Michigan Football: What Blake Corum’s return means for Michigan

Blake Corum is back and here is what it means for the Michigan football team heading into 2023. 

Doak Walker finalist Blake Corum is coming back for his senior season at Michigan. Corum rushed for 1,463 yards and 18 touchdowns in 10.5 games for the Wolverines. He was a Heisman frontrunner, and likely could’ve won the Heisman if not for a season ending knee injury suffered right before halftime against Illinois.

Corum was likely the best running back in College Football in 2022 and was the heart and soul of the Wolverines. Michigan more than likely beats TCU without much struggle with a healthy Corum — two goal line turnovers aren’t happening with Corum in the backfield.

But this post isn’t about the past or the what ifs, it’s about the future. And man oh man, this is huge for the 2023 season. For one, Blake Corum returning likely is positive news in terms of Jim Harbaugh returning to Michigan football. I doubt he returns if he doesn’t feel confident in Harbaugh’s return.

I also believe that Corum returning is a very positive sign in terms of both NIL and other star players returning. Corum wouldn’t return if Michigan football wasn’t paying him close to or more than what he would have been making in the NFL. Valiant Management recently launched their “One More Year” initiative, where fans can donate money that goes towards bringing back star players considering the NFL draft.

All in all, Michigan is taking care of their players it appears.

Now let’s take a look at how Corum’s return could effect Michigan on the field next season.

Michigan football will have best backfield since Nick Chubb and Sony Michel

In 2017, Georgia boasted an unfair backfield that consisted of Nick Chubb and Sony Michel. The duo combined for over 2,500 yards of rushing, and Georgia made the national championship (and probably should have won).

Quite honestly, this duo has the chance to be just as good, if not better. I really don’t see how the Wolverines can be stopped on the ground in 2023.

Had Corum declared, I would have been relatively nervous about Michigan’s running back depth. Luckily, that worry has disappeared. Michigan’s offense will be terrifyingly good in 2023. This offseason is going to be crucial for Sherrone Moore and Matt Weiss. They must figure out how to maximize the potential of the offense. That means changing things up, and adding lots of variety to this offense.

How I want the offense to look in 2023

It’s clear that Michigan football has an insane amount of offensive talent. I don’t think it’s crazy to say this could be the best offense in the Big Ten next year. Ohio State loses CJ Stroud while JJ McCarthy should be the best QB in the Big Ten.

Against Ohio State and TCU, the world saw how electric the Wolverine passing attack could be. And that was without necessarily planning on throwing the ball 30 times. In a perfect world, I envision Corum and Edwards splitting carries about 50-50. This has been the general consensus, and would allow both of them to stay fresh.

It’s clear that the offense is more dynamic with Edwards on the field due to his receiving ability, and I’d love to see some sets with both Corum and Edwards on the field. The staff has two of the top running backs in the country in their backfield. They have to figure out how to utilize them to the fullest extent while also utilizing their Heisman caliber quarterback. I think there’s a lot of potential with the two running back sets.

Michigan football could, and in my opinion, should be just about perfectly balanced next season. I want to see the Wolverines throw the ball about 30 times a game and run about 30 times a game. That’ll prevent teams from focusing on one aspect of the offense, which hurt Michigan in 2022.

It’s hard to not get excited about the potential of this group. The fact of the matter is that this will be a national championship caliber offense in 2023. It will not be a one trick pony like in the past, and should be very hard to stop.

I’ll be giving more opinions about the state of the team as the offseason progresses and we find out more, but for now things look very promising for the Wolverines.

The biggest piece of the 2022 team is back, folks. Stay tuned for more.

Go Blue!