ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Expectations for Michigan football running back Donovan Edwards were perhaps a bit extreme entering 2023.
While Blake Corum was seen as the nation’s best running back, Edwards was seen as 1B to Corum’s 1A. So when the 2023 season hasn’t elicited rave reviews for the junior tailback, everyone wonders: what’s wrong?
In Week 1, East Carolina was loading the box to stop the run by any means necessary. Both Edwards and Corum struggled compared to usual. Both also coming back from injury, it was understandable. In Week 2, Corum started looking more like his old self, while Edwards was still finding his groove. In Weeks 3-4, Edwards got a little better, and he felt much happier with his performance in Week 5.
But it’s still not the same as last year, when he would bust open long runs, cementing his status as a home run-hitter.
Edwards isn’t impervious to the noise. He hears it. And he knows the expectations that are heaped upon him. But with the season still relatively young, a game away from its halfway mark in the regular season, he knows there’s meat on the bone still. And he’s gnawing at the skin working to break through, knowing that day will come sooner than later.
“Yeah, it’s a slow start, of course, but there’s more games to come,” Edwards said. “I’m not tripping at all, not one bit. I know that I get bashed a little bit — critics are critics, who cares? But at the end of the day, I know what I can improve on, I know what I’m doing well, and that’s all I could continue to do is be me — not get down on myself, just keep my head up and continue to work. That’s what I’m gonna continue to do. That’s what I’ve been doing my whole life.
“Even when I was a freshman when Blake and Hasasn were the starters — Hassan was the starter, Blake was like, quote, unquote, No. 3 whatever. That’s all we can do is just continue to be gritty. I think that the coaches do a great job of consoling me on that, just to keep my eyes on the prize, keep my eyes on the process because where I’m at, where I’m going to be in 12 months is going to be very different from what’s going on now. Just like how 12 months ago was completely different from what I have going on now.
“So I’m thankful for everything that has happened. It’s just kept me grounded, made me realize a lot about myself, so I can continue to do is just keep being humble, man. Just keep being a great person and a great football player.”
One thing that’s helped him immensely in terms of mindset is that he’s not overly concerned with stats. Don’t get him wrong, he notices that he’s not where he’d like to be, but he also is aware that he can’t control what happened in a previous week, nor can he hyper-focus on the following game.
For Edwards, the key part is that he has the best day he can, and does the most he can, on whatever day it is. Can he have a great day at practice? If that’s what the day entails, that’s what he’ll work on. Is it a game day? Then that will be his focus.
It’s not a new concept for him, and it’s something that worked well for him in his breakout season last year. So he’s not deviating from being in the moment, living in today.
“This recently just got implemented in me I think like my sophomore year — just be where my feet are and enjoy where I am,” Edwards said. “Because many people don’t get the opportunity that I’m in right now. And many people, they would wish that they were in the spot that I am in. So that’s just me being grateful for being where I am and being who I am, and being at such an amazing, prestigious university, like the University of Michigan. Being thankful to talk to you guys, to take the field in The Big House, to practice. Even though sometimes you might not want to practice — not for me though, I love it. But that’s just what it is, enjoying where you are because when it’s gone, it’s gone. Like, you’re not going to get those times back.”
Edwards noted that, while the stats weren’t eye-popping at Nebraska, there was a notable difference. Fans saw it, X (formerly Twitter) was abuzz catching that he appeared to be getting over the hump.
So what was different? He shared, while also noting that it’s a step in the right direction. If he hasn’t hit his (literal) stride by the end of the season, then question him, but for the moment, he’s doing everything right and changing what may need to be changed in order to gain success.
“For me it’s running harder, just trusting everything,” Edwards said. “Not to say that I don’t but I guess I find myself second-guessing things, like searching for the big plays when the big plays are going to happen. And so I can’t say that nothing is wrong. Like honestly, there’s nothing wrong, it’s just wait until like — it’s been four games, five games — like just wait. If I don’t play great by you know, like the playoffs, Big Ten Championship, Ohio State, then you’ve got something to say. But this is Week 5, just give me a chance. Everything is alright right now, everything is alright.”