Pleading His Case: Tight end Wooster wants opportunity to catch more passes for Wake Forest

As the roommate of quarterback Riley Skinner, senior tight end Ben Wooster has a decided home-field advantage over the other tight ends and receivers on the Wake Forest roster.

Wooster admits he's not above lobbying Skinner to not go to sleep on him when it comes to finding a receiver. And even when Skinner does, Wooster has a backup plan.

"Some of the wide receivers don't take too well to it," Wooster said with a grin. "I'm always playing tapes when he's asleep, telling him to throw the ball to me."

Given his inside track, should Wooster's production be graded on a curve?

"Well, actually what we do is that if Riley makes a poor decision and chooses to throw to Ben, we give him a double minus," Coach Jim Grobe said. "That's kind of the way that works."

Wooster, after waiting three years behind veterans John Tereshinski and Zac Selmon, caught 24 passes last season. He wanted it to be more, and so did Skinner.

And so, for that matter, did Grobe, who was convinced that the Deacons' emphasis on a spread, passing-style offense could bring out the best in a rangy, athletic tight end with the speed and ability to catch the ball downfield.

A colt at 205 pounds when he arrived as a freshman in 2005, Wooster is now 6-5, 235-pounds. He said ideally he would like to gain 10 more by the time that the season begins.

"Last year we put a lot of game plan into Ben," Grobe said. "We wanted to get him the football a lot.

"I really saw him as a guy who could be an All-Conference type performer for us last year."

Instead, a series of injuries kept Wooster from having the impact that Grobe envisioned. Wooster started the season well enough, catching six passes against Baylor and six against Ole Miss. But after catching five in the fifth game against Clemson, Wooster caught only four for 22 yards over the final eight games of the season.

The Deacons' move back to the run-oriented I-formation cut into Wooster's production, but not as much as a strained hamstring that sidelined him against Miami and Duke and left him limping for weeks.

"Honestly, his lack of durability and staying banged-up kept him from performing at his best," Grobe said. "It's not his fault. I talk about durability all the time and I kid the kids about toughness. A lot of times it has nothing to do with toughness. You just happen to get dinged and can't go. That's fine.

"But at the same time, if you can't be durable, if you can't be in there all the time, it's hard to be the best you can be."

When the Deacons scrimmaged on Saturday, Wooster was in full uniform but didn't play because of a sore back. Grobe joked that Wooster, as a fifth-year senior, was just punching his union card, but he didn't seem overly concerned.

The injury is not expected to keep Wooster from being available against Baylor in the Sept. 5 opener, but he's well aware of how important it is for him to make every effort to return to the field.

"To stay healthy is goal No. 1; stay on the field as much as I can and just catch a few balls and continue to get better blocking," Wooster said. "Injuries are just a part of the game. Unfortunately, there's nothing you can do about it. You try to avoid it and say your prayers at night.

"But when they do happen to you, you just try to stay in the training room and get back quick and do all that you can just to be back out on the field."

Grobe said that a healthy Wooster could have the kind of impact that was expected last season, especially if he can convince his roommate that he's the right target enough times.

"He's got to be there to do it," Grobe said. "We've got to be careful. Last year we put a lot of game plan in for him and anytime you do that, if you've got one player in mind -- a little bit like Kenny Moore's senior year when we had several throws were just throw-it-to-Kenny throws. That's what we'd like to be able to do with Ben, but he's got to prove to us that he's going to be around every time we need him.

"There's no question that Ben Wooster is a guy that Riley Skinner would like to have as a target. But he's just got to prove to us that he's going to be taking every snap for us when we need him.

Note: Today's second scrimmage of the preseason at BB&T Field, originally scheduled for 9:30 a.m., has been moved to 2 p.m.

■ Dan Collins can be reached at 727-7323 or at dcollins@wsjournal.com.