It’s looking more and more like it’ll be wide receiver by committee for the Orange this season, something head coach Dino Babers doesn’t mind.

“I’d love to see one guy step up and then another guy step up and have two or three guys, and ride those guys all the way in," Babers said. "I have no issue if they want to spread it out, but I like that attitude about Mr. Johnson (Keyshawn Johnson), about 'get me the ball.' But if you talk like that, you better be producing like that.”

One of the pass catchers that's made an early impact is Oronde Gadsden. He works from both the tight end and wide receiver positions, and takes pride in being a Swiss Army knife for the Orange offense.

“Being able to flex out, being multi-dimensional, not always having your hand in the dirt blocking," Gadsden said. "I can go to the boundary to myself, the field to myself, doing a lot of motioning.”

Gadsden is one of four players with five or more catches on the season, building trust with quarterback Garrett Shrader since the end of the 2021 season last winter.

“The day after the Pitt game, we were out throwing at Ensley and after that, we didn’t know who the offensive coordinator was going to be," Gadsden said. "We just knew we we’re going to have to throw some. We were going to have to get that chemistry going. It doesn’t matter what route it is really. Once coach Anae came in, we got the routes and knew exactly what we needed to do, and we kept doing that through the spring, summer and a little in the fall.”

Through two games, Gadsden has six catches for 81 yards and touchdown. He’s quickly become a player opposing teams need to plan for. And he really got his first taste of that against UConn.

“Everywhere I go, they calling me out," Gadsden said. "If I go into the backfield, they call me out. If I go boundary on the ball, off the ball, the whole sideline is calling out, ‘watch 19.’”

And with the extra attention, Gadsden is constantly evolving his game day preparations.

“Just watching more film and seeing what they’re going to do," Gadsden said. "When other guys have good games, like when they played Penn State, I look at what they did against their best receivers, and just see what I can replicate what they did if they had a good game.”