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Despite not having wide receiver Nico Collins return to the Michigan football team, the Wolverines have plenty of depth at the position. Michigan has its leading receiver last year in Ronnie Bell back once again, but he isn’t alone in the department. Sophomores Giles Jackson, Mike Sainristil, and Cornelius Johnson are expected to step up, and freshman A.J. Henning and Roman Wilson will see plenty of playing time with the free year of eligibility.
Tonight, we saw a vast amount of those wide receivers get playing time, and Michigan offensive coordinator Josh Gattis is making it harder for his opponents to choose who they want to focus on. Nine different people caught passes from quarterback Joe Milton in Michigan’s 49-24 win over Minnesota. Five of them were wide receivers, as Bell lead the group with four catches for 74 yards. Sainristil and Jackson each had a catch, Sainristil, for 11 yards while Jackson had five. The other two were the freshmen duo as Wilson had two catches for 34 yards, and Henning had one for 14.
Despite Bell being the leading receiver, it didn’t seem like he was the Wolverines’ top target. Milton wasn’t looking for Bell every time; he looked for the open receiver no matter who it was. Michigan might not have a clear-cut number one wide receiver this year, as Milton spread the ball out to the wide receivers, tight ends, and running backs who caught the passes.
Michigan having this amount of depth at the wide receiver position, should scare its opponents. It doesn’t matter who they put on the field; it will be a tough matchup every time. Along with the wide receivers, the defense needs to hold the tight ends and running backs accountable as possibly being the receiver.
Milton knows he has playmakers at his disposal, and he wants to get them the football. “It feels great for me because I don’t have to do too much,” Milton said. “I got a lot of playmakers. Get those guys the ball because that’s what they’re here for. They’re going to make a play.”
Tonight, Johnson was left out of the catching rotation, but that doesn’t mean he won’t contribute next week. The way this offense seems like, every week a different receiver could step up and be the main target for Milton. Next week Johnson could have the big game for the Wolverines while Bell could be quiet. This week Bell seemed to be the top guy, but Jackson had some chances for big plays too, but they didn’t execute them.
When it comes to the young freshman wide receivers, Milton was happy with what he saw from them. “They always wanna get better in practice,” Milton said. “They always wanna know more, offensively, of a scheme, what’s going on, so having those guys in the game tonight was very impressive because they understand what was going on. They weren’t scared.”
Michigan’s offense seemed to have used their speed in space mantra with Wilson, Henning, Jackson, running backs Chris Evans, and Blake Corum. Those fast receivers will see more time as the season progresses, but if they were able to put up 49 points in the opening week, on the road against a ranked team (that went 11-2 last season, mind you), this offense could finally be what it was supposed to be last season.
With more depth at the receiver position, they could keep rotating guys in and out and never stop putting up points. Speed in space could have arrived in Ann Arbor, and with the multitude of receivers at Milton’s disposal, good luck trying to cover them all. If Michigan’s offense can be as good as their defense, this team could be an exceptional group.
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