There was a lot to be said about the receiving corps last season, and most of it was negative — well, most of anything said about Michigan last year was negative, but that’s beside the point.

Anyways, I think the receivers got a bum rap. It wasn’t exactly their fault. The Wolverines had quarterbacks that couldn’t get them the ball — especially deeper than 15 yards — and an offensive line that couldn’t give the QB time to find the open guy until a mini-resurgence toward the end of the year. Double whammy.

This year looks to be different. For starters, Tate Forcier, in one throw in the Spring Game, proved he had a skill set far-and-away better than anything Michigan dealt with last season. Forcier looked deep, stood there bravely and delivered a 50-yard strike to redshirt freshman Roy Roundtree for a touchdown toss.

And with an offensive line that should be vastly improved this season, the receivers could get back on track in the fall. And it all starts with Greg Mathews. He’s not going to burn anyone — and he would probably work better as a No. 2 guy, like Arrington for Manningham or Avant for Braylon — but he’s the best the Wolverines have right now, and he’ll make the most of it.

He doesn’t really have the speed or the juke-ability to get behind the defense, but he is a solid route runner and has good hands. Mathews should have a nice year if the coaches can figure out how to use his strengths in their favor.

In the other wide out position, I think the nod goes to Junior Hemingway, if he can shake the injury bug. He stayed healthy long enough last season to grab a 30-plus yard TD against Utah in the season opener — one of Michigan’s few highlight-worthy pass touchdowns, it seems — before garnering a medical redshirt.

There’s a lot of upside to this guy, and I was excited to see him progress last season, but after sitting so much, you’d have to think the talent gap between him and sophomore Darryl Stonum closed a little. It sounds like it’s Hemingway’s starting job to lose, but Stonum — despite a disappointing freshman campaign — has the deep-ball skills that no other receiver possesses.

I’m sure that both of these guys will get healthy playing time, but they both have a lot to prove. Hemingway — there’s been a lot of talk about him, but he hasn’t actually done much. No fault of his own, since he was hurt. And he has shown flashes of brilliance when he’s on the field, but I’m looking for him to become a consistent threat out there on the field.

And we all know Stonum’s troubles. Despite being the only freshman who enrolled early that season, he struggled with his route running and had a penchant for dropping catchable balls — and that’s just talking about his on-the-field issues.

Stonum can become an impact player — he’s certainly got the athleticism — if he gets his head on straight.

Either way — Hemmingway or Stonum — this side of the ball has a lot more questions than the other. Mathews is a proven guy. But if either of them can pan out, it will take a lot of pressure off Mathews, who would then be able to get more into his possession-receiver style of play.

Now, let’s talk about slot receiver. Sophomore Martavious Odoms was Michigan’s leading receiver last season, but he’ll almost certainly be splitting time this year. I think he’ll get the starts, because he is a proven playmaker and has the shifty skills to thrive in the Rodriguez slot. But there are a lot of talented guys behind him, now — Terrance Robinson, who was in a position battle with Odoms until he got hurt and incoming freshman Jeremy Gallon, who is basically the same kind of player.

There’s a lot of hype behind Robinson and Gallon for good reason — they’re the prototypical guy Rodriguez wants for the slot position. But no one is really talking about redshirt freshman Roy Roundtree.

Roundtree had one of the best Spring Game performances on the team, and he brings a new threat to the slot position — the deep game. As talented as Odoms, Robinson and Gallon might be, they’re just not going to be able to stretch the field and create enough space to catch long passes. They just don’t have the height to do that.

Roundtree does have that ability. Proof: the TD grab I talked about earlier. He could be a great change-of-pace guy when the defense gets used to the screens, slants and mid-range routes that Odoms, Robinson and Gallon will be running.