Michigan football is entering 2023 with essentially just one question mark: who is playing cornerback on the opposite side of the field from Will Johnson?
All spring, the hype was surrounding Amorion Walker, the former three-star wide receiver from Louisiana who flipped from Notre Dame on early signing day in 2021. Walker converted to cornerback in the winter months, though he had spent some time on that side of the ball in his freshman year. Jim Harbaugh called him ‘a unicorn,’ noting that he has a skill set you can’t teach that could make him a dominant force at the position. However, he was shaky, at best, in the spring game on April 1, leading to more questions about how everything would play out for him.
Speaking to Jon Jansen on the ‘In the Trenches’ podcast, defensive pass game coordinator Steve Clinkscale, he’s pleased with where Walker is thus far, noting that what happened this spring is part of the journey.
“I feel like Amorion is right where he needs to be,” Clinkscale said. “He had a pretty solid beginning of the spring, had a little bit of roller coaster up and down. And now he’s fighting his way back up. And that’s what you need to do as a corner, it shouldn’t be all roses. I played corner. All the guys who play corner know there’s been times where you’ve, you’ve lost the game for the team. You’ve been beat in a situation where you’d never forget about it. I’m 45 years old, I still know the times I’ve gotten beat back in the 90s. So it’s never gonna go away.
“But he’s doing a lot better job of building off of it and not letting it stop him from or stunt his growth. And so I’ve been very proud of him this summer. And his ability to focus in.”
So who will Michigan trust if Walker isn’t ready come the season opener? The good news is there are options, including a late-offseason transfer that came in from UMass.
“Josh Wallace is the guy that we brought in as well, who’s going to do a really good job for us,” Clinkscale said. “He’s been able to adapt right away. He’s we’re very willing to learn what’s going on so I’m excited by him.
“And, of course, Keshaun Harris and Ja’Den McBurrows and a slew of guys — Myles Pollard, as well as some of those young guys that were just brought in — they all have opportunity to show us what they can do and it’s wide open. So we really want to be able to solidify that spot opposite of Will, of course. But if we have any doubt, Mikey (Sainristil), like I said, he can do it all.”
The additional good news is that the Wolverines don’t exactly have a daunting schedule, particularly to start. Arguably the three toughest games in pass defense will come in the final three games of the season. So the maize and blue have some time to work the options to get the best combination of defensive backs in play.
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