Already a physical star, RB Donovan Edwards' mental growth impressing Michigan football
Michigan football running back Donovan Edwards felt bottled up in the first half of his team's season-opening 30-3 win over East Carolina on Saturday.
Sure enough, when he looked at the stats, they reflected as much.
"I checked on ESPN at halftime how many yards I had, that joint said six (rushes) for 5 (yards) — I said, 'Dang,' " Edwards told reporters Tuesday evening. "They was stopping the run."
It was an unusual feeling for Edwards, who replaced Blake Corum as U-M's No. 1 tailback for the final month of the 2022 season after Corum was lost with a torn meniscus. In his first action as the focal point of the offense last year, Edwards had no troubles.
HIT THE BOOKS: Michigan football OL Myles Hinton had trouble transferring credits from ... Stanford!?
That included his first collegiate road start; the former West Bloomfield standout ran 22 times for 216 yards and two touchdowns against Ohio State — including 75- and 85-yard touchdown runs in the fourth quarter — in Michigan's 45-23 victory.
The next week, in the Big Ten championship game, Edwards had a career-high 25 carries for 185 yards and another touchdown.
Even in the College Football Playoff semifinal against TCU, a game in which U-M was played catch-up with the passing game nearly the whole time, Edwards rushed 23 times for 119 yards.
But Saturday's game with ECU was different, he said, as evidenced by his six carries for 8 yards on runs between the tackles.
"When safeties are coming down, or there's eight to 10 people in the box like how ECU had, it's just protecting the ball and getting what you can," Edwards said. "There's really not much you can do if there's three or four people at other holes.
"Protect the ball, get as much as you can, get down, live with the next play, live with second-and-8, third-and-8, whatever it may be."
STAYING PUT: Tony Garcia's AP poll ballot: Despite Top 10 intrigue, I didn't move Michigan football
Perhaps somewhere, running backs coach Mike Hart was smiling.
Earlier this week, Hart — who will serve as the interim head coach in the second half of Michigan's game Saturday vs. UNLV, with special teams coach Jay Harbaugh running the first half during head coach Jim Harbaugh's suspension — singled out Edwards' growth from his sophomore to junior season: Between the ears.
One of the Wolverines' best athletes, Edwards never struggled physically. With 140 carries for 991 yards, plus 18 catches for 200 yards, Edwards averaged 7.5 yards every time he touched the ball.
So, when he ran 12 times for 37 yards Saturday and caught four passes for 33 yards — 70 yards on 16 touches, 4.4-yard average — Edwards' ability to keep it in perspective pleased Hart.
"He knows he doesn't need to try and score every time he gets the ball, the big plays will happen," Hart said. "Mentally, he's just grown. He's always had the physical tools, but mentally, he's grown so much, (he) knows 'I don't have to run the ball 50 yards every time I touch the ball.' "
Edwards agreed with the assessment.
"100%," he said. "That's football overall, every play isn't going to be 20-, 30-, 50-, 70-yard touchdowns. I would love that, but the thing is getting as much as you can and protecting the program — and the program is the football."
Despite saying this offseason he though he could change the running back position forever in the NFL — even comparing himself to Detroit Lions great Barry Sanders — the Wolverines tailback knows there are aspects of his game that need improvement.
Such as goal-line and short-yardage situations.
On Saturday, U-M had a 30-0 lead in the third quarter and a third-and-goal from the 1; Edwards was handed the ball and tried to go up and over the pile. At first, he thought he got in. But then he saw the review on the brand-new videoboard, which, he said, broke his heart.
“I’m like, 'Why y'all replaying this?' " Edwards joked. "'Let it ride out, let me get my touchdown and look good on the stats.' But at the same time, I know that I’ve got to be better.”
INSIDE THE WOLVERINES: Jim Harbaugh's internal battle: Keep Michigan football a run-first team, or throw the ball
Secondary not letting injures slow learning
U-M was without defensive backs Will Johnson, Rod Moore and Amorion Walker to begin the season.
Walker was a pregame scratch Saturday, while Moore and Johnson were listed as questionable but did not play.
"They're getting closer and closer every day," co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach Steve Clinkscale said of Johnson and Moore on Wednesday. "I kind of stay out of the training room with them, so when they're out they're on the field, I coach them.
"Yesterday, they both practiced, so that was awesome."
Johnson had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee back in March and spent the majority of the summer doing rehabilitation and conditioning. In June, Johnson told the Free Press, "I don’t know how much I’ll play the first couple games, but I’ll be ready."
Pro Football Focus ranked Johnson as the nation's No. 3 returning defensive back, in large part due to then-true freshman's man-on-man pass coverage grade (91.1), which led all Power Five defensive backs.
Moore, U-M's leading returning tackler in the secondary and an All-Big Ten honorable mention (who was ranked No. 5 among safeties by PFF), is out with an undisclosed injury. On Monday, Jim Harbaugh said there's a chance they'll play this week.
Clinkscale said he'll be happy if they do, but he knows patience is a virtue.
"The big thing with those guys and the issues that they had is not to rush them back and make sure they're comfortable," Clinkscale said. "Especially when you're a DB and you're out on an island — you rush a guy back too fast, it can really set him back a little bit."
As for Walker, it's unclear when he will next take the field. The former wide receiver was on crutches last month; on Wednesday, Clinkscale said the defensive back is not practicing at this time — though that doesn't mean he's not involved.
"What I see from him now, is he's locked in," Clinkscale said. "He's not able to practice, but he's watching film, taking notes — you should see his notes. I take his notes and show them to everybody. He's taking notes on everything — if I burp, he wrote down 'burp' — he's taking notes, listening to everything being a sponge.
"That's what you want from your players: If they're not able to do it physically, do it mentally."
Walker was projected as a starter opposite Johnson back in the spring, but the Wolverines brought in UMass transfer Josh Wallace. The two were, by all accounts, in a tight battle when Walker went down with an injury last month, which has shuffled the depth chart.
Not only did Wallace start and stand out in the opener, Keshaun Harris — a former walk-on in his fifth year at U-M — got his first career start as well. Although that could be discouraging for some players, Clinkscale said, Walker has approached his situation with the right attitude.
"I've been so proud of him about how he's handled this, it's not been an emotional deal where he's disappeared and you don't see him while he's injured," the coordinator said. "He's here every day, all the time. We text and communicate every day.
"I think that when he does come back, it'll help him just catapult to where he was, and maybe even surpass it."
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football's Donovan Edwards learns to get 'as much as you can'
