Previously: The Story. Quarterback.

RUNNING BACK: RUN IT BACK

[Bolded player rules: not necessarily returning starter, but someone we've seen enough of that I'm no longer talking about their recruiting profile (much, anyway). Extant contributor.]

FEATURE BACK	Yr.	SHORT YARDAGE	Yr.	THIRD DOWN	YR.
Blake Corum	Sr.	Blake Corum	Sr.	Donovan Edwards	Jr.
Donovan Edwards	Jr.	Kalel Mullings	Jr.*	Blake Corum	Sr.
CJ Stokes	So.	Benjamin Hall	Fr.	CJ Stokes	So.
Benjamin Hall	Fr.	Alex Orji	Fr.*	Cole Cabana	Fr.

RATING: 5

There is no greater "Everything's coming up Milhous!" moment in recent Michigan football history than Blake Corum busting his knee the week before the Ohio State game, still beating Ohio State as a one-handed Donovan Edwards becomes a national star, and then getting Blake Goddamn Corum back for his senior season largely because he didn't win the Heisman on account of the knee.

Remember the days when Michigan couldn't find a running back capable of running through a dizzy toddler? Now we are entering the third straight season where the #2 guy would start on all but ~5 football teams in the country. In fact, if you take Dane Brugler's word for it the number of teams not named "Michigan" on which Donovan Edwards would not start is one: Wisconsin. His NFL draft rankings have Corum 1, Braelon Allen 2, and Edwards 3. Maybe there's a sophomore out there on Alabama or something, but: nah. This is the best backfield in America, and it's not real close.

What say you now, Mike Hart haters? Probably "bur bur bur bur duhhhhh." Get wrecked. Like opposition run defenses.

IT ACTUALLY HAPPENED

Last year's preview was rapturous about BLAKE CORUM. Perhaps never in the history of his preview series has a player been so thoroughly hyped:

ATTENTION MEDIA: did you know that Fred Jackson rejoined the Michigan football program this offseason? He's an analyst or somesuch. He's in the building. He is there for you, the quote-gathering media, to sidle up next to. Once you've sidled real good you can say "hey" or "psst," preferably in a large group. And then you can do this.

Anyway. BLAKE CORUM is the light and the truth. … Corum should push for All-American honors but probably end up behind at least a couple of the Henderson/Robinson/Vaughn trio when it comes to big honors.

This take was, somehow, pessimistic.

[AFTER THE JUMP: mea culpa]

It included a rather long section talking about Corum's inability to be a short yardage back:

CORUM DOES LACK ONE HART TRAIT. That would be the ability to drive a ruck of Penn State defenders six yards at a time. … Corum can make guys miss in insanely constricted spaces but if he doesn't do that his yards after contact potential is fairly low. Instances of plus-plus contact balance did exist but were rare. Hart was a suitable short yardage back; Corum probably isn't. [The Draft Network's] "cons" section was all about this—"does not run through defenders"; "lacks the size to assume the RB1 role for an NFL team"; "not an ideal short-yardage back".

Blake Corum said nuts to that when he dragged five hundred pounds of Maryland defender across the line to gain:

(When I clipped that for the Maryland UFR I said "I want this to be for season preview purposes but alas, the NFL." Giggity.) That was it. The last conceivable hole in his game, filled. By midseason UFRs barely mentioned Corum because he had reached the Aidan Hutchinson plane of existence where game-in, game-out excellence is not just expected but so consistent that talking about it is boring.

But let's talk about him anyway. It's fun! 

CORUM'S MAIN THING is that he is a perfect human being. Look at him delivering turkeys. Look at him making Donovan Edwards mad that he's not going to go get paid. Blake Corum would not have destroyed the Pac-12 because he could. You can take him home to momma and she'll enjoy getting stiff-armed. He's the man for his place and time.

I am serious. This, more than speed, power, or elusiveness, is the thing. He is Do The Right Thing, the person. I have charted seventeen years of Michigan football, with about the last twelve being serious grade-everything efforts, and have developed a bit of a reputation as a person who expects unreasonable things out of running backs. I'm Triumph The Insult Comic Blogger for running backs. And look upon it! Look upon it and quake!

Opponent	+	-	TOT	Notes
CSU	6	0	6	Consistently hit the right gaps.
Hawaii	4	0	4	On nine carries.
Uconn	5	0	5	On twelve carries
Maryland	13.5	1.5	12	"What happens when Corum gets 30 carries": this
Iowa	10.5	2.5	8	OFF GAME IT HAPPENS
Indiana	10	4	6	Had three magnificent events but left some yards on the field.
Penn State	14	3	11	Heisman? At least in NYC if he does some stuff against OSU.
MSU	12.5	4	8.5	Missed tackles galore.
Rutgers	9		9	Lol safety
Nebraska	13.5	1	12.5	Ye gods.
Illinois	6	3	3	-2 for the run OOB on the screen, so other than that the usual.
OSU				DNC
TOTAL	104	19	+85	whaaat

Corum's grades are insane both here and at PFF. Our part is above. Meanwhile, he is literally the highest graded Power 5 player in the history of PFF. That is a decade of charting on their part.

How does this happen? Yes, there's a considerable amount of "oh look, I just made half the defense defenestrate itself." Like so:

Ok, great. Good. But what's special about Corum—aside from the obviously special stuff—is how he Just Doesn't Miss, in the parlance of our times. It's one thing to be a guy who ghosts through an avalanche of defenders and then gives up a bunch of yards trying to do so when it's not there; it's another to do the former and not the latter. The sheer lack of negatives in our grading is crazy. If it's jammed up on short yardage but the bounce is there, he bounces:

If it's not, he doesn't. After that Maryland game:

This is a power play but it's got 3 tight ends on the field and uses Anthony to crack a linebacker, so there's no edge.

Here's a thing you can't let Blake Corum see:

 

There's nothing but air to the top of the screen. A cornerback filling that is either going to make a miraculous tackle, give up a touchdown trying to make said tackle, or escort Corum out of bounds after a first down. He took this opportunity every time it was there and never tried it when it wasn't.

Corum's only negatives in this game were a half-point ding for tripping on an OL's feet when he was skittering through a hole and one missed cut on the outside where he should have gone behind his tight end. On 30 carries. He just does everything right.

There are plenty of backs who you can dredge up a highlight for that makes them look like a superhero. There are few who stand up to the meticulous dissection of every play. Corum is that and more, frequently making cuts that are almost supernatural:

I don't think Corum knew that there was a cutback lane; he just knows that someone with his ability threatening outside means that cutting back inside is a good idea. It's built into him by now, since this is who he's always been. We'll leave the final word in this section to Larry, Moe, and Curly:

Woop woop woop woop. (Woop.)

AND THEN THERE'S THE OTHER THING: the first guy never tackles him. I did not put a "literally" on that because I am a zealot about language, but I thought about it. A safety is simply not going to get him down in the open field:

If you put first-round pick Jack Campbell in space with Corum near the line of scrimmage, it's still over:

Yeah, that's a lot of space thanks to Luke Schoonmaker and Trente Jones, but Campbell didn't even touch Corum. Brugler makes this trait the focus of his draft scouting, while also calling back to our Perfect Human bit:

“Read. Press. Cut.” That might as well be on the syllabus for Day 1 of Running Backs 101. While basic, Corum is exceptional in this area because of his sudden agility. Whether he sets up his cut by design or makes an impulse decision at the last moment, his ability to bounce from lane to lane and keep his feet alive is the main reason why he earned the top spot on this list. … Corum’s ability to press and find the cutback lane is impressive, but what makes him different is the abruptness of his moves. … He has the agile footwork to make sharp cuts without slowing down and always keeps his eyes and feet on the same page.

Here's read, press, cut in a clip:

When you're quicker than everyone else all it takes is the threat you might go outside. Once you decide not to, momentum is treason for the defense. And Corum is quicker than everyone else. Per Feldman's Freaks article, Corum posted a 6.39 three-cone and a 3.89 shuttle, both of which would have been the best marks at the most recent NFL combine. If you are dubious about this recall that last year's Freaks article asserted that DJ Turner ran a 4.28 40, and then Turner ran a 4.26 at the combine. Also, the aforementioned Campbell put up the third-best three-cone and 11th-best shuttle at the combine; see above to see what happens when Campbell and Corum match quicknesses.

Or see Corum against half the Indiana defense:

Mike Hart, but fast.

ALSO: BEEFCAKE. The other Corum stat that slid into the Freaks article was the fact that he does 30 reps of 225 on the bench press. That would have been the best mark by a non-lineman at the most recent combine. The Maryland clip above is probably enough evidence that Corum turned himself into a human forklift, but here's Corum making a goal line QB sneak against Rutgers work:

After my "he's not Mike Hart when it comes to rugby" take, Corum turned in multiple runs that made me look slightly-to-entirely stupid. Here's slightly:

And here's entirely:

Corum didn't just turn himself into an adequate short yardage option, he made himself into an elite one. This was most useful when it came to plays like the above where Corum was able to extend runs from five yards into twelve, but it is occasionally useful to have a guy who can both jump over two gaps and then drive a tackler across the line to gain. Also now his contact balance is absurd, so he can juke guys in a phone booth and then run through arm tackles:

How? I don't know.

Ideally, the short yardage stuff won't be a huge part of Corum's game this year because there are a couple of good options to take that mileage off his legs, but when push comes to shove he'll be in there whenever Edwards isn't.

Corum was probably going to win the Heisman before the knee injury; if healthy he'll certainly play like he deserves it, but the next guy in this section will eat into his touches enough that he won't win it. He will merely continue being the best back in the recent history of Michigan football, and he will aspire to drop the qualifier from this sentence.

Perfect human.

ALSO THE BEST BACK IN THE COUNTRY

which one was this though [Barron]

Meanwhile, DONOVAN EDWARDS was an enticing backup and two-way threat as a freshman; as a sophomore he matured into an honest-to-god running back. Last year's edition of this preview cited a youtube video (now sadly removed) that broke down almost all of Edwards's freshman carries; I summarized it like so:

the tl;dr is that Edwards was far too willing to put his shoulder down and attempt to run through tacklers in situations where he should have sought to get his meep-meep on. Running like Hassan Haskins is great when you're Hassan Haskins, but when you're closer to Corum you should be out there shouting NEVER BUNT HIT DINGERS at the guileless NPCs clutching at your afterburner exhaust.

This was a process that took some time but I'm happy to report that it seems like it's just about completed. UFRs progressed from "look at this cut Edwards missed"…

I am still not sure about [Edwards's] vision and ability to maximize his blocking. Here he's breaking to the second level.

What do you want him to do? Cut off Zinter's butt since that LB turned 90 degrees from square isn't doing anything if you cut back. If the other guy gets you whatever. Instead:

That's in addition to the two questionable decisions to give ground in an effort to dodge tacklers. … There are levels of polish; Edwards is still climbing towards Corum's.

… to "look at this cut Edwards made":

…his day was close to perfect. Complaints about how he didn't always see the field in the way it feels Corum does were blown away. Sometimes all you have to do is gear down and let the defense commit, and then when you're Donovan Edwards you can put down the accelerator and it's like you never slowed down at all, except you've got a big ol' hole:

(Seth covered this play in Neck Sharpies if you want even more on it.)

We saw him take a couple carries like this outside earlier in the year. That's a big improvement. And maybe you can say "okay, that's pretty extreme, there's a guy way upfield, what about a more run of the mill play?" Here's a more run of the mill play where he gears down after taking the handoff and allows Schoonmaker to get over and make his block before he hits the hole:

And then the big one is also more mundane since no one's charging into the backfield. It is a perfect example of what I say when I say you can't be a no-cut runner. Edwards threatens outside with one step, and that's enough for two different Rutgers players to take steps outside, and then they're done:

This is a luxury you only have if you have faith in your OL not to do something terrible that gets you eaten in the backfield; you need to trust them to give you time to gear down. Clearly this OL has earned that, and Edwards is beginning to take advantage of it.

Edwards did not ascend to Corum Nirvana. I had him for 16 points worth of minuses through the end of the regular season on ~90 carries, while Corum accumulated a total of 19 minuses on ~250 carries. There was considerable discussion of Edwards in UFR because he had not Hutchinson'd, and even fairly late in the season there was some trepidation:

Edwards had a much better game here than he did against Indiana. I still have moments where I'm like THE BIG HOLE GO IN THE BIG HOLE. Like… I feel like this should not turn into one yard.

Bell is going to get a very ineffectual block on 97 there and Edwards just runs right into him. Meanwhile Zinter's just put up a +2 by IDing a slant and absolutely clobbering the guy who Oluwatimi is currently sealing, and a cutback is cash money, as the kids say.

But this gave way to optimism as Edwards started putting it together. He offset those negatives with almost 40 points of positives, some of them for being really fast, yes, but also others for dusting guys or running them over. Edwards seemed to take NEVER BUNT HIT DINGERS to heart, attempting to set up blocks and then dust guys with his change of direction more and more as the season progressed. This culminated in the Big Ten championship game, when he busted two long runs with Corum-esque moves. First he found an unblocked corner at the point of attack and juked him into the ground…

…and then his slaloming touchdown run in the second half saw him zip around another unblocked linebacker at the LOS:

Stay for the skycam replay, which really emphasizes how Edwards slowed up, saw the situation and then his acceleration went BANG, seeya. This offseason he was asked what he's trying to add to his game and cited incidents like the above:

“I really liked that Blake Corum shuffle!” Edwards said. “Getting in my bag like (gestures making a player missing a tackle) — Blake be making people miss in the open field. That’s really well I’m trying to add to my bag — making the safety miss.”

Attempts to juke a safety out of his shoes have been relatively rare so far. His preferred move is to slow up a bit until the safety squares up and then just run away from him. There are circumstances where that works just fine, like his touchdown against Penn State. In other situations it still works pretty decently but might not be optimal. Here he runs away from the safety, into the sideline, getting a chunk when going WOOP at the last man might be six:

Adding the WOOP is well within his capabilities. After duly noting this dude has a rocket strapped to his back Brugler asserts that Edwards's "lateral burst to slip tackle attempts" is a standout trait, along with "his control to string moves together, even in tight quarters."

The drawbacks are the same this preview though Corum had last year: not a power back.

ABOUT THAT POWER STUFF. While it's unlikely Edwards is capable of the same year-to-year improvement at grinding out tough yards that Corum was, his acceleration and mass did give him some ability to deliver a blow a year ago:

He's able to run through arm tackles regularly and will get low and churn his legs through contact, which gives him some ability to bounce off tackles:

His contact balance was pretty good, not on Corum's level but often enough to scrape out some yards after contact.

On the other hand, there were a number of incidents where he was nailed a couple yards downfield and that was the end of that. These were frequently attempts to avoid a defender that gave up his forward momentum, so I'm relatively at peace with them. Never bunt, etc.

A dollar says Edwards improves in this department. When Harbaugh was interviewed on BTN a couple weeks ago he emphasized that Edwards is bigger:

On the running back room that returns Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards:

Blake looks even stronger, faster, quicker. Donovan is much stronger. You’re going to see better versions of each of those guys.

He's not 5'8" and he's not 230 pounds (he's listed at 210) so he's never going to be elite at winning leverage battles or just wrecking people, which is completely fine. Let other people rack up their 2 YPC on third downs. Edwards is for going choo-choo sixty yards at a time.

THE HAND INJURY muted what's probably Edward's standout ability: catching the ball. Edward's first major contribution at Michigan was a 10 catch, 170 yard day against Maryland featuring a lol-worthy wheel route…

…and, uh, eight rushing yards. He added in enough catches across the rest of 2021 that last year's preview asserted this:

If Edwards was a freshman wide receiver with absolutely no indication he could run the ball people would be losing their minds about his potential. Since he's an actual running back, I mean, like… dude.

Those catches included big plays against Ohio State and Georgia. Against OSU he speared an errant flare screen with one hand and caught a back-shoulder fade like he was Michael Crabtree:

Against Georgia he caught a bomb when he easily beat future first-round pick Quay Walker over the top, providing a fairly definitive answer to the question "can you cover Donovan Edwards with a linebacker?" No. False. No way. Not this time.

"How about a converted defensive end," asked Michigan State.

FOH, Jacoby Windmon. Edwards also had a third-quarter go-ahead touchdown against Rutgers—last year was weird—when he drew a safety; that was no different than incinerating a linebacker:

But, you know, broken hand. Scott Bell counted just 33 snaps a year ago where Edwards lined up somewhere other than running back, and he didn't have a catch longer than eight yards during the final five games of the season. Since he missed the UConn and Maryland games that's half a season where the receiver bits of Edwards's game were inactive.  Even so he caught 18 balls for 200 yards.

Where is that number going to go this year? Well, up, certainly, but how much? You author does not want a repeat of the Chris Evans experience, where a supremely talented receiver out of the backfield is terribly underused, but Corum's getting touches and Edwards is going to run the ball and between Loveland, Johnson, and Wilson there's not exactly a crying need for guys to target. Early indications from inside the sub are that the coaching staff does know what they've got their hands on in Edwards and is preparing a plan to get him on the field with Corum. I base this on Sherrone Moore Kremlinology:

On if Donovan Edwards is practicing at wide receiver right now

I can't tell you that right now.

YES. THAT MEANS YES, SHERRONE MOORE. And why not? Every time Edwards steps onto the field he asks the defense if they would like to tackle him with a cornerback or cover him with a linebacker. If the opposition says "linebacker" it's time to die, Bobby McNeckroll. Michigan should be aiming for 50 Edwards receptions. I said it: 50.

In a Corum-free vacuum Edwards would have an excellent shot at being a Heisman finalist; since Corum exists he's not going to have the numbers to get there. He should be one of the best backs in America, and a Swiss army knife of a player whose impact is not encompassed by his 1000+ yards from scrimmage.

OH RIGHT ONE LAST THING. Bring it back.

Sherrone Moore will be God's holiest creature if he gets Edwards three passing attempts this season.

BACKUPS

[Barron]

Michigan has some promising up-and-comers behind the best one-two punch in the country. Sophomore CJ STOKES [recruiting profile] had the most prominent role a year ago, when he looked like a Karan Higdon reboot:

Stokes was generally a patient runner who set up his blocks and then burst through the ensuing gaps:

He doesn't project as a murderous PFF favorite but I was sold enough after the Hawaii game that I said he was "a find" and would be "Higdon level, minimum."

He was, alas, still a freshman though. Michigan turned to him after Corum's attempt to play against OSU lasted just two carries; the moment proved too big for him as he turned a couple plays that were potential chunks into modest gains, first getting tripped up by his own lineman and then missing a gaping cutback lane. He's taking ownership of that:

“That run against Ohio State was the biggest disappointment for me,” CJ Stokes told The Michigan Insider. “If I would’ve broke that run, I would’ve been a household name. Because there was nobody there! After the D-line, the linebackers weren’t there.

“It was the perfect play. I just slipped in the backfield and didn’t make the play. … I’ve watched that run so many times.”

That's not a surprise. Stokes is one of those guys who's 1,000 years old—let's boot up the Stokes quote for year two:

“Lots of people ask me why you don’t smile more, ‘Why do you always look mad?’ To tell you the truth, I am always mad. I’m always trying to look for a way to get better, be better, and that comes with a lot of bad days that I’m holding myself accountable. There’s not a lot to smile about yet. There’s not a lot to smile about yet."

Prepare for one more year of scowling for Stokes before he ends up in a battle to start next year.

Hall(#28) is bigger than he looks [Barron]

BENJAMIN HALL [recruiting profile] is going to be the main battler.  Per Josh Henschke at Rivals, Hall is "right there" behind Stokes for the third RB slot. This is a bit of a surprise. Hall was a relative who-dat recruit, the #787 guy on the composite, and a source of grousing about Mike Hart's recruiting. As a senior he barely played on a loaded roster, leaving very little scouting for Seth to survey on the recruiting profile. One spring game later and… uh… what?

Benjamin Hall, RB, Michigan — One of the stars of the Wolverines' spring game, Hall would be higher on this freshman impact ranking if he didn't have two All-American candidates — Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards — playing in front of him. Hall would likely see a starting role as RB1 at just about every other Big Ten program in 2023 outside of Penn State, Ohio State and Wisconsin. He's special.

Let's review that tape:

Okay, yeah, maybe. Hall is listed at a strapping 234 on the roster and there are two full-on rugby scrums in the video above as Hall's churning legs kept him upright through significant contact. When given a lane there's some burst there, too. After the Spring Game, Mike Hart called him "special," praised his maturity, and compared him to Hassan Haskins… except thicker in his lower body(!). That would be one of them good starts.

Probably the most encouraging thing about Hall is that he's Mini-Me Mike Onwenu, a person who seems impossibly dense. From the recruiting profile:

Alejandro Zuniga confirmed Hall "looked the part of a physical, bruising back" during bowl practices. Brandon Brown got "AJ Dillon vibes." Steve Lorenz described "a large lower body" and called Hall "compact but also explosive and patient." Clayton Safie said Hall has "tree trunks for legs." Lucas Reimink called Hall "thickly built" with "good upper body strength and … a thick, powerful lower body." Touch the Banner called it a "durable seeming frame and a thick lower body."

5'10, 235 with some burst is an uncommon package and one that is just about impossible to get leverage on. Seth compared him to Thomas Rawls, who had to transfer to CMU to get playing time but then carved out an NFL career, and I would have liked to see Thomas Rawls behind a fully operational Harbaugh offensive line. Expect some garbage-time fireworks before Stokes and Hall battle it out next year.

Mullings (#20) seems pretty good at lurching [Fuller]

Hall's quick ascension up the depth chart is bad news for redshirt junior KALEL MULLINGS [recruiting profile], who has finally been released from linebacker purgatory and is a running back full-time now. Last year this preview pitched Mullings as a potential solution to Michigan's supposed need for a short yardage back after he did some things in the spring game:

Michigan ended up not needing a short yardage back; with Nikhai Hill-Green injured all of last year Mullings was on the linebacker two-deep by default. Then the running back room was decimated by injury and Michael Barrett was holding it down next to Junior Colson so Mullings went back over to the other side of the ball. Against Ohio State he got stuffed on a third-and-one when OSU was maniacally aggressive—he had no real shot at a conversion—and then lofted that jump pass on his second carry-type substance.

After the game Mullings revealed that he got moved back to running back specifically because he was doing the best job of throwing that ball in practice, and that when the time actually came he had no idea were Schoonmaker was and threw the pass entirely blind. Do with that information what you will.

Against Purdue he was Michigan's designated short yardage back and very much looked the part of a guy who will just grind forward improbably:

He added a second TD in the same vein to salt it away.

Then, well… you know. Roman Wilson's touchdown gets taken off the board for no apparent reason against TCU and the ensuing fullback dive exchange between McCarthy and Mullings is fumbled. The rest is extremely annoying history.

One fumble on a dive play that requires precise timing for a guy who has not been a full time running back means approximately nothing about Mullings going forward, but if Hall's basically the same size and is sliding past him his window seems to be closing. Your author will admit some disappointment on this front; I thought he could be pretty dang good. I go back to the fact that Wisconsin and Notre Dame were recruiting him to play offense and that other people saw what we've seen in the last couple spring games:

… at running back his size/frame grade is elite … elite power potential … nimble … moves really well for a 6-2, 220-pound running back. … ability to make back-to-back cuts and then get vertical. … don’t often see that kind of fluidity and cutting ability from a back that big. … quick second level cuts and shows impressive anticipation as a runner…. sets blocks up well and shows the ability to quickly plant and burst vertically.

He should see the field some. Michigan will want to keep a program guy like him involved. Mullings drew mention at both punt return and kick return.

Michigan's other true freshman back, COLE CABANA [recruiting profile pending], is more in the Donovan Edwards upright sprinter mode—ESPN named him the best pass-catching back in his class, for one. Cabana is coming off a series of injuries that kept him out most of the spring and has not drawn fall mention. Given the depth chart in front of him he's likely headed for a redshirt.

Finally, TAVIERRE DUNLAP [recruiting profile] is entering late early territory with Stokes and Hall emerging. He got just nine carries a year ago and when the running back depth chart was obliterated against Illinois, now-retired walk-on Isaiah Gash got more run than he did. I clipped just one thing he did last year:

Dunlap has some power to him but with Mullings and Hall on the roster it's going to take more than just power to see appreciable carries. Appreciate the confidence, though:

“If you ask Blake and Donovan, they’re going to tell you that they’re faster than me, but they know in the back of their head that they’re not,” Dunlap laughed.

I am one thousand percent sure that Donovan Edwards is faster than Dunlap. Anyway.