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Thursday, August 11, 2016
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTS
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Junior Moe Ways is one of several Michigan receivers looking to earn more playing time.
‘M’ looks for third breakout receiver
By JACOB GASE
Daily Sports Editor
After nearly 20 minutes of
questions about his team’s ongoing
quarterback competition at the
Wolverines’
team
media
day
Sunday, Michigan passing game
coordinator Jedd Fisch broke into
a wide grin when a reporter finally
broached the subject of his other
position group.
“Thank you for that question,”
Fisch said, barely exaggerating his
excitement. “All these questions
about quarterbacks all the time
— we’ve got pretty good receivers
around here!”
Though
the
Wolverines’
receiving corps still has no idea who
will be throwing them the ball this
season — whether it be redshirt
sophomore Wilton Speight, redshirt
junior
John
O’Korn,
or
even
redshirt junior Shane Morris — the
group is strong at the top and, more
importantly, deeper than it has been
in years.
Fresh off a season in which he
led Michigan with 58 catches,
fifth-year senior Amara Darboh
has ridden what Fisch called “an
incredible offseason” to take the
lead as the No. 1 receiver. Fellow
fifth-year senior Jehu Chesson —
who would have been right in the
conversation if he hadn’t partially
torn his posterior cruciate ligament
at the very end of last season — is
now fully healthy and will line up
opposite Darboh, looking to top his
breakout 2015 season in which he
tallied a team-high 764 yards and
nine touchdowns.
“I think going into last year at
this time, we didn’t have many
conversations about Jehu,” Fisch
said. “The way he evolved, the way
he developed, how hard he worked
and what he ended up doing for
our program — on special teams,
on offense, running the football on
some reverses and sweeps, and as a
leader? Unbelievable.”
Adding in senior All-American
tight end Jake Butt, the Wolverines’
top three targets are set in stone. But
with a spot as a third receiver up for
grabs and plenty of young talent on
the roster, Fisch’s lesser-scrutinized
position group remains extremely
competitive.
According to Fisch, the receiver
to beat heading into fall camp is
sophomore Grant Perry. Despite
starting off last season struggling
to get on the same page as then-
starting quarterback Jake Rudock,
Perry recovered to finish his
freshman campaign with 14 catches
and 128 yards — not overwhelming
numbers, but by far the most
production of any wide receiver not
named Darboh or Chesson.
Perry’s
spot
is
far
from
guaranteed,
though.
According
to Fisch and Michigan coach Jim
Harbaugh, junior Moe Ways was
having a stellar spring camp before
breaking his foot, and he is now
healthy again for fall camp, so he
could be ready to pick up where he
left off in March.
“I’m hoping that I can be that
next guy,” Ways said. “I’m working
toward that, and I think just with
hard work and getting better every
day, that goal is attainable.”
And redshirt sophomore Drake
Harris, once a highly touted recruit
who has suffered through a slew
of injuries to his hamstrings and
ankle, will be looking to take on a
bigger role as well.
With the top two receivers
having set the standard, their
less-established counterparts see
no reason why they can’t be the
Wolverines’ next breakout star.
If no veteran receiver steps up,
Michigan also has plenty of new
faces with high potential. Freshman
Ahmir Mitchell enrolled early last
winter and turned some heads
with his play when the Wolverines
traveled to Florida for practice
during spring break. Additionally,
a fresh crop of talented receivers
arriving in the fall — including
Kekoa
Crawford
and
Eddie
McDoom — could mean that
someone will follow Perry’s lead
and earn immediate playing time.
Much like at quarterback, the
competition for the third wide
receiver slot remains wide open.
And with increased expectations
for the team as a whole — Michigan
checked in at No. 8 in the preseason
coaches’ poll last week — no one is
taking the battle lightly.
“I feel like there’s always gonna
be
expectations
coming
from
Michigan,” Harris said. “When
you’re one of the top teams in the
country, coaches are expecting you
to go out there and do big things on
the field.
“There’s
gonna
be
tons
of
competition. We have a lot of depth,
and obviously Jehu and Darboh
have their spots, but that third
wide receiver position is open and
someone needs to step in there and
take it.”
Slimmer Charlton
hoping to be ‘bullet’
By ORION SANG
Summer Managing Sports Editor
Ask Taco Charlton if he’d rather
be a slug or a bullet — like his
defensive coordinator Don Brown
did — and you’ll get a laugh out of
the senior defensive end.
Like most, Charlton would
prefer to be the bullet, though his
performance as the proverbial
“slug” last season certainly wasn’t
lacking.
Despite
starting
just
three
games,
Charlton
managed
to
tally 8.5 tackles
for loss and 5.5
sacks as an end in
former defensive
coordinator
D.J.
Durkin’s
3-4
defense.
The numbers with such limited
snaps are even more impressive
considering injuries along the
defensive line forced Charlton to
play as both a tackle and an end.
As a result, Charlton had to
carry
more
weight
to
be
better equipped
to handle the
opposition’s
running
game — hence
Brown’s playful
comparison.
But under his
new
defensive
coordinator’s
system, Charlton
is back to being the bullet, having
lost 13 pounds this offseason.
Heading into fall camp, Charlton’s
weight is listed on the roster at a
still-formidable 272 pounds.
That weight on a hulking 6-foot-
6 frame that has spent close to four
years in a college weight room
could be a nightmare for offensive
lines this season — which is
Charlton’s goal.
“Going to a 4-3 defense kinda
suits my game a lot, because
it puts me outside where I can
use a lot of my speed,” Charlton
said at Sunday’s team media day.
“Going back to a 4-3 end, I believe
my production is only going to
skyrocket. It wasn’t necessarily
bad weight that I had on last year,
but it was baggage I didn’t need
and (the weight loss) allowed me
to be a lot faster off the edge and
get the speed that I really wanted
back.
“That speed coming off the edge
is something that our team needs,
and (Brown) wants me to be that
pass rusher that we need. That’s
what I’m going to be capable of
bringing.”
Charlton
has
enjoyed
learning under
Brown
—
a
coach
with
a
penchant
for
bringing
pressure with
all
kinds
of
blitzes.
That,
Charlton
explains,
allows the defensive line to be free.
“One of the worst things is when
you have to contain the whole
time,” Charlton said. “You can’t
really rush (the passer) because
you’re so afraid of the quarterback
getting
out.
But
with
coach
Brown,
he blitzes so
much.
As
a
rusher,
when
you hear that,
you’re
really
able
to
pin
your ears back
and go get the
quarterback.”
That’s not to
say Charlton isn’t willing to flex
back inside if asked. He’s adamant
in saying that he’ll do anything
to help his team win, and if that
means having to flip back-and-
forth between positions, so be it.
He has played pretty much every
position on the line in his career
— strong side, weak side, rush end
and tackle.
“So
I’m
really
capable
of
going back and forth and playing
wherever my team needs, and I’m
able to do it and be productive
at it,” Charlton said. “If a coach
moves me inside, I can definitely
rush (the passer). I’ve got the speed
to do it, and I’m strong enough to
do it.”
FOOTBALL
Charlton
recorded 5.5
sacks in limited
time last year.
“(Coach Brown)
wants me to be
that pass rusher
that we need.”