and Stevenson have spent camp competing for reps as the team’s X receiver.

Barbon is Temple’s most experienced returning receiver on the outside with 226 of his 244 total snaps coming on the outside, according to Pro Football Focus.

During camp, Barbon has tried to model the way he practices after Jones and Blue, which has led to some noticeable improvements, he said.

“I think where I have improved the most this offseason is probably with my routes, getting in and out of my routes,” Barbon said. “I’ve also been trying to work on my hands because I know, last year, I had a few early drops.”

Barbon mentioned he’s spending extra time after practice catching passes from theJugs machine to improve his catch comfort.

Stevenson, who is listed on Temple’s roster as 6-foot-5, brings more of a traditional X receiver skill set to the equation with his natural size and experience playing basketball in high school.

“I feel that every team would just love to have a big receiver that they can always throw to,” Stevenson said about filling Mack’s role in the offense. “I’m just trying to execute every day and do what the coaches ask and try to be that guy.”

Last season, Stevenson made his first career start and recorded his first career reception against Tulane before suffering a season-ending injury against SMU the following week.

Hoping to carve out a larger role for himself this season, Stevenson has spent camp working on his consistency and polishing his natural tools.

“Probably just consistently executing,” Steveson said. “There are times where players will have days where they are really on for one or two days, and then they fall off. I feel like this fall camp I really executed like days I was doing good for three, four, five, six days and just stacking days.”

Stevenson added that although the team has yet to install a goal-line package, he hopes to make an impact in the red zone on goal line fades.

The Owls will likely lean heavily on Blue and Jones in the passing game this season, but whoever ends up being the primary outside receiver should get ample opportunity to make explosive plays in the offense.