‘No spot is guaranteed’: Talented, deep Indiana football wide receiver room focusing on ‘details’ of spring practice

The Indiana football program was set to lose its top three wide receivers from a passing offense that ranked in the bottom half of the Big Ten in 2023 — so, to say it was a bleak outlook into this season would be an understatement.

Instead, Curt Cignetti and his offensive staff arrived in Bloomington with a terrific résumé with the ability to produce some of the top pass catchers in their leagues throughout their time together.

So, the pitch was relatively easy — ‘look what we’ve done in the past’.

That recruiting pitch was put to the test early and often — but, it resulted in some significant recruiting wins in the transfer portal.

Indiana football went out and landed three extremely productive wideouts in Miles Cross (Ohio), Myles Price (Texas Tech) and Ke’Shawn Williams (Wake Forest). Combined, that trio has totaled 4,437 yards on 373 receptions and 23 touchdowns in their careers.

They also have 125 games played between them.

But, the two biggest wins may have been with the two least experienced power five players; Donaven McCulley and Elijah Sarratt. McCulley put on a show for Indiana football a season ago, finishing with team-highs of 48 receptions for 644 yards and six touchdowns. He averaged 84 yards a game and had five touchdowns across the final five games of the year.

Sarratt came from James Madison, following the coaches that helped him put together a phenomenal season of 82 receptions for 1,181 yards and eight touchdowns. His yardage ranked 11th in the country.

So now in spring practice, it’s about teaching a lot of the new faces the system and scheme that helped put out two All-American wideouts and six all-league selections in the past four years.

“I’m not going to say it’s started to sort itself out … but I’ve seen a couple guys starting to really step up,” Cignetti added last week. “(Elijah) Sarratt, Miles Cross, (Myles) Price have been good. Ke’Shawn (Williams) when he’s out there. (Omar) Cooper has made some nice plays, just a little more consistency. I think Donaven (McCulley) needs to pick it up a little bit.”

Omar Cooper and EJ Williams were the two other standout wide receivers that returned to Indiana without entering the transfer portal.

So, Indiana has seven players who have produced at a high level at some point in their careers. The good and bad part of that is, they won’t always be getting the ball every passing play.

Having a leader like Sarratt who has excelled in Cignetti’s system previously is critical in the early stages of spring practice. Not only to keep the group together and understanding the bigger goal, but also to maintain a level of focus and improvement each day.

“Defintiley have to pick up more of a leadership role this year. I had a lot of older guys showing me the way last year. During the ned of the season I started speaking up more,” Sarratt said. “But yeah, one of my focuses this year is trying to be more of a leader and get all of the guys on the same page.

“Some days are not going to go how they want. You just got to be consistent every single day. You might catch one pass today, you might catch eight passes tomorrow. You just gotta weather the storm and just try to get better everyday.”

The biggest adjustment period this spring is with the details, however. It’s another part of having Sarratt on board that makes his addition that much more valuable — even beyond the skillset on the field.

“They’re big on the details. If I’m one yard off my split I’m wrong, which is good,” Sarratt said about the coaching staff. “You got to be where they want you to be so the whole play works out. Just little stuff like that.”

With so many different skillsets and players competing for a spot on the field, it’s easy to get caught in trying to make the home run play. It’s also easy to get lost in the shuffle.

But, making sure the strengths of every player are on display is a high priority for the coaching staff.

“They move us in different spots,” Sarratt said. “They know our strengths and try to play our strengths.”

At the end of the day — despite how well each wideout has played in the past, this is a new season. While production is going to be prioritized over potential, nothing will be guaranteed with this staff and that mindset has made it’s way down to the wide receiver room as a whole as spring practice winds down.

“Just working, competing, getting better every single day,” Sarratt said. “No spot is guaranteed and we know we have a lot of work to do. But we know we’re getting better each day.”

“I like that room,” Cignetti said on Tuesday. “The cream rises to the top. Who comes out and practices every day, day in and day out consistently. Who learn the plays. Who does the right thing. Who makes the plays. Who makes consistent effort. Who doesn’t know the plays and who’s inconsistent. If we had to line up for a game today there’s a certain way we’d line up but we don’t have to line up a game today. Our job isn’t to please them, their job is to please us.”