Much ado has been made about Michigan’s quarterback play over the past few seasons, and rightfully so — it simply has not been at the level needed to win championships. 

Less discussion, though, has been dedicated to the wide receivers. Yes, there’s been plenty said about how they’ve been used (Narrator: They did not throw it to Nico), but the performances of the players themselves have been the subject of relatively little discourse. In my mind, that’s largely because there hasn’t been much to talk about. 

Don’t get me wrong — I’m not saying the receivers have been bad. Truly, in the chaotic mess that was the 2020 season, the receiving corps was one of Michigan’s more reliable units. Thing is, though, they weren’t much more than that: reliable. While Nico Collins and Donovan Peoples-Jones were never put in situations where they could fully meet their lofty expectations, the receivers who stepped in after their departure have met their expectations and gone no further. It’s hardly a condemnation of a position group to say they’re doing what’s expected of them, but perhaps that’s an element of what the Wolverines’ offense is missing: an extra spark. 

Of course, not every player has to be involved in that. Regardless of who starts at quarterback, Ronnie Bell will anchor Michigan’s passing offense in 2021, as he did for the two seasons before it. Each week, he’ll do exactly what’s expected of him; he won’t be as explosive as his backups in the slot, or as terrifying to corners as his counterparts on the outside, but you know he’ll catch everything that’s catchable and find extra yards near the sticks. Sure, big receptions from Bell can provide some spark in individual games, but that’s nothing new to the offense. It’s a feature of it.

[After THE JUMP: Certainty and unknowing]

Effectively, Ronnie Bell is a certainty. He was a certainty in 2020, and though we may not have known it at the time, a certainty in 2019 (FWIW, he more than made up for the drop in the Penn State game). The passing offense runs on the conviction that, put in the right situation, Bell will make the right play. And with Giles Jackson transferring and Cornelius Johnson growing into an outside role, that certainty should only grow as Bell reassumes his natural position in the slot. 

Beyond Bell though, it’s mostly mysteries. Some receivers have the raw athletic talent, but questionable hands. Others can high-point the ball with ease, but never had to run tight routes before. Accompanying the offensive anchor outside the box will be a platoon of juniors being asked to step into major positions without the chance to grow as role players, joined by sophomores with the experience of typical mid-season freshmen. 

Even with the talent level present, this won’t be an easy situation for Josh Gattis to navigate. How do you balance the certain benefit of Ronnie Bell with the potential upside elsewhere in the lineup? How does that change if, instead of rising to the occasion, the younger players crack under pressure (say, with an opening drive fumble against Rutgers)? Or, if Ronnie Bell gets injured, who is the “next man up” that can fill the gap in his production, especially with last year’s slot weapon now gone?

Each of those questions is made even more urgent by the test coming in week 2. Washington has its own issues with uncertainty (head coach Jimmy Lake is in his second season, and the Huskies played just four games in 2020 and lost to the only ranked team they faced), but suffice it to say that playing a major Power Five opponent in the second game isn’t an ideal scenario for a developing receiving corps. That being said, what we (and the coaches!) really lack is information. As far as we know, A.J. Henning could have developed a massive vertical in the offseason and is now more of a threat over the top, or Mike Sainristil may have gained 50 pounds and suddenly become useless in crossing routes. We don’t know enough to make surefire predictions about receivers not named Ronnie Bell this season, but there are things we can look for in each of the first two games as indicators of what to expect in 2021. 

What to look for in Week 1

Even if Ronnie Bell himself is a certainty, there’s no guarantee that he’ll gel perfectly with Cade McNamara, especially early on. Bell most likely spent more time last offseason working with Joe Milton, and as we’ve seen with a lot of Michigan quarterbacks over the past several seasons, timing can be the difference between a first down and an oh-my-goodness-where-are-you-throwing-that-ball-Shea-there-is-literally-nobody-there-and-that-guy-was-wide-open. If McNamara seems to be clicking with Bell, that at least means that the Wolverines’ most reliable producer should remain that way in 2021. 

For the other receivers, I think the first indicators will mainly come down to coaching. Speaking strictly anecdotally, Michigan’s receivers in the recent past have struggled to create separation on non-vertical routes, an issue that I attribute mostly to youth and route running. The first of those naturally fixes itself over time, but lackadaisical routes have been somewhat of an issue even for the older receivers in the lineup, and that largely comes down to coaching. 

The Wolverines haven’t had a dedicated wide receivers coach since Jim McElwain’s brief stint in 2018, leaving Josh Gattis to handle that responsibility while also trying to run the offense. Harbaugh, for his part, seems to have recognized this problem and initially hired Ron Bellamy to coach the receivers, but he was forced to move Bellamy to safeties after Brian Jean-Mary left for Tennessee. Still, this season’s juniors will have been working with Josh Gattis for three years now. If Michigan’s receivers are running crisp routes and creating separation in week 1, that’s a good sign that his labor is bearing fruit — even if it’s against Western Michigan. I’d focus on Cornelius Johnson and Mike Sainristil especially, since they’re now stepping into upperclassman roles in the offense, though I’m also curious about A.J. Henning’s progress on that front since route running was something that scouts said Henning needed to improve on out of high school.

The other thing to look for is how the receivers are used. 2020 featured plenty of plays where one of the younger guys beat the corner with speed, only for the throw to be out of reach. If they continue to produce open men, the coaching staff should not abandon those plays. Against the Broncos, if you see Sainristil, Henning, and Roman Wilson getting open on deep routes out of the slot — and McNamara hitting them in stride — I’d take that as a positive sign that the coaching staff is playing to its receivers’ strengths. The same goes for 50/50 balls to Cornelius Johnson; Michigan should use the first game to experiment with those deep balls and see how well McNamara can connect with his receivers. If they’re effective, that could provide an option for how the Wolverines can find consistency outside of Ronnie Bell. 

What to look for: Week 2

It won’t be as easy to connect on deep balls against Washington. While it would be positive to see Michigan connect on a couple of those in week 2, it’ll be more important that they find more ways to move the passing offense forward. And again, it’ll be the smaller speedsters — Henning, Sainristil, and Wilson — that the Wolverines will need to find some explosiveness from. The best way to do this would be with routes like quick slants and outs that allow them to use their athleticism to create space. From there, it will be more about if they can hang onto the ball (Sainristil especially — he had some tough drops in 2020) and tack on tack on a few yards after the catch. 

Ideally, you’d also want to see Cornelius Johnson beginning to emerge as a clear WR2 (or even a WR1b) by this point. The speedier guys can offer a welcome change of pace on first and second down, but they likely won’t be the go-to receivers on third down, nor will they be able to draw much attention away from Bell in those situations. Johnson, though, should be on the field for virtually every third down. I would still think that Bell has more receptions than Johnson, but not by much. 

By now, we’ll also have a good idea of how Jackson State grad transfer Daylen Baldwin fits in with the offense. He has a similar build to Johnson — both are roughly 6-foot-3 and around 205 pounds — and makes a lot of the same contested catches that you’d expect from a tall outside weapon. Whether that will translate to success against Big Ten defenses is unclear, but ideally you’d want to see him emerging as an alternative to Johnson on the outside. 

If those are all good signs for Michigan’s offense, what would the bad signs be? Even if the Wolverines are winning, I’d be concerned if Bell is getting too big a share of the receptions. That would mean the receiving corps is a lot like last season’s — consistent, but to the point of being predictable and sometimes one-dimensional. If McNamara doesn’t have reliable second and third options, defenses will be able to key in more on Bell, and Michigan will likely struggle to convert third downs. 

Beyond that, the worst possible scenario for the Wolverines would be drops. Michigan’s offense is already unproven in a lot of ways, from a first-year starting quarterback, to a so-so offensive line, to a group of tight ends that themselves have struggled to hold onto the ball. If you add to those things that the receivers can’t achieve the most basic tenet of receiving, then it’s hard to see the passing offense finding much success in 2021 at all. 

More likely than not, Ronnie Bell will do what he does and make plays. Beyond that, though, there’s not much to be certain about.