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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — While Michigan lost two wideouts from 2019 in new Cleveland Browns draftee Donovan Peoples-Jones and Texas Longhorns transfer Tarik Black, there’s still a lot of reasons to be optimistic about the wide receivers room. Especially if you’re Josh Gattis.
Gattis is the Wolverines offensive coordinator, but he also personally oversees the wideouts. Yes, there’s certainly reasons to be excited with Nico Collins and Ronnie Bell returning, as well as enigmatic second-year players such as Giles Jackson and Mike Sainristil. But they aren’t the only ones who will be making plays in the near future.
Michigan brought in three wideouts in the 2020 recruiting class with four-stars AJ Henning and Roman Wilson and three-star flex Eamonn Dennis — who could also play corner, as he comes in with a similar size and skillset as the aforementioned Sainristil.
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Looking specifically at the previous two, while Henning’s pedigree was well-known throughout his recruitment, it took a little bit longer for Wilson to gain national accolades. Hailing from Honolulu (HI) St. Louis, it wasn’t until about a year ago that he started turning heads. While 247Sports has him rated as the No. 217 player in the nation and 37th-best wide receiver in the class, Rivals was significantly less bullish, having him rated as a three-star and the 75th-best wideout in 2020.
However, looking at the duo, particularly Wilson, Gattis is enthusiastic that Michigan got something of a find there.
“The young receivers – yeah, real excited,” Gattis said. “Real excited. AJ and Roman – those guys playing with some speed. They bring a skill set that’s different. Roman’s a guy – I’m so excited about his athleticism. Had he been playing in the (contingent) states, I firmly believe he’d be one of the most talked about talked about players in the country. Same with AJ Henning, who is one of the most talked about players in the country coming in as a Gatorade Player of the Year in the state of Illinois. Roman coming from Hawaii, had he been playing closer East – he’s a phenomenal player. Big time athlete, big time speed. We’re excited.”
Gattis would know a little something about talent at wide receiver.
Yes, he coached Peoples-Jones who was a sixth-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, but several others who were formerly under his tutelage went much, much higher.
Having spent a year at Alabama as the wide receivers coach and co-offensive coordinator, Gattis worked with two first-round picks in Henry Ruggs and Jerry Jeudy, as well as having worked with second-round pick KJ Hamler from his time at Penn State. Considering how much he raves about Wilson’s potential — as well as Henning’s — that bodes well for his vision of a ‘speed in space’ offense.
But how soon can those two contribute?
Last year, Michigan played three true freshmen at wideout — Sainristil, Jackson and fellow first-year player Cornelius Johnson. This year, expect something similar, especially given the limited numbers of wide receivers currently on scholarship in Ann Arbor.
“We’re gonna throw those guys in the mix,” Gattis said. “Obviously, we don’t have a ton of depth at receiver. Last year we had played two freshmen at receiver in significant roles. I think we’ll start this year out with seven scholarship wideouts, which is very low under the number of receivers we want to be at. But we’ll make it work. We’ll make it work. That is what it is. We’ve got the talent there, we’ve got all the different pieces. Most importantly, we’ve got the room.
“Those guys are great with each other. Being led by Ronnie Bell and Nico Collins. I couldn’t be more excited about the wide receiver room right now.”
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