Tag: Jake McCurry

Jim Harbaugh breaks down WR corps, Nico Collins’ status with team

In his weekly press conference, Michigan football’s Jim Harbaugh shared who will be the WR at Minnesota and updated Nico Collins’ status.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — With Michigan set to open the 2020 season at Minnesota on Saturday night, one of the biggest curiosities is what the offense will look like.

Yes, there’s a lot of enthusiasm surrounding Wolverines third-year quarterback Joe Milton and all of the tangibles he brings to the table, but who will be out there catching the ball? Michigan has no shortage of capable receivers, even though the unit has been somewhat depleted from a year ago. While the trio of Nico Collins, Donovan Peoples-Jones and Tarik Black had been tantalizing in terms of their talent for years, with them now gone, they pass the torch to multiple, speedier options that provide a different type of capability of stretching the field.

Jim Harbaugh broke down the unit on Monday in his weekly press conference, sharing why he’s encouraged by the group and who will be making the trip to Minneapolis this week for game one.

“Receiver-wise, the receivers have been really good,” Harbaugh said. “And a lot of them, a lot of good receivers. One of the really good things about our offense’s growth has been the receiving group. Their ability to get separation, to gain separation, to increase separation and to make contested catches.

“And a lot of guys – Ronnie Bell, Mike Sainristil, Roman Wilson, Giles Jackson, Cornelius Johnson doing extremely well. Jake McCurry, A.J. Henning, Nate Schoenle – those are the receivers we’re going into the ball game with. Feel really good about all of them.”

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While the only player above that has starting experience is Ronnie Bell, the maize and blue are particularly excited about the prospects of Giles Jackson and the two true freshmen in A.J. Henning and Roman Wilson.

But Harbaugh’s omission of Nico Collins from that group is particularly glaring.

Collins announced shortly after the VRBO Citrus Bowl against Alabama that he would be returning for his senior year, but he quietly signed with an agent and left the team when there was uncertainty in the late-summer about whether or not the Big Ten would have a season at all.

Since, he’s made no announcement as to his intentions — like Jalen Mayfield had before he opted back in, as Ambry Thomas did about his departure and Kwity Paye alluded to about returning. Meanwhile teammates have contended that he’s ‘still unsure,’ leaving some to be optimistic that he could be a part of the team.

While Harbaugh threw some cold water on the idea that Collins could suit up sometime in the coming weeks, he didn’t altogether close the door on his potential return down the road.

“Nico is not participating in football right now,” Harbaugh said. “And I don’t have a crystal ball if his mind would change or not, but he’s not currently on the team.”

Collins’ participation in classes at this juncture are unknown, but it appears unlikely that he’s still enrolled in the university. If that’s the case, he’s likely played his final down for the Wolverines this past January.

Michigan will take its receiving corps to Minneapolis to take on Minnesota on Saturday night, with kickoff at 7:30 p.m. EDT. The game will be nationally broadcast on ABC.

With talented wideout group, Jim Harbaugh ‘ready to let it rip on offense’

What head coach Jim Harbaugh sees out his wideouts with less than two weeks before Michigan vs. Minnesota football in 2020.

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On Oct. 24 at 7:30 p.m. EDT, we’ll finally get a glimpse of what ‘speed in space’ could look like when Michigan takes the field for the first time in the 2020 Big Ten season.

While the Wolverines had a talented group of wideouts last year in Donovan Peoples-Jones, Nico Collins and Tarik Black, but all three are gone now, and the maize and blue must now rely on a lot of underclassmen to fill the void. However, those stepping into more prominent roles embody offensive coordinator Josh Gattis’ ‘speed in space’ philosophy, as Michigan gets away from the prototypical, tall, lanky outside receiver in favor of shorter, speedier athletes.

Speaking with Jon Jansen on the Learfield IMG ‘Inside Michigan Football’ radio program, head coach Jim Harbaugh broke down the offense, with the onus of his breakdown focusing on the wide receivers with the season less than two weeks away.

“It’s really been a group effort,” Harbaugh said. “I’d say Ronnie Bell, for sure. He’s a great tone-setter. Mike Sainristil has had a tremendous, tremendous offseason and early camp, practicing really well. Roman Wilson is doing exceptionally well. Giles Jackson, doing extremely well. Jake McCurry doing extremely well. Cornelius Johnson is really coming on strong.

“I don’t know if it’s one guy. I’d even say A.J. Henning did some really good things in our scrimmage on Saturday. Nate Schoenle has been a tone setter, the leader, doing really good things in the wide receiver position and on special teams.

“Right now, that group of eight has really been good. Erick All really sets the tone offensively. Doing a tremendous job. The quarterbacks been really good. Offensive line is coming together as well. And the other group we’re really excited about right now is the running backs. Charbonnet, Chris Evans, Hassan Haskins, Blake Corum. Really, those four have been outstanding, outstanding, outstanding.

“Ready to let it rip on offense.”

The leader of the wideouts now is junior Ronnie Bell, a former three-star who came in unheralded from Missouri. But unheralded he is no more, after leading the team in both receptions and yards in 2019 — despite the aforementioned talented trio still being on campus.

Harbaugh sees a lot of leadership in Bell, but he’s excited about his continued growth. He notices his work ethic along with learning the small details that should give him a leg up to have a repeat performance — or better — in 2020.

“They’re high expectations for Ronnie Bell,” Harbaugh said. “Always been a huge fan of Ronnie. He’s a real gamer when it comes to football. Things he needs to try to improve — every day he’s becoming a great practice player, as well. So much is natural, but really getting better at every fundamental and every technique. He’s always out there, every practice every game. Tremendous amount of want to and competitiveness that he has to be good. Just really getting all the finer points of the position and improving in that way technically. I think he’s gonna see a really big jump in his game this year. Because it’s almost — terrific athlete, great competitor and really getting the finer points of receiving Josh has been teaching him is gonna really benefit him this year, I can see it every day in practice.”

Photo: Isaiah Hole

While Bell is a known commodity at this juncture, he won’t be alone out there. And there are no receivers that fans are more excited about than the talented trio of second-year players.

The good news is: Harbaugh is equally excited to see what they do when they take the field at Minnesota, as well.

“The three sophomores — Mike Sainristil, Giles Jackson, Cornelius Johnson — all really good and are playing,” Harbaugh said. “And the two freshmen – Roman Wilson and A.J. Henning — are also right there in the mix. Mike’s really improved. His blocking – maybe our best blocker on the team. He’s also got the — last year – Mike can really go, he’s really fast. You see the fresh legs and the separation. Giles has that and then some probably.

“Both making tough catches, contested catches, which is great to see. All three of those players will contribute.”

But if you want to talk about pure speed, then Michigan has a duo that has that in spades.

College football has become something of a youth movement in recent years, and Michigan’s two freshman receivers are both known as burners on the football field. Roman Wilson — from Hawaii — runs a sub-4.4 40-yard dash, whereas A.J. Henning runs a 4.46.

Generally speaking, you don’t rely on freshmen to be your playmakers out of the gates, but with their talent and ability — and fact that they’ve had an extended period of time to acclimate themselves to the game — Harbaugh is excited to see what they cook up when Michigan takes the field at TCF Bank Stadium.

“Getting open, blocking and catching the ball. I’d say with both Roman and A.J., they’ve shown that ability,” Harbaugh said. “The quarterback trust that they’re gonna get open and get separation. And when the quarterback is throwing the ball, they are really good and natural catchers. And contested catches, too. They’ve developed that trust with the quarterbacks. They know they’re gonna compete for the contested ball, and they have the talent to catch the football.

“You do it on the field, of course – that’s the typical answer to the question. But it’s how they’re doing it. They’re getting open and making tough, contested catches.”

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