‘End zone to end zone’: Time at running back paid off for Boise State’s top receiver
Khalil Shakir ended his college career as one of the most productive wide receivers in Boise State history, but he didn’t always specialize in running routes and making acrobatic catches.
Shakir first lined up at running back when he was 7. He didn’t focus primarily on wide receiver until he arrived at Boise State in 2018.
He didn’t get to choose his position as a freshman at Vista Murrieta High School in California. After watching players run through offensive and defensive drills, the coaches assigned the spots.
Shakir spent the bulk of his high school career in the backfield, focusing exclusively on running back as a junior and senior, and he said the elusiveness and vision required at the position helped make him into the NFL-caliber wide receiver he is today.
“When a running back has the ball, it’s one cut and go,” Shakir said. “When you get the ball as a wideout, you want to make a move on a guy, but it’s also a fine line because you know you have to get vertical. You don’t want to play sideline to sideline, you want to play end zone to end zone.”
Shakir, who has hired agents from Steinberg Sports, ranks No. 5 at Boise State with 208 career receptions, No. 4 with 2,878 receiving yards and is tied for No. 9 with 20 receiving touchdowns. He led the team with 77 catches for 1,117 yards and seven touchdowns last season.
The 22-year-old native of Murrieta, California, is one of eight former Boise State players who will work out for NFL scouts at Pro Day on Wednesday.
He won’t run the 40-yard dash after posting an official time of 4.43 seconds at the NFL Scouting Combine earlier this month, but Shakir said on Sunday that he will run routes, and he believes he can improve on his 34.5-inch vertical leap.
He turned a lot of heads with his performance at the Combine, but Shakir’s history in the backfield has him poised to leave scouts even more impressed, according to a couple of former Broncos who know about the NFL.
Former Boise State player and coach Jeron Johnson — who helped the Seattle Seahawks win Super Bowl XLVIII in 2013 — said Shakir catches like a receiver but still plays like a running back.
“He’s so sudden and explosive in his movements,” said Johnson, who resigned from Boise State in January. “He has great hands, but when he catches the ball you see those instincts kick in where he’s already thinking about the next move as he’s making one.”
Former Boise State head coach and Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter compared Shakir to wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus, whom he coached in Atlanta. Zaccheaus went undrafted in 2019 after setting the career receptions record at Virginia, but he carved out a role for himself on offense and special teams with the Falcons.
Like Shakir, who checks in at 6 feet and 196 pounds, Zaccheaus (5-8, 193) was considered undersized for an NFL receiver. But Koetter said that’s misleading.
“They aren’t tall, but they’re compact and powerful in their lower bodies, and they’ll knock your block off,” Koetter said. “Shakir is not only explosive, but he has impressive body control, great hands to make circus catches and versatility, which is especially important if you’re not a stereotypical No. 1 receiver in the NFL.”
Shakir, who returned punts and kicks at Boise State, said developing strength in his lower half has always been part of his workout regimen, but never more so than while he was training for the NFL Combine at XPE Sports in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
“I’ve never really been a straight-line speed guy, and I never ran track,” Shakir said. “I knew I needed to go to the best when it came to speed training because of how much the 40-yard dash would affect my draft status, and the results speak for themselves.”
Shakir said he worked feverishly with trainer Matt Gates to shave fractions of a second off his time, tweaking everything from the position of his head to how many steps it took to cover 5 yards coming out of the starting blocks.
Shakir set a personal record on his first attempt at the 40-yard dash, speeding down the course in 4.35 seconds.
“I think that shocked a lot of people,” said Shakir, who has been training with Boise State’s strength staff the past three weeks. “I tried to stay out of my own head at the starting line, and I just knew if I stayed focused on the techniques I worked on, I’d have a fast time.”
It shocked Boise State safety Tyreque Jones.
“I told him he wasn’t a 4.35-second guy when I was covering him, but I was glad to see him go out there and put on a show,” Jones said. “My favorite part was the commentator talking about him being more quick than fast, and he couldn’t even finish his sentence in the time it took Khalil to run that time.”
Boise State has had a player selected in the NFL Draft for 12 straight years. Tight end John Bates (Commanders) and cornerback Avery Williams (Falcons) heard their names called last year.
Most draft analysts predict Shakir will come off the board somewhere between rounds two and four. He said he plans to spend draft day surrounded by family in Pensacola, Florida, and he knows it will be a special moment no matter when he’s picked.
“We don’t cry much, but that’s one moment where tears might flow,” Shakir said. “It will mean a whole lot to me and my family.”
This story was originally published March 28, 2022 at 4:00 AM.
