RETURNING PLAYERS: Peyton O'Leary (RS Sr.), Joe Taylor (RS Sr.), Amorion Walker (Sr.), Logan Forbes (RS Jr.), Fredrick Moore (Jr.), Semaj Morgan (Jr.), Kendrick Bell (RS So.), Channing Goodwin (RS Fr.), I'Marion Stewart (RS Fr.)
NEWCOMERS: Donaven McCulley (RS Sr.), Anthony Simpson (RS Sr.), Andrew Marsh (Fr.), Jamar Browder (Fr.)
DEPARTURES: C.J. Charleston (graduation), Tyler Morris (transfer to Indiana)
OUTLOOK: Michigan's receivers did not have a banner year in 2024. Part of it may be a chicken-or-egg situation with the poor quarterback play: no receiver was going to have a great year with Davis Warren and Alex Orji throwing the ball, and not many quarterbacks were going to have great passing numbers throwing to what Michigan put out there at receiver. Tight end Colston Loveland led Michigan's team in receptions (56), yards (548), and touchdowns (5). By comparison, the leading wideouts in each category were Semaj Morgan (27 catches), Tyler Morris (248 yards), and Morris again (2 touchdowns).
Morris headed for the greener pastures of, uh, Bloomington, Indiana, this off-season, so it's a pretty complete overhaul of the receiving group. Morgan is back, but he had a measly 139 yards and a paltry 5.2 yards per catch. That's not an indictment of Morgan's talent, but Michigan's overall inability to push the ball downfield, set up screens appropriately, and generally call an offense. I have more faith in new offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey than the departed Kirk Campbell, so I expect Morgan to benefit significantly. But he has yet to prove that he can be a downfield threat.
The prize of Michigan's transfer efforts at receiver is Indiana transfer Donaven McCulley, a 6'5", 203 lb. possession guy who caught 48 passes for 644 yards and 6 touchdowns in 2023. While he doesn't have a ton of downfield speed, he's the type of big target with experience that Michigan lacked out wide in 2024. He can probably be penciled in as a starter this fall.
Other unknowns include the quick Fredrick Moore (11 catches, 148 yards, 1 TD in 2024), former walk-on and possession guy Peyton O'Leary (10 catches, 102 yards, 1 TD), former quarterback Kendrick Bell (7 catches, 70 yards), and reed-thin speedster Amorion Walker (3 catches, 34 yards). The most intriguing of those is Walker, who is 6'3" and 182 lbs. Once penciled in as a starting cornerback by Jim Harbaugh - and briefly at Ole Miss in the spring of 2024 - he spent last year at receiver. If corners don't get a hand on him, he can run real fast; if corners do get a hand on him, he can fall down real fast.
One of Lindsey's tasks will be to figure out which veteran receiver can play a good-sized role in the offense and provide some help for some limited quarterbacks: QB Mikey Keene is limited by his stature, and QB Bryce Underwood is limited by his inexperience. But another task will be to figure out what roles can be played by freshman Andrew Marsh, incoming UMass transfer Anthony Simpson, and freshman Jamar Browder. Marsh comes in with some questions about his overall speed, but he reportedly finds a way to make things happen. Simpson is a bit of a screen and gadget guy, but he could be fun to watch. And Browder is a 6'3" guy with some upside, but he's probably somebody who needs to bake in the oven for at least a season.
Overall, Michigan has an array of pieces. While last season was similar at receiver to the 2023-2024 Michigan basketball team that got Juwan Howard fired because he couldn't construct a roster, this year could be closer to the 2024-2025 Dusty May version of the basketball team: a well constructed squad probably lacking championship potential.
With Lindsey and Underwood/Keene here and Loveland gone there should be a lot more WR targets to go around in 2025. Opportunity is ample because Michigan has lost all of their top targets from the last couple years (Loveland, Barner, Johnson, Wilson, Morris) and nobody else has done anything other than flash occasionally.
ReplyDeleteMcCulley seems like a lock to start but as I've mentioned in a few other threads, we can't just ignore that he was benched by Cignetti in 2024 and elected to sit out the season after that. Meanwhile, the 2023 team he put up stats for was terrible. So it's hard to know how good he is relative to the level of expectation at Michigan. I'd feel a lot better if he was a potential WR3 rather than a likely WR1. It is what it is.
Morgan is intriguing because he was used effectively as a playmaker in 2023, but didn't show much improvement in 2024. The QB caveat is there though.
Moore showed up late in the year - but where was he earlier in the season? He's more intriguing to me than the others, including Walker. Walker will be a senior and has done nothing at Michigan in two seasons as a WR sandwiched around his position switch year in 2023 (and his spring internship at Ole Miss LOL).
That's my top 3 (McCulley, Morgan, Moore). It's not great.
Bottomline is that there are a lot of guys here but nobody yet that looks like a reliable down to down threat to get open and help move the chains. Perhaps one of the freshman will exceed expectations.
I like the optimistic Howard/May analogy but without the coaching change I am not sure it will fit. Maybe Lidnsey is all the change we need tho. Fingers crossed...
I'll repeat what I said last year: "we desperately need another playmaker on O for another playoff run"
ReplyDeleteDidn't have any at WR for 2o24; 2o25 is yet another question mark
https://touchthebanner.blogspot.com/2024/03/2024-spring-football-preview-wide.html?m=1
So same conclusion in '24 and in '25?
DeleteSeems to me that it might be needle-moving that we are losing our top 3 rushers and top 2 receivers:
Loveland (to NFL)
Edwards (to NFL)
Mullings (to NFL)
Morris (to Cignetti)
Orji (to Mullen)
That is a pretty significant loss of playmaking and production. All 5 of them proved their playmaking bonafides on the 2023 national champs and then elevated to be the top producers on the 2024 team. All 5 of them are gone. Replaced by... FILE NOT FOUND*
Seems like this would be enough to move the needle on the "we-need-one-more-playmaker" narrative, even if some (like Morris and Orji) are not exactly irreplaceable.
I think it's a pretty different context now, especially with any optimism that OL might be able to carry forward the Moore-Smash philosophical foundation being more or less kaput.
My take --
The need for playmakers seems very real in 2025 while there was plenty of meat left on the bone in 2024.
2024 issue was inept coordinator, inept QB, and mediocre OL prevented the playmakers from getting properly utilized.
2025 has upgraded/addressed QB and OC but the potential playmakers are far more limited or, more optimistically, TBD.
(YMMV but Morgan and McCulley at least have SOME resume. Haynes is in the convo too but has just 3 plays over 30 yards in his career, none in competitive situations, and Marshall didn't elevate from 4th or 5th string until the final 2 games of last season. Someone will surely emerge and make some plays in 2025 but this is not a case of NFL-bound talents that opposing DCs have to gameplan for like in 2024, unless one is hiding under the wood)