Michigan vs. Michigan State Awards

Tag: Maurice Ways


10Oct 2017
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Michigan vs. Michigan State Awards

Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Maurice Ways. Michigan tried a couple fade routes on Saturday, though they were ill fated. One was to Sean McKeon – which isn’t a terrible idea – and another was to Eddie McDoom, which is a little more suspect. Ways was a high school basketball player who didn’t concentrate on football until he realized that it’s pretty tough to succeed in basketball if you’re “only” a 6’3″ wing. He might be a better fade option than McDoom or McKeon, who have not shown an ability yet to go up and get the ball.

Hit the jump for the rest of the awards.

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6Jul 2017
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2017 Season Countdown: #56 Maurice Ways, Jr.

Maurice Ways, Jr. (image via MGoBlue)

Name: Maurice Ways, Jr.
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 217 lbs.
High school: Beverly Hills (MI) Country Day
Position: Wide receiver
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #85
Last year: I ranked Ways #50 and said he would be a backup wide receiver. He caught 2 passes for 24 yards.
TTB Rating: 81

Last year there was a fair amount of hype for Ways coming out of spring ball. The coaching staff liked him, he was catching the ball consistently, he’s always been a solid blocker, and he’s a high-character kid. Things seemed to be shaping up for a pretty solid year, probably as the next guy behind Jehu Chesson and Amara Darboh on the outside. Then a foot injury happened. He played in just six games, and he only caught 2 passes.

Going into his fourth year in the program, it’s another now-or-never situation. Michigan has a batch of young players who are superior when it comes to speed and athleticism, and if they’re starting from roughly the same overall talent, coaches are going to lean toward developing the younger players. One place freshmen typically struggle is in the area of blocking, and that’s where Ways will probably have to make hay if he wants to see the field. The Wolverines lost both starters from last year, so technically, the outside jobs are up for grabs. Most projections right now seem to have Kekoa Crawford pegged as the top guy outside, and he played more than Ways last year. Otherwise, Drake Harris has moved to defense, and the rest of the contributors were mainly in the slot. Since Ways is strictly an outside guy, he’ll be battling with the likes of Tarik Black, Donovan Peoples-Jones, and Nico Collins for snaps. I don’t think Ways will win that battle, but if he’s healthy, I think he should see an uptick in snaps and play in more than six games.

23Jul 2016
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2016 Season Countdown: #50 Maurice Ways

Maurice Ways 181x

Maurice Ways

Just for some perspective, I counted approximately 50-55 players in the 2015 Season Countdown who ended up having a noteworthy impact on the team. That gives you roughly a two-deep on both sides of the ball, plus some special teamers and other rotation guys. So as we hit #50 with Maurice Ways, this is entering the territory where we should be talking about guys who will see significant snaps, not just in garbage time or an occasional special teams snap.


Name: Maurice Ways
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 210 lbs.
High school: Detroit (MI) Country Day
Position: Wide receiver
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #85
Last year: I ranked Ways #40 and said he would be a backup receiver (LINK). He started two games, making 3 catches for 40 yards.

I thought Ways would take a step forward as a redshirt freshman last season, and he did to an extent. Michigan used the starting wide receivers and a bevy of tight ends in the passing game, so there weren’t a lot of receptions to go around for backup receivers. In fact, only 12 receptions were recorded by wide receivers not named Jehu Chesson, Amara Darboh, and Grant Perry. Drake Harris had 6, Ways had 3, and the other 3 went to guys who are no longer on the roster (Da’Mario Jones, Freddy Canteen, and Brian Cole). The thing that got Ways on the field was his ability to block, as he was considered to be the most effective blocker of the backup crew.

Michigan should have even more talent at the tight end spots this year, and the top three wideouts return. There’s no real reason to expect Ways’s role to increase, especially considering the fact that he broke his foot during the spring and wound up having surgery. He is expected to be healthy by the beginning of the season, but whether he’s back to full strength or not is a slightly different subject. I think he can carve out a role once again as a blocking receiver, because he has the best size of any receiver on the team at 6’3″, 210 lbs. But if he’s going to make an impact in the passing game, it probably won’t be until 2017, once Darboh and Chesson have moved on to the NFL.

Prediction: Backup wide receiver

27Feb 2016
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Spring Football Preview: Wide Receivers

Amara Darboh (82) of the Michigan Wolverines pulls in a pass with Micah Hannemann (7) of Brigham Young  defending during NCAA football in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015.

Amara Darboh (image via KSL)

Projected starters: Fifth year senior Amara Darboh was Michigan’s leading receiver for most of last season, and he finished with 58 catches (#1 on the team), 727 yards (#2), and 5 TDs (#2). He returns with a spot virtually locked down, and he should be ready to go when spring begins. The latter cannot be said for fifth year senior Jehu Chesson, who had 50 catches (#3), 764 yards (#1), and 9 TDs (#1). Chesson was injured in Michigan’s bowl game and will likely miss spring ball while recovering from that undisclosed injury. Michigan did not get much production from the wide receivers behind them, but redshirt sophomore Maurice Ways, Jr. earned more playing time as the season went along, finishing with 3 catches for 40 yards total. If we’re going by trajectory, he would be the starter opposite Darboh this spring.

Hit the jump for more on the wide receiver position.

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