NOTE: I want to acknowledge that this post is coming out after Michigan’s first game. I usually get this post done prior to the season – for obvious reasons – but I was scrambling to finish the countdown and just couldn’t get it all wrapped up. Some of these predictions were already shared in the season countdown posts, but some were not addressed.
LEADING RUSHER I’m not sure how well this prediction holds up after watching game one against Fresno State, in which Kalel Mullings outgained Donovan Edwards. But I believed Edwards would be the lead back and put up a good chunk of yards. Prediction: Donovan Edwards, 1100 yards
Hit the jump for the rest of the prognostications.
Name: Tyler Morris Height: 5’11” Weight: 185 lbs. High school: La Grange Park (IL) Nazareth Academy Position: Wide receiver Class: Junior Jersey number: #8 Last year: I ranked Morris #29 and said he would be a part-time starting wide receiver with 20 catches for 240 yards and 2 touchdowns (LINK). He caught 13 passes for 197 yards and 1 touchdown, and he returned 9 punts for 88 yards. TTB Rating: 83
Morris was often on the field in 2023 but a lot of Michigan fans probably didn’t notice him much. Would you believe he only played 26 fewer snaps (344) than Donovan Edwards (370)? Morris was #14 on the team in offensive snaps, ahead of Myles Hinton, Max Bredeson, and Semaj Morgan. But with Roman Wilson, Cornelius Johnson, and Colston Loveland eating up passing targets, Morris just kind of blended into the background.
And then in the Rose Bowl against Alabama, it all changed. With the game tied 7-7 in the second quarter, Morris got matched up on a linebacker in man coverage, ran a crossing route, caught a J.J. McCarthy pass, and housed it from 38 yards out to take a 13-7 lead. In a game that was tied 20-20 at the end of regulation, that was a huge play. A couple steps slower or a drop there, and maybe Michigan’s storybook season ends differently.
Morris could very well be Michigan’s #1 receiver in 2024, and reports out of practice have been positive. But this is still a player who caught just 13 balls and didn’t score a touchdown until the post-season. We have yet to see how he handles more targets or whether he can shake loose from opposing teams’ #1 corners, if they choose to defend him in that way. A lot of comparisons have been made to Ronnie Bell, and it would be a good thing if he can approximate Bell.
Prediction: Starting wide receiver; 40 catches for 560 yards and 5 touchdowns
2023 Starters: Cornelius Johnson, Roman Wilson Losses: Darrius Clemons (Oregon State), Johnson (NFL), Wilson (NFL) Returning players: Eamonn Dennis (RS Sr.), Peyton O’Leary (RS Jr.), Tyler Morris (RS So.), Karmello English (So.), Frederick Moore (So.), Semaj Morgan (So.), Kendrick Bell (RS Fr.) Newcomer: Channing Goodwin (Fr.) Projected starters: Morris, Morgan
For some teams who play three and four wide receivers on every down, losing two senior wide receivers might not seem like a huge deal. So in the context of college football, the departures of Cornelius Johnson (47 catches, 604 yards, 1 touchdown) and Roman Wilson (48, 789, 12) might not seem like a huge deal. Johnson was the large-ish possession receiver, and Wilson was the speedy deep and intermediate threat. And then there were usually a couple tight ends roaming all over the place. Altogether, Michigan got just 47 other receptions from receivers not named Johnson or Wilson, and 3 of those came from Clemons, who is now plying his trade for the Beavers.
Based on playing time and targets last season, the two front-runners for starting roles in 2024 should be Morris and Morgan. Morris started four games – so he’s kind of a returning starter, I guess – and made 13 catches for 197 yards and 1 touchdown. But that one touchdown was a huge, key play when he got matched up against a linebacker against Alabama in the Rose Bowl and caught a crossing route for a 38-yard touchdown. Meanwhile, Morgan caught 22 passes for 204 yards and 2 touchdowns, and he also had an 87-yard punt return against Iowa in the Big Ten Championship game. He showed some downfield receiving chops in high school, but so far he’s been more of a catch-and-run guy with jitterbug moves – witness his screen catch for a TD against Washington – and adding in 4 carries for 67 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Last year’s spring game star was walk-on Peyton O’Leary (2 catches, 13 yards, 1 touchdown), who could factor in more this season if Michigan needs a big possession guy at 6’4″ and 190 lbs. Frederick Moore (4 catches, 32 yards) and Karmello English (1 catch, 6 yards, 1 touchdown) will also factor in somehow. Some people think Moore could be the fastest player on the team.
Players with less of a chance to make an impact include fifth year senior Eamonn Dennis (who has yet to make a catch in his career but plays a lot of special teams), Kendrick Bell (who was a high school quarterback until making the position switch last year), and early enrollee freshman Channing Goodwin. Bell’s brother Ronnie is now a wide receiver in the NFL with the 49ers, and Goodwin has some good bloodlines, as his father was a lineman for Michigan and in the NFL. But it’s unlikely that any of them play a huge role in 2024.
J.J. McCarthy, Jim Harbaugh, and Blake Corum (image via Mark Terrill/AP)
Michigan was the better team. I predicted a 27-24 loss to the Crimson Tide, so I wasn’t too far off on how the game would feel – I thought it would be a close game that came down to the end. But from the get-go, it seemed like Michigan had the superior team on a down-to-down basis. They sacked Jalen Milroe on four out of his first six dropbacks, and the offensive line was holding up fairly well. Alabama’s offense averaged 4.36 yards per play, while Michigan’s averaged 5.95.
Run the damn ball. Coming into the game, Indiana was ranked #91 in rushing defense. And it was raining. So naturally, Michigan decided to come out throwing, with four pass plays and two rushes in the first six plays. Two of those pass plays resulted in sacks, and one was a drop by Colston Loveland. Meanwhile, the two carries by Corum averaged 4.5 yards per rush. Michigan wasn’t necessarily going to obliterate Indiana on the ground with huge runs, but they could have just taken over the game physically instead of trying to throw in those conditions.
