Jordan Marshall on Justice Haynes: 'I'm so glad he chose Michigan'
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Get ready for another two-headed monster to take over the Michigan Wolverines football backfield. The starter will be to be determined, but it doesn’t seem to be a big concern: Sophomore Jordan Marshall and junior Justice Haynes will both have major roles toting the rock for the Maize and Blue.
The 5-foot-11, 210-pound Marshall only had 4 carries for 9 yards in Saturday’s spring game, but he’s proven what he can do all spring long. The 5-foot-11, 205-pound Haynes, meanwhile, had a big performance with 6 rushes for 51 yards with a 26-yard long.
Haynes is an Alabama transfer who joined the team this semester and has fit right in.
“Me and Justice, I don’t care who’s in the game, we’re gonna rotate,” Marshall said. “Who starts … you see what he did, what I did. We’re gonna run this thing.”
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Marshall and Haynes have a close connection even though they’ve only been playing alongside one another for mere months.
“Right when he got here, we bonded,” Marshall said. “He’s a really good back, really good person, values God just like I do, and it just clicked. It was easy.
“We got out there, laughing, joking. [Position coach] Tony Alford is a big goofball. All three of us are cracking jokes, and it’s really light in our room. We can get on task really fast, and we can get off of task really fast. But we always know how to get it back together.
“He’s a great guy, and I’m so glad he chose Michigan and I get to pushed by him and he gets to get pushed by me every single day.”
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Haynes was in the rotation for Alabama last season, rushing 79 times for 448 yards and 7 touchdowns.
Michigan’s running back depth showed out, too. Sophomore Bryson Kuzdzal is a former walk-on who earned a scholarship in December and ran 14 times for a game-high 105 yards, averaging 7.5 yards per pop. Sophomore Micah Ka’apana, meanwhile, found pay dirt from two yards out and totaled 34 yards on 15 attempts.
“Kuz, you got Micah — they’re both two really explosive guys,” Marshall noted. “So, a mixture of whoever is on that field is gonna dominate.
“When you play a schedule like ours and you’re in the Big Ten, it’s physical. I say the most physical football in the country, and when you know [Michigan head] Coach [Sherrone] Moore, he’s gonna run the ball. So, we’re gonna have to have other guys that are gonna step up and make plays when me and Justice need a break or need something there, or somebody’s a little banged up. To have that will be great.”
Kuzdzal appears to be a revelation, but the Michigan coaches and players have been seeing flashes from him for some time.
“Kuz has always been a beast,” Marshall explained. “It’s just getting his mind there, and I think this spring has really flipped a switch. Being around our room, which is really high on football IQ with Freddy J [Fred Jackson], Coach Alford, me and Justice — Justice has played a lot of ball — you start to build those things from each other and learn off of each other’s skill set.
“To have different skill sets with all of the backs is really important.”
