Michigan football — surprising and exciting return man option emerging in Alex Orji
Michigan has several athletes capable of returning kicks and punts in 2023, and the competition has been ongoing in fall camp. Head coach Jim Harbaugh said Tuesday there were several options emerging at both, with a few high-profile guys in the mix at each.
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AJ Henning, last year’s Michigan return man, has moved on to Northwestern, opening doors for others.
“That’s good competition,” Harbaugh said. “[Michigan corner] Mike Sainristil, Kalel Mullings … Donovan Edwards has been really good on punt return. Jake Thaw is right there at the top. Keshaun Harris, Karmello English, Tyler Morris.
At kick returner, Mullings and senior receiver Roman Wilson have both been working deep. The speedy Eamonn Dennis has yet to contribute much at Michigan but could be “extremely good” as well, Harbaugh said.
But one secret plan has emerged, and they’ve just started working on it. Sophomore quarterback and athlete Alex Orji needs to be on the field somewhere. While he’s working primarily at quarterback, he’s moving around a bit, too.
“Alex Orji has got a chance to maybe be one of the greatest kick returners of all time, big 230, 235-pound guy,” the Michigan head coach continued. “He Just started doing it. We’ll see how it goes. He’s also exceling at quarterback, so there will be some decisions that have to be made.”
For one — is he too valuable in that potential backup role (to Michigan starter J.J. McCarthy) to risk returning kicks? The benefits would have to outweigh the risks, Harbaugh said, and that means improvement in one area.
“We have to improve in our kick return blocking before I would agree to have Alex Orji return any kicks,” Harbaugh said of the Michigan special teams. “So, there’s a bit of a challenge there going on. It’s made for a bit of excitement and enthusiasm that our kickoff return blockers have seen what Alex can do at kick returner.
“But the challenge is on them to get better at their fundamentals and techniques to give him a chance. If we could make it happen, it would be really special. Kalel Mullings would be similar in that role, but there’s some excitement there [about Orji].”
The Michigan coaches still have nearly three weeks to figure it out, but chances are several will get opportunities in the first few games. Harbaugh called it the “Michigan method” of finding out who the best players are by putting more in games, noting he read it when someone else cited it going back to the Cade McNamara vs. J.J. McCarthy competition last year.
