After an impressive 2018 campaign that saw then-sophomore wideouts Nico Collins and Donovan Peoples-Jones rack up 632 and 612 yards, respectively, many have tabbed the duo as not only one of the best returning tandems in the Big Ten, but in the entire country.
A unit that should receive a boost from healthy redshirt sophomore Tarik Black (played in just six games last year due to injury) has many fans incredibly optimistic about the stats Michigan's air attack could put up in 2019 under first-year offensive coordinator Josh Gattis.
Though Black has shown immense potential at Michigan (11 catches for 149 yards as a freshman during his first three career games in 2017), it's incredibly difficult to judge him from a statistical standpoint, simply because he has only appeared in nine contests during his two years in college.
He is expected to contribute at a high level in 2019, but the aforementioned duo of Collins and Peoples-Jones are the unquestioned proven commodities of Michigan's receiving unit.
With that in mind, we've taken a look at where the veteran tandem stacks up against the rest of the Big Ten's top returning pass-catching threats, ordered by the combined receiving yards they posted in 2018.
Statistically, Peoples-Jones and Collins check in third on the list above with 1,244 combined yards in 2018, a far cry from the 1,873 that Minnesota's duo of Tyler Johnson (1,169) and Rashod Bateman (704) posted.
Statistics obviously don't tell the whole story though.
For example, Johnson and Bateman dominated the Gophers' pass-catching numbers, with only one other player on the team's entire roster hauling in more than 87 yards in 2018.
To compare, Michigan had nine athletes reel in more than 87 yards, with the most notable one being tight end Zach Gentry, who brought in 514.
Rondale Moore — Purdue's 2018 freshman sensation — outpaced the U-M duo by himself with 1,258 yards, but it's important to note the Boilermakers attempted 39.2 passes per game (third-most in the conference), which were 12.5 more than Michigan's mark of 26.7.
In fact, the Wolverines' 26.7 passes per outing were the fourth-fewest in the league last season, with only Minnesota (26.5), Wisconsin (23.4) and Maryland (20.1) averaging fewer.
The fact that Michigan ranked 104th nationally in passing attempts per game in 2018 irked much of the fan base, with a large number of them arguing that Peoples-Jones' and Collins' talents weren't taken advantage of at a high enough level.
The duo actually did their best work when the lights were the brightest for the Wolverines, most notably in U-M's three biggest showdowns against Notre Dame, Ohio State and Florida:
At Notre Dame on Sept. 1:
Collins: three catches for 66 yards
Peoples-Jones: six grabs (third-most on the year) for 38 yards
At Ohio State on Nov. 24:
Collins: four receptions for 91 yards (highest output of the season) and two touchdowns
Peoples-Jones: seven catches (second-highest total in 2018) for 64 yards
Vs. Florida on Dec. 29:
Collins: five grabs for 80 yards (both were his second-highest outputs in 2018)
Peoples-Jones: eight receptions (most on the year) for 71 yards and a score
After the season ended, Pro Football Focus actually revealed that Collins didn't drop a single pass all year, the only wideout in the Big Ten (with at least 30 targets) who could lay claim to such a feat.
Sure enough, Peoples-Jones wasn't far behind with just a 2.1 percent drop rate, which equated out to a lone drop on the season.
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