Last season, Indiana’s wide receiver room gained national recognition thanks to substantial contributions from Ty Fryfogle and Whop Philyor among others.
This year, wide receivers coach Grant Heard knows opposing defenses will be more prepared and is asking his group to keep improving.
“We’ve got to have a bunch of number one wideouts out there,” Coach Heard said of his position group.
Ty Fryfogle is sure to catch the attention of every team the Hoosiers face this season, especially with the absence of Whop Philyor on the roster.
“I hope he (Fryfogle) embraces that he is the number one receiver,” Heard said of his senior wideout, “Because ultimately Ty made a bunch of plays and so Ty is not gonna sneak up on anybody.”
Outside of Fryfogle, Coach Heard believes he has enough talent in his room to be very deep this season.
“Depth wise I feel good,” Heard said, “There’s six or seven guys I feel like I can put in there and feel comfortable that they can go in and make a play and know what we’re doing... It just makes me feel better because if something happens, if someone is tired, someone is dinged up, whatever the case may be, I don’t have to scramble about who’s going in next."
One name to keep an eye on as the season gets underway is Florida State transfer D.J. Matthews Jr.
In three campaigns with the Seminoles, Matthews had 83 receptions for 807 yards and caught five touchdown passes. Coach Heard thinks Matthews could be a good fit to replace Philyor at the slot.
“Right now I think, today, D.J. Matthews would probably be in there (the slot),"Heard said, “There will be different people in there at times, but starting off it will probably be D.J.
"He’s done awesome. The first day I saw him, he’s done some stuff route wise that they (Florida State) didn’t do over there that he naturally knows how to do so he’s making my job easier."
Another name Coach Heard mentioned was redshirt junior Miles Marshall.
“For him personally (Marshall), he needs to be more physical, do better on contested catches,” Heard said, “He can do it, but he just needs to be more consistent doing it."
"I wake up every morning and tell myself I want to be the best receiver on the field. It is no disrespect to Ty [Fryfogle] or anyone else in our group, I just want to be the best receiver on the field," Marshall said. "I want to go to the next level and for me to go to the next level, I have to be the best receiver on the field. That is how we compete with each other. Ty wants to be the best receiver on the field, as well, and we just compete and get better that way."
Last season, Miles Marshall recorded 19 receptions for 290 yards and a touchdown.
Indiana also added Texas A&M transfer Camron Buckley to the mix. In addition to transfers Matthews and Buckley, Indiana brought in freshmen Jaquez Smith, Malachi Holt-Bennett and Jordyn Williams, all expected to contribute at some point this season.
Overall, there’s plenty to look forward to as Indiana inches closer to their season opener with Iowa on September 4th.
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