The position group Minnesota needs to revamp to reach full potential in 2026

Minnesota's wide receiver room has been on a slow decline since its magical 2019 season.

Nov 23, 2019; Evanston, IL, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach PJ Fleck congratulates Minnesota Golden Gophers wide receiver Rashod Bateman (13) after his touchdown against the Northwestern Wildcats during the first half at Ryan Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images | David Banks-Imagn Images

It has been six full seasons since Minnesota has had a player finish the year with more than 1,000 yards. If the Gophers ever want to get close to recreating the magic they had in 2019 with Tyler Johnson and Rashod Bateman both surpassing that mark, they desperately need to upgrade their wide receiver room.

Wide receivers coach Matt Simon

Simon has been P.J. Fleck's wide receivers coach since the 2014 season at Western Michigan, which was his second as a head coach. They developed Corey Davis into a top-five pick in Kalamazoo, and they saw Johnson and Bateman mature into future NFL veterans early into their Gophers tenure. The position group has been on a slow decline since the 2019 season.

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No 1,000 yard receiver since 2019

Bateman played in only five games during the shortened 2020 season, and he led the team with 36 catches for 472 yards and two touchdowns. He was then selected in the first round by the Baltimore Ravens in that spring's NFL Draft. Chris Autman-Bell led the team with 506 yards the following season, then Daniel Jackson had a team-high 557 yards in 2022.

Jackson led the team again with 831 receiving yards in 2023, and his best season came in 2024 with 75 catches for 863 yards and four touchdowns. Drake Lindsey and Minnesota's passing game showed promise in 2025, but Le'Meke Brockington led the team with only 484 yards on the entire season.

What happened?

Fleck played wide receiver in college at Northern Illinois, and shortly in the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers and Chicago Bears. With a run of Davis, Johnson and Bateman early in his head coaching career, it seemed like that could be his calling card. That has not been the case. A Fleck-coached team hasn't had one of its wide receivers get drafted since Bateman in 2021.

For starters, Simon and Minnesota's success in recruiting receivers in the transfer portal has not gone well. Dylan Wright was their big splash in 2021, and he never lived up to expectations. Then it was Elijah Spencer and Corey Crooms Jr., who both struggled with consistency in 2023. After Spencer and Jackson graduated following the 2024 season, they went out and signed Javon Tracy, Malachi Coleman and Logan Loya in the transfer portal, who had less than 500 total receiving yards combined in 2025.

From a high school recruiting perspective, Minnesota hasn't had much success at all, outside of Jackson. Kenric Lanier II was one of their highest-ranked recruits, according to 247Sports, and he just announced his intentions to enter the transfer portal after failing to surpass 100 total yards in three seasons.

2026 outlook

Lindsey showed plenty of promise in his first year as a starter in 2025. He looks like a quarterback that Minnesota should build around going forward, but they will need to make great improvements in the wide receiver room if they want him to reach his full potential.

Redshirt freshman Jalen Smith has already announced his intentions to return to the team in 2026, but Lanier was joined by Cristian Driver and true freshman Legend Lyons as three receivers who plan to enter the portal. Brockington is out of eligibility after this season, so is a wide receiver room of Smith, Tracy and Coleman enough for Lindsey to reach his potential? Probably not.

Whether it's a coaching staff change, or a big splash in the transfer portal — one of Minnesota's biggest priorities this offseason should be improving its wide receiver room.