Gophers’ restocked receiver corps could hold the keys to the season

It’s been five years since Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck had a 1,000-yard receiver, but expectations to develop players at the position haven’t changed since the program was known as a wide receiver mill.

Tyler Johnson and Rashod Bateman were the last 1,000-yard receivers for the Gophers in 2019. Daniel Jackson fell only 169 receiving yards short of that mark last year.

Jackson is back as an All-Big Ten second team selection, but the Gophers also return young talent to go along with several newcomers, including Georgia transfer Tyler Williams and Penn State transfer Cristian Driver.

Could this be an even deeper season at wide receiver than Fleck’s glory years with Johnson and Bateman? Some people in the program are flirting with that idea entering fall camp.

“Our depth is something unlike any other years we’ve had,” said Jackson, a 6-foot senior. “We’ve got multiple dudes. It’s hard to count on one [hand] how many guys can go out there and play.”

Surpassing the production at receiver from the 2023 season won’t be a tall task.

Jackson caught 59 passes for 831 yards and eight touchdowns. But the next four wide receivers (Corey Crooms, Chris Autman-Bell, Le’Meke Brockington, and Elijah Spencer) combined for only 48 catches for 602 yards and five TDs.

“We’ve had four of the top 10 receivers I think at the University of Minnesota,” Fleck said at Big Ten media day about his Gophers tenure. “When we’re talking about the pass game, we want that to be way better. We want to be way more balanced, but we also have to be able to have the personnel to do that, which I think we have. We’re deeper at wideout.”

Williams, a 6-3, 210-pound redshirt freshman, is arguably the most talented receiver on the roster and a name to remember heading into the U’s Aug. 29 opener against North Carolina.

The former four-star recruit and Under Armour All-America played in two games for Georgia last season before redshirting. Williams was highly coveted after entering the transfer portal in the spring.

“He’s got some things to work on with our offense, but he’s a very freaky athletic player,” Brockington said. “I feel like he’s going to be a great player at Minnesota.”

Returners Jackson, Brockington, and Spencer are projected starters early in fall camp, but Williams, Driver and Kristen Hoskins have game experience. Redshirt freshmen Kenric Lanier II, T.J. McWilliams, Donielle Hayes and the incoming freshmen have been eager to learn from the veterans.

“I love working with those guys,” Brockington said. “They always ask me questions. They’re always willing to work. They always come with the mindset to push through it, no matter what it is.”

If Fleck’s receiving corps lives up to the hype, that could help a Gophers team that ranked 11th in the Big Ten last season in passing yards per game (143.4). The U’s passing offense was even worse at 12th in back-to-back seasons in 2021 and 2022.

New starting quarterback and transfer Max Brosmer was excited to join the Gophers partly because of the presence of talented running back Darius Taylor, but he also sees the passing attack making strides.

It will take more than a big season from Jackson to make the Gophers as productive at receiver as they’ve been in the best years under Fleck.

“The cool part is we’ll rely on the whole room,” Brosmer said. “With how much we spread the ball around, it will require everyone to buy in and learn new [roles].”