Justice Haynes or Jordan Marshall? Michigan football RB coach explains why it’s '1A, 1B'

ANN ARBOR – The Michigan Wolverines have a revamped offense, but the attack should still revolve around a run game led by junior Justice Haynes and sophomore Jordan Marshall. They have been described as a “1A, 1B” outfit that can do whatever is asked of them on the field.

Michigan running backs coach Tony Alford spoke to the media on Wednesday afternoon, stating that neither stands above the other when it comes to the pecking order. They do some things differently, but Alford sees two complete backs leading the way.

“Both guys are adept at doing the entire offense and are complete players,” Alford said. “They’re both very talented dudes, but there are no defined roles, like this guy’s going to do this, this guy’s going to do that. There are some things that maybe you’re better at. Jordan, if I had to pick someone to go for short yardage, I’d probably go with him. He’s more rugged in between the tackles a little bit. But to sit there and say that Justice couldn’t go in short yardage, that’d be a falsehood. They’re both capable of doing that.

“I would say if I had to kind of cut it up a little bit, I’d say that Justice may have some more big play potential out on the perimeter and things like that. He’s probably a little more apt to take the ball out on the perimeter a little bit, more than Jordan is. Jordan is strict and wants to go north and south, and he’s a banger that way. And it’s shown that he can do that. But he can also get you in the perimeter, just as Justice can get you on the interior. They both catch the ball well. I think Jordan’s probably a little more ahead right now in the pass protection scheme, as far as just the attributes of executing the block itself, not to where they fit in protection, but actually executing the block. They’re both good at it, but I’d say Jordan’s a little further ahead right now. I think Jordan might get mad at this, but I’d say that Justice probably has a little more top-end speed. So those would be different. But they’re both capable of doing all those things.

“We’re going to go through practice. You’ve heard 1A, 1B, all those things. So we’re going to go through another day of practice, and we’ll decide [who gets the first carry]. And quite frankly, I don’t care. Both of them are going to play an extensive amount. And they both know that. I’ve talked to them both about that, as far as the rotating and things. So they’re both fully aware of that’s going to be how it goes. But who gets the first carry, I don’t know. It really doesn’t matter.”

Alford plans on rotating the two Michigan backs, but the frequency of that is still to be determined. It could also depend on who is the hot hand on a given Saturday.

“We’re going to rotate. And what that rotation is, two-series, I don’t know,” Alford said. “That will play itself out. And I think a lot of game situation kind of take precedence too. And you look at Jordan, if you remember in the bowl game, he and Ben Hall were kind of sharing carries and rotating. And then Jordan started kind of getting hot, and so we just went with the hot hand. So I’d assume we just continue to do it the same way.”

Alford is not worried about keeping any of Michigan’s backs happy and acknowledged that to get where they want to go, there might be a shared sacrifice.

“Well, first of all, my job is not to keep them happy,” Alford said. “As a competitive player, I don’t know if you’re ever happy with the carries that you get or touches that you do or don’t get. But at the end of the day, we’re here to win games. And I think that when you have a culture in the room and a culture in the locker room that guys are selfless, they’re not really going to be caught up and worried about, hopefully they’re not caught up and worried about how many touches they get. How do you help the team win? And if that means you get five carries or 15 carries or what have you, it is what it is for that week.

“It’s a long season. So, there are a lot of things that can happen. You have 12 games plus two open weeks before you even get to the championship game or playoffs. So, there’s a lot that can transpire in that timeframe. And so, just keeping guys locked in on the here and now and how do we just improve as a union, as a team, that’s really the main focus.”

Also up in the air is how many carries will be up for grabs in Michigan’s new-look offense led by coordinator Chip Lindsey. Freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood is a talented and developing paser, and there could be concepts where the play changes based on what the defense throws at them.

“It depends,” Alford said. “I don’t know how many carries we’re going to get, right? So, like she talked about, you know, games being shortened, throwing the ball. If let’s say you’re in an RPO game, an RPO world, how many balls are [thrown or handed off], there’s a lot of times, where plays are called to run and all of a sudden you’re spitting it. So, who’s to say how many carries are going to go [to them]? I can’t answer that honestly.”