Michigan Football: Predicting Wolverines’ 2021 depth chart
Running back
Starter: Zach Charbonnet
Backups: Hassan Haskins, Donovan Edwards, Blake Corum
The change to spring football could have an impact on running back, in more ways than one. For starters, if Michigan football is able to win the recruitment of Donovan Edwards, the No. 3 back in the 2021 class, he would presumably be eligible right away.
While Zach Charbonnet will be the clear starter to me and someone who could still threaten to rush for 1,000 yards, even in an eight or 10-game season, there will be lots of touches.
Hassan Haskins showed he deserves plenty of carries and don’t forget about Blake Corum, a gem from the 2020 recruiting class.
You may notice the omission of Chris Evans. That’s because he will have a tough call to make. He hasn’t played football since 2018, so he obviously wants to get on the field, but unless he got into the NFL supplemental draft, he’d have to sit in the fall of 2021, preparing for the 2022 draft.
To be honest, that’s not appealing, but neither is taking his chances on the NFL right now.
The one thing in Evans’s favor is that he gained more than 1,700 yards on the ground in three seasons and has 40 career receptions.
Few prospects needed this season more than @UMichFootball RB Chris Evans, who averaged 7.0 yards per carry as a true frosh in ‘16 but missed last year due to an academic issue. Evans is 216-lber with WR-like ball skills. Former teammates have told us he belongs in @seniorbowl. pic.twitter.com/QC9DzNbCev
— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) August 17, 2020
There was talk of him getting invited to the Senior Bowl and if that happened, it might just be smarter to go through the draft process.
He may not get selected, but Evans would get his shot in the NFL.