Joey Hew Len picked up the torch and ran with it when Jerome Eason graduated.
Now that Hew Len, who led the T-Birds with 54 catches for 575 yards and eight touchdowns last year, has graduated, Southern Utah University football coach Wes Meier is looking for someone to fill his void.
Initially, he believes senior Jeremy Edwards (6-foot-3, 200 pounds) will be that guy.
"We need Jeremy to be a real factor for us this year," Meier said. "He has the size and the speed to step up and take the place of Joey."
Edwards, who played two seasons at Mesa Community College, tallied just seven catches for 119 yards in his first year with SUU last year.
Edwards and Dane Westmoreland are the only wide receivers on the roster with any receptions.
Mike Logan has played each of the last two seasons but didn't record a reception either year, while Tysson Poots is a redshirt freshman and Mitch Meier is a true freshman.
"Mike has the speed to stretch the field and he runs great routes," Wes Meier said. "He'll be a factor."
Meier expects Poots to have a good year also.
"Tysson Poots is a young guy with a big body," Meier said. "He's athletic and he's been in the system so he knows what we need him to do."
Hew Len was the main receiver with more than 50 catches, but 14 other players recorded receptions. The T-Birds like to utilize their running backs in passing routes as well as slot backs.
Craig Gritton, who graduated from Copper Hills High, and Ryan Higgins are SUU's most experienced players at that position.
Higgins was second on the team in yards per catch at 13.5 yards, third in receiving yards with 162 and fifth in receptions with 12. Gritton had 10 catches for 150 yards.
"Craig is a very good possession-type receiver who has been a big part of our offense the last couple of years," Meier.
Also, the T-Birds added transfers Nick Miller and Thatcher Taylor, and Meier expects both players to have an immediate impact.
Taylor was a redshirt last year.
"Thatcher Taylor is a guy who came in here and has worked hard and had a good spring and has shown us good things," Meier said.
Miller is a transfer from Scottsdale Community College.
"He can play the inside or the outside receiver and we could use him as a return guy," Meier said.
The T-Birds also moved backup quarterback Brandon Godfrey to slot.
"He's just too good of an athlete to have sitting, and slot seems to be a good fit for him," Meier said.
E-mail: jhinton@desnews.com