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On Oct. 24 at 7:30 p.m. EDT, we’ll finally get a glimpse of what ‘speed in space’ could look like when Michigan takes the field for the first time in the 2020 Big Ten season.
While the Wolverines had a talented group of wideouts last year in Donovan Peoples-Jones, Nico Collins and Tarik Black, but all three are gone now, and the maize and blue must now rely on a lot of underclassmen to fill the void. However, those stepping into more prominent roles embody offensive coordinator Josh Gattis’ ‘speed in space’ philosophy, as Michigan gets away from the prototypical, tall, lanky outside receiver in favor of shorter, speedier athletes.
Speaking with Jon Jansen on the Learfield IMG ‘Inside Michigan Football’ radio program, head coach Jim Harbaugh broke down the offense, with the onus of his breakdown focusing on the wide receivers with the season less than two weeks away.
“It’s really been a group effort,” Harbaugh said. “I’d say Ronnie Bell, for sure. He’s a great tone-setter. Mike Sainristil has had a tremendous, tremendous offseason and early camp, practicing really well. Roman Wilson is doing exceptionally well. Giles Jackson, doing extremely well. Jake McCurry doing extremely well. Cornelius Johnson is really coming on strong.
“I don’t know if it’s one guy. I’d even say A.J. Henning did some really good things in our scrimmage on Saturday. Nate Schoenle has been a tone setter, the leader, doing really good things in the wide receiver position and on special teams.
“Right now, that group of eight has really been good. Erick All really sets the tone offensively. Doing a tremendous job. The quarterbacks been really good. Offensive line is coming together as well. And the other group we’re really excited about right now is the running backs. Charbonnet, Chris Evans, Hassan Haskins, Blake Corum. Really, those four have been outstanding, outstanding, outstanding.
“Ready to let it rip on offense.”
The leader of the wideouts now is junior Ronnie Bell, a former three-star who came in unheralded from Missouri. But unheralded he is no more, after leading the team in both receptions and yards in 2019 — despite the aforementioned talented trio still being on campus.
Harbaugh sees a lot of leadership in Bell, but he’s excited about his continued growth. He notices his work ethic along with learning the small details that should give him a leg up to have a repeat performance — or better — in 2020.
“They’re high expectations for Ronnie Bell,” Harbaugh said. “Always been a huge fan of Ronnie. He’s a real gamer when it comes to football. Things he needs to try to improve — every day he’s becoming a great practice player, as well. So much is natural, but really getting better at every fundamental and every technique. He’s always out there, every practice every game. Tremendous amount of want to and competitiveness that he has to be good. Just really getting all the finer points of the position and improving in that way technically. I think he’s gonna see a really big jump in his game this year. Because it’s almost — terrific athlete, great competitor and really getting the finer points of receiving Josh has been teaching him is gonna really benefit him this year, I can see it every day in practice.”
While Bell is a known commodity at this juncture, he won’t be alone out there. And there are no receivers that fans are more excited about than the talented trio of second-year players.
The good news is: Harbaugh is equally excited to see what they do when they take the field at Minnesota, as well.
“The three sophomores — Mike Sainristil, Giles Jackson, Cornelius Johnson — all really good and are playing,” Harbaugh said. “And the two freshmen – Roman Wilson and A.J. Henning — are also right there in the mix. Mike’s really improved. His blocking – maybe our best blocker on the team. He’s also got the — last year – Mike can really go, he’s really fast. You see the fresh legs and the separation. Giles has that and then some probably.
“Both making tough catches, contested catches, which is great to see. All three of those players will contribute.”
But if you want to talk about pure speed, then Michigan has a duo that has that in spades.
College football has become something of a youth movement in recent years, and Michigan’s two freshman receivers are both known as burners on the football field. Roman Wilson — from Hawaii — runs a sub-4.4 40-yard dash, whereas A.J. Henning runs a 4.46.
Generally speaking, you don’t rely on freshmen to be your playmakers out of the gates, but with their talent and ability — and fact that they’ve had an extended period of time to acclimate themselves to the game — Harbaugh is excited to see what they cook up when Michigan takes the field at TCF Bank Stadium.
“Getting open, blocking and catching the ball. I’d say with both Roman and A.J., they’ve shown that ability,” Harbaugh said. “The quarterback trust that they’re gonna get open and get separation. And when the quarterback is throwing the ball, they are really good and natural catchers. And contested catches, too. They’ve developed that trust with the quarterbacks. They know they’re gonna compete for the contested ball, and they have the talent to catch the football.
“You do it on the field, of course – that’s the typical answer to the question. But it’s how they’re doing it. They’re getting open and making tough, contested catches.”
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