Michigan Football: Is another running back needed for 2020?

Michigan football got a commitment from four-star running back Blake Corum earlier this week, but do the Wolverines need more depth at the position?

When it comes to the past week and Michigan football recruiting, it would be hard to find anything to complain about.

Michigan football fans saw their team land commitments from highly-rated players at a number of positions, such as A.J. Henning at wide receiver, Jordan Morant at safety, Kalel Mullings at linebacker and Aaron Lewis at defensive end.

William Mohan, Eamonn Dennis, Reece Atteberry and Gaige Garcia were the others to commit this week along with four-star running back Blake Corum of Maryland.

Corum is the fourth recruit to commit to Michigan Football out of St. Frances Academy in Maryland, a school with close ties to the Wolverines. The 5-foot-9 running back is ranked 17th in his class and No. 201 nationally according to the 247 composite rankings.

He’s a shifty runner that should be an ideal fit in the offense of Josh Gattis. But you have to wonder if the Wolverines still need at least one more running back for the 2020 class.

It helped that three-star running back Gaige Garcia committed this week, however, he is also going to wrestle at Michigan and some outlets had him rated as just a two-star. 247 sports has him listed as the 139th running back in 2020 but wrestlers do tend to make good football players.

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While Garcia could help add some depth, the position needs more bodies going forward. Heading into this season, Christian Turner, Zach Charbonnet, Hassan Haskins and Tru Wilson are the only backs on scholarship along with Ben Mason.

Michael Barrett is a guy that has flirted with the position and others like Giles Jackson, Mike Sainristil, Henning and Dennis could see occasional snaps there down the road, but neither is a guy you want carrying the football very often.

Corum, Turner, Charbonnet, Haskins and Wilson can be those kinds of guys, the Wolverines just need more in the future and that’s where four-star running back Lawrance Toafili comes in as part of 2020.

The four-star running back from Florida is ranked 174th nationally and No. 15 among running backs according to the 247 sports composite, although Florida State feels like the favorite.

Yet, after he visited Michigan last month, according to Steve Lorenz of the Michigan Insider, he plans to take an official visit to Ann Arbor this fall ($).

That’s a big deal for Michigan because it buys the Wolverines time to make up ground. Toafili was close to committing to Florida State but things appear to be more open now and that will give UM a chance to add the second high-quality back this 2020 class really needs.