Minnesota embracing a 'Job-Based Offense' at wide receiver in 2025
Last year, Minnesota’s wide receiver room was mostly a two-man show: Daniel Jackson and Elijah Spencer.
Now, both Jackson and Spencer are gone, along with their combined 127 receptions and 1,547 receiving yards.
The Gophers’ leading returning wide receiver from last fall is redshirt senior Le’Meke Brockington, who recorded 18 receptions for 282 yards and a touchdown a season ago.
In hopes of offsetting the loss of Jackson and Spencer, the Gophers addressed their need at wide receiver through the transfer portal. Adding Miami (OH)’s Javon Tracy, UCLA’s Logan Loya, and Nebraska’s Malachi Coleman to their room. They also hoped this fall that names such as Cristian Driver and Jalen Smith would emerge as potential options as well for first-year starting quarterback Drake Lindsey.
With three weeks until the Aug. 28 season opener against Buffalo, the Gophers’ wide receiver room is finding its identity and ultimate pecking order.
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“We’re a job-based offense,” Minnesota offensive coordinator Greg Harbaugh Jr. told the media on Thursday. ” We have a number of different players that we can put in a lot of different spots. A number of running backs. A number of tight ends. The wideout group is no different.”
For much of Harbaugh’s coaching career as either an offensive coordinator, co-offensive coordinator, or position coach, his team’s offensive passing attacks were often just one or two players providing most of the production.
“When I go back and look at the offenses I’ve been a part of when I was at Chattanooga back in 2018. It started out that way,” he said.
“If you look back at those stats, it turned into a 78-catch All-American at wideout that I coached. Then I look at the experiences I had at Western Michigan the second time. When I had D’Wayne Eskridge and Skyy Moore. We were getting the ball to D’Wayne. We were getting the ball to Skyy. It was one guy,” he continued to explain.
“Then you look at last year’s offense that I was a part of with Daniel (Jackson). Daniel was the focal point. You could put on our tape and see him line up in a number of different locations. He’d line up at number one to the boundary, he’d line up at number two to the field.”
But in 2025, the Gophers feel they have a number of wide receivers who can line up at multiple spots and provide the offense with production.
“Now it’s a system where we can place these guys where they fit best,” Harbaugh said. “Where they fit the scheme. How they operate. You saw a number of different guys catch balls today. Whether it was a running back, a tight end, or a wideout. Those things are going to be critical for how we are able to be explosive and be efficient as well.”
The Gophers often in the past have only used a handful of wide receivers, and of that handful, only two or three would truly provide season-long production. Last year, the Gophers only had three wide receivers with over 10 catches and only four with more than two.
This fall, the Gophers’ wide receiver room could be quite a bit deeper in that aspect, with Brockington, Tracy, Loya, Coleman, Driver, and Smith all expected to have roles. The Gophers are also expecting to involve star safety Koi Perich on offense throughout the season, as well as at wide receiver.
Ultimately, there are only so many snaps and targets to go around. Making a culture of selflessness essential to the Gophers’ wide receiver room.
“They have to be selfless. The first unit meeting talk I gave this year was about being selfless,” Harbaugh said about the unit. “We have to be able to understand that someone might come and get you out of the game. They’re in there for that particular reason because they can execute that scheme. They can execute that route. It might be that we rotate offensive linemen. You never know.”
But in order for the Gophers’ passing attack to be effective this season, the Gophers’ run game must also be effective.
Minnesota enters the 2025 season with one of the Big Ten’s best running back rooms, led by Doak Walker preseason watch list honorees in Darius Taylor and A.J. Turner, a transfer from Marshall. The room will also have quality depth, thanks in part to Washington transfer Cam Davis and rising redshirt freshman Fame Ijeboi.
“It all sets up at the run game,” Harbaugh said. “We’ve worked really, really hard since January on developing our run game. Understanding that with a young quarterback, that’s his best friend. A run game is going to be critical.”
On top of that, the Gophers will be entrusting first-year starting quarterback Drake Lindsey to be able to handle working at the line of scrimmage when it comes to calling audibles, changing the routes of receivers, altering protections, and more.
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“He’s doing more at the line of scrimmage than Max was last year. That’s by design. He can handle it.”
As Harbaugh put it, “We’re a job-based offense.” If Lindsey can handle those responsibilities at the line of scrimmage, and the Gophers’ run game holds up its end, Minnesota won’t need a true No. 1 wide receiver in 2025. They’ll just need the right players for the right situation.
