Name: I'Marion Stewart
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 180 lbs.
High school: Chicago (IL) Kenwood
Position: Wide receiver
Class: Freshman
Jersey number: N/A
Last year: Stewart was a senior in high school (LINK). He caught 38 passes for 909 yards and 9 touchdowns, and he ran 14 times for 128 yards and 3 touchdowns.
TTB Rating: 80
Stewart is a diminutive wide receiver prospect who shows impressive speed on his high school film. He's listed at 5'10" and 180 pounds, which is approximately the same size as 2023 freshman contributor Semaj Morgan (5'10", 176). The new NCAA '25 video game (BUY IT HERE) gives Stewart a speed rating of 92, which is tied for fourth on the team. That speed shows through with numerous big plays and an average of 23.9 yards per catch. Stewart was ranked as a 4-star, the #50 wide receiver, and #309 overall in the 247 Composite.
Freshman wide receivers are perfectly capable of making an impact on the field, but the Wolverines brought in transfer portal options in the form of C.J. Charleston (Youngstown State) and Amorion Walker (Ole Miss) while also having young up-and-comers like Tyler Morris, Frederick Moore, and the aforementioned Morgan. Stewart could potentially factor in as a receiver or returner, but I'm guessing he will be similar to Karmello English, who caught 1 pass and had 1 punt return while playing in six games in 2023.
Prediction: Backup wide receiver
As we look across the receiver roster for 2024, who seems to be our Jeremy Gallon type? Gallon was a squirrely dude who got open and made catches. Blazing vertical speed is nice, but somewhere in the mix having a guy who shakes loose and gets balls in his vicinity is also nice. But then I think, perhaps in the Harbaugh and post-Harbaugh world, that role is now more a TE function?
ReplyDeleteI think Semaj Morgan is somewhat Jeremy Gallon-like. Morgan got tracked down in the Iowa game just like Gallon got tracked down against Ohio State. The quickness is there, but not so much the blazing speed. Morgan is also known for his toughness, and Gallon was pretty tough, too. Morgan talks more trash, though.
Deletewhere Morgan closest resembles Gallon is toughness. On that Indiana TD, he would not be denied ... pushed through contact like a Harball RB
DeleteLove his toughness. Love the Gallon comp -- we can only hope!
DeleteLots of small Receivers. Hope they are willing & able to block
ReplyDeleteWelcome to Harball!
DeleteMy read on the WR room is a bit different than Thunder's it seems.
ReplyDeleteI think you have:
1. Tyler Morris as an established veteran, a junior and part time starter last year, who fits as your versatile go-to do-everything WR1
2. Semaj Morgan as your second major returning contributor looking to expand his role beyond slot playmaker as a sophomore.
3/4. A wide open spot for a 3rd contributor who is more of a traditional outside threat; Walker and Moore are the top candidates there and will compete for the 2nd through 4th spots in the rotation.
5. After that it's wide open. Charlston should have a rotational role but is probably a 4th option at best. More likely a 5th rotation guy.
There was only 5 guys who got 100 snaps last year, and in 2022. But that's with Wilson and Johnson being mostly healthy and available. Maybe it stretches to 6 under Sherrone but 5 seems more likely. Either way opportunities are limited if everyone above is healthy. But Charlston is not exactly entrenched so for the young guys like Stewart theres a chance and he should be competing with Bell for a role to push into a fringe role or injury replacement. Goodwin too, though I don't have high hopes for him personally.
Optimistically, Stewart maybe stepping into Semaj Morgan's limited role as freshman. That's probably a stretch goal though.
I'd put Stewart about 20 spots higher just because of the history of freshman slot/hybrid playmaker types being to have a role.
DeleteMichigan doesn't have as many guys like this established as they have in the past so if Morgan is hurt or drawn into a lot of Roman Wilson's departed snaps, Stewart may be in line for a role of note. I don't think Charlston is the same caliber of athlete but happy to be wrong.
Absent from WR listings is The Don. We know he can make the big play out of the backfield; we know he's a threat as a pass catcher; we do not know that he can consistently get 4-6yds over a season as RB1 ...
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying move him to WR or even make that his lead responsibility. But he's a special talent and should be employed accordingly
What percentage of plays did Deveon Smith, Karan Higdon or Blake Corum get 4-6 yard gains on? Is it different than Don produced when he was a starter in 2022?
DeleteFor a new heading-into-the-season starter Edwards is quite well established, especially with closing the 2022 season as the the guy. I think we know, as well as we can know, for a guy who has been a mostly backup through 3 years behind Blake the Great, that he's ready for the role.
Don isn't in the conversation for WR because he's very clearly RB1.
While WR is a more important position, even in a run heavy offense, I like our top options at WR (Morris, Morgan, Walker) better than our "other" options at RB.
Good to keep defenses guessing though. Hoping to continue to see Don and Kaleel share the field and used creatively like last year, with roles spanning from FB to WR between them.
Why don't you look it up? We discussed this before (under a boom-bust discussion), and I listed ea carry Edwards had at The Shoe .... you dodged
DeleteNo one said move him to or call him a WR. Not unlike your last paragraph, I simply think there's more to Edwards talent set than Harball
*proved it last night on NCAA25. Dude had moves!
Just wondering if you've ever found any evidence of the frequency of 4-6 yard runs that keeps being asserted and nope.
DeleteI'm not going to look up each individual gain throughout the year, but here's the percentage of a starter's yards on breakaways (15+ yards):
Delete2022 Edwards (vs OSU, PUR, TCU): 64.4%
2023 Corum: 31.8%
2022 Corum: 40.9%
2021 Haskins: 29.4%
2020 Haskins: 54.1%
2019 Charbonnet: 20.4%
2018 Higdon: 43.9%
2017 Higdon: 42.9%
If you take away Edwards's 7 breakaway carries for 335 yards in those three starts, he's left with 63 carries for 185 yards, which is 2.9 yards per carry.
NOTE: I am not someone who likes doing one thing for one player and not making the same adjustment for other players, but I just don't have the time to do that with everyone. The point here is that Edwards was either breaking off huge runs . . . or he was gaining 2.9 yards per carry. The boom-bust label doesn't exactly get shaken off with those numbers.
Removing 15+ yard carries doesn't tell us a thing about rate of carries for between 4-6 yards. Neither does YPC.
DeleteOh Lank, you try
DeleteAre you saying Blake the Great and Hassan Haskins could not be relied on to get the tough yardage? Devon Smith either? That Edwards is just as trustworthy in those scenarios? Just as consistent?
I gave you his carries at The Shoe. Here's Happy Valley. Not only is Edwards Boom-Bust, the coaches wouldn't even give him the short yardage, meaningful, grind it out yards .... those were reserved for Blake, who delivered
Trust the stats. Trust the coaches. Learn the game
https://www.espn.com/college-football/playbyplay/_/gameId/401520394
I have not seen any evidence to think that Edwards can't be just as reliable in tough (short?) yardage as Smith, HH, Corum. He has other standout traits, but those don't necessarily take away from short/tough yardage production. I've posted multiple clips of him breaking tackles. You don't believe it -- but the coaches do. Don can do it all.
DeleteAs for the attempted cherry picking of data against PSU. You'll have to spell it out for me JE. Corum had what? 5 or 6 out of 26 carries in the 4-7 yard range. Don had something like 2 out of 10. I didn't tally it up but I'm not seeing a big difference here in scanning the play by play, and that's your attempt at cherry-picked data. So why is Corum more or less boom bust than Edwards? Corum had more than half of his rushing yardage on two carries out of 26. Meanwhile he fumbled and gained zero yards a bunch of times. Seems like he ran for 2 yards or less more often than he ran for 4 yards or more. This was not a problem for Blake Corum, at all. It is not a problem for Donovan Edwards either.
Against PSU and Overall, coaches were using Blake in one role and complementing him with Edwards to optimize what was best for the team. This was true in 2022 and 2023. We saw the same thing with Blake backing up HH in 2021. It wasn't indicative of a problem at all. Not in 2021 and not in 2022 and not in 2023. It was just optimal use of personnel by the coaching staff. Expect to see more of the same with Don and Mullings in 2024.
You don't want to use Ben Mason on a wheel route too often or Chris Evans on a 4th and short necessarily, but Blake can do both. He could do it all. So can Don. That's what you're missing, and have been since 2021. It's the same issue you miss when you see how Orji not throwing the ball in 2023. The role of a situational backup isn't simply to replicate the starter, so when a guy isn't used that way it's not necessarily an indictment. In 2021 JJ was mostly a run package guy and Don was a pass receiving threat against Maryland. Fast forward one year and both were starters against OSU and wildly successful executing the full offense. They got better, yeah, but the guys ahead of them in 2021 were injured or graduated. They could have stepped up earlier and Don stepping up in 2022 (amidst widespread doubt and derision) is a perfect example of that.
You either learn from history or bury your head in the sand.
Lank: "I have not seen any evidence to think that Edwards can't be just as reliable in tough (short?) yardage as Smith, HH, Corum"
Deletealso Lank: "Against PSU and Overall, coaches were using Blake in one role and complementing him with Edwards to optimize what was best for the team" ... "It was just optimal use of personnel by the coaching staff. Expect to see more of the same with Don and Mullings in 2024"
NO SH:T, that's the entire point. Trust the coaches, and try to learn the game ... OR ... bury your head in the sand
#onequote
I see you ignored the part about Corum and Haskins in 2021 again. Who was the tough yardage guy then? Did that speak to a limitation in Corum's game?
DeleteTake your own advice -- trust the coaches, who had no problem giving the rock up the gut to Don, even as a freshman. Learn from your mistakes JE. I know it's too much to ask...
The writing is on the wall here. Mullings will be used where he fits best - since he's an unexceptional plugger type who doesn't have the athleticism to be an NFL player he'll be used as between the tackles sledgehammer. Everything else will be the the duties of the do-everything starter who has a wider range of talents and abilities. Similar to 2021 that one of the primary 2 backs has limitations. Not similar to 2022 and 2023 when neither did, but one had EXCEPTIONAL speed and receiving skills. You already saw what happened to close 2022 but you don't want to see the facts because it proved you dead wrong. How's that sand taste?
I see you dodged the challenge to backup your failure to produce evidence again. Same ol JE. Trust the stats...unless they prove you wrong right?
When did I ignore corum or Haskins? Corum bulked up and did in fact take tough runs in 21 ... do you even know how to watch film?
DeleteEdwards was given chances, but didn't fare as well ... we gambled on a converted LB at the Goalline in the playoffs!
What more evidence are you looking for? PennSt & ohio: boom or bust. The other guys were the bruisers, and that was good enough
I said three years ago that - for Harball - Edwards needed bulk and balance ... in prep for his first starting RB, he packed on over 1olbs of muscle. The S&C guys, Coaches and The Don must agree
Now that he's bulked up, maybe he's trusted a bit more? Maybe he gets it done more often? I'm hoping so!
@ Lank 1:37 p.m.
DeleteFWIW, there was an ITF report on TheWolverine.com a few days ago that talked about Edwards and Mullings being 1a and 1b in the backfield. It said Mullings has looked really good and the coaching staff is excited about him. I'm not predicting that he'll get 50% of the carries or anything, but you seem to be writing off Mullings as just a ho-hum random running back...and I don't think that's accurate. He was better last year than he was in 2022, but he didn't get a ton of chances because of Corum/Edwards.
Why would Corum + Edwards limit chances to Mullings if Mullings was playing very well and Edwards wasn't? Trust the coaches ;)
DeleteI agree Mullings was better in 23 than 22 when he spent most of the year at LB. But yes, I don't see him as an NFL caliber back. More like a poor man's Higdon, Isaac, or Tru Wilson. Ho Hum by Michigan standards. Not that it matters -- I'm sure he'll play a notable role as we want to keep Don healthy and fresh. Moore has praised him extensively. He's shown himself to be capable in limited snaps but the fact that he earned a spot at all is the biggest feather in his cap. Trust the coaches.
That all said. I'll be very surprised if snaps and touches are anywhere near 50/50 in the games that count. If they are, hats off.
@JE
DeleteI don't know why I bother but your word salad nonsense is getting a response.
"When did I ignore corum or Haskins? Corum bulked up and did in fact take tough runs in 21"
Corum weighed 200 in 2020 and 200 in 2021. He bulked up in 2022. You're living in a fantasy where Corum and Edwards are completely different players but their career arcs are the same. As RB#2 they got used more as a complementary back, more likely to get 3rd down snaps while RB#1 got more of the tough short yardage carries. 2021 and 2022 had very similar roles in the RB timeshare. Different faces but the same balance of skills where one guy thrived more in one role than the other. The team the team the team.
What if the other guy wasn't there? If only we knew! Wait, we know EXACTLY what that would look like. Corum got hurt and Edwards was asked to do it all in 2022. And thrived.
Which you ignore. Continually.
"... do you even know how to watch film?"
What a pretentious thing to say. No I don't watch film. I watch football. On digital TV and in person. You should try it.
"Edwards was given chances, but didn't fare as well ... we gambled on a converted LB at the Goalline in the playoffs!"
Edwards is the EA sports cover man, has 2400 yards, 18 TDs, and averages 5.7 YPC for his career. You're living in a fantasy of your own creation.
"What more evidence are you looking for? PennSt & ohio: boom or bust. The other guys were the bruisers, and that was good enough."
Your link shows that Blake Corum was boom bust. 2 out of 26 carries produced more than 50% of yards. Fumble and a bundle of zero yard carries.
Nice try but you failed again. No proof.
"I said three years ago that - for Harball - Edwards needed bulk and balance ... in prep for his first starting RB, he packed on over 1olbs of muscle. The S&C guys, Coaches and The Don must agree"
Nobody agrees. You don't understand football. You don't understand Harbaugh. 3 years ago -- the coaches gave Edwards the ball I-form up the gut against OSU with HH and Corum available. In 2022 they trusted him to be the bellcow when Corum went down -- and he thrived.
You were wrong in 2021.
You were wrong in 2022.
You were wrong in 2023.
I'll bet I know what happens in 2024.
"Now that he's bulked up, maybe he's trusted a bit more? Maybe he gets it done more often? I'm hoping so!"
You mean trusted more than when he got 22, 25, and 23 carries to close 2022? With his hand broken? I doubt it JE. Trust the coaches -- they trusted Don long ago. You're YEARS behind.
OMG, you really don't know much ... a guy (you) can carry 2oolb and look like chewed bubble gum. Another man (me) can also carry 2oolb, and look like a brick sh:thouse ... in Blake's case, the gym rat committed himself to strength training, and bulked up. There was (a Jansen) interview before the 21 season where Blake talked about his commitment to getting stronger, mastering the playbook, and taking the next step as a back who does it all. He transformed his body even before becoming RB1 and gaining the last 1olb
Deletehttps://x.com/blake_corum/status/1412594647604641792
WRONG AGAIN. Blake was used as both a change of pace explosive guy and a short yardage Back as early as 2o21 ... Edwards has yet to be used in such a diverse matter, getting yanked for the LB in the playoffs, and for Corum after failing to get it done last year ... the two are not the same
At PennSt is critical not in the YPC, but the situational use: on short yardage Downs, Edwards sat while Corum was entrusted with toughing out the last yard or two needed
We've jumped the shark again ... not unlike you challenging Thunder's knowledge of football terminology with Wikipedia, you're using EA sports as a evidence of being a grind it out Back ... holy crap I'm actually laughing!
*you answer because you're DESPERATE
You are lying but only you believe it.
DeleteEdwards ran up the gut from I form, as a freshman, with Corum and Edwards available, against OSU in 2021. In 2022 he stepped in as the ever down bellcow. 20+ carries every game as a starter but you claim Edwards YANKED LOL. How often would you say Corum got yanked for Edwards.
You wouldn't - because you're lying to yourself.
Edwards "sat" while getting 22 snaps against PSU to Corum's 36 in a super close critical game? You're lying! Not fooling anyone though, except yourself.
How am I lying?
Delete2o21 the game he got ONE carry, in the 1Q on 1st & 15 ... boom or bust carry. 8yds is good, but certainly not the situational carry we're talking about ... unless you're moving the target?
I posted his Every Carry from ohio 2o22 ... one of the greatest in game experiences of my life, but statistically a Boom-Bust day
Edwards did get yanked ... against Indiana, he was gifted a TD attempt. He failed, and tried sending corum back so he could score ... Harbs water a timeout, and talked Edwards ... Fact Check me
That last part is misleading ... he sat during the tough, grind it out, Harball carries at PennSt last year. Fact Check me