Former Michigan Football Running Back Chris Howard Talks About 2023 Wolverines
By Chad Fisher
A more wide-open offense?
Howard said, although last year’s Wolverines offense was efficient, he’d like to see a few changes to the 2023 Michigan football running attack,
“With Michigan I want to see them be a little more creative. There are times where I think we shoot ourselves in the foot where we’re just trying to run up the middle. Then when we finally do run off tackle we have a lot of success doing it. And I think we have to be more unpredictable. I understand when they always say, ‘if it’s not broke, don’t fix it’, but sometimes (teams) can figure you out real quick and you have to be able to adjust.”
Junior signal-caller JJ McCarthy will now be an upperclassman and the Wolverines seem more capable of having a more balanced attack, airing the ball out a little more than they did a season ago.
“I hope so,” Howard exclaimed. “One thing we know about Michigan is we can be very stubborn. I think the mindset of Jim Harbaugh is to wear defenses down, try not to give defenses opportunities for turnovers. Which means you’re not going to throw the ball as much. So you keep the ball out of harm’s way. I think they will open up (the offense) a little bit. But I think the receivers have to do a better job of getting separation. I think our offensive coaches have to do a better job of creating opportunities for them to get better separation. Whether through rub routes, pick plays. You have to give those guys an opportunity to be more explosive.”
Howard thinks doing so will benefit the offense’s rushing attack, too. It will keep teams from keying in on the Michigan football running tandem, opening up more opportunities for long rushes and more explosive plays.
He also wants to see what McCarthy is capable of, “We want to see JJ rip it. We didn’t bring a five-star quarterback in here just to hand the ball off 40, 50 times a game. But I also don’t think Jim Harbaugh is necessarily going to deviate from what has been working for him for the last two seasons. Hopefully, you’ll see about a 50/50 mix (in running and passing distribution),” Howard told GBMWolverine.com.
He agreed that another option to make the offense more explosive will be to split talented sophomore tight end Colston Loveland out as a wide receiver in order to get more one-on-one matchups in space.
The 6’5’’ 235-pounder from Idaho had an eye-opening true freshman campaign which included a 45-yard touchdown catch against Ohio State. He also hauled in a 25-yard touchdown against Purdue in the Big Ten Championship game. The talented pass catcher has a wide catch radius and seems to be the next great tight end for Michigan football. Howard expects Loveland to be featured more in 2023 and has a big year for the Wolverines.