Sherrone Moore addresses depth concerns in wide receiver room

Sherrone Moore had to address the Michigan wide receivers and the group’s depth going into the 2024 season.

It’s a fairly new group and there are only six listed on the depth chart, including two freshmen. The top three, as it stands, include Semaj Morgan, Tyler Morris and Fredrick Moore.

Sherrone Moore kept it simple though: just keep giving the guys available as many reps as possible for preparation for the fall.

“Yeah, you only get better at football by playing it,” Moore said. “So those guys got more reps and it was good for them. So I think they’ve continued to get better and excited for them.”

Morgan is only a sophomore, but he logged a lot of time last year, en route to a national championship.

“I played a lot of minutes last year,” Morgan said, via The Wolverine. “And a lot of coaches, a lot of my teammates are looking to me as a leader. This year, I’m really focused on trying to step up and become the type of leader by example. That’s something that I took from [former Michigan defensive back] Mike Sainristil — leading by example. I feel like that’s very important to do.”

Morgan leads all in terms of stats going into 2024. On the surface, it’s not much: 22 catches, 204 yards and two touchdowns.

Still, he’s been out there and knows what it takes. Morgan said all of the wide receivers have stepped up this spring, after Michigan lost Roman Wilson and Cornelius Johnson to the NFL.

“We all just play hard,” Morgan said of the wide receiver group. “We go out there, practice hard, play hard. We run a lot as receivers, so in practice, we’ll be tired. But we all are hungry. We’re all in the building, extra hours, looking over plays, looking over drawings and things like that.”

As far as receivers to step up, look no further than Frederick Moore.

“Fredrick Moore, I’d say he’s like [Cleveland Browns and former Alabama receiver] Jerry Jeudy,” Morgan said. “He’s a great route-runner. He’s gonna catch the ball. Also, great at tracking [the ball], too.

“Somebody asked me about Fred, and I was like, ‘Y’all ever seen Jerry Jeudy run routes?’ And then somebody was like, ‘Yeah, that’s exactly what I said.’ I’m like, ‘Yeah.’ Fred is the real deal, and I feel like it’s gonna be a great year for him.”

There’s a quarterback battle too, so it’s a question of who will throw to each wide receiver. Alex Orji looks like the leader in the clubhouse, but it’s to-be-determined.