Although J.J. McCarthy was the fan-favorite and quarterback Michigan fans had wanted in Ann Arbor for a long time, the Wolverines were still a run-first football team. The past two seasons with McCarthy under center, Michigan would lean heavily on Blake Corum to lead the Michigan offense with some Donovan Edwards and Kalel Mullings mixed in.
With both McCarthy and Corum off to the NFL, does that mean Michigan will continue to lean on that rushing attack that’s been so solid the past three years — even with a different-styled running back leading the way?
Offensive coordinator Kirk Campbell met with the media on Tuesday and was asked how the Michigan offense may look this upcoming season with Campbell in charge. Obviously, Donovan Edwards has a different skill set than Corum’s north-and-south running ability. But Campbell says he believes you tailor the offense around the best players on the team. He said the plan is to get Edwards into space and get him into one-on-one opportunities.
“I’ve been on record saying this, I think any offensive coordinator tailors their offense to their players,” Campbell said. “Donovan Edwards, different running style than Blake Corum. He’s still going to be asked to do the same things but we also gotta get him in open field, get him in space one-on-one with linebackers, that’s what he does really well. Kalel Mullings is a really good downhill runner. We have to tailor the run game around what our offensive line does well and what our running backs do well as well. It could be a little bit different but it could be the same at some point in time.”
Clearly the running back pecking order right now is Edwards and Kalel Mullings. Michigan is back into the same situation its been in the past couple of years: who will emerge as that third running back? The Wolverines brought in four-star running back Jordan Marshall to compete, but they also have a couple of other backs who Campbell pointed out.
“Jordan [Marshall] had a good summer, we gotta make sure we continue to develop him. Ben Hall is in that mix, you got Tavi Dunlap who had a really good spring game. Really good summer. Cole Cabana, hopefully he stays healthier this season. We have a plethora of guys to work with there. Hopefully, we get some fortunes where we can get the ball in their hands. We’ve got so many good playmakers it’s going to be tough to get the ball into every single players hands, we gotta evaluate that through full camp.”
With fall camp starting on Wednesday, it’s going to be a close situation to monitor to see who starts slipping away from the pack and emerges in that third running back role.