Blake Corum To Return
Score one for NIL, as Blake Corum just announced on the Rich Eisen show that he will return for his senior year.
Run it back! Go Blue〽️ pic.twitter.com/xQiKgdl1R1
— #2⃣BeSavage (@blake_corum) January 9, 2023
As sometimes happens, Corum's NFL draft stock doesn't match his college productivity and NIL allows Michigan to make the financial decision non-obvious, so Corum can return to a team he loves and go for a Big Ten trifecta.
Corum had a heavy workload until he got knocked out of the Illinois game; I would expect him to be in more of an even platoon with Donovan Edwards after Edwards established himself as a lead back himself over the course of the OSU/Purdue/TCU games. A version of Edwards with a surgically repaired thumb will be able to play many snaps as a wide receiver, giving opposing defenses a dilemma. With Ronnie Bell off to the NFL and Andrel Anthony transferring it seems likely that it's Edwards stepping into a majority of the vacated snaps.
Michigan is still waiting on decisions from 2022 starters Zak Zinter, Trevor Keegan, Gemon Green, and Mike Barrett; with the OL transfers Michigan has brought in and Ernest Hausmann at LB the main remaining question for a loaded roster next year is who is going to be Will Johnson's bookend.
There is no content after the jump!
January 9th, 2023 at 2:24 PM ^
I almost feel like this warrants Muppets
January 9th, 2023 at 2:26 PM ^
Came here to say that!
Moar Muppets!
January 9th, 2023 at 2:29 PM ^
The jury has ruled that getting back a Heisman-caliber player is indeed worthy of Muppets.
January 9th, 2023 at 2:33 PM ^
Yes, it has been scientifically proven.
January 9th, 2023 at 4:25 PM ^
Well he's no Joe Milton but he's pretty good
January 9th, 2023 at 3:04 PM ^
You took the words right out of my mouth.
Muppets!
January 9th, 2023 at 3:33 PM ^
Agreed. Muppet worthy.
January 9th, 2023 at 3:43 PM ^
Here's the relevant snippet from the Rich Eisen interview:
January 9th, 2023 at 4:16 PM ^
Santa?
January 9th, 2023 at 2:25 PM ^
January 9th, 2023 at 2:28 PM ^
https://youtu.be/aTU7nahUw20
January 9th, 2023 at 2:32 PM ^
Can't have one without the other
January 9th, 2023 at 2:28 PM ^
Duble Double, WTF w/ this WiFi?
January 9th, 2023 at 2:56 PM ^
The director's cut!
January 9th, 2023 at 2:25 PM ^
Double post
January 9th, 2023 at 2:25 PM ^
With news like this we don't need any stinkin content after the jump! LFGGGGGGGGGGGG
January 9th, 2023 at 2:26 PM ^
The Best University - IN THE WORLD.
Go Blue!
January 9th, 2023 at 2:26 PM ^
Just in case anyone else is fantasizing about next year's ceiling, Reggie Bush won the Heisman in a year when LenDale White was also an All-American.
January 9th, 2023 at 4:58 PM ^
I actually think Edwards is more of a candidate going forward. Not to mention JJ. Corums usage won't approach last year.
January 9th, 2023 at 6:38 PM ^
I wonder if Donovan Edwards is as happy about this as we are.
January 9th, 2023 at 11:09 PM ^
I think in an offense like that in this day age RBs see a benefit to sharing the load. There are more than enough snaps to go around.
January 10th, 2023 at 12:44 AM ^
If healthy, Edwards can be a great pass catcher when Corum is in the backfield. Makes the offense better and opens options for JJ, Corum, and Edwards. Win...win...win.
January 10th, 2023 at 7:13 AM ^
I'd venture to say that many here are privately not, for fear of turtle ball, and want to see the offense open up.
January 10th, 2023 at 9:34 AM ^
Yes, IMO he is. They will both have a full opportunity to shine and a little less wear and tear is good for both of them, and they appear to be close friends.
January 10th, 2023 at 9:38 AM ^
He absolutely is. Saves on his wear and tear, gets to catch passes and get something like 2000 yds from scrimmage, and watches his draft stock go through the roof. Plus, Blake is his dog.
January 9th, 2023 at 7:45 PM ^
For sure. If we map against the 2005 USC scale, Edwards : Bush :: Corum : White. (Notably, that team also had Heisman winner Matt Leinart.)
January 9th, 2023 at 2:27 PM ^
Injury aside, the NFL is collectively delusional if they thought he was a day 3 guy. Glad to have him back, and I hope he's getting compensated well for this.
January 9th, 2023 at 3:32 PM ^
Blake Corum is a day 3 draftee like Brock Purdy was!
Anyone who was paying attention to Iowa St (even if only scouting potential replacements for Harbaugh) knew Purdy was far more than his combine stats, a heady gamer & a winner. Mr. Irrelevant?! How about Mr. Super Bowl Champ!
How could anyone watch Blake the Great play & think to themselves "Eh, there's 75 players I'd rather have on my team"?!
Complete idiocy!
January 9th, 2023 at 2:27 PM ^
I wonder how Corum returning will influence other guys' decisions. Folks like Zinter and Keegan might be tempted to come back for NIL money to take another shot at it with one of the best running back duos of recent memory
On the flip side, I saw some rumors of RB room transfers due to this (And there's only so many scholarship RBs on this roster right now who arent named Blake or Donovan...). Hopefully there isn't a massive offensive backfield drop off after JJ, Donovan, and Blake all likely go pro post-2023
January 9th, 2023 at 2:35 PM ^
I think there are a couple of guys in the backfield who, for example, saw goal-line and short-yardage carries go to a converted LB and might be able to read the writing on the wall. Not sure what'll happen and if they are happy at UM in their role they should absolutely stay.
I do think that there is a weakness in RB recruiting that needs to be addressed; Cabana looks like a solid RB with good pedigree but the rest of the past couple of classes have been filled with flyer-types that UM should absolutely not be falling back on after what they've done with Edwards and Corum. That falls on Hart, full-stop, and he needs to close on guys to keep this system going.
January 9th, 2023 at 2:47 PM ^
2023: Cabana
2022: Stokes (not a great class)
2021: Edwards
2020: Corum
2019: Charbonnet
2018: Haskins
So 1 down year in a 6 year span...
January 9th, 2023 at 3:47 PM ^
But those first 3 didn't include Mike Hart and Edwards was as much because of Bellamy (and his listed recruiters were Jaybaugh and Moore). And like I said Cabana looks good but Hart has been tied to the #63 RB (Stokes), #9 (Cabana), and #55 (Hall). And I don't know if any top line RB who they're in line for in 2024 (though I haven't dug too deep).
Mike Hart the coach has been really good at UM, but Hart the recruiter was middling at IU even compared to his peers and has been middling at UM as well. That has to change or they need to compensate for that deficiency elsewhere.
January 9th, 2023 at 11:27 PM ^
In the last 2 classes, Michigan has gotten 4 recruits in the top 10 of their position. 1 was a RB. 0 guys in the top 10 at QB, TE, WR, the entire OL, DT, or LB. Seems like a non issue to me. Also, not that weird that the 2022 class was weak when UM had Corum and Edwards coming back. And it seems like you underrate Cabana. For comparison, he's the #9 RB while Corum was #12 RB in his class.
January 10th, 2023 at 9:28 AM ^
Again, I said Cabana seems like a good back but let's also not overreact to individual position group rankings. Cabana is the #9 RB but is 169th overrall; Etta is the #14 DL recruit and at 114, and English is the #25 WR and is 180th and Hill is #25 CB at 195. Tyler Morris was the #22 WR and was 133rd overall. the #1 back in the country this year (Baxter going to Texas) was #21 overall behind 5 QBs, for example. So positional rankings aren't the be-all, end-all. And compared to Corum he's positionally better but the #9 RB in Corum's class was 89th nationally overall, so a much deeper overall class.
People keep acting like these gaps in recruiting due to returning talent is normal, and maybe it is for a QB (though lots of schools do seem to keep getting top-notch kids every class) but at skill positions like WR and RB the top teams keep pulling in guys and let it be known you're just gong to fill in for the guy ahead of you in a year or two.
I just think people have blinders up a bit around Hart. He's a good coach but even when he came to UM I noted that his recruiting at IU was mediocre and that people expecting kids to give a shit about what he did before many of them were aware of football wasn't a given. I know UM is chasing Taylor Tatum and that would be a good pickup but otherwise Hart has disappointed me as a recruiter because he really hasn't closed on a major guy who wasn't nearby (in Cabana) and given UM's focus on the ground game they have to have a strong running back room.
January 9th, 2023 at 5:00 PM ^
How is it that Dunlap keeps getting overlooked. To me he looks better than Stokes. I hope he stays.
January 10th, 2023 at 12:53 AM ^
Stokes has a lot of football ahead of him. Let’s not disregard him yet. His story is not written.
And Cabana hasn’t played a down of college ball yet.
Tbd.
January 10th, 2023 at 9:42 AM ^
100% this. Edwards didn't quite see the holes last year and had to unlearn the high school instincts to try to outrun everyone. Corum wasn't 2022 Corum in his first year, either. Give Stokes a minute.
No denying, however, that Edwards, McCarthy, and (to be fair) Oluwatimi, Keegan, and Zinter are remarkable talents that don't come around every year. Enjoy this, folks.
January 9th, 2023 at 3:14 PM ^
Sure you aren’t thinking of QB recruiting the last couple of years?
January 9th, 2023 at 3:56 PM ^
It's been both. The past couple of years haven't been great for the QB/RB combo in terms of recruiting. There will absolutely be a drop off once JJ and Edwards leave barring some significant change in guys being signed. Maybe Davis at QB helps but while I like Cabana at RB he's still likely a step down from Corum and Edwards and it doesn't seem like they even have another guy to fill in.
January 9th, 2023 at 3:56 PM ^
Man I really don't like this "carries going to a LB" take!
Clearly Mullings was a far superior RB than LB in the Spring game, but NHG's injury made him important for LB depth. Otherwise he'd have likely been the #3 RB all season.
That being said, if Dunlap is being passed by walk-ons maybe it's in his best interest to look into other options 🤷♂️
January 9th, 2023 at 2:47 PM ^
On the topic of transfers, I wouldn't be shocked if 1 or 2 guys left. Dunlap already kinda seemed like a transfer possibility, but could see Stokes or Mullings maybe leaving now as well
January 9th, 2023 at 3:06 PM ^
I'd be surprised if Mullings leaves since he will probably have a clear short yardage role and he might develop into a really good "thunder" to complement the lighting.
Stokes, on the other hand -- hard to see him getting many meaningful carries.
January 9th, 2023 at 3:07 PM ^
I would guess the two guys implied are Dunlap and Stokes. Dunlap hasn't seen much action at all. Stokes saw diminishing action as the season progressed, even after Corum got injured! Especially seeing that the coaches seem to see Mullings as the #3
January 9th, 2023 at 3:15 PM ^
I'm not so sure I'm on the train that Stokes will transfer. The dude was emotional and seemed genuinely stoked (no pun intended) to be coming to Michigan when he signed.
January 10th, 2023 at 12:58 AM ^
Stokes is a freshman for God sake. He showed some nice potential and some freshman mistakes. Let the kid develop.
January 10th, 2023 at 6:34 AM ^
Stokes has some juice. He'll continue to develop.
January 9th, 2023 at 3:40 PM ^
Did this fund not target Turner?
Projected 2nd rounder would require how much NIL to earn more than round 2 salary?
Although I believe if DJ runs close to what the team says he can he'll go in the 1st.
January 9th, 2023 at 11:12 PM ^
Hard to think of a better one.
January 9th, 2023 at 2:28 PM ^
Yay!
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