Donovan Edwards could be Michigan Football’s best RB in a decade

After a long wait, Donovan Edwards announced that he would sign with Michigan football and here’s why he’s a once-in-a-decade kind of talent.

Michigan football fans got the news they have been waiting for on Wednesday, as four-star running back Donovan Edwards announced that he will play for the Wolverines.

On a snowy day is at West Bloomfield, following a speech by former Wolverine and Edwards head coach Ronald Bellamy, Edwards chose the hat of Michigan over Georgia and others, giving the Wolverines an elite difference maker at a position they haven’t had one in decades.

You can call it hyperbole, but frankly, I don’t care. Edwards is that good and landing the 44th player overall in the 2021 class, as well as the fourth-ranked running back is huge for Michigan football.

The 5-foot-11, 190-pounder reminds me of Chris Perry, the last Michigan running back to get selected in the first round of the NFL draft and that’s because he’s a dual-threat, equally dangerous as both a runner and receiver.

Here’s his a piece of his scouting report from 247 sports’ Allen Trieu:

"“He is a complete back who can play in any scheme though, and should be a lead-back early in his college career. Should hear his name called around the second round of the NFL draft.”"

Obviously, Michigan has signed some other highly-rated backs who haven’t quite worked out, but Edwards really feels different. He’s explosive and really as a back in today’s game, he can do it all and it’s going to be exciting to see what he can do with the Wolverines.

Josh Gattis played a big role in landing Edwards and I think he will stick around as offensive coordinator and after landing such a talented back, you probably won’t see Jay Harbaugh going anywhere as running backs coach either.

If you want to know what kind of player Edwards is, just look at the other schools recruiting him. Georgia and Alabama were legitimate teams in this and at one point, Ohio State pushed hard to get him, although they obviously had other options and didn’t want/need to wait.

There’s no other way to say it other than Edwards is just different and even if he ends up as a second-round pick as Trieu predicts, he would still be the first skill position guy to go in the first round in some time and the first back since 2004.

That’s a staggering fact but maybe with Edwards in the fold (officially), this program can start addressing some of those long streaks of ineptitude.