After a small graduation class after the 2019 season, there were only a few positions that were hit hard due to graduation or transfer: running backs, offensive line and wide receivers.
TheHoosier.com assessed what the receiving end of Indiana's passing game corps looks like after losing Nick Westbrook, Donovan Hale, Ronnie Walker and, potentially, Peyton Hendershot.
Who Indiana lost
Nick Westbrook and Donavan Hale
Over the last four years, Nick Westbrook and Donovan Hale were often lumped together in conversations surrounding Indiana receivers, likely because of the ways their careers paralleled – season-ending injuries cutting short seasons with much promise followed by seasons with unmet expectations – and also because of their body types, lending them to receiving roles outside the numbers.
After Westbrook’s All-Big Ten season in 2016, with 54 catches for 995 yards and six touchdowns, he recorded just under 1,200 yards and nine touchdowns on 84 catches in two seasons after an ACL injury in 2017. After Hale flashed impressive athleticism in 2016 and suffered a season-ending injury in 2017, he maxed out at 508 yards and six touchdowns on 42 catches in 2018.
While many what-ifs will always surround both long-time receivers, what was true was that both could usually be relied upon to make plays when nothing else was working in the passing game for Indiana. Hale took over in the Michigan State game at East Lansing, mostly for an entire drive, recording 99 yards and a touchdown on seven catches. Westbrook’s highlight came on a 75-yard bomb from Mike Penix against Ball State, but he also came through at Maryland – six catches for 75 yards and touchdown – and at Purdue – five catches, 88 yards and a touchdown.
With Hale and Westbrook available for the last five years, there was always a floor for how badly Indiana’s passing game could perform. Neither would allow many goose eggs to be laid over the course of entire games. Without them, the question becomes: Where is that floor now?
Ronnie Walker
While Ronnie Waker was a running back, and there aren’t typically a lot of receiving opportunities from the backfield with Stevie Scott eating up most of them, 12 of Walker’s 39 touches came in the passing game, including his 64-yard touchdown catch against Ball State.
Walker was versatile in what Kalen DeBoer had hoped to accomplish in the passing game, not excluding being one of the best, if not the best, Indiana running back in pass protection. The passing game will actually suffer more from Walker’s transfer than the run game will.
Scott caught 26 balls in 2019, and, with Sampson James still unproven in the passing game – he had two receptions as a freshman – David Ellis, who was listed as a running back before spring practice began, will need to step up in ways similar to 2019 to create multiplicity for Indiana’s passing options out of the backfield.
Who returns
Whop Philyor
Whop Philyor enters his final season after being the only Hoosier who remotely had an option to leave early for the NFL but chose to stay in Bloomington. With that, the expectations will be higher than ever before for Philyor, after he recorded 1,002 receiving yards on 70 catches even after missing much of the Penn State game and all of the Michigan game. He was certainly the catalyst for what DeBoer did in Bloomington and will be a prime weapon for Nick Sheridan as well.
While he had three game with 10 or more receptions and four games with more than 100 receiving yards, there were times when he went quiet. He had three or fewer receptions against Ohio State, Maryland and Northwestern, and, in the Gator Bowl, he recorded just one catch.
In total, Philyor ended the season as one of four Big Ten wide receivers to hit 1,000 yards, two of which did so in 13 games. With the duo in Minnesota exploding onto the scene, as well as freshman Purdue wideout David Bell and a slew of talented Big Ten receivers, 2020 provides Philyor with another opportunity at cementing his legacy in the conference.
It wouldn’t be surprising to see Philyor have another stellar year, but those quiet moments must be limited with fewer expected targets like Hale and Westbrook on the field at the same time.
Ty Fryfogle
Ty Fryfogle will be a senior in 2020, which is difficult to believe considering how little opportunity he’s had to be a primary target paired with the consistency he’s shown from multiple spots on the field. He’s averaged just over 13 yards per catch in all three seasons but came on strong in 2019, ending the year third on the team with 45 receptions and 604 yards. His career day against Penn State – five catches, 131 yards, one touchdown – left many wondering just how high he would go before the end of the season, which culminated in a 63-yard game against Tennessee.
Largely, though, what that Penn State game represented was an ability for Fryfogle to be a top receiving option, after Philyor exited with a concussion. From what has been seen in spring practice, Fryfogle is clearly the best receiving option behind Philyor and will likely assume a portion of the roles Westbrook and Hale served, but replacing those two receivers won’t be an easy task while also looking to avoid a plateau. On the other side of that line is potentially one of the best seasons from a recent Indiana receiver, given the responsibility Fryfogle will take on in 2020.
Stevie Scott
One of the most pleasant surprises in 2019 for Indiana fans was Stevie Scott’s success in the passing game. He caught 16 passes for 86 yards as a freshman, leaning more on his running capabilities and still being extremely raw as a Big Ten running back. But, with the arrival of Kalen DeBoer before 2019 and with the understanding that DeBoer liked to use running backs in the passing game, Scott made a concerted effort to adjust his skillset.
As a result, Scott recorded 211 yards on 26 catches, which was actually more than Hale had last season (22). He boosted his yards per reception from 5.4 to 8.1, and his receiving grade from Pro Football Focus was seventh in the conference among running backs with at least 20 targets. He was among six Big Ten running backs to have more than 200 yards receiving too.
Indiana has been adamant that it wants to maintain the same system that DeBoer brought to Bloomington last season, which would indicate more of the same for Scott, but with Nick Sheridan serving as the Hoosiers’ next offensive coordinator and David Ellis finding more time in the backfield next season, some of the receiving burden might be relieved.
Who Must Take a Step Forward
Miles Marshall
Ty Fryfogle and Miles Marshall seem like the most likely candidates to serve as starting outside receivers, which means Marshall, who will be a redshirt sophomore in 2020, will bite off a large portion of the Indiana receiving responsibilities after catching just 16 balls in his first season on the field.
This is the side of the line that separates contributors like Philyor, Fryfogle, Scott and, maybe, Peyton Hendershot, where receivers like Marshall, Jacolby Hewitt, Jordan Jakes and the freshmen will fight for targets. Marshall has the head start and looked promising in 2019.
How many tight ends and running backs will need to be involved or how much of the newest additions to the position we will see hinges on how Marshall continues to develop in the offseason. But at 6-foot-4 with the hands he showed last season, Marshall certainly presents potential.
Gary Cooper/Turon Ivy/Matt Bjorson
Peyton Hendershot’s chances at playing in 2020 are in question after he was arrested in February. If he cannot play, that’s a major blow to Indiana’s passing attack and obviously one that the Hoosiers were not anticipating, as compared to some of the other departures from the program which could be seen in weeks’ or days' time.
Now, Gary Cooper, Turon Ivy and Matt Bjorson aren’t just expected to replace a tight end but replace a tight end that set the record for most receiving yards in a season by an Indiana tight end.
If any of the three backups receives the nod, it would be Bjorson, who had seven catches and was definitely the backup in 2019. But the skillsets of Ivy and Cooper most match that of receiving tight ends, and Tom Allen has been high on Cooper during his redshirted season. Cooper (6-2, 235) looked lean and athletic in spring practice and displayed good hands, while Ivy (6-5, 255) looked big and also displayed good hands. Both tight ends have different skillsets and could work well in two-tight end sets.
There is also a chance that A.J. Barner, who was recruited to Indiana by Sheridan, could come in and surprise the staff, but a package with Cooper and Ivy would make the most sense if Hendershot’s situation doesn’t loosen up.
David Ellis
The line that was mentioned being drawn across the top of Miles Marshall delineating the point of concern at receiver could be moved back with the performance of David Ellis. Ellis was listed at running back before spring began and has also been listed as a wide receiver since then on the online roster. The truth is, it will be somewhere in the middle. He won’t be relegated to just one spot.
We saw some showings of him at running back throughout the back-half of the season and we saw him in an expanded role when Whop Philyor was injured at Penn State. Ellis is a true gadget guy, and Indiana intends to use him as such. The best way to translate success for Ellis, statistically, following next season will be to read his scrimmage yards.
Ellis could change what we grew to understand about the DeBoer system. He clearly wasn’t developed enough in 2019, and it was too late to throw the offense into the deep end by the time he grew comfortable, but Ellis is expected to be key to everything Sheridan and the Hoosiers hope to do offensively in 2020. He will need to step up.
If all goes as planned with Ellis, much pressure will be taken off Scott, Philyor and Marshall in the passing game, which are three players who could use some relief.
Who Has an Outside Chance of Contributing
There are a number of targets in the passing game who could find themselves on the field in some capacity if the chips fall in the right places, but none of the following possibilities are expected to expand into anything major in 2020.
Jacolby Hewitt
Of the names on this list, Jacolby Hewitt’s role is most likely to expand into something bigger. At 6-foot-2, Hewitt has a versatile skillset that could work inside and outside and was progressing well before his ACL injury. He has been working closely with Mike Penix, who once suffered an ACL injury, this offseason as he recovers as well.
Coming back from ACL injuries isn’t an easy task, though.
Jordan Jakes
Size cannot be coached, and Jordan Jakes has plenty of it. At 6-foot-5, he has received a lot of praise from Tom Allen and Mike Penix this spring. In practice, he looked quick and his hands looked decent, but his opportunities might require some more time.
Rashawn Williams and David Baker
While Rashawn Williams was the big recruiting splash in 2019, David Baker is also a wide receiver to be excited about in this class. Both receivers were top wideouts in their cities, and Baker stacked a couple thousand-yard seasons on top of each other in 2017 and 2018. There’s still plenty to be developed between these two, but compared to previous Indiana wide receiver signees, not as much development between now and when they see the field.
There is a chance either of these two gets on the field, depending on how the receivers in front of them produce. But COVID-19 isn’t helping their cases any, especially since they can’t arrive in Bloomington until June anyway.
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