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Caleb Douglas, Hightower
THROW IT UP TO 4: Hightower's Douglas Quite a Catch
The 6-foot-4, 185-pound receiver catches any and every ball thrown his way.
"His catch radius is phenomenal," first-year Hightower head coach Cornelius Anthony said. "He makes the hard catches. He is a legit threat. He catches everything."
Last season was Douglas' first playing receiver. He was a quarterback up until then.
He was reluctant to make the position switch at first, but he could either compete with Jakolby Longino, now playing at UTEP, for QB1 or see more playing time at receiver.
"At first I wasn't with it," Douglas said. "I felt I was a quarterback. Then I was like, forget it, I'll go receiver. He was a senior, he already had the commit. Just let him do his thing. It all worked out in my favor."
It didn't take too long for Douglas to get used to catching passes instead of throwing them.
He caught 20 passes for 237 yards in eight games in 2020.
"The first game, I caught a touchdown, and I was like, 'Oh yeah. I'm loving this'," Douglas said, grinning. "A
go route for 35 yards. It was easy. I was like, 'This catching stuff is easy'."
Well, easy is relative. Just throw it up and let him have at it. This season, Douglas has 455 yards and five touchdowns on 20 catches through six games.
"I love it when they throw me the ball with someone right on me," Douglas said. "I get to embarrass them."
Douglas said the transition wasn't hard. Colleges noticed.
The senior, who verbally committed to USC in August, has 20 scholarship offers, including Baylor, Houston, Texas Tech and Virginia Tech.
"By playing quarterback, as a receiver, I knew what my quarterback was looking for. I knew where to find the open holes, all that stuff," said Douglas, who is aiming for 1,000 receiving yards and a first-team, all-state season this year.
"I could always catch."
Anthony was impressed with Douglas' offseason. He added more routes to his arsenal. He continued to develop and enhance his catch radius through 7-on-7 work.
"What really impressed me is how polished his route-running is becoming," Anthony said. "Now he's not just running a straight line. He can hurt you on any down."
This story appeared in the Inaugural VYPE Fort Bend ISD Fall Edition, which is now available to pick up at your local Fort Bend ISD High Schools.
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