ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Last offseason, Michigan football running back Donovan Edwards was making some lofty comparisons as to what type of tailback he was. Evoking names like Barry Sanders and Walter Payton, essentially there was nowhere to go but down for the then-junior running back.
And down he went — at least for most of the season.
Edwards struggled out of the gate and then he struggled some more. It wasn’t until the Penn State game in Week 11 that he finally started to look like the enigmatic tailback we had seen throughout 2022, and he came full circle with two big touchdown runs on two carries in the national championship game against Washington.
His plans were to have a stellar junior campaign in 2023 and then head to the NFL, but that’s not how it played out. And now, after maturing and learning numerous life lessons along the way, Edwards is happy that last year turned out how it did.
“I told Angelique (Chengelis of The Detroit News) that I wanted to leave, but also at the same time, I think that God had humbled me and was like, this isn’t your plan, this is My plan for you. So I’ve assessed everything that has happened for me. I think that to answer your question, I think that the strength for me last year, nothing football-wise, man — it’s just me growing as a man, me facing adversity, and it hitting it straight on. But the weakness was how tough am I, how much can I endure?
“Like contact balance for football, how can I improve that driving the feet? How can improve that? There was a play against — I believe it was against Indiana — goal line, end of the half, and I just didn’t get the touchdown. And that’s what I got pulled out. Blake (Corum) got the touchdown. There’s stuff that I have to work on, but I think with the confidence aspect, just going to continue to have that emerge for me.
“But everything last year, I’m blessed that it’s happened. There’s a lot of things that I have to grow as a man in. Last year continued to show me everything that I need to do.”
Now looked at as the feature back for this upcoming iteration of the Wolverines, having Edwards in the backfield isn’t as much of a luxury as it is a necessity. If Michigan’s ground game succeeds, it’s likely because Edwards is succeeding. If he doesn’t, well, that puts a damper on what the maize and blue want to do in 2024.
Thus, while he’s letting go and letting God in many ways, he’s also preparing, doing what he needs to do before the season comes in order to put himself in the best position.
With that in mind, what is he working on most particularly? A lot of things, things that he learned are important from his predecessor.
“Being able to read defense presnap, vision, balance, cuts on safeties, pass protection — everything,” Edwards said. “You can never be satisfied with what you have in your abilities. Big-play capability, I still want to improve on that. There’s never a time that you need to be satisfied within your game, no matter good you are.
“Blake Corum was great and making safeties miss. But what is he still doing? Making safeties miss. What is he (working on)? He’s continuing to work on it. So everything that I continue to do, everything that I’m going through is I have to continue to improve.”
Fans will get a chance to see Edwards in action on April 20 in the annual spring game. It will take place at noon EDT at The Big House and will be nationally televised on Fox.