Michigan Football: What we learned about running back this spring

Michigan football wrapped up spring ball earlier this month and here’s a look at what we learned about the running back position. 

Spring practices and games are still happening across college football. Michigan football wrapped up spring ball a couple of weeks on April 1.

The Wolverines came out of the spring feeling really good about their roster. Jim Harbaugh has talked about how he thinks this team is as good as he has had at Michigan.

Michigan football is returning a bunch of starters, especially on offense. We talked about the quarterback position on Monday. Now, we take a look at the running back position heading into the fall for the Wolverines.

What we learned about running back this spring

Michigan football didn’t have its top two running backs this spring due to injury. Blake Corum is expected to be 100 percent by the fall and Donovan Edwards is too.

However, their absence opened the door for some other running backs and we got a good glimpse of those guys during the Michigan football spring game. Freshman Benjamin Hall, who came to the Wolverines as a three-star prospect, really stood out.

Hall was outstanding in the spring game and rushed for close to 100 yards. He had a long touchdown run and more than one observer said that they saw some Hassan Haskins in him.

A lot of fans and analysts criticized the recruiting of Mike Hart, that is before he landed the commitment of Jordan Marshall, but the performance of Hall is a strong reminder that Mike knows what he’s doing in terms of recruiting and evaluating.

Hall doesn’t have breakaway speed like Edwards or Corum, but he’s got good vision and his performance offered even more reason for optimism in the future.

The fact is, Michigan football is likely going to lose Edwards, as well as Corum after this season. If Corum didn’t get hurt, he probably wouldn’t be back and as running backs, you don’t want to head to the NFL with too much tread on the tires.

CJ Stokes earned praise throughout the spring and I thought Kalel Mullings looked sharper too. I still have hope for Tavi Dunlap and another disappointment was Cole Cabana being limited this spring (injury) because I still believe he can make an impact as a freshman too.

What we learned this spring though is that Michigan football has some talented depth and while it likely won’t be needed much this season, it’s going to be fun to watch those backs battle for the third spot on the depth chart.

Hall, Cabana, Stokes, and Mullings will likely all get their chances to make an impression at some point this fall and we’ll see who takes advantage. But in terms of the running back room overall, there isn’t a position stronger on the Michigan football team.

Or a running back room in the country that is as good as what the Wolverines have, at least in terms of the top two.