Michigan football's running back depth chart: Hassan Haskins, Blake Corum at top, for now
Michigan football's running back room has had an eventful offseason.
The Wolverines hired a new position coach in Mike Hart, the school's all-time leading rusher who left Indiana to return to his alma mater.
Meanwhile, two of last season's four scholarship running backs left the program during the offseason, before two new running backs joined the program as part of U-M's 2021 recruiting class.
Still, even after all of the offseason movement and 15 spring practices, the top of the depth chart looks the same as it did last season, according to coach Jim Harbaugh.
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“Blake Corum, Hassan Haskins, they are two tremendous players,” Harbaugh said during the most recent episode of the "Inside the Trenches" podcast with Jon Jansen. “That’s where the bulk of the carries are going to go. We’re going to lean heavily on those two players.”
Harbaugh's comments aren't much of a surprise based on how the 2020 season (and this past offseason) played out.
During last fall's six-game season, Haskins cemented his status as the Wolverines' No. 1 back with 61 carries for 375 yards and six touchdowns — easily pacing the team in all three categories. Haskins, now a redshirt junior, had as many carries as the other three scholarship running backs combined.
Corum, meanwhile, appeared to earn the No. 2 spot as a true freshman. The former four-star recruit took 26 carries (second-most of the running backs) for 74 yards and two touchdowns and caught five passes for 73 yards.
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As it turns out, Haskins and Corum were the only two scholarship running backs to return in the offseason.
Zach Charbonnet, who led the team in rushing as a true freshman in 2019, transferred to UCLA while Chris Evans was taken by the Cincinnati Bengals in the sixth round of the NFL draft on Saturday. Last season, the two players combined for 35 carries, 197 yards and two touchdowns, along with 15 catches for 128 yards (with Evans mostly serving as a receiving back toward the end of the season).
The Wolverines added two running backs in the 2021 recruiting class in Donovan Edwards (West Bloomfield) and Tavierre Dunlap. Both players enrolled in the winter and participated in spring ball — and seem to have established themselves as the No. 3 and No. 4 running back on the depth chart.
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Harbaugh had plenty of praise for Edwards, who was the second highest-ranked player in Michigan's recruiting class and led West Bloomfield to a state championship with 14 carries for 257 yards and three touchdowns in the title game.
“Donovan Edwards, he’s come in as a mid-year and showed he’ll play,” Harbaugh said. “He’ll play a lot. I love Donovan. He can do just about anything. He can be a home-run hitter. Ball in his hand is exciting. He catches the ball really well out of the backfield, another real strength for him.”
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According to Harbaugh, Edwards wore a cast on his thumb during the state championship game and continued wearing the cast during U-M's spring practices. But it didn't affect his play — part of why Harbaugh was so impressed with Edwards.
“Lo and behold, you look up and he’s catching seven balls in practice,” Harbaugh said. “He’s doing that with a cast on his hand. He’s got some real talent. There’s going to be exciting things that you’re going to see with Donovan right out of his freshman year. He’s very much on track to do that.”
Harbaugh also complimented the play of Dunlap, a former three-star recruit from Texas, and hinted at the possibility of Dunlap playing as a true freshman.
“Tavierre Dunlap is another mid-year freshman, bigger back, got the ability to be a real thumper,” Harbaugh said. “He made a lot of strides in spring ball, getting his pads down at the line of scrimmage and using that power that he possesses. He also has speed as well. You’ll see him.
“There’s definitely a lot of excitement out of that room.”
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Where Blake Corum, Donovan Edwards fit in Michigan football RB rotation
