Nina Fleetwood saw an uncommon determination in DeMeer Blankumsee, the youngest of her four children, very early.

Which is why what he has done since joining the Memphis football team comes as no surprise. Blankumsee, in the span of just 10 spring camp practices, has gone from third-team reps to first-team reps at receiver – a position group that will be among the most critical to the Tigers’ success in 2023. The Toledo Rockets' second-leading receiver last season with 41 receptions and 512 yards and three touchdowns, Blankumsee came highly recommended to coach Ryan Silverfield, who was blown away by the 5-foot-10, 185-pounder’s infectious smile.

But, one day recently, Silverfield noticed a change in Blankumsee’s demeanor.

“I grabbed him off to the side and I said, ‘What’s going on?’” said Silverfield. “He said, ‘I’m just trying to earn my spot.’ You could see the hunger.”

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Fleetwood, a Cincinnati hair stylist, laughed in an if-they-only-knew way.

“This is the perfect story to tell about my son,” she began. “He’s 4 or 5 years old, something like that, and his friend had a bike with training wheels on it. But the training wheel on one side was gone. These kids are out trying to learn how to ride this bike. A little while later, here comes DeMeer around the corner all busted up down to the white meat. I thought I was gonna have to take him to the hospital.”

After cleaning and bandaging him up, Fleetwood delivered an order: no more bike riding without training wheels.

“Five minutes later, he comes around the corner like, ‘Mommy, I told you I could it!’” she said. “He was determined to ride that bike. He still has the scar on his elbow. He’s gonna work at it til he gets it.”

The Tigers needed reinforcements in the receivers’ room after losing their top four from last season (Caden Prieskorn, Eddie Lewis, Javon Ivory and Gabe Rogers). With Joseph Scates and Roc Taylor returning, along with Blankumsee's arrival, Silverfield also snagged Missouri transfer Tauskie Dove (a career 1,100-yard receiver) and junior college transfer Marcello Bussey, who tallied 10.3 yards per catch at Hutchinson (Kan.) in 2022.

But Blankumsee could be the key ingredient who pulls everything together. When the speedster was looking for a new home, he considered Colorado and Georgia State. But quarterback Seth Henigan – and his back-to-back 3,000-yard seasons – sold him on the Tigers. Well, Henigan and opportunity.

“I wouldn’t say the (receivers’) room last year had a lot of drops, but it was a hefty amount,” said Blankumsee. “I could only imagine if they would’ve caught half of those passes how many more yards he could’ve had.”

Which is one of the spots Blankumsee believes he can help. Prior to the start of spring camp, which ends Friday with the annual Friday Night Stripes spring game (7 p.m., Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium), every Tiger was tasked with setting four goals: personal, football, academic and weight room. The coaching staff printed each individual player’s list out on a poster that was tacked up inside their respective lockers.

Blankumsee’s football goal is to become better completing catches through contact.

“I caught a lot of passes last year that was through contact, but I feel like that’s still something I could improve at,” he said. “I probably dropped maybe two last year that I could’ve caught through contact. So, I feel like that was something big to improve on.”

Silverfield is relatively quick to caution that Blankumsee isn’t a finished product. Few are, though, he concedes. “But he’s got the right mindset and approach,” said Silverfield. “I’m gonna challenge him more and more. He’s shown a lot of great things that’s gonna allow him to be a productive player for us.”

Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @munzly.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis football: Could DeMeer Blankumsee be the answer at receiver?