The Wolverine

2018 Michigan Football Preview

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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THE WOLVERINE 2018 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ■ 73 WIDE RECEIVERS FYI Michigan's receivers caught only three touchdown passes in 13 games, the least by the group since 1978 (0) when Ralph Clayton was officially a "wingback"— though used more as a receiver — and caught eight of Rick Leach's 17 touchdowns. Junior Eddie McDoom, Michigan's end-around specialist, has rushed for more career yards than he has receiving yardage at U-M. The junior has run 24 times for 203 yards and caught 16 passes for 140 yards in his two seasons with the Maize and Blue. Senior Grant Perry has hauled in 52 passes for 618 yards and three touchdowns during his college career. The rest of the wide receivers have combined for just 56 catches, 634 receiving yards and one touchdown through the air. Sophomore Donovan Peoples-Jones is second in career catches (22) and receiving yards (277), while redshirt freshman Tarik Black is the lone one besides Perry with a touch- down grab. Black's 149 career receiving yards rank third among the wideouts. Half of the scholarship wideouts on the team — four of eight — were listed among the top 250 prospects nationally by Rivals.com coming out of high school. The group includes the former five- star Peoples-Jones (No. 12 nationally), and former four-stars Black (76), Nico Collins (120) and Oliver Martin (206). the Best of Midwest Camp at Grand Valley State University near Grand Rapids, Mich., that the two were 1-A and 1-B in the peck- ing order. "I feel like our wide receivers are coming along," Harbaugh said. "Coach Mac [McEl- wain] has done a great job coaching them. Tarik and Donovan really did the best job of anybody in spring practice. "[Walk-on] Nate Schoenle, Oliver Martin and Nico Collins also did extremely well." Last year's inexperience and inconsis- tency, obvious especially after Black went down, should give way to a vastly improved unit in 2018, Bellamy said. Peoples-Jones had his moments, catching 22 passes for 277 yards, but he didn't haul in a touchdown, and was up and down overall. The 6-2, 199 pounder had a number of "wow" moments this spring, according to teammates, and seems to be on the fast track to stardom. Part of the improvement for Peoples- Jones, Black and the rest of their classmates comes simply from having another year un- der their collective belt, Bellamy explained. "It's huge. The game slows down drasti- cally for you," he said. "They got through that. Most freshmen don't play as much as they were asked to play. You could see in spring ball the confidence in the scheme, the coaching points, getting in and out of breaks, attacking the football. They became great downfield blockers, and they were super competitive when the ball was in the air. "Those are things freshman year you're trying to figure out. When it's, 'Did I line up with my right foot forward?' if they're in the vicinity of the play — not only in the right spot, just the vicinity — they're doing well [as rookies]." Black remains the favorite to lead the Wolverines in receiving, and he's got all the tools to be elite. He's got the size and speed, and is probably a future pro, one of the reasons Bellamy compares him to Ter- rell, a 2000 All-American and top-10 NFL Draft pick. "When people think of big receivers, they think of possession-type guys," he said. "Tarik, if you watched the Florida game, he can stretch you out vertically. He poses a threat, and that's the biggest fear of a coach, especially in a league where they run a lot of man-to-man defenses. "You've got a 5-11 or six-foot corner against a 6-4 wide receiver who is just as fast as your DB and a lot stronger and more powerful." As the "other" No. 1 guy, Peo- ples-Jones brings a different style of another former U-M All-American — Braylon Edwards, according to Bel- Donovan Peoples-Jones finished third on the squad as a rookie with 654 all-purpose yards (57 rushing, 277 receiving and 320 via punt re- turns). Only running backs Karan Higdon and Chris Evans had more. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL YEAR-BY-YEAR RECEIVING LEADERS Year Player Catches Yards TD 2017 Grant Perry 25 307 1 2016 Amara Darboh 57 862 7 2015 Amara Darboh 58 727 5 2014 Devin Funchess 62 733 4 2013 Jeremy Gallon 89 1,373 9 2012 Jeremy Gallon 49 829 4 2011 Junior Hemingway 34 699 4 2010 Roy Roundtree 72 935 7 2009 Roy Roundtree 34 434 3 2008 Martavious Odoms 49 443 0

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