2024's mission clear for Michigan football wide receiver Tyler Morris: 'I gotta step up'

There appear to be more questions surrounding Michigan football's offense entering the 2024 campaign than perhaps at any point in the past decade.

The Wolverines are in the process of finding the best way to simultaneously replace J.J. McCarthy (the winningest quarterback in program history), Blake Corum (the most decorated running back in program history) and the entire starting offensive line (which racked up awards over the past three years for its dominant play).

In case that's not enough holes to fill for first-year head coach Sherrone Moore, there's more. Somewhat quietly (at least relative to the other positions), Michigan also lost its top two wide receivers from a season ago, seniors Roman Wilson and Cornelius Johnson.

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The duo finished first and second on the team in catches and first and third in yards as they combined for 95 grabs, 1,393 yards and 13 touchdowns. Of those scores, 12 were hauled in by Wilson, the most by a U-M wideout in a single season since Mario Manningham (12) in 2007.

Michigan is far from the first team to lose its top pass catchers, but for perspective, the last time two U-M wideouts matched last year's totals from Johnson and Wilson was 2015 (Jehu Chesson and Amara Darboh).

Chesson and Darboh both returned the following year, but their production fell off. And in 2017, when they both left for good, Grant Perry and Donovan Peoples-Jones became U-M's two leading receivers and combined for 47 catches for 584 yards and just one TD.

In short, it takes a lot to step up as a No. 1 wide receiver.

But that hasn't stopped offensive coordinator Kirk Campbell from being clear on who he expects to pick up the bulk of the work.

“The guy that I had a nice conversation with yesterday who needs to be the leader of the room is Tyler Morris; it’s kind of his time," Campbell said Tuesday. “He started last year when we were in 11 personnel. He needs to step up in that role. Roman Wilson, Cornelius Johnson aren’t here anymore. Tyler Morris, it’s your time.”

To be the passing game's primary option would certainly would be a big leap for the 5-foot-11, 185-pound wideout, who last season finished seventh on the team with 13 catches for 149 yards and one touchdown. But there's reason to believe it could happen.

Morris started coming into his own at the end of the season, as he compiled half his yards (98) after the calendar turned to November — including a 38-yard crossing route in January's Rose Bowl against Alabama for his first career TD.

This spring, he spoke of leaning into his new role, both on the field and off.

"This year, I definitely feel like I gotta step up," he said in April. "Even though I feel like I'm still kind of one of the younger guys, in our room I'm one of the oldest. So I just feel like I gotta be the guy in the room to step up, say some things, challenge guys — just trying my best to hold us all together.

"As a room as a whole, we just kind of expect everybody to step up ... step into those new roles and just be their best selves."

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If for some reason Morris isn't the leading wideout this year, there's a good chance it's because it ends up being Semaj Morgan. The 5-foot-10, 183-pounder out of West Bloomfield showed his explosion when he broke onto the scene last year.

In limited playing time, the true freshman hauled in 22 passes for 204 yards and two touchdowns and ran another four times for 67 yards and a pair of rushing touchdowns (and also returned an 87-yard punt in the Big Ten championship game). Morris has gone out of his comfort zone by being more vocal with Morgan, who's seemingly a big play waiting to happen.

"Semaj last year had a lot of the quick-game stuff," Morris detailed. "This year, I mean I've told him, 'That was nice, but we need you to do more.' That's just kind of expectations, we need everybody to step up. Like Fred (Moore), we're going to really need him to be one of those deep ball receiver."

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A rising sophomore, Moore had four grabs for 32 yards his first year in Ann Arbor. Morgan told the Free Press this summer that he'd spent more time with Moore than anybody else working on their craft.

Standing 6-1 and 180 pounds, Moore is a larger receiver, and with Morgan as a shifty player who can excel behind the line of scrimmage and Morris as a slasher on routes, like the crosser vs. Alabama, it sets Moore up to take the top off the defense.

Of course, he's more than capable of weaving in and out of defenders; see his 48-yard catch-and-run in U-M's spring game for evidence.

Morris called Moore a "fast and twitchy athlete" with the potential to break out as well. In the spring he discussed with him the "amazing opportunity" they have to make an impact on the team. Moore and Morgan have talked about it as well.

"We work out, we talk; one thing that’s big, me and Fred, we critique each other’s game," Morgan said at his camp in May. "We really love this football and want to get better, so we will be at practice and critique each other. It’s like, ‘Bro, you did this on that last route, try to do this.’ Like I feel like me and Fred, we’re going to be something special."

One sure-fire silver lining for the Wolverines — who of course first need to figure out who will be passing to these wideouts — is there's at least one extremely proven pass-catcher returning: tight end Colston Loveland. He ranked third on the team in receptions (45) and second in yards (645) and touchdowns (four) and is widely considered one of the best tight ends in college football.

But Loveland can't do it all; Morris, Moore and Morgan will have to be the guys. That's exactly what the junior wants to hear.

"I want to be able to play all around," Morris said of his goal this season. "If it's a week we want to target the slot, I want to be there. If it's a week we want to target outside, I want to be there. If it's a week we're going to run the ball a lot and they need somebody blocking, I want to be there.

"Anything they need from me at the receiver position, I want to be the guy to step in and do it."

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football WR Tyler Morris ready to step up in 2024