How Michigan football's style of play could look different from a year ago

Michigan Wolverines football is looking to repeat as Big Ten champions for the first time since 2003 and 2004. If it wins the league again, though, the means to the end will look a lot different than it did in 2021.

“They’re ready to run it back at Michigan,” On3 national analyst J.D. PicKell said in a recent video breaking down Michigan football.

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The Michigan offense relied on running back Hassan Haskins and his 1,327 yards and single-season school-record 20 touchdowns last season. There’s still a duo to be excited about after Haskins graduated and was picked by the Tennessee Titans in the fourth round in junior Blake Corum and sophomore Donovan Edwards, but their styles are different.

Corum averaged 6.4 yards per rush outside the tackles last season, and it’s reasonable Michigan will play to his strengths in terms of where he carries the ball. Edwards, too, is dynamic, especially as a pass-catcher early in his career.

“First and foremost, on the offensive side of the football, they’re going to have to open it up,” PicKell said. “They’re still going to probably have two running backs sharing the load in Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards, who, some people think could be the best running back in the country this coming year. I won’t touch that, but bottom line: You have two good backs. Now, are they Hassan Haskins kind of short-yardage backs? Probably not. But they both need to touch the football.

“Donovan Edwards is a really great receiving back. He had 20 catches a year ago, had one game against Maryland where he had 10 catches for 170 yards. The dude can be a matchup issue for a linebacker if he tries to cover him one-on-one.

“They have to make sure both of those guys are touching the ball, and both of those guys are touching the ball in different ways. Donovan Edwards, like I just mentioned, should see the ball a fair amount in the pass game.”

In short, Michigan will have to adapt its offensive approach. That plays well with the weapons the Wolverines have at wide receiver and tight end, too. So different doesn’t necessarily mean worse. Not at all, in fact, with most expecting the Maize and Blue to ascend on offense.

The Wolverines bring back nine players who caught 10-plus passes and eight who registered 148 or more receiving yards. They’re one of five programs with multiple Mackey Award watch list members at tight end in senior Erick All and graduate Luke Schoonmaker. On top of that, graduate wide receiver Ronnie Bell, who led the club in receiving yards in both 2019 and 2020, is back after missing all but one half of play with an ACL injury in 2021.

“Now, they also need to open it up because they have some depth at wide receiver,” PicKell noted. “Ronnie Bell and [senior] Cornelius Johnson are both guys that need to see the rock. Also, the tight end room is really deep. They’re two, three deep in the tight end room, and they need to see the ball as well.”

For the third time in eighth-year head coach Jim Harbaugh‘s tenure, he has a returning starting quarterback (Wilton Speight in 2017 and Shea Patterson in 2019 were the other occurrences), with senior Cade McNamara back after helping U-M to the Big Ten title. However, the position is not settled. Sophomore J.J. McCarthy has high-level talent, too, and is back throwing after being limited most of the offseason.

“If you’re trying to get the ball to your playmakers, a lot of that is going to happen through the air,” PicKell explained. “Last year, they were 96th in the country in passes attempted per game. That needs to change.

“For a lot of people, they’re saying, OK, we need to throw the ball more. Let’s go to the guy who can throw the ball better. That’s all hypothetical, but a lot of people believe that J.J. McCarthy has the better arm. 

“You know my thoughts on this. I think Cade McNamara is the one who got you to where you were a season ago. I don’t know how you turn your back on him. But ultimately, they’re going to have to throw the ball more. That’s the thought right now in Ann Arbor — that the offense is going to be more wide open.

“They’re not going to abandon the run game, and if you know anything about Jim Harbaugh, you don’t expect them to abandon the run game. But we think there’s going to be a little bit more of a commitment to putting the ball in the air because of all the playmakers they have.”

Michigan defense must adjust, too

While the offense’s situation is interesting, it’s not dire. The Wolverines’ defense isn’t in that category, either, but there’s much more concern about first-year coordinator Jesse Minter‘s crew considering what it lost from 2021.

Defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, outside linebacker David Ojabo and the overall pass rush was the No. 1 reason Michigan finished eighth nationally by allowing 17.4 points per contest. Those two are off to the NFL, of course, so it’s not just time for others to step up on the edge, but for the defense as a whole to figure out different ways to generate pressure, PicKell said. The analyst explained that the defensive line “carried” the unit in 2021.

“Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo accounted for 25 sacks last year. Folks, that’s getting after the quarterback at a really high rate,” PicKell said. “People always say, ‘The game of football is pretty simple — protect your quarterback and make their quarterback uncomfortable.’ Michigan made the opposing quarterback really uncomfortable a lot of the time last year, and no small part [was from] those two guys. 

“They’re both gone, so how do you continue to make the quarterback more comfortable? You have to, in theory, manufacture some kind of blitz. [Sophomore] Junior Colson is a linebacker they’re really excited about. They think he could be the best player on that defense in 2022.

“But the thought is, OK, if we’re not getting that same push from the defensive line, we’ve got to bring it from the second or even third level. So, expect Michigan to be more aggressive on defense. Expect them to do some more stunts with the defensive front and maybe bring a linebacker on a blitz. Expect them to maybe bring that safety down in run support and have him blitz a little more frequently.

“If you’re not getting that same push from your front, it’s gotta be from somewhere else within this defense to get after the quarterback. Because they’re replacing a lot on the defensive side of the football.”

Complementary football is as key as ever for Michigan

And yes, the offense and defense will have to work hand in hand, just like last season. The Wolverines’ offense may have to carry more of the load this fall.

“Ultimately what it comes down to for Michigan is finding a way to offset what they lost,” PicKell said. “I believe they lost more on defense than they did on offense, and I think the offense is going to have to score more points. I think the offense is going to have to do a better job of answering scores this coming year. I think they’ll have to do a better job of playing with a lead this coming season.

“I think there’s going to be a lot of tempo that we see from both the offense and the defense that looks different. I’m not saying the defense is going to be bad, but any time you lose two studs on the defensive line, you need to have a way to offset that offensively. I think they’ll do that, and I think they’ll do that because of what they have at the receiver position, at the tight end position and then also Donovan Edwards taking on a much larger role.

“Again, J.J. McCarthy is kind of the big hinge piece right now in this whole equation. If he ends up being the guy, do you feel better about spreading the rock? If Cade McNamara struggles spreading the rock early, how quickly do you turn to J.J. McCarthy? I think they’ll both play, but I’d be surprised if it’s not Cade McNamara for game one.”