Spring Football Preview: Wide Receivers

Tag: spring football


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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26Feb 2016
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Spring Football Preview: Offensive Line

Mason Cole 934x

Mason Cole

Projected starters: LT Grant Newsome (So.), LG Ben Braden (RS Sr.), C Mason Cole (Jr.), RG Kyle Kalis (RS Sr.), RT Erik Magnuson (RS Sr.). Newsome was the sixth lineman by the end of the season. Jim Harbaugh said recently that Cole would start getting snaps at center as soon as spring practices starts, those two developments seem to be related. Braden, Kalis, and Magnuson all started at those respective positions for the entirety of 2015.

Hit the jump for the rest of the offensive line preview.

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25Feb 2016
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Spring Football Preview: Tight Ends

Jake Butt 750x

Jake Butt

Projected starter: Senior Jake Butt. Butt (51 catches, 654 yards, 3 TDs) has been Michigan’s leading tight end for the past two seasons, and last year he was in the running for the Mackey Award, which is given to the nation’s top tight end. He should once again be in the running for the Mackey Award and an All-America nod.

Departures: A.J. Williams (12 catches, 129 yards), who was mainly a blocking tight end, graduated. Meanwhile, redshirt junior backup Khalid Hill is moving to fullback this spring (LINK) and redshirt sophomore Chase Winovich is moving back to linebacker after spending one season at fullback/tight end.

Hit the jump for more on the tight end situation.

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24Feb 2016
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Spring Football Preview: Running Backs and Fullbacks

De'Veon Smith 733x

De’Veon Smith

Projected RB starter: Senior De’Veon Smith. Smith is not the most dynamic back, but he does possess the toughness Jim Harbaugh wants in a running back. Last season he led the team in rushing yards (753) and touchdowns (6), despite having the lowest yards per carry on the team (4.18). However, he did end the season on a strong note with 25 carries for 109 yards against a pretty good Florida defense.

Departures: Rising senior Derrick Green decided to transfer, although his destination is not yet known. Florida is one possibility, where former Michigan offensive coordinator holds the same position. Green was the team’s sixth-leading rusher last season. Redshirt junior Ross Taylor-Douglas managed just 1.8 yards/carry last year and announced that he would be transferring to Rutgers.

Hit the jump for more.

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23Feb 2016
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Spring Football Preview: Quarterbacks

John O'Korn 725x

John O’Korn

Projected starter: Redshirt junior John O’Korn. The buzz from last year suggested that O’Korn would have been starting over Jake Rudock if not for the fact that Rudock had the slight advantage of being eligible to play. The 6’4″, 220 lb. O’Korn is bigger, possesses a stronger arm, and is perhaps a little more athletic than Rudock. We have yet to see O’Korn do anything in a Michigan uniform, so this spring will be exciting.

Departures from last year: Rudock (64% completions, 3017 yards, 20 TDs, 9 INTs) started every game last season but graduated and is trying to slip into the NFL Draft. Redshirt freshman Zach Gentry is transitioning to tight end.

Backup battle: The battle to be #2 is wide-open. Last year’s primary backup was Wilton Speight, who will be a redshirt sophomore in the fall. Speight had one good series when he led the team to a game-winning touchdown against Minnesota, but otherwise, he did not instill observers with much confidence (36% completions, 1 TD, 1 INT altogether). The coaching staff openly admitted that they were trying to redshirt Shane Morris, but Jim Harbaugh also said that Speight legitimately passed up Morris on the depth chart a few weeks into the season. We have heard standard off-season rumblings about Morris improving, maturing, etc., but those stories rarely seem to come to fruition. Redshirt freshman Alex Malzone started for one of the spring game squads last April, but he’s not on the same level physically as Speight or Morris, and he’s less experienced. True freshman Brandon Peters enrolled early in January. He’s the highest touted recruit of the whole group, but he’s just a pup; the last time we saw him, he was going 4/16 in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl. He’s probably bound for a redshirt this year.

#1 thing to watch: If O’Korn isn’t the starter in the fall, it will be a major surprise. So I’m most interested to see who the #2 guy is coming out of the spring. Speight wasn’t very good as a backup last year, but Morris has been pretty lousy in more extended playing time during his career. At some point during the season, the backup typically has to come in during at least one important moment. If Morris is #3 on the depth chart after the spring, I would not be surprised to see him transfer, even though he said he wanted to remain at Michigan next year.