Demon Deacon Profile: WR Chris Givens

Increasingly becoming a focal point of the offense, Chris Givens is a jack of all trades, mixing overall speed with acceleration, football IQ, and a dangerous threat in the rushing attack...

Givens, a redshirt freshman from Wylie, TX, was under recruited in large part because of an ACL tear in his senior season. Programs were scared off by the injury and worried that he would not return to his previous form. As is the case with the Jim Grobe-led program, Wake Forest saw this as an opportunity to find a diamond in the rough.  Givens shined soon thereafter, running a 10.7 in the 100m just 15 weeks after his surgery.

 

Texas is perennially known for its speed and its athletes. Givens is no exception. The 6'0", 200 lb wide receiver won the District 9-5A 100 meter title in 2007 and has shown already in his young career the propensity for the big play.  As a former high school running back, Givens knows his way around the backfield--which makes him a perfect candidate for the Demon Deacons' new offensive schemes.

As was the case back when Kenny Moore was the playmaker for the Deacs, Grobe has incorporated his receivers into more plays with end-arounds and orbit runs, but this year there is a new wrinkle--receivers Givens and Devon Brown are also lining up under center in a flexbone set. They are running up the middle and are exploding through the hole with their quick bursts, picking up yards in bunches.

Givens has eight catches for 44 yards and 79 yards rushing in the two games against Baylor and Stanford, but what really stands out is the yards per carry (9.9). He is making the most of his touches, and as the Deacs go deeper into the season, there is no doubt that Givens will be called upon to be a bigger part of the offense.