University of Hawai'i football coaches fill in names at the receiver position on the depth chart "with pencil because on the other side there's an eraser.

"And no matter what you do, you can always go up or down," Warriors receivers coach Craig Stutzmann added.

All four starting receivers from last year's Western Athletic Conference Offensive Unit of the Year — Jason Rivers, Davone Bess, Ryan Grice-Mullins and C.J. Hawthorne — are no longer with the team.

With Greg Salas and Malcolm Lane at wideout and Aaron Bain and Michael Washington at slotback, the battle is for the second spot in each of the four positions.

"That's what fall camp is for — evaluation and really getting the guys ready," Stutzmann said. "I think once this week is done, going into the second week, we'll really start solidifying some spots."

Stutzmann said the receiving corps is "peppered with new guys and inexperience. At the beginning of practice one guy will look great, and at the end of practice another guy will look great."

Yesterday, Royce Pollard and Daniel Lofton practiced at wideout with the second unit. Neither has game experience, with Pollard redshirting last season and Lofton sitting out the year after transferring from California.

"I'm just trying to get used to everything; trying to get comfortable with the routes," said Lofton, who redshirted the 2006 season with the Golden Bears before training with the Warriors' scout team in the fall.

He was introduced to the Warriors' offense during spring ball.

"Our offense is tough," Lofton said. "We rely a lot on our receivers so we have to do a lot of different adjustments and we have to read a lot of coverages. So that's probably a big challenge as far as knowing where to run and what looks you're going to get in the game."

Pollard spent last year studying the play of Rivers and Hawthorne, watching games and analyzing how defenders reacted to different routes.

"In the beginning of the season I wasn't too intense because I was still learning the plays," said Pollard, who yesterday made a grab with outstretched arms, securing the ball while he fell to the ground. "I was just going off a lot of what (Hawthorne) and (Rivers) were doing. And I was trying to mimic them because I know they did really good."

Pollard, who grew up playing percussion and met some of the drummers in the movie "Drumline," is a "shifty guy who works his tail off," Stutzmann said.

That was evident in Pollard's off-season, when the San Diego native worked out in Hawai'i and participated in unsupervised training.

"I'm still pushing to travel because there's a lot of competition out there and coach tells us every day that the spots are open," Pollard said. "So I always look at that as something to keep working on because I don't ever want to think I'm solid in a spot."

Lofton is the son of NFL Hall of Fame receiver James Lofton, but Daniel said he just tries to "go out and do the best I can do, because people are going to find stuff to critique and when you have that name you almost get criticized way more. People have big expectations."

His father's influence did have an impact on his decision to come to Hawai'i. The Loftons lived in Hawai'i and James Lofton is friends with former UH coach June Jones. Having that familiarity with the Warriors and being a fan of the offense made it seem like the perfect fit, although the timing was a bit off.

Lofton attended Cal's fall camp in 2007, and made the switch to Hawai'i the week of the season opener against Northern Colorado.

"I just felt like this was the place for me to be," he said. "I've kind of waited out two years, I just want the opportunity to play."

With coaches planning on substituting all four receiver positions, he may get that chance.

"With this, you keep them fresh and you have a little more confidence in your depth," said Stutzmann, who said they would like to have "four on the outside and four on the inside" ready to play.

Stutzmann also said he hopes it will keep the players inspired to work hard at practice.

"Before, if you were the fifth or sixth guy, you were never going to see the field. Now, if you perform, you'll get on the field somehow," he said.