Michigan Football: The future at wide receiver is incredibly bright
Whoever ends up playing quarterback for Michigan football in 2018, will have the benefit of a deep and talented group of wide receivers.
Everyone knew that going into the 2017 season, Michigan football was going to be relying on young players at wide receiver. Guys like Donovan Peoples-Jones, Tarik Black, Kekoa Crawford and Eddie McDoom, were supposed to be vital parts of the offense.
Certainly, some growing pains were to be expected. After you lose two seniors like Amara Darboh and Jehu Chesson, the production wasn’t going to be the same, at least not right away.
Yet, for Michigan football that production never came. There were reasons for that. One of the biggest was an early injury to Black, who started the season on fire. The freshman made it through just three games. But in those, he caught 11 passes for 149 yards and a touchdown, which he caught in the opening game against Florida.
Peoples-Jones might have been the top-ranked receiver out of high school, but it was clearly Black who was ready to make an immediate impact. Once the 6-4 freshman went down for the season, it had a dramatic impact on the Michigan football offense.
Black’s absence essentially meant that Peoples-Jones was the top deep threat. However in that role, Peoples-Jones struggled to find consistency, catching 16 passes for 217 yards. Quarterback play was an issue, especially after John O’Korn took over. But even when Brandon Peters was playing, Peoples-Jones left much to be desired.
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The one area where he did excel was as a punt returner. After averaging 8.7 yards a return and returning one for a touchdown, Peoples-Jones earned Freshman All-American honors. Yet, Michigan didn’t bring him aboard to be an All-American on special teams, he needs to do that now on offense.
McDoom and Crawford, who both played as freshmen in 2016, combined for 23 receptions. The top pass catcher ended up being Grant Perry, with 25 receptions for 307 yards. Perry became the most reliable target for whoever was at quarterback. He was especially good on third downs and getting him back for his senior year is another reason to have hope for next season.
In addition to Peoples-Jones, Black, McDoom, Perry and Crawford, Michigan also has four-star freshman Nico Collins and Oliver Martin. Collins played sparingly. Both Collins and Martin ranked in the top-30 at their position in the 2017 recruiting class. Collins is 6-5 and Martin is 6-1, giving Michigan football two more big, talented targets for next season.
That doesn’t even include a pretty solid group of tight ends. The two top guys there, Sean McKeon and Zach Gentry, combined for 44 receptions. Add incoming freshman Mustahpa Muhammad to that mix and Michigan will be solid there too.
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While the Wolverines offense struggled at times in 2017, the passing game held it back. But with a new starting quarterback and some growth at the wide receiver position, that should all change in 2018.