Indiana Football Transfer Profile: Tyler Morris

Under Curt Cignetti, there will likely always be room for talented wide receivers on the roster. Last season, five different receivers caught 20 or more passes on the year. All five of those top targets finished with four touchdowns or more. 

Incoming transfer Tyler Morris is coming from a very different system at Michigan that makes it a little difficult to predict how he will fit into the Hoosiers' plans next season. 

As a team, Michigan completed 60 fewer passes on the season. The Wolverines' primary target was tight end, Colston Loveland, who caught more than double the number of passes that Michigan's top two receivers caught. 

In a relatively small sample size, Morris was productive though. He caught 23 passes, third most among any Michigan player last year, and averaged 10.8 yards per catch for 248 yards and two touchdowns. 

One area where Morris did record a lot of snaps in Michigan's offensive scheme was run-blocking, where he showed promise, per his PFF rating. He posted a 55.4 grade over 237 snaps in run blocking, which would have put him behind only Omar Cooper and Ke'Shawn Williams on Indiana's team last year. 

Because of his run-blocking, Morris should see a decent number of stats, putting him in contention for some of the passing snaps that Indiana is losing with the graduation of Myles Price, who caught 38 passes for Indiana last year. 

Like Price, Morris is probably best used in the slot at five-foot-11. He comes in graded as a better blocker, but not quite the pass-catcher that Price was. 

Again though, the differences in offensive schemes and slot usages are worth keeping in mind. Morris played more snaps and more passing snaps overall than Price did last season, but was targeted 12 fewer times. 

One factor that could help him have a break out season in Bloomington is that his skillset aligns with that of his new quarterback. While Michigan rarely threw the ball downfield, Morris was most effective in the 10-19 yard range, where Fernando Mendoza is also strongest. 

With Indiana's other options at wide out, he should also be able to stay in the slot, probably to his benefit. At Michigan, he split time in the slot and out wide, but Indiana will have the depth around him that will not force him to play too many snaps on the outside. 

He hasn't been given the opportunity to produce as much as Indiana's other, more highly-touted transfers, but there's a lot to like about how he could fit in Mike Shanahan's offense.