Sherrone Moore confident in running back depth with Jordan Marshall's status for Maryland unknown

While Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore continues to deliver positive updates regarding the health status of running back Jordan Marshall, it’s still unknown whether the Wolverines will elect to shelve the redshirt freshman for Saturday’s game against Maryland or let him play with a shoulder injury he suffered late in the game against Northwestern.

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Moore told the media and said on the Inside Michigan Football radio program that X-rays were negative and Marshall avoided serious injury, but hasn’t said definitively whether he will play or not.

“We’ll see this week,” Moore said. “The X-rays again were negative, so we’ll just see, day by day, how he feels.”

Whether he does play or not, Moore has confidence in the running back depth as Bryson Kuzdzal and Jasper Parker look in line to receive even more snaps if Marshall is unable to play.

The former walk-on acquitted himself well in the late stages of the victory over the Wildcats, picking up some crucial yards to put the offense in field goal range to seal the game.

That effort will reward him as the next man up, depending on how the week of practices goes.

“I think Bryson would be the guy,” Moore said when asked what the depth chart would look like if Marshall is unable to play. “Jasper Parker would get carries as well, and we’ll have some other pieces around that we’re looking to move around. We’ll put some other guys in the backfield and do different things.

“Obviously, you saw Breddy in the backfield. He could always get the ball as well. That’s 250 pounds of grown man going downhill, getting the ball, so that could be a good strategy too, so something we’ll look at, but feel good about where Jordan is, but we’ll see as the week goes.”

Kuzdzal has flown under the radar during his time in Ann Arbor. A quiet rise to prominence, he has put his head down and worked his way up from being a bottom of the depth chart piece to the third-string running back heading into the season.

Moore hopes that his welcoming party can continue for another week when his number is called.

“He’s about 5’11”, 6-foot, 210, 215 pounds, so he’s bigger than he actually looks,” Moore said. “He’s long, dangly, but he’s strong. He’s fast. He’s super explosive, and really, it’s just been, you know, he was a walk-on, came in as a walk-on, and he’s a guy that’s just kind of earned his stripes, been a special teams guy, played all four core, and then now he’s playing a role as the running back, could be the starting running back this weekend.

“You don’t blink when he’s in there because he’s physical, he runs fast, he runs downhill. He’s probably tied for the fastest, maybe second fastest in the room behind Justice, so it’s not like he’s slow, and I feel, he slipped on that one. If he wouldn’t have slipped, he probably would’ve been gone, and excited to see him get that opportunity.”