The Nebraska football team was already entering the 2019 season with some serious questions at the wide receiver position. Justin McGriff announcing he is transferring from the school makes those questions a bit more pressing. The freshman wide receiver and tight end was once considered one of the best gets by the new staff. He was also one of the first gets by Scott Frost and company when they made the jump from UCF to Nebraska. Standing at 6-5, there were a lot of discussions about McGriff being someone who would be a part of the offense, right away.

Instead, he didn't play a single down in 2018.

Nebraska steadily weakening receiver depth

A year ago, at this time, the talk in Lincoln was about how strong the receiver corps was going to be in 2018. Stanley Morgan and JD Spielman were both announcing they were returning to the team after there were fears both would transfer or declare for the draft when Mike Riley was fired. There were also talented players like Tyjon Lindsey, Jaevon McQuitty, and others already on the team. Then there were recruits like Andre Hunt, Mike Williams, Jaron Woodyard, and, yes, Justin McGriff, coming in that looked to make the receivers the undisputed strength of the team.

One year into Frost's offense, the receiving corps that was supposed to be a strength was very good at the top.

Of the 257 passes that were completed by Husker quarterbacks, Morgan and Spielman hauled in 136 of them. The rest of the wide receivers on the roster had 40. That's not a typo. After Morgan's 70 catches and Spielman's 66, Kade Warner comes in third among receivers with 17 catches. Running backs Devine Ozigbo (23) and Maurice Washington (24) each had more catches than Warner.

Mike Williams is the only other receiver with more than 10 catches on the team (12). Now, keep in mind that Stanley Morgan is taking his 70 catches, 1,004 yards, and seven touchdowns to the NFL.

Justin McGriff's plans explain the approach

Knowing that the Nebraska football team is facing a shortage of playmakers coming back to the wide receiver depth chart, it makes sense that the coaching staff has been going after receivers lately.

The Cornhuskers have Jamie Nance and Darien Chase in the fold. Both are talented players that could make an immediate impact. In the last few weeks, the staff has upped recruiting at this position. They went after West Virginia commit, Winston Wright, last month. This weekend, they made an offer to former Missouri commit, Charles Njoku. It seems the staff knew about Justin McGriff's plans and want to try and fill his roster spot, and a potential spot on the depth chart as soon as possible.
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