The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/998618
74 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2018 FOOTBALL PREVIEW WIDE RECEIVERS lamy. When Edwards was a true freshman, Bellamy was a veteran — and he watched the youngster go from three receptions in his first year to 67 in a 1,000-yard sophomore season. "I saw that huge jump," Bellamy said. "Braylon and I were together the last week of May talking about Donovan's jump, how the game slowed down for him. "When I was injured my senior year and he was a sophomore, Braylon had to step up, much like the guys did last year. That just gave Braylon the confidence to take the game and run with it. You see something similar in Donovan, the ability to get off the ground and out-jump anyone, outrun anyone. He's bigger, faster and stronger than anyone else." That alone was good enough to dominate in high school, but it takes more than that to thrive at the collegiate level. None of the receivers on the roster saw an offense any- thing like they've seen at Michigan, Bellamy noted — more screen passes, go routes and post routes and very few comeback routes or curls — because they didn't need to. "That wasn't an area they had to focus on," Bellamy said. "But I watched a lot of their film, and it was still impressive because they were going over the top of people and making plays." Including Collins, the biggest of The Big Three. Now 6-4, 206 pounds, the sophomore started coming into his own at the end of last year, even catching a pair of passes in a 26-19 Outback Bowl loss to South Carolina. Collins was injured much of the spring, hurting his shoulder diving for a pass when the team wasn't in pads, Harbaugh reported, but he's continued to improve. "He's a big boy, man," Bellamy said with a chuckle. "The thing I always liked about big receivers is there's more room for error for the quarterbacks. "You don't have to be as accurate with bigger guys; just put it in their radius and they're going to go make a play." Bellamy has been impressed with Collins since seeing him on film as a prep player. "I know the coaches were, too, when he was coming out of Alabama — they raved about what he was able to do," he said. "They got that recruiting victory over Ala- bama and other schools, and I thought that was a huge win for them." In a wide receiving corps full of young talent, senior Grant Perry is the experienced veteran who is known for his consistency and route running. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN