2009 Indiana football preview: receivers and tight ends.

IU faces quite a bit of turnover at the offensive skill positions, and wide receiver is no exception.  The Hoosiers do, however, return some depth at tight end.  IU's anemic 2008 passing game didn't produce any huge numbers last year, but the top two receivers, Ray Fisher and Andrew Means, are gone (Fisher is on the other side of the ball and Means is playing professional baseball), but here are the returning players and the newcomers:

WIDE RECEIVERS

The starters: Damarlo Belcher, 6-5 sophomore.  Belcher played as a true freshman, and the 6-5 Fort Wayne product played well enough to draw occasional comparisons to James Hardy, although Belcher hasn't approached Hardy's level of production yet.  Still, he is IU's leading returning receiver with 337 yards, 13 yards per reception, and 2 touchdown passes.  Terrance Turner, 6-3 junior.  Turner is the leading returner in number of receptions with 29, and he gained 289 yards but did not score a touchdown.  Tandon Doss, 6-3 sophomore.  Doss played in only 4 games as a true freshman, but gained 186 yards and scored a touchdown while averaging 13.3 yards per catch. 

The reserves: Mitchell Evans, 6-3 junor.  Evans was a high school quarterback and throws the ball occasionally.  He caught 9 passes in 2008 for 129 yards.  Matt Earnest, 6-2 sophomore.  Earnest played sparingly in 2008, catching 3 passes for 18 yards.

The newcomer: Duwyce Wilson, 6-3 freshman.  Wilson, a true freshman from Columbus, Indiana, is listed in the two deep by Rivals, but it's still possible that he will redshirt. 

Obviously, the receiving corps is young and inexperienced.  There isn't a single senior in the two deep, which is nice for 2010, but the lack of accomplishment returning is a bit scary.  Still, we have some size and talent, and hopefully Ben Chappell can get the ball to these guys.

TIGHT ENDS

The starter:  Max Dedmond, 6-5 sophomore.  IU doesn't use the tight end as a receiver all that much, but Dedmond did catch 6 balls for 51 yards and is considered a possible contributor as a receiver.

The reserves: Troy Wagner, 6-5 senior.  Wagner started five game last season, but has only two receptions in his career and obviously is more of a blocking tight end.  Brad Martin, 6-4 junior.  Martin has one career reception.

In sum, the tight and and wide receiver positions show some promise, but many guys will have to do much more than they have ever been asked to do before for IU's offense to succeed.