Who Is Your Favorite Wolverine WR/s ever?
As the season draws near, i like to reflect back on the glorious history of our fine university. Taking a moment to enjoy the accompliments, amazing plays and vast history...
At this moment in time im looking at footage of WR play for the University of Michigan. I have a couple of favorites. Here are some clips on my favorites:
Desmond Howard:
Braylon Edwards: Finally...Mario Manningham: Who are you Favorites?
not my favorite or best but he could have been up there. he was exciting every time he touched the ball; punts, end arounds, pass catches, and of course INTs. i still think i would have utilized him on almost every third down play, even if only as a decoy.
. . . from Brockton, Mass. Maybe not my favorite ever, but my favorite when Keith Jackson said his name. He and Chris Calloway were pretty sweet, though.
These guys (McMurtry and Calloway) will always be my favorites, because they played at the time that I first became enthralled with Michigan Football. Plus they were adept at hauling in lame duck Demetrius Brown bombs, making Brown look good even with a dislocated thumb.
... for Carl Tabb??
Manningham, the only top-level receiver I have been able to see play during my time at Michigan.
Jason had the surest hands out of any Michigan receiver I have seen in my lifetime (ie memory goes back to '97 season for you old timers). I will never forget his one-handed TD snag at Northwestern in '03. After that happened, I would try to replicate that with my friends failing each time. And the fact that he had the top-bottom mouth guard. That was pretty cool!
He was the first player whom I can actually remember playing for Michigan. I remember being in 5th grade and watching Michigan games on a little B&W TV my dad rigged up for me so that I could see the games without anyone interrupting, (to watch, say, "Heidi").
My mom was the college football fan, though. She was the one who made me a Wolverine, despite being a huge Bucknut. When I came home from school one day in Kindergarten or 1st grade, I told her I liked MSU. She told me that if I didn't like Ohio State, that was okay with her, but I was going to root for a team with a Woody Hayes-bred coach. No way in hell I'd grow up a Spartan.
I love you, Mom!
David Terrell was the first great receiver i started watching. Had high hopes for him too, but Manningham's Penn State games have been my favorite since.
AC without a doubt. Did he not finish in the top 10 in Heisman votes 3 years in a row? Should have won a Heisman as Rick Leach should have also. Desmond second. Clancy, Alexander, Kolesar, Edwards. If Alexander had not been injured, Des might not have won Heisman that year. With D and Des on field catches would have been split . Yale VanDyne was good, but no Alexander. AC rules.
About Desmond not winning the Heisman with a healthy Alexander, that is. At one point I would have agreed, but I've changed my mind somewhat.
If you look at their season stats, Howard actually had a slightly better year in 1990 (63 catches, 1025 yards) than he did in 1991 (62 catches, 985 yards). The big exception, and the thing that won him the Heisman, was the number of touchdown catches (11 in 1990 versus 19 in 1991).
I'm going to assume Howard would have kept the punt return job--Alexander didn't return any until 1992. They probably would have split kickoff duties like they did in 1990.
In 1990, Alexander had the stats of a #2 receiver (31 catches, 450 yards, 6 touchdowns). Yale VanDyne was the second leading receiver in 1991 with 39 catches for 500 yards and a pair of touchdowns. That's a difference of four.
So would Howard have had as many touchdowns and big plays in 1991 with a healthy Alexander? Maybe not. But it's also possible that having Alexander around would have opened up more opportunities for him and the net effect would have been about the same.
It's interesting to me that Alexander was a much better pro as a receiver. I remember Howard on Green Bay in '96. At mid-season the Packers lost their leading receivers to injury, and Desmond still couldn't take advantage of the opportunity competing against the likes of Terry Mickens.
with Braylon at a close second.
Can you imagine what AC would have done in a pass-first offense? He was really a remarkable athlete.
Michigan has been blessed with a large number of truly great receivers over the years. But AC stands above them all for me.
I'll never forget listening to Ufer call the big receptions by Carter. The root of my addiction, right there.