Michigan Football: Predicting the Wolverines wide receiver depth chart
The Michigan football team has some talented wide outs at the top of its depth chart, but how will everything shake out in fall camp?
As far as the 2017 Michigan football season was concerned, the position that under-performed the most was the quarterback. There is no doubt about that. However, a close second was wide receiver.
Certainly, it was no surprise to see an adjustment at wide receiver. After all, Michigan football lost two talented and productive receivers in Amara Darboh and Jehu Chesson. Looking back, those two guys were harder to replace than expected.
Michigan has two guys in Donovan Peoples-Jones and Tarik Black, who each have star potential, it just wasn’t quite realized in 2017. And, it would have been difficult for both freshmen to live up to expectations anyway.
Peoples-Jones, the top wide receiver in the 2017 recruiting class, did earn Freshmen All-American honors — he just did it as a punt returner, not a receiver. He did catch 22 passes for 277 yards but failed to notch a receiving touchdown. There were also plenty of missed chances down the field, which in part were Peoples-Jones fault and also partly the fault of the quarterbacks throwing him the ball.
While Peoples-Jones struggled to make an immediate impact, Black’s transition to college football was smooth and easy, right from the start. Black stole the show in spring football and entered the season as the No. 1 guy.
Early on, he did not disappoint. He caught a touchdown pass against Florida and made two catches for 83 yards. Black also had four receptions for 11 yards against Cincy before closing out his season with a four for 55 performance against Air Force, the same game that saw him get hurt.
Thankfully, Black was given a medical redshirt and starts this season with four years of eligibility. And alongside Peoples-Jones, he should be a starting receiver. There are some skills guys on the perimeter to contend with, such as Nico Collins and Oliver Martin, but Black and Peoples-Jones are a cut above the rest.
In terms of the slot, Michigan also has some capable candidates. Grant Perry, a senior, will win the job most likely, although he will get some stiff competition from Eddie McDoom, who has 24 receptions in his first two seasons at UM.
With Shea Patterson under center, expect more spread sets this season, which could mean more chances for Peoples-Jones, Black, Perry and McDoom to be on the field at the same time. That’s an explosive lineup, one that hopefully will get featured. Collins and Martin have breakout potential too.
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There are some younger 3-star guys that will have a chance to make a name for themselves too this fall, but unless there are some big surprises, Peoples-Jones, Black, Perry, Collins, McDoom and Martin should see most, if not all the passes to wide receivers in 2018.