They were going to need a very useful trip to the store to stock up.

That was clear when watching a Husker wide receiver position that lacked depth in 2019. What it had at that the top -- that was quite good. But the Huskers weren't giving opponents a long enough list of names to worry about.

The big idea is that this will change in 2020. But first, we look back one more time at the year that was.

Worth highlighting: Wan'Dale Robinson was who we thought he was. I don't write this line casually, but he was the most exciting true freshman Husker I've seen with the football in his hands in a very long time. The only shame was he was limited by injury, with his use at running back more than Huskers would like going forward. Eeven while he wasn't as much a focal point of the offense the first few weeks of the season, he still ended up with 453 yards on 40 catches in basically a little more than eight games of work. Throw in 344 yards on 88 rushes and that's a fine opening statement. We can spend a lot of air on the games the Huskers let get away, but on the other hand, I don't know if Nebraska beats Northwestern or Illinois without Robinson. JD Spielman's ability to consistently put up more than 800 receiving yards per year (he had 898, and averaged 18.33) deserves its own acknowledgement too. He's a tough guy. He got the stuffing knocked out of him against Illinois, but just kept coming back and making plays. Scott Frost has said he's eager to coach Spielman for a senior season and watch him set school records. While there's excitement about some of the new signees, Spielman is proven production and very important to have around in 2020 as others get introduced to big-time college football. Ideally, the new crop of guys open things even more to Spielman and Robinson since defenses will have to worry about more than just a couple players dinging them.

Worth worry: I think the Frost offense excels when it comes at you in waves with five, six or seven receivers who are switching in and out and capable of making home-run plays. Most of 2019, I looked on the field and wondered who the heck beyond Spielman or Robinson was going to make something happen. Also, a take-the-top-off-a-defense guy was needed. The QB play was inconsistent, but Husker receivers also struggled too much to either gain separation or run the precise routes. Beyond that, the Huskers were often smaller on the perimeter and it adds to the challenge of blocking out there against physical Big Ten defensive backs. I was also a little surprised that given the lack of depth we didn't see anyone from the 2019 class -- Darien Chase, Jamie Nance, Demariyon Houston -- burn through their redshirt and jump into the main rotation this year. That doesn't mean they're not about to do so. A lot of guys don't do much in Year 1 of college. But it's also fair to say we don't know exactly what the Huskers have there yet. Also, Robinson needs to cut out some of the hits he took playing running back in 2019 so he can hold up. The running back room should look way different and help that cause. But it will be a balancing act with Robinson going forward, because his skill is such you are tempted to want him to have the ball 20 to 25 times even if there's big-picture risk with it.

Numbers watch: The Huskers did average 7.9 yards per pass attempt, which was a climb from the 7.3 it was at in 2018. But the completion percentage dipped from 63.6 to 60.1. Among wide receivers, Spielman and Robinson had 73.3 percent of the yardage production in the passing game. Among those who weren't seniors last year not named Spielman or Robinson, only Kade Warner (109 receiving yards) topped 100. That's a wide-open door for the redshirt freshmen and 2019 signees to help if they want to run through it.

Thoughts for the road: As Scott Frost pointed out on signing day, the scholarship numbers at receiver were dire when the staff arrived. He said they usually like to have about 10 or 11 at the position, and weren't in that neighborhood at first. So there's some big weight on the shoulders of this 2020 recruiting class. Alante Brown is the only one of the five receiver additions with plans to arrive early. Coming later will be Marcus Fleming, William Nixon, and big four-star targets Omar Manning and Zavier Betts so long as they handle their academic business. The latter looms as large as anything. If Manning and Betts are here in the early summer and can get 7-on-7 work with the QBs and learn the system, it definitely changes at least the surface appearance of the Husker receiver room. And hopefully a lot more than that.