Previously: Podcast 11.0A, Podcast 11.0B, Podcast 11.0C. The Story. Quarterback. Running Back.

Depth Chart

WR	Yr.	WR	Yr.	SLOT	Yr.	SPREAD H	Yr.
Nico Collins	Jr.	Donovan Peoples-Jones	Jr.	Mike Sainristil	Fr.	Mike Sainristil	Fr.
Tarik Black	So.*	Ronnie Bell	So.	Ronnie Bell	So.	Giles Jackson	Fr.
Cornelius Johnson	Fr.	Nate Schoenle	Jr.*	Jake McCurry	So.*	George Johnson III	Fr.

It's payoff time for Michigan's best-ever WR recruiting class, even if Oliver Martin slipped back to Iowa City. Michigan has some dudes. Established dudes.

Michigan has a pair of dynamic receivers that can do some damage this season. pic.twitter.com/9W3uKoXHtn

— PFF College (@PFF_College) June 9, 2019

Michigan wide receivers showing up big pic.twitter.com/tun861mJlz

— PFF College (@PFF_College) August 9, 2019

In addition to the dudes Michigan has injured dudes and leaping dudes and a freshman dude or two. They've also added a dude to coach these dudes—Josh Gattis, a guy with a superior track record as a WR coach. Gattis is also the OC, so maybe Michigan's leading receiver will finish with more yards than at least one of Bama's top 5 guys. I'm saying there's a chance.

Throw the ball!  Throw it a lot! Texas Tech!

[After THE JUMP: Three amigos. Four amigos? Five?]

OUTSIDE WR: JUST LIKE THE 1989 DENVER BRONCOS

RATING: 5.

Collins can go get it [Eric Upchurch]

Junior NICO COLLINS noses ahead of his compatriots by virtue of his fully healthy return in fall camp, the steady drumbeat of practice hype about that, and a stunning PFF stat that Peoples-Jones can't match:

Nico Collins had an absurd 81.3 percent contested catch rate last season, easily leading returning B1G wide receivers. pic.twitter.com/4AkR6OdzFy

— PFF College (@PFF_College) May 11, 2019

Collins was king of the armpunts last year. Interfere? Don't matter.

Redzone fades? In this case, permissible.

Ball off-line? No problem.

What inexplicably don't pop up in my clips from last year are any genuine jump ball situations. This is partially on Patterson—more than once last year your author crabbed about Patterson not bombing it into one-on-one coverage. It's probably on Pep Hamilton, too, since Patterson showed few compunctions about unleashing the dragon when he was at Ole Miss.

[After THE JUMP: dudes all the way down]

So you get to see Collins when his routes break him open and not when he's covered, but not that covered. That means the contested catch number is inflated. It would be a huge upset if Collins was not an elite jump-ball WR, what with his size and the many rapturous practice reports. But it is a little bit of an open question. He did go 6/7 on targets I filed in the "moderately difficult" category, which is an elite number if it gets any sample size. A lot of his downfield targets needed some digging out, as Patterson seemed to recognize his other Ent was open late most of the time.

Collins is huge and got dinged a bit as a recruit because it was thought that he didn't have the ability to separate from top-flight defensive backs. Either that was wrong or Ben Herbert deserves a cookie, because he blew that critique out of the water in game one when he blazed by Julian Love:

Love got drafted in the 4th round this April after running a 4.54 at the NFL combine. There he not only gets torched after giving up an eight-yard cushion but patently fails to re-gain any ground even after both guys are going flat out. Later in that game Collins got inside position on a post route without safety help—another clear L for Love—but the throw was way off.

Collins combines size, tracking ability, hands, and speed. NFL-plus speed. Not bad.

There was a negative blip. Collins made a series of errors in the Northwestern game ranging from the understandable to the inexplicable. He didn't attempt to catch a goal line slant that was a bit high but almost certainly intended for him—this is the discrepancy between PFF's "zero drops!" and my numbers, which charged him for one on that play. He leapt on the sideline when he didn't need to, allowing a defender to push him out of bounds and he had a couple of incidents as a runner where he tried to Breaston his way into a big play but only cost Michigan yards, and conversions:

Collins also frustrated with a couple of crucial, bad decisions on the ground. That third and short WR screen I was cranky about actually turned out to be a first down waiting to happen if Collins just runs outside, or directly into the last defensive back:

There is no way Collins, who is two yards long, isn't falling forward for a first down if he understands he is a large burly man and this is no longer high school. When he goes straight north and south he grinds out impressive quantities of yards. He got hit about a yard downfield on a screen that ended up in a Katamari ball of receivers and defensive backs seven yards downfield.

These incidents were mostly confined to the Northwestern game.

When not succumbing to Northwestern malaria Nico Collins 1) did not drop a ball, 2) turned 50-50 balls in to 80-20 balls, and 3) demonstrated he is faster than many NFL CBs. His catch rate of 73% led Michigan receivers with more than 20 targets; his 12.2 yards per target bested everyone except low-sample-size Ronnie Bell. Michigan targeted him fewer than four times per game. Minnesota alternated true freshman QBs most of the year and their #2 WR had nearly double the targets that Collins got. Four different IU WRs got more targets. Three different Michigan State WRs got more targets and Connor Heyward was just 10 behind Collins. Add up all the reasons—big Michigan blowouts, incredibly slow tempo, a desire to avoid pass protecting—and it's still the single most baffling tactical approach since Al Borges was putting Denard Robinson under center.

Gattis is set to fix this. He was the WR coach during Penn State's Deep State phase and the co-OC for last year's bomb-heavy Alabama offense. He wants to pull the ripcord. And Collins is going to see his targets explode. Camp talk has been on another level for him. Nobody on the roster except Ronnie Bell is getting anywhere near the level of hype he is. Webb:

…the guy I hear is "an animal" and is "catching everything" is Nico Collins. Some on the squad said they would not be surprised if he is the top wideout in a year where a lot of them will put up good numbers.

Lorenz:

Asked three sources (on Friday) who the best player in fall camp has been so far. Two of them answered Collins without anything else thrown in. The third-year receiver appears to be primed to have a big year.

And Rivals asserted that Collins is the best WR in camp and it's "not really close".

Collins is going to get 80+ targets. If he maintains his level of production from last year that's a 1000 yard season. He should be All Big Ten and knock on the door of All-America.

also the man, if the muscles comply [Marc-Gregor Campredon]

DONOVAN PEOPLES-JONES will be starting opposite Collins. Probably. He was Michigan's top receiver last year in both targets and catches but has been dogged with an injury that Harbaugh first brought up during spring practice. It was ominous then:

"[Peoples-Jones and Dwumfour] have more serious injuries than we previously thought. Both have not participated very much in any practice or all winter and concern is that, and the worry really, is that it’s more serious—that if they can get back to their previous form and level. …

"Donovan’s has been a soft-tissue injury, a groin injury. … You start to worry when injuries linger longer than previously thought or longer than the time it usually takes."

It's a bit more ominous now. Murmurs that DPJ's issue lasted into fall camp seem real; Rivals said he's been "practicing at times" and that "many have talked about how it's lingered since spring."

For what it's worth the recent talk has been more positive. A week into camp Gattis said Peoples-Jones "hasn't missed a snap of practice, he's been doing really well." Buuuuut then he continued with "it's just kind of about getting your conditioning down, kind of pushing through with everything," which slips back down the ominous slope.

More recently Webb said Peoples-Jones has "cashed in enough deep balls to make me believe he'll return to form," another dual-edged statement. It does seem like he's been close to full go:

“Donovan is such a smart kid, such a smart football player — him and Nico — that they were able to pick it up,” Gattis said early during camp. “They haven’t really had any mistakes out there. So you’re just able to see those guys go out and execute.”

Might be a good idea to take it easy with him until Wisconsin in week 4.

If Peoples-Jones is healthy he's in line for a breakout. One of the most heavily hyped athletes to arrive in Ann Arbor in the past two decades, he occasionally demonstrated that, no, you can't man up Crab:

Press coverage with no safety help against Peoples-Jones is Russian roulette. And trying to match him up with a safety is dangerous, too. DPJ was productive in the slot when Michigan went to twins formations, because he just blazed by the opposition. Ten yards of cushion, nah:

When given the opportunity he has borne out the recruiting hype. This is all paid off:

• "…prototypical college size … possesses speed, route-running ability, hands and an insane vertical leaping ability that put him heads and shoulders above many of his peers"
• "…no question one of the freakiest athletes in the United States."
• "difference maker vertically due to size/speed combo. … can routinely win one-on-one and take the top off a defense."

It's just not paid off 8 times a game. Yet.

DPJ was more versatile than Collins, a frequent target on hitches and intermediate routes. He was Patterson's safety blanket when he left the pocket:

His excellent body control and ability to track the ball in flight has seen him bring in just about everything that's reasonable for him to get to—I had just four non-catches on anything short of a circus catch this year. And his occasional forays into end-arounds and punt returns show a guy who can make things happen on the ground as well:

He wasn't quite the contested catch maven Collins was, if only because he was less likely to end up in a contested situation. He had the same level of ultra-reliable hands. PFF:

…very strong sophomore season … primed to break … do-it-all receiver, forcing 7 missed tackles, gaining 245 yards after the catch and dropping just 1 of the 48 catchable passes thrown his way, all pivotal aspects in a Gattis-led offense.

That YAC number doesn't seem that big until you consider the fact that he only had 612 yards on the year. Unfortunately, last year's preview had a prediction that was dead on the nose:

…you're looking at 600-800 yards, a half-dozen deep shots, and the lingering feeling that Michigan should be getting a little more out of their crazy-talented top WR.

DPJ only occasionally got to unleash his deep speed because Michigan spent the whole year trying to keep Patterson from getting killed, and (as with Collins) Patterson compounded that with a number of throws that were late and therefore short. Here he gives PSU's John Reid the business for naught:

Patterson was still very accurate on deep shots; a more comfortable Patterson could be more accurate still. The bigger issue was a lack of targets. Peoples-Jones led Michigan with 71, which is 30-40 short of where he would have been at many programs.

People-Jones did have some blips where he betrayed a lack of polish. Patterson tried a few back-shoulder throws to him over the course of the season; DPJ sometimes had trouble anticipating these and adjusting to them.

Sometimes he was excellent at it because of the aforementioned body control; it was more a question about whether he'd recognize whether the coverage was over the top of him and anticipate the back shoulder than whether he could execute the catch.

A healthy Peoples-Jones will be a co-#1 with Collins, with targets breaking the tie. A slightly slowed DPJ could slip down behind a couple of the strivers behind them—there's no forgiveness on this two deep.

BACKUPS: ALSO STARTERS?

feet don't fail him now, take three [Bryan Fuller]

TARIK "Ol' Santana Guitar Solo"  BLACK [recruiting profile] took up Drake Johnson's mantle as the most obviously cursed guy on the team when he broke his foot in consecutive years. The first one ended his freshman season prematurely; the second held him out of the lineup until the Penn State game. A still-rusty Black got some playing time late and more or less immediately did this:

It got called back, because of course. Johnson got run over by a forklift and he thinks that's rough.

Black will now try to deliver on the considerable hype he's generated despite all that misfortune. Michigan's top two receivers are almost certainly headed off to the early rounds of the NFL draft next year, but it was Black who raced ahead of the pack two years ago. They watched from the sideline as he made 11 catches in the first two and a half games and garnered an impressive 8.8 yards per target. Then: bang, injury.

Even last year insider chatter was asserting Black and Peoples-Jones were neck and neck, unless Black was a nose ahead. The draft edition of this year's preview had him first amongst the troika. Then: bang, injury.

The reason Black was ahead of some dudes, per his coach:

“Tarik is as natural a wide receiver as I have ever seen. He's just got an incredible ability to run routes and find ways to get open. He gets in and out of breaks like he's a slot guy and yet he's 6-4 and has the ability to go up and be a true X receiver.”

Hopefully this will be the last year we have to dig into his recruiting profile.

Black worked his way into the rotation by late last year. The offensive approach limited his impact. Black only got nine targets (the touchdown above doesn't count), catching four. The incompletions were not on him; Patterson missed a couple deep shots and put an RPO too deep, amongst other issues. We have to go back to Black's freshman year to remember how smooth he was:

Let's not put him in the Wally Pipp bin just yet.

Black spent spring knocking off the rust. He did maintain a starting spot ahead of Ronnie Bell, which means a bit more after Bell picked up a torrent of camp hype. In the spring game he scored a touchdown after giving Gemon Green the business; discussion of him was oddly muted. Things have picked up a bit this fall, with Gattis picking Black and Bell as two guys who have stood out:

“Tarik has really kind of turned it up even more than what he did in spring,” Gattis said. “I think the spring was kind of an adjustment, learning-wise. Kind of picked up everything. Now he’s buying into the coaching, buying into the details. He’s playing at a very high level.”

Black has not popped up in insider chatter much. Webb noted that Black is "trusting his body again," which kind of sounds like an ominous note. Other takes have mostly been along the lines of "everyone is good," which is great if true. This again may be rust that is only now coming off:

Jim Harbaugh: Tarik Black is really doing well. Had a really good camp. Really standing out over the last five practices....

— Sam Webb (@SamWebb77) August 26, 2019

It's indisputable that Black was ahead of his compatriots early in their careers. If he's behind now that's understandable… and likely temporary. His injuries aren't of the variety that hamper you permanently unless you're an NBA center. Once he gets back on the horse and gets some catches under his belt he's likely to perform like Michigan's third #1 WR. The only problem: targets.

ope just gonna sneak by ya a little [Eric Upchurch]

Behind the three amigos there are only a few bodies thanks to Oliver Martin's transfer and Quintel Kent's unfortunate medical issues. Sophomore RONNIE BELL [recruiting profile] is the only guy to have seen snaps. Bell was a who-dat two-star headed to Missouri State for basketball when a guy in Kansas City called up Jim Harbaugh and told him there was a guy who'd caught 90 balls for 1600 yards he might want to check out. Harbaugh checked it out:

"There's got to be a problem here," Harbaugh thought.

There was not. There was merely a hermit. Bell's coach:

"Ronnie never attended a single camp or do the other things kids do to get recruited. … Colleges were saying 'come here and run a 40' and he would skip that to come to weights and football practice that afternoon."

Bell announced his commitment by changing his Twitter bio, and then he deleted his account. He's Pat Fitzgerald's favorite Michigan player.

Bell hit the ground running in Ann Arbor, avoiding a redshirt. This is a wee bit irritating to your author but also a promising sign for his future. Bell fought through a chuck to score a TD against Nebraska…

…and got some meaningful targets late in the season. He caught eight of nine and couldn't do anything on the exception. So far so good even though we haven't seen one of Bell's standout traits in action: his vert. As you might expect from a basketball player, Bell can get up. His high school highlights have a ton of leaping catches in traffic, and last year one of my takeaways from Michigan's open practice is that he had a "legitimately rad vertical." Grant Perry:

“He can jump out of the gym. He goes and gets the jump balls. He’s explosive, too. Really fast, good hands."

Metellus and McKeon both told the assembled press that Bell had turned in the catch of the first week in fall practice. Metellus:

"I remember this one vividly. It was a ball down the outside. Ronnie Bell went up, jumped for it. You could tell he played basketball because of the way he jumped for it. He jumped higher than anybody else on the field."

He's continued to generate talk like that over the offseason. There are more Bell takes than any other receiver except maybe Collins. Part of this is that established players generate less buzz—nobody's said word one about Metellus, Hill, or Bredeson, for instance. The sheer quantity of Bell talk is impressive all the same. Gattis:

"Ronnie Bell is playing really, really well for us right now. He’s having a great camp. … [Black] and Ronnie Bell right now are the two guys who have really stood out at receiver."

That's fall camp, with DPJ and Collins active. Lorenz included him on a list of fall risers since he "keep[s] hearing great things about him" from multiple sources. Webb says that Bell is the "receiver [he's] heard the most about this camp, bar none" thanks in part to a reshaped body that's finally more football than basketball. Rivals also asserts he's "generated the most buzz" and is a "freak athlete." Harbaugh just said he's the most improved player on the team.

One minor negative: Bell got some spread H action last year and he was… eh. He's not likely to keep the jet sweep duties he had last year. Bell had some opportunities to slash upfield and bounced instead; against MSU he missed a big play by tripping over the feet of a blocker.  The new era of slots may eat those touches up. Or maybe not: with DPJ out Bell was the starting punt and kick returner this spring and it sounds like he may hang on to the kick return job.

Either way that he looks like a strike, and a badly needed one in 2020. If Gattis goes full Bama with the targets he'll get his shot this year.

another reason to expect Johnson to succeed: he invented cleats in 1525

CORNELIUS JOHNSON [recruiting profile] has not been much behind Bell in fall camp hype. This is both expected and highly welcome. The expected part from this site's final assessment of the recruiting class:

The other four-star who stood out as a mis-rank is Cornelius Johnson. Dude is 6'2", runs shuttles like a slot, paid off that change of direction at a heavily scouted all-star game, and also showed plenty of ability as a deep threat. His parents are the Huxtables. He doesn't put up 4.4 40s; that's almost the only flaw in his game. That he didn't crack the top 100 anywhere is almost solely attributable to his location—Connecticut.

The welcome part should be made obvious by the above sections. The NFL is circling Michigan's receiving corps with a hungry eye. There is a high probability Johnson is going to be a major contributor next year by default; praise now is likely to be real in a way that new praise in spring, when Michigan may have few alternatives, may not be. And Johnson's getting talked up. Collins:

“I love Cornelius (Johnson),” Collins said. “He’s a young guy, he’s still learning. But he’s gonna be a great guy. Later on in the future, he’s gonna be the man. I’m calling it! First one to say it!”

Lorenz has repeatedly mentioned Johnson is a name who's come up multiple times and that he is a "legitimate candidate to burn his redshirt"; Webb asserted that he's "impressed coaches and teammates alike"; Gattis said he's "wowing people the same way Mikey [Sainristil] did when he came in." Harbaugh asserted that Johnson is "rocketing up the depth chart," and while he is not doing that it's good to hear that he might be in a situation where it was possible to do so.

Johnson is in the genre of leaping jump-ball machine that Michigan fans are familiar with after Junior Hemingway and Amara Darboh, amongst others, speared balls and the hearts of opposing fans over the past decade. One of two main issues mentioned in his recruiting profile seems fixed, or close to it. Johnson's listed at 209 on the roster, up 14 pounds from his previously-listed high school weight, and is probably close to checking off the Gets Off Jams box. The other issue—the occasional mention of some drops—hasn't come up in camp yet.

Johnson is likely to burn his redshirt but even Gattis is unlikely to be able to get the #5 outside WR many meaningful attempts. A year like Ronnie Bell's 2018 is in the offing, hopefully to be followed by a similar level of second-year hype.

Given the shape of the roster and the shape of, you know, the guy, we should also mention ERICK ALL [recruiting profile] here. All is supposed to be a tight end, but Michigan has plenty of those and All has the receiving chops to stay outside. Reports from camp hold that he's playing both spots. He's addressed at more length in the TE post.

SLOT: OOMPA, LOOMPA, DOOPITY-DEE, I'VE GOT AN OFFENSE WAITING FOR THEE

RATING: 3

oompa loompa wickety-wax / now the cornerback's not wearing pants [Patrick Barron]

This space has oft discussed how odd it was that Michigan recruited a bunch of short orange guys in suspenders they would certainly waste under every non-RichRod OC since time began. But they did, and just in time for Pep Hamilton to get exported to the XFL. One wonders if Harbaugh had to play it cool when Hamilton asked why they were recruiting three waterbugs.

Michigan added three slot receivers, except "slot" doesn't quite cover it. A couple years back this preview tried to define the "spread H" because Jabrill Peppers was around. In Michigan offenses of yore the H-back is a guy like Aaron Shea or Khalid Hill—a fullback with some utility in the passing game. In modern spread offenses:

Spread 'n' shred offenses frequently use a WR/RB hybrid who they try to get in space with the ball whether via pass or run … Percy Harvin was that guy. Tavon Austin was that guy. Last year OSU used Braxton Miller (and Jalin Marshall) in that role. Tavon Austin famously defenestrated the Clemson defense with a series of "touch passes" that were just end-arounds, adding a touchdown out of the slot late. He also famously defenestrated the Oklahoma defense, mostly as a running back.

They call these gentlemen H-backs. Clearly we can't do that because of Hill and Poggi and the million other blocky/catchy guys. So "spread H" it is.

All three of the new additions fit this paradigm. And now we can call them H-backs without roping in 260-pound guys, but in an effort to reduce confusion we're going to stick with slot.

The leader heading into the season is MIKE SAINRISTIL [recruiting profile] by virtue of his early enrollment and standout spring. By the end of that session he'd picked up endorsements from his coach, who named him a starter…

"He has a level of quickness, change of direction, speed that has been really eye-opening and really good for the team. But he’s also tough. He’s blocking. There’s probably three examples where you can really just see him second, third, fourth effort down the field, sometimes 20, 30, 40 yards downfield blocking for whoever does have the ball."

…and his quarterback…

"I knew he was going to be legit as soon as I started throwing with him when he got here, before spring ball and during winter workouts. Great athlete. Speed like no other and he's football savvy as well. He's made numerous plays this spring."

…in addition to being highlighted by Gattis, who knows him some WRs, in a tweet highlighting some route artisanship:

Some times in order to teach you must show! If you know me you must master the details on 2nd level releases!
Head/eyes/hips ✔️
Inside foot stays in the ground✔️
Re-stem snap the head pin the shoulder on the out✔️#Crafting101
ft: young @MikeSainristil pic.twitter.com/IA92zbJKVL

— Josh Gattis (@Coach_Gattis) April 1, 2019

Those are the three most important people for Sainristil to win over. Check.

Sainristil has maintained his position through fall. He continues to draw chatter. One of the few BTN visit takeaways was Dave Revsine talking Sainristil up in a tweet. Isaiah Hole's insider notes concurred:

[has] continued to make the most of his situation, and has continued to embody the ‘speed in space’ of it all, making plays in the 7v7 format and looking the part of a big-time playmaker.

For his part Josh Gattis told the press that "everyone's excited" about him and "he's picked up where he left off in the spring."

Setting expectations here is tough because we don't know exactly how involved the H is going to be. Michigan can probably field two-tight end sets; they can definitely spend some time with the big three WRs on the field; Ronnie Bell could grab some slot snaps as well. Sainristil could be anything from an Eddie McDoom-level peripheral-but-fun player to a 40-50 touch underneath staple and jet threat. This preview leans to the latter but nothing will surprise.

BACKUPS

Sainristil is likely to get most of the snaps here, and those he doesn't get may get eaten up by other skill position players. It might be tough for a second spread H guy to make an impact.

 

wingspan? [Jackson on twitter]

Your author is rooting for it to happen because GILES JACKSON [recruiting profile] has the testing numbers and video-game film necessary to dream absurdly big about a small guy. He was the top offensive tester at the Opening thanks to a 4.43 40, a 3.85(!!!) shuttle, and a 38-inch vert. I want to be clear that Drake Johnson said this about Chris Evans, not Jackson, but I am putting it in the preview because I thought I had one more year with this quote and you cannot stop me:

"He's like butter smooth, we're just like 'ooh, wow.' He's like *sound effects* someone flips to the side, like he had no chance. Like, I'm sorry you could've tried but it sucks to suck."

Jackson played both running back and WR for his high school, fitting neatly into the spread H paradigm. And some of the things he did on the field are eyepopping. From his recruiting profile:

…has both short area quickness and top end speed … versatile … catches the ball very well and is a very tough cover because of his quickness and ability to explode in and out of his breaks. … dynamic in space and routinely makes 2-3 defenders miss … need some time to get up to speed on running the full route tree. … natural pass catcher and looks very comfortable catching the ball … true home run threat … not big but he is tough, physical …. dominant against high level competition every time we have seen him

His coach compared him to Barry Sanders in that post, which is almost completely crazy. But only almost. Jackson started generating talk as soon as he arrived this fall.

Giles Jackson has been named a freshman standout by multiple players tonight. Ronnie Bell’s long touchdown catch mentioned as the top play of camp thus far. Michigan’s have been making plays

— Orion Sang (@orion_sang) August 10, 2019

His "incredibly quick feet" popped up in some Rivals talk, although so did some clucking about drops. Webb's mentioned that he "turned a couple heads."

His main problem is that Sainristil has given no ground, chatter-wise, and that plethora of skill position weapons will probably limit him to a smattering of catches. One of those will be impressive enough to start the Jackson 2020 hype train in earnest.

The third freshman is GEORGE JOHNSON III [recruiting profile], who spent his high school career as a dual-threat quarterback and will thus require at least a year of seasoning before he's ready to see the field. This space believes he'll get a test run in the secondary soon.

McCurry and Schoenle are plausible walk-ons [Upchurch/Campredon]

In the event Michigan does push beyond Sainristil and Jackson they'll either explore DONOVAN PEOPLES-JONES as their jet threat so they can put all three amigos on the field simultaneously—your author subscribes to this newsletter—or utilize one of their walk-ons as a Dileo-esque underneath chain mover. For a second there it looked like NATE SCHOENLE was going to have a role like that, and there was a JAKE MCCURRY moment last offseason. Neither has sustained that internal program chatter, largely because both guys were hurt this spring. McCurry had a broken bone in his foot; Schoenle was "slowed."

It would likely take some injury issues elsewhere for either to see the field much. This would not necessarily be a disaster. It would not be good, certainly, but two years ago Schoenle had some moments. He made four catches, looked generally competent making them…

WR #81 to top

…and also chipped in some smart blocking.

When Michigan released results from their internal combine a couple of years ago—God I wish they'd kept doing that—Schoenle popped up in all three of the agility drills. He missed most of 2018 with an injury, so his lack of PT may not be entirely because he's a walk-on who will never be heard from again.

For his part, McCurry chipped in a couple catches in garbage time. On a touchdown against WMU his route got him screamingly wide open:

It's going to be tough to compete with the freshman YAC guys, but last year McCurry had the approval of various teammates. From last year's preview:

When Wolverines Wire called out McCurry as a guy to watch after a strong spring session, that assertion was endorsed by various Michigan players on Twitter. That's unusual to say the least.

It's been silent on the McCurry front through fall practice. It's probable the time to strike has passed for both walk-ons, but they remain a valuable contingency plan.