Michigan Football: Midseason Breakdown of the Wolverines’ Receivers
Michigan football is halfway through its 2016 season. Here is a breakdown of the Wolverines’ pass catchers at midseason.
The Michigan football team’s returning receiving corps had a lot of hype attached to it preseason and for good reason. Wide receivers Jehu Chesson and Amara Darboh bloomed into all-conference threats on the outside in 2015. Tight end Jake Butt has always been good and now is a legitimate candidate to be an All-American at the position.
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Through six games a year ago Jake Rudock had just six touchdown passes, compared to six interceptions. He threw for over 200 yards in only one of those games. It was the second half that saw him emerge as a pro caliber starter with 14 TDs against three INTs in the final seven games.
Wilton Speight is off to a much hotter start this year with 11 TDs to two interceptions. Some of this is the level of competition. To be blunt, Michigan football has not had a hard schedule. Hawaii, UCF, and Rutgers are laughable. Penn State was starting walk-on linebackers in week four when they came to Ann Arbor.
On the other hand, Michigan failed to find a quality rushing attack against UCF. Week two is a sterling example of how the receivers and Speight putting the offensive unit on their back.
Why were they able to do that? Balance in their roles. Each receiver complements the other options masterfully.
Darboh is the possession guy (generally) making all of the catches he is supposed to in the middle of the field. Chesson is a threat to do the spectacular and Chesson can break a wide receiver screen or hit the home run deep.
Butt has developed as Speight’s safety net making catches on shallow routes across the middle. He has become proficient at finding holes in zone coverage and making himself available when protection breaks down.
Chesson and freshman Eddie McDoom have been utilized as rushing threats. Both have speed and the jet sweep has been turned to early in games.
UM’s rushing attack has been sporadic between the tackles. Runs outside have helped to soften opponents. The receiving corps have been instrumental in making that possible.
Michigan’s receivers are weapons through the air and on the ground. They attack deep, medium depth, and shallow from sideline to sideline. A good defense like Wisconsin has been the only opponent to slow them down but, even then, the stress was evident.
When Jabrill Peppers enters the game on offense, he’s been dynamic. He averages nearly 20 yards a rush when he keeps the ball and works as a decoy too.
Wisconsin had trouble with the wildcat formation against Michigan. Just the threat from Peppers is another added stress that finally breaks the levee. The balance of attack, with receivers leaning on the stress points of the defensive formation, is impressive.
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Michigan football receivers have earned all of the preseason accolades heaped on them in the season’s first half.