What Michigan's freshman WRs have done to earn legitimate playing time
The Michigan Wolverines are striving to get the passing game going a little more this season as it seeks offensive balance, meaning more opportunities for the wide receivers to get involved. U-M has its options locked in at the top of the depth chart, but its group of true freshmen is doing enough to warrant legitimate playing time.
The buzz on Semaj Morgan, Fredrick Moore and Karmello English has been positive coming out of fall camp. Michigan has been impressed enough with them to put meaningful snaps on the table for this season as early as Saturday’s season opener against East Carolina.
Wide receivers coach Ron Bellamy spoke about his freshmen during a Wednesday session with the media on what has impressed him most as their position coach.
“What I love about them is they love football,” Bellamy said. “And I love their approach to the way they attack football every day. All three of them came from great high school football programs. Those guys understand the commitment to success.
“They understand and show up every day. You learn and then you try to learn from the mistakes that you’ve made. Every day you see growth. And that’s what’s super encouraging as a coach. They have the trust of the coaches and the players. They’re still young but every week, every day, every opportunity they have, just keep building their confidence up and let it roll.
Michigan’s fall camp extracted a bit of a toll with some bumps and bruises at the position, leading to opportunities for the young guys. But from the jump, this has been a trio that has been wise beyond its years in positioning itself for playing time.
“We did have some guys down,” Bellamy said of camp. “But we’re not saying, ‘Oh, these are freshmen.’ They went out there and executed things. And it’s been great. It’s been great to watch those guys.
None of the nagging injuries at wide receiver are expected to have a huge impact, but it will give the freshmen some game experience early on this year. Growing pains are expected, and embraced by Bellamy and his group.
“They look at themselves as football players,” he said. “We know being a freshman comes with [making] mistakes, but, uh, those guys are, you know, they strive to be perfectionists. Day in and day out, those guys say, ‘Just give me more. I want more. Feed me more.’ They are texting late at night asking for more information. Those are the qualities of a champion.”
English in particular has turned heads after not arriving at Michigan until this summer. Seen as a savvy possession receiver with some YAC ability, he positioned himself quickly once he hit the field in camp.
“He’s smart,” Bellamy said. “All three [freshmen wideouts] came from a successful high school football programs. You guys know where Samaj came from [West Bloomfield High School]. Frederick Moore won a state championship his senior year and Karmello played in one of the toughest leagues and divisions in Alabama. His high school head football coach was a former college coach. So from a development standpoint, there’s a lot of college schemes and terminology, so he’s been able to adapt pretty quickly It allowed all these guys to come in and be ready to compete right away.”
With the emergence of the freshmen, some other familiar faces have not been spoken of as much during Michigan’s camp cycle. Chief among them is sophomore Darrius Clemons, who came to U-M with high expectations but is still working his way into a consistent role.
“Darrius is doing a good job as well,” Bellamy said. “I think everyone’s just excited. The freshmen had a good camp and those guys probably played a little bit more than some of the other guys. Some of the other guys had little things that they were working through.
“But I think that was just a little excitement like, ‘Whoa, the freshmen are off to a good start.’ D.C. has done a fantastic job coming back and he’s ready to roll.”
