Any time a position group goes through a season like Michigan football’s wide receivers did in 2024, there’s often one inevitable silver lining: the only way to go is up.
Wolverines wideouts had perhaps the least productive season for the position group in Ann Arbor at any point in the modern era. Not a single player in the group had even 250 receiving yards — juxtaposed across a 13-game season that would’ve only been an average of just 19.2 yards per game − or had more than two touchdowns.
The one who came closest, Tyler Morris, had just 248 yards and two scores, but he transferred to Indiana this offseason (and unfortunately for him just suffered a season-ending injury earlier this spring.)
The next leader in the clubhouse was Semaj Morgan, who entered last year with notable fanfare after an impressive freshman year, but took a step back in 2024. He led all wideouts with 27 catches, but managed just 139 yards and one score. Take out the 31-yard touchdown catch against Texas’ backups in mop up time, and it was 26 grabs for 108 yards − or just 4.2 yards per reception.
Outside of that, only Fredrick Moore (11 grabs for 128 yards) and Peyton O’Leary (10 grabs for 102 yards) amassed even 100 yards and frankly, that only happened because of others opting out of the bowl game (like Morris) which provided opportunity for both to cross the threshold. Moore led the team with three catches and 37 yards, O'Leary had one catch for seven yards.
In case it’s not clear, the wide receiver group is perhaps at the top of the list for those who need to step up in 2025.
“I mean yeah, we could've produced more,” Moore said Wednesday afternoon inside Schembechler Hall. “We did our part, executed everything we could to the best of our ability. But going into spring cycle we just learned a new offense, getting more detailed, fine tuning stuff, having fun and knowing our why every day we come to practice.”
To be clear, the Wolverines did their best to revamp the room since the 2024 season came to a close.
They added four-star freshman Andrew Marsh from Texas — the highest-rated receiver to commit to U-M out of high school since Donovan Peoples Jones in 2017 — as well as three-star Jamar Browder and also earned a pledge in the transfer portal from Donaven McCulley, the former Indiana quarterback turned wideout.
McCulley redshirted last year, but was productive in 2023, putting up ...
