ANN ARBOR, Mich. — If you pay close attention to what Michigan football is putting out on social media during spring ball, you’ll notice a frequently featured face in many of the posts — and it’s not someone who made a big contribution last season.
Now wearing Ronnie Bell’s No. 8, second-year wide receiver Tyler Morris has an opportunity to replace him, especially considering they feature similar skills, size and athleticism. And the pictures that have made their way to social media from the program indicate that Morris is doing just that.
There are multiple shots of Morris making plays, usually a harbinger of future success. If you’re making plays in practice, you’re likely to be heavily featured in games. And since Morris is entering his sophomore season, there’s a higher likelihood he’ll be in heavy rotation.
On Thursday, he spoke about how the spring is going compared to last year, when he couldn’t participate fully while still recovering from the ACL injury he sustained in his senior year of high school.
“I feel like it’s going good. For me just a lot more comfortable,” Morris said. “Last year, freshman year, you’re trying to figure everything out. You don’t know the offense, you don’t really know just how to program works completely. I was still trying to come back from my knee a little bit. So this year, I feel like I’m just more comfortable, used to things, know how it goes. So it’s not too much, trying to figure everything out as much.”
Morris says he finally became fully healthy in May of last year, after spring ball concluded. Thus, he didn’t really get his first real taste of college football until fall — first in camp, then in games.
Now that he’s full go and has time to look back, he says that thinks are moving much slower than they were previously.
“I think just how fast it goes. We’re putting plays in, everything’s moving fast, you got to figure everything out,” Morris said. “There’s different situations that in high school you’re not thinking about that. There’s just — you’re kind of just playing football. So just a lot more thinking and details that go into it now.”
Morris will certainly be tasked with the usual wide receiver duties — getting open, catching the ball, and then working for yards after catch — but he’s also put an onus on the other attributes of being a pass catcher in this system.
Considering that Michigan has two of the best running backs in the nation, and is likely to heavily utilize both Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards once they return healthy, Morris says that he’s really worked on blocking. Because, as he notes, it’s integral to the offense, given how run-heavy the Wolverines can be at times.
“I have no issue with blocking. That’s just part of the game,” Morris said. “You can’t be a receiver and expect to only go catch to score touchdowns and all that. Especially being at our school, we’ve got great backs. So we’re going to run the ball and you’ve got to be able to block. I just feel like it’s a mindset being physical and not being scared to go hit somebody.”
Fans will be able to see Morris’ progress in person on April 1, when the Wolverines host their annual spring game at The Big House.
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