Donovan Edwards on backfield timeshare with Blake Corum: 'Let's just go win'
Michigan football has plenty of mouths to feed in the backfield this season with senior Blake Corum and junior Donovan Edwards sharing time at running back. But for the Wolverines, they see it as “rich people problems,” as one former assistant used to put it.
Corum’s return for the 2023 season came with the assumption that he will once again assume his role as the lead back. That has the biggest effect on Edwards, who does not automatically get the lion’s share of the backfield touches.
And he has no issue with that, despite what some may say about the Michigan tandem.
“For one, I’ve always wanted to go into a college where it is [a two-back system],” Edwards said from the recent Wolverine Weekend event at Grand Traverse Resort. “When I go into the NFL, I don’t want to have like a lot of mileage or a lot of bangs and bruises on my body.
“Having Blake back, it’s amazing because he’s a fantastic leader on the team. We sit together in the film room, we’re really good friends, it’s a lot of love between me and him. We really complement each other and I love playing with him. It’s no jealousy, no egos. Just let’s go win.”
Michigan’s offense has a lot of options, and head coach Jim Harbaugh thinks often about what the distribution of snaps might look like this fall.
“It [really comes down to] touches,” Harbaugh told the media on the campus of Wayne State University earlier this month. “It’s important that our playmakers get touches. We’ve got a lot of them. I really want to manage that on a game-by-game basis.
“Between Donovan and Blake, I haven’t settled on the exact number. It’s gonna be maybe 9-10 each. I don’t wanna wear them out either, you know? But [wide receiver] Cornelius Johnson, he’s got to get six targets a game. [WR] Roman Wilson, [tight end] Colston Loveland, somewhere between 6-8 [targets]. You’ll see some of the young receivers emerge too.
“Everybody eats, as the young people like to say.”
Edwards knows that his season will be defined by the things that he can control. The Michigan back had surgeries this offseason to fix a broken hand and a partially torn patellar tendon. From there, the work has all been mental.
I’ve just been growing my mentals and getting out my bubble,” Edwards said. I’m doing that and multiple workouts a day, putting it more work than I’ve ever had.
“That’s taken me a long way. It’s building something very strong in me that I can’t explain right now, but all I know is everything I’m putting in right now, it’s all gonna pay off.”
The Michigan star had 1,191 yards from scrimmage last year with 9 total touchdowns. FanDuel lists Edwards’ Heisman odds at +10000 ahead of the 2023 campaign, while Pro Football Focus lists him as the No. 62 overall prospect in the 2024 NFL Draft class.
