Last year at this time, it had appeared that Michigan football had as deep of a wide receiver group as any other program. Many, here included, were looking at the depth and thinking it was finally the year the pass game would break out, especially with running back Hassan Haskins heading to the NFL.
However, Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards stole the show, as the run game continued to prosper, perhaps at the expense of the pass game.
That said, later in the season when the Wolverines tried to move the ball through the air, it wasn’t quite as explosive as envisioned, even with new quarterback J.J. McCarthy. It wasn’t until the Ohio State game, the regular season finale, that we saw that aspect of the Michigan offense click. But click, it did.
Now entering 2023, will the pass game be more of an emphasis? That will be dependent, in part, on McCarthy, but also the wideouts.
Speaking with Jon Jansen on the ‘In the Trenches’ podcast, offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore shared his enthusiasm for the pass catchers, noting that they have a chance to be special this year.
“They have the potential to be as good as any group in the country,” Moore said. “And it’s just on the continual work hours that they have and what they’ve been doing. (Cornelius Johnson) had an outstanding spring, fixed some things that he wanted to fix. We put him in a couple different positions to see how we would manage and he’s just a smart football player, savvy football player.
“Roman continues to be Roman. Fast, explosive, and doing all the things he’s doing. (…) And then, the other guy that showed up was in the spring was Peyton O’Leary, a guy who you know who really, really stood out and he did that all spring. So excited to see him get his chances and roll and just keep rolling with this group. The young receivers are super dynamic and exciting. So excited for the future of this group and where they are.”
With that in mind, will the offense change at all to feature the pass game? Corum and Edwards both return, and Moore is quite happy with the state of the offensive line, yet again.
He says that he likes where the Wolverines are trending in terms of the aerial attack, noting how much work was done in the spring. But there just needs to be more consistency from the position if they’re to do what he believes the group is capable of.
“I think we have areas that we need to fix, things that we need to be able to exploit defenses more,” Moore said. “And we got to be more consistent, whether that’s ball placement, catches, all those things. And that just gives you more confidence when you’re game-planning things. And I think in the spring, we fixed a lot of those areas, which is really going to help us when we get to the fall.”
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