Michigan football has wealth of versatile options at offensive skill positions
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Though they both were on the offense a year ago, expect bigger things from two players, one of which is considered a wide receiver, while the other is thought of as a running back. However, neither are particularly limited to their respective positions.
Wide receiver A.J. Henning had the longest rushing touchdown of the season last year, a 74-yard end-around in Week 1 against Western Michigan. Running back Donovan Edwards had the most receiving yards in a game in 2021 for the Wolverines, reeling in 10 catches for 170 yards against Maryland. He also threw a 75-yard bomb in the Big Ten championship game for a touchdown. These may be antithetical to the roles generally espoused by their position groups, but that shows just how dynamic some of the weapons the maize and blue has.
Last year wasn’t Henning’s first year, but it was his first real extended playing time, whereas Edwards was a freshman in 2021 and just getting his feet wet. Expect both to really amp things up in 2022, now that they’re both a bit more seasoned.
“Obviously I had Donovan in high school, we used him out as a receiver. So that trade is carried on into college,” wide receivers coach Ron Bellamy, who previously was the head coach at West Bloomfield, said. “And then you go back and look at A.J.s high school film, he played a lot of running back. A.J. moved all over the field, played a little quarterback. So those two guys, they can do a multitude of things. And you don’t miss a beat. And like I said, they both are explosive, both great, but with the ball in their hands. And the thing is, they both have a high-level understanding of football. And you could do a lot of creative things when you have guys with that skill set.”
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With Edwards in particular, he’s expected to really take off now that it’s his second year and the depth chart is a little more amenable with Hassan Haskins off to the NFL. In WolverinesWire’s conversation with Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt, the premier college broadcaster shared that Edwards is one of his ‘dark horse Heisman candidates,’ assuredly not because he’s exclusively an elusive back.
Edwards’ ability as a receiver started to be cultivated in high school, Bellamy says, and once he gets the ball in his hands, that’s when he can really make things happen.
“One of the things when I had him in high school, he had a bad injury his sophomore year,” Bellamy said. “And one of the things I knew how talented he was, I knew he was a guy that’s going to be a high-level college recruit. And I vowed to him that we’re going to protect them. And we just found various ways to get him to football, everything didn’t have to be inside to tackle box. So, we trained him up as a receiver. And we thought that he can be a top 10 receiver in the nation, just as well as he was as a running back. And I think, he took to that and here he is today. He has that skill set.”
For Michigan, it’s a quality problem to have so many riches on the offensive side of the ball. Henning will be deployed more like Deebo Samuel, while Edwards can create all other kinds of problems for opposing teams. In fact, the Wolverines put Edwards and Henning on the field for the same play on the first touchdown drive against Ohio State last year, and the Buckeyes paid such close attention to Edwards that it opened up the sweep for Henning to run in for the score.
Expect that to amp up even more in 2022, as both are now a bit more seasoned and can do various things not confined to the beset roles expected of their position groups.
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What Ron Bellamy said about Michigan football wide receivers in fall camp
