When you’re the “Throwin’ Idahoans,” you can never have too many receivers.

And that is the approach Idaho State head football coach Cody Hawkins is taking to staffing his receiving corps.

The Bengals lost their two most productive receivers after last season — Jeff Weimer and Christian Fredricksen, who both exhausted their eligibility after last season. Both were first-team All-Big Sky Conference selections, with Weimer catching 75 passes for 1,016 yards and six touchdowns, while Fredriksen had 60 catches for 830 yards and eight TDs.

The Bengals do return four receivers who totaled 130 catches last season, but Hawkins wants to keep the pressure on those veterans to keep improving. So he brought in two receivers from FBS schools via the transfer portal over the weekend and is still looking to bring in more.

“Two as of now. ... two more pending,” Hawkins said about the status of his recruiting efforts at wide receiver.

Joining the Bengals this past weekend were Jovani Gardere, a 6-foot, 190-pound transfer from Texas-El Paso, and Jonah Burton, a 5-11, 196-pound former walk-on from Baylor.

“Gardere is an outside guy who is known as a really hard worker,” said Hawkins. “He was awarded the No. 2 jersey at UTEP, which is a big program deal. But he was hoping to be closer to home (California) and get more involved in the pass game his last few years.”

Gardere, who is expected to have two more years of eligibility pending an injury waiver, played four games for the Miners in 2023, catching four passes for 59 yards, including a 25-yard touchdown against Arizona. He redshirted last season at UTEP.

His freshman season was spent at Diablo Valley College, a junior college in California, where he caught 47 passes for 840 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Burton, meanwhile, caught nine passes for 110 yards in limited action during his time at Baylor. His most productive outing was against Texas State in 2023, when he caught five passes for 88 yards. He sat out last year due to injury.

“He (Burton) is a slot guy who was productive, but (there were) multiple offensive coordinator changes, and the guy who had recruited him, left for Kansas,” Hawkins said. “KP (ISU wide receiver coach Keith Price) had a good relationship with him.”

Gardere and Burton will add depth to the Bengal receiving corps. But they’ll have to come in and compete for playing time, Hawkins said.

“Both are guys who we anticipate to push the guys we already have here,” he said.

Hawkins said returners Tsion Nunnally and Michael Shulikov are the favorites to start at outside receiver, with Ian Duarte and Raiden Brown at the slot positions. Last season, Duarte caught 47 passes for 504 yards and three touchdowns, Brown 38 passes for 339 yards and three touchdowns, Nunnally 25 for 182 yards and two TDS and Shulikov 20 for 166 yards and four touchdowns.

While those four returners are the front runners to get on the field next year, “those guys (Gardere and Burton) will compete,” Hawkins said.

The transfer portal newcomers are expected to enroll for spring semester and take part in spring practice. ISU can continue to consider players who entered the transfer portal in December and bring them into the program until fall practice begins in August. Another window will open for players to enter the transfer portal on April 16 and last 10 days.

The next major recruiting period for football begins Feb. 5, when high school and junior college players who did not sign in the early recruiting period in December can commit. Hawkins plans to meet with Bengal fans to talk about his recruiting efforts Feb. 5-7 in Pocatello, Idaho Falls and Boise. The Pocatello meeting will be at the Alumni Center on campus at 6 p.m. Feb. 5. The Idaho Falls gathering will be at Watkins Distributing, 5999 S. Doug Andrus Drive, at 6 p.m. Feb. 6. The Boise meeting will be at 610 W. Grove St. at 1:30 p.m. Feb. 7. Fans who would like to attend should contact the ISU Alumni Office at 208 282-3755 to register.