ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Most often, first-year wide receivers don’t see the field much if at all, but Michigan football wideout Semaj Morgan saw the field early and often in his freshman season.
He may not have set the world on fire, but he did showcase that he’s ready to make a big contribution in 2023 in terms of production (Morgan finished with 22 catches for 204 yards and two touchdowns), but it allowed him to get acclimated to the college game. Now Morgan is expected to be a starter, and despite his diminutive size at 5-foot-10, 174 pounds, he’s been spoken of this offseason as being a more complete receiver and not just a gadget player.
So what has gone into that? Morgan says he’s been fueled by a hunger he’s had since he was young, but also he’s been dedicated to not only improving upon that which he wasn’t good at, but also that where he was already thriving.
“I’ve really just been attacking it the same way because my foot has always been on the gas since I was six years old, anyways,” Morgan said. “I just feel like going into this season it is a different role. I feel like the guy that I work out with, man, he is gonna have me in the right position to go, to be ready to go. Then also, when I get to Michigan, my coaches, I feel like they’re gonna put me in the best position to succeed. As a complete receiver, I feel like I can run routes pretty good, I feel like I got pretty well hands. I just feel like I work on everything that I feel like I’m good at too, not just what I feel like I’m not good at.”
One of those areas that Morgan feels like he’s improved the most is blocking.
Michigan is obviously a run-heavy team and though there’s some speculation that the offensive playbook could open up a bit in 2024, it will likely continue to run the football more often than not. With that in mind, Morgan has set his mind to making sure he can’t be taken off the field during run plays, understanding the importance of blocking has in the Wolverine offense.
“I feel like you not a complete receiver until you can consistently be in the game blocking,” Morgan said. “And receiver is not just about getting open and catching the ball. That’s really the main part about it, that’s the description of the position, but a complete receiver, blocking — just like alignment and being at Michigan, it really just give you that will factor to really want to do something for your team.
“I wouldn’t feel right if I got the ball and Colston (Loveland) was blocking for me and I scored, and he got the ball like the next drive, and I missed a block and he don’t score. You feel me? That wouldn’t be good. So you feel me like, I feel like becoming a complete receiver really happened to me at Michigan and it started with blocking.”
Morgan is aware that if he doesn’t get adept at blocking, the likelihood that he’ll have the increased playing time he’s looking for goes down significantly.
However, even though he’s aware that Michigan has often been branded as a run-heavy team, he feels like it’s more balanced than often advertised. Which means he needs to block to make sure he also gets those receiver reps. In 2023, the Wolverines ran the ball 563 times for 2,536 yards and passed 361 times for 3,205 yards. It’s not perfectly balanced, but given how much the rushing offense can open up things in the passing game, becoming more well-rounded behooves Morgan to step up areas of his game that he wasn’t previously adept at.
“No block, no rock? That’s what Coach Bell always say, and I want the ball,” Morgan said. “So being a complete receiver means learning how to block. A lot of receivers forget about that art. But it’s really important, very important because that’s how our running backs get to spring big plays, explosives. Michigan — we run the ball.
“We a pretty even offense. People got our opinion about our offense. We even, we a balanced offense. We got some great backs back there. You feel me so like, we want to get the one-on-ones with corners, but if we can get them in open space and nobody in the area, then we good. That’s how I feel about our work this offseason. Becoming a complete receiver. Just tuned in on that blocking.”