As the USF football team moves through the final four weeks of spring practice — with an eye on the first scrimmage set for this Saturday — Bulls coach Alex Golesh has spotted some positive signs in the wide receiver group, where the opportunity abounds for playing time.

Ajou Ajou, a Clemson transfer and an intriguing physical specimen at 6-foot-3, 228 pounds, has returned to the practice field after missing most of last season due to multiple injuries.

Khafre Brown, a North Carolina transfer who was also haunted by physical woes all of last season, has gone from sidelined to seeing limited action while recovering from a shoulder injury.

Meanwhile, Golesh has been most impressed by Yusuf Terry, a Baylor transfer who has played mostly as a backup during two USF seasons. In the early days of spring ball, Golesh said Terry looks like one of USF's most improved players.

"You talk about guys who have grown a ton within our program … there's a guy (Terry) who hasn't played a ton of college football, was highly recruited and expectations were really high for him, but he has underachieved … and NOW he's like one of my favorite guys out there,'' Golesh said. "Energy, focus, he's locked in. He could be a dude-dude for us.''

Terry (6-3, 180) has 13 receptions for 119 yards in his two USF seasons. He could be prepared to step into a primary role after the departure of last season's two leading receivers, Xavier Weaver and Jimmy Horn Jr.

"Yusuf has got to continue to improve and put days together, we talked about drawing a line in the sand and saying, 'All right, enough is enough … I'm going to be really good at my craft,' '' Golesh said. "Yusuf is a guy who lives up here (football facility). All he does is sit here, work on his football, work on his school … and that's it. You get 120 guys like that, you've got a shot to go win some football games.

"Three months ago, I wouldn't have said to our guys, 'Hey, do what Yusuf is doing,' but right now I am saying, 'Hey, do what Yusuf is doing.' He has been a pleasant surprise.''

Golesh said he hopes to see more of Ajou and Brown because they fit the prototypes for top-flight receivers.

"If those two guys can be really good players for us, that would drastically make me feel better,'' Golesh said. "Ajou, we need him to be a really good player for us. He's a big body who hasn't played a ton of ball. But man, physically, if you could draw up a (great) player, that's what they look like.=

"Brown's now able to do stuff in a red (non-contact) jersey. He has been running full speed and now he can go and actually lineup against somebody.''

Golesh said Naiem Simmons (5-10, 182), who had 72 receptions last season for Football Championship Subdivision team Wagner, looked like he was trying to fit in through two days of practice. On the third day, "he just went and played and I thought he has the best day he has had since being here.''

Seth Jones, a transfer from Baylor has been "up and down,'' but "when it flashes really, really well, you can tell he's a real guy. He's still learning the system and has to grow. The next 12 days for him are absolutely monumental.''

Holdover Sean Atkins (19 catches, 253 yards, three touchdowns) has been "really, really steady for us,'' while Javohn Thomas has shown day-to-day improvement, including a recent, long touchdown.

"The key is not making the same mistake twice and continuing to grow in the system,'' Golesh said. "We're still really, really light there (at wide receiver) and some days you feel like, 'Man, we've got some work ahead of us in the transfer portal.

"But with those two guys (Ajou and Brown) coming back, you feel like, 'All right, we've got some depth. When we're healthy, when you add all those guys together, I think we can be a really good receiver group. But that's yet to be seen. And those guys get challenged every day.''

For the work-in-progress USF receiving corps, the work continues.

– Go Bulls –