[Brian Dohn/247Sports]

Future Blue Derivatives: Blake Corum Comment Count

Adam Schnepp December 16th, 2019 at 12:00 PM

One of the interesting things about college football is the limitation of the "college" part. This limits the makeup of the team to those in college, and as the increasing whiteness of my beard reminds me every time I look in the mirror, feeling like you haven't really changed since college does not mean you're the same as you were in college. No, that's the domain of actual college students, who retain that qualification for just a small sliver of time. Once college football players move on they must be replaced by new college football players via a phenomenon college coaches and the public alike have taken to calling "recruiting."

It seems like an excellent time to look closer at the player who has turned into the third-best player in Michigan’s 11th-ranked class with the early signing period just a couple of days away. Blake Corum was ranked just outside the top 200 in 247’s composite when he committed to Michigan at the end of June. Since then he has shot up the board, now finding himself ranked #119 overall and the 12th-best running back in the country.

Fortunately for us it was easy to find film of Corum, what with him playing for a national powerhouse against another national powerhouse in IMG Academy and the advent of livestreams yielding a full game for dissection. IMG’s defense is loaded with five-star corner Elias Ricks, four-star defensive tackles Demonte Capehart and Warren Brinson, three-star safety Lejon Cavazos, three-star defensive tackle Jordan Butler, three-star linebackers Zay Peterson and Jaqwondis Burns, three-star defensive end Josh Griffis, and that’s just the 2020 prospects. Yet Corum’s film from that game is as impressive as the highlight reel I had to base my brief evaluation of him on in his Hello post, especially when considering the competition.

[After THE JUMP: every-snap film and scouting]

Blake Corum Every-Snap Film

Scouting

[00:00] Shifts a gap quickly and accelerates well.

[00:17] Killer jump cut; times it perfectly, which takes a run that would go for no gain into a gain of five.

[00:27] Follows his blocker into a pile-up, then sees an alley to the outside. He displays good vision to be able to see past that mess in front and know to bounce. A corner gets off a receiver’s block and is charging hard at Corum, but he makes the right adjustment to his path to widen away from the corner. His speed takes care of the rest, leaving that guy in the dust.

[00:40] Meh. Probably doesn’t need to be thrown as high or hard as it is. Still, it’s in the vicinity of where you’d expect a catch.

[00:47] I think this play not breaking big comes down to blocking. The pulling lineman loses his block, as he has to at least hold up on his block if not drive him inside. That would effectively be a reach, so it’s a tough ask. Once he loses the block and the defender gets outside Corum is in trouble. Can’t cut back because a split second ago he was running in tandem with another lineman with the idea that the puller gets the first guy, the next blocker gets upfield with Corum and takes someone out, and Corum is into the secondary. He makes a smart decision, though, as his plunge into the defender avoids the lost yard or two that would come should he have decided to try and get the sideline. Next he shows some slipperiness, stepping out of the ankle tackle.

[1:24] Not Tru Wilson.

[1:35] Stops on a dime and doesn’t lose speed. So shifty. The tackle loses his block and falls forward, and Corum stops and cuts his way out of two unblocked defenders closing in.

[1:53] The notable bit of this play is Corum’s vision and we see it stand out around 2:02. He sees the unblocked safety downfield and tells his lineman he needs him to pick that guy up. Then when he realizes his lead blocker has to pick up a defender who has come loose from another block and the safety is going to remain unblocked, he cuts it in and somehow picks up the defender to his right, on whom he then puts a spin move. I love it.

[2:17] The first cut is really nice because you can see that he’s looking inside and not just reacting to where the first hole is but looking for where he has the best odds of picking up the most yardage, and that’s reversing the run instead of running right into the defender in front and to the right. Pretty clear two minutes in that Corum is good at running around people; running through them isn’t necessarily his game. He slips on his next cut and that’s that.

[2:43] I think it makes sense for Corum to follow the two extra blockers St. Frances brought to the left side of the line but you could make the argument that he should have bounced it outside. First run where there’s been any question about his decision.

[2:51] The block positions the defender in the lane Corum is using, and there’s really nowhere for him to go. He tries to slip through behind his blocker but runs into him. Even if he made it past his teammate he’s gonna get hit by the unblocked defender to his left.

[2:57] Again with the losing-blocks-and-letting-defenders-prey-on-Corum thing.

[3:17] Still not Tru Wilson.

[3:40] Has overrun his block by the time he IDs who he’s supposed to block on the outside.

[3:55] Gets what the blocking gives him and runs through an arm, but it looks like that arm is enough to knock him off balance such that he can’t cut outside the looming free hitter.

[4:02] A lineman attempts to block and falls off a defender, leaving him in the hole that was just opened by a block from the guy in motion at the start of the play. Corum sees the o-lineman’s block fall apart and utilizes a nice jump cut to get outside.

[4:27] Well-timed backfield cut gets Corum to the line of scrimmage, then he lowers the pads to get through the hole. Manages to run through a tackle here, but the other three guys who converge bring him down because that’s how a 3:1 tackler-to-ballcarrier ratio works.

[4:36] So Corum definitely displays what I believe Harbaugh calls contact courage here, but also that defender should probably not try to lift and throw Corum out of bounds but instead wrap him up. Impressive distance on the dive by Corum to finish the play. Too bad the official says he stepped OOB.

[4:48] Keeps churning and gets the TD. Nice power.

[5:23] Accelerates to top speed well and the stop and look inside before turning outside at the end of the run is a nice idea that almost works. Honestly the film is too fuzzy to tell at the time the ball is knocked out whether that’s due to a grip strength issue or if it’s being held away from the body or what’s really going on.

[5:46] Incredible jump cuts. Still not entirely sure how he avoided the first unblocked defender

[5:52] Corum makes a nice adjustment to his initial path to avoid the blitzing corner.

[6:16] Nice blitz pick-up on a hard-charging safety that seals the edge.

[6:35] Good patience to let his blockers get set, even better burst.

[6:45] This punt return is a good example of Corum’s ability to use hesitation to get defenders off balance, then his quick-twitch stop-start burst to get past them.

[7:08] The stopping and starting mentioned in the last note serves Corum well here, but in following his blockers he missed a huge lane backside. Even so, Corum’s jump cut gets him at least three extra yards here, and his cut at the 12-yard line is timed perfectly.

[7:27] Burst and good decision-making are there, but keeping the defensive end blocked long enough for Corum to pass is not.

[7:37] Corum again shows the smoothness with which he cuts away from defenders, leaving another safety in the dust at the 45-yard line. He reacts very well (read: quickly) to open-field threats.

Summary

Let’s start with my prediction based on flimsy evidence from the aptly named “prediction based on flimsy evidence” section of Corum’s Hello post.

Corum has all the tools to be a tremendously useful all-purpose back; it’s difficult to prevent this post from reaching high levels of corniness because of how well he fits the #SpeedInSpace mantra. A definitive scouting take can’t be issued without watching him over the course of a full game, but everything available on film points to a guy who can carry the ball out of the backfield and find extra room thanks to well-paired vision and athleticism, and also one who can run through contact when someone eventually gets to him. The one thing that stood out from Opening regional numbers and the camp highlight film is that he seems to have an average vertical, which isn’t a huge deal as a running back but points to why he should not primarily play slot.

I didn’t see anything in the every-snap film that changes my opinion of Corum’s position-relevant skills from the quoted section above, though I do think his vertical isn’t going to be an issue; there were a couple of carries where he exploded forward on a dive toward the goal line. He shows good patience and vision, giving his blockers time to get set and adjusting his path on the fly based on what he’s seeing from the linemen, particularly on the frontside of a play. Corum is the kind of back who can juke or jump-cut his way out of a phonebooth, so he’s also able to make something out or nothing when blocking falls apart (as it often did in the reel above). He keeps his legs churning on contact as well, and while he might not shed tacklers he falls forward with regularity.

Corum has excellent breakaway speed—he ran a camp-verified 4.44 at The Opening regional in May—but to my eyes he’s even quicker near the line of scrimmage than he is when he has built a head of steam. His ability to stop on a dime and accelerate out of a cut looks effortless and is as good as I’ve seen from a running back committed to Michigan.

As with any player, there are areas in which Corum can improve. He overran or lost blocks and thus will need to work on blitz pickups. There also was some question about whether Corum was a slot or a running back around the time of his commitment. I don’t think he was targeted enough to say how he would fare in the slot but I also don't think the question is all that relevant anymore; he might line up in the slot here and there to pull linebackers out of the box, but it’s clear from the film that Corum can be deployed in just about every situation as a running back.

Comments

NorCalMfan

December 16th, 2019 at 12:20 PM ^

Love his elusiveness and cuts in the open field.  This game seemed like an accurate representation of life in the B1G.   His O-line wasn't mauling the shit out of the opponent's D-line like in so many highlight films.  Give him a year or 2 in a college strength program, and better instructions on blitz pickups and he's the total package.  Passing to the RB is something I hope to see more next year in the Gattis offense (Chris Evans?)  Corum seems perfect for what this offense wants to do.

Blue Middle

December 16th, 2019 at 12:27 PM ^

Great stuff, thank you for sharing.  To me, he looks like an elite ball-carrier.  He has a lot of work to do on his blocking, and that may limit his playing time as a true freshman.  He's got a very strong lower body and the ability find and fit through the tight spaces that are the most efficient path to yards.  Has another gear you don't expect.  Smooth and has great short-area quickness along with great long speed.  Is surprisingly hard to tackle based on his size.  

Two things stand out to me:

  1. Can he add weight and maintain his athleticism?
  2. When will he figure out pass protection?

How soon he plays and whether he's a star or something else will likely hinge on those questions, because his skills as a pure runner are undeniably great.

Partial.Derivatives

December 16th, 2019 at 12:54 PM ^

Taking a guess at your first question, I don't think he'll add that much weight. If he gets to 200 that'll probably be the max weight you'd want on a 5'8 frame.

I think the only question I have about him is ball security. He fumbled in the clip above. Ensuring that he isn't a liability in that department will be critical. Otherwise, I think the kid has the potential to be great.

Blue Middle

December 16th, 2019 at 2:13 PM ^

Oh, I agree.  He's probably only going to add 10-15 lbs.  But that can make a big difference for some guys.  Right now he has "make you wrong" speed, where if you're the defender setting the edge he's fast enough to get outside of you OR cut inside of you depending on your positioning.  Here's hoping he keeps that and even gets quicker/faster in college while adding some muscle.

Don

December 16th, 2019 at 3:49 PM ^

"His ability to stop on a dime and accelerate out of a cut looks effortless and is as good as I’ve seen from a running back committed to Michigan...Incredible jump cuts"

Maybe I'm warped by all the highlight videos I've watched on HUDL over the last few years, but based solely on the video here, this strikes me as really over-the-top praise. I see a small back who will be good and serviceable, but not a true difference-maker.