It’s not an entirely different premise for Michigan football to trot out Cornelius Johnson and Roman Wilson as the top two receivers. That will be the case for the Wolverines in 2023, as it was for the bulk of the 2021 season after Ronnie Bell went down with an ACL injury in the season opener. But a team cannot subsist with just two receivers, which means that others will need to step up this year.
There are myriad options for the maize and blue. Especially because Bell’s departure for the NFL wasn’t the only one — Andrel Anthony transferred to Oklahoma this offseason, as well. That means that pretty much anyone who gets some run in 2023 will be something of a newer contributor.
There are several candidates who could play big roles. Wide receivers coach Ron Bellamy spoke with Jon Jansen on the ‘In the Trenches’ podcast this week to break down the candidates.
“Tyler Morris — coach and I’ve joked that Tyler switched from 13 to 8, and it’s like man — he gives you the Ronnie Bell vibes,” Bellamy said. “Tyler’s his own man, but you see that No. 8 has been around Michigan football a long time and now in (you see him in) No. 8 and making some of those acrobatic Ronnie Bell catches or jumping over someone to go catch a contested ball. I remember once Coach and I looked at each other and it’s like, ‘Ronnie Bell!’
“He has that mentality, he has that Junkyard Dog mentality — ‘I’m gonna do anything coach! I can go run a dig knowing I’m gonna get hit’ or, ‘I’m gonna go in there and block the end, I’m gonna go block a backer, go get the safety.’ Whatever it is, Tyler’s that kind of guy. He’s scrappy — very, very scrappy player and that’s one of the things we love about him.
“And then you got D.C., you got Darrius Clemons, who had a great spring his own in his own right. Big target, 6-foot-4 guy that’s one of the fastest guys on our team. Darrius hs really added more tools to his toolbox this offseason. I’m excited to see what he does this camp and just having guys like that around.
“Cristian Dixon had a solid spring ball and another bigger receiver. Guy that’s been around here for a few years and just kind of continues to develop himself and he’s ready for his opportunity. And we talked about Peyton (O’Leary) and the young guys, some of the young guys have really stepped up — Semaj Morgan, Fredrick Moore put themselves, opened some eyes this spring. Like, ‘Oh, man, these guys, alright, they got a shot to be pretty good.'”
The aforementioned Peyton O’Leary is an interesting candidate. A former walk-on who broke out in the spring game (6 catches, 126 yards, a two-point conversion), the former lacrosse player earned copious praise from Jim Harbaugh last offseason, which prompted many he could be an X-factor in 2022. However, he had just one catch for four yards last year.
Bellamy is confident that he’ll play a much bigger role in 2023, noting that he’s on track to being not just a contributor, but a factor this year.
“Peyton is doing things the right way,” Bellamy said. “A big-time effort guy but with skill. If anyone knows Peyton’s background, Peyton is originally from Massachusetts, and they didn’t have football during COVID — he was a lacrosse guy. So Peyton was going to play lacrosse in if they had football, his senior year in Massachusetts, I’m pretty certain — Peyton and I have talked about this — he would have had a laundry list of offers, opportunities.
“But fortunately for us, it worked out in our favor with Peyton. Peyton’s here in Michigan and gave up lacrosse and he’s no slouch. Peyton can ball. And it’s fun out there watching him make plays.”
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