8 — Friday, February 1, 2019
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

With the Michigan football 
team’s 2018 regular season in the 
books, The Daily looks back at 
the performance of each unit this 
year and peers ahead to the future 
in 2019. In this edition: wide 
receivers.
Amid a disappointing 8-5 
season in 2017 that was marred 
by inconsistent play from the 
quarterback 
position, 
Grant 
Perry led all Michigan wide 
receivers with 307 receiving 
yards. Improvement, of course, 
was the minimum expectation. 
But with the addition of junior 
quarterback 
Shea 
Patterson 
from Ole Miss, hopes for the 
Wolverines’ 
talented 
pass 
catchers lay much higher.
Instead, despite a scattering of 
impressive performances, those 
hopes were marred by a lack of 
consistency 
and 
opportunity. 
Sophomores Nico Collins and 
Donovan People-Jones paced the 
group with 632 and 612 yards, 
respectively — ranking 151st 
and 161st nationally — making 
it 
five 
consecutive 
seasons 
without a 1,000-yard receiver for 
Michigan.
Behind them, the Wolverines’ 
struggles at the position only 
worsened. 
Sophomore 
Tarik 
Black missed most of the season 
with a broken foot for the 
second consecutive year. In his 
stead, Perry placed third among 
Michigan’s receivers with 147 
yards — just ahead of freshman 
Ronnie 
Bell 
and 
sophomore 
Oliver Martin.
HIGH 
POINT: 
With 
the 
Wolverines 
embattled 
in 
a 
defensive 
struggle 
against 
Michigan 
State, 
Patterson 
dropped into the pocket, stared 
down his favorite target and let 
fly. Seconds later and 79 yards 
away, Peoples-Jones strolled into 
the end zone untouched.
It was the type of career-
defining moment Peoples-Jones 
envisioned when he committed 
to Michigan two years ago as 

the top wide receiver recruit 
in the country, catapulting the 
Wolverines to their seventh 
consecutive win and first on the 
road over a ranked opponent 
since 2006.
Michigan’s 
receivers 
as a whole, peaked — not 
coincidentally 
— 
when 
the 
team as a whole did, amid its 
midseason push for a College 
Football Playoff spot.
A week later, in a 42-7 win over 
Penn State, Peoples-Jones and 
Collins shone again. Collins — a 
four-star recruit in the same year 
as Peoples-Jones — highlighted 
the performance with a 47-yard 
grab, and Peoples-Jones again 
caught the key touchdown pass, 
dragging his feet along the side 
of the end zone to put Michigan 
up 14 midway through the 
second quarter.
Against Rutgers the following 
week, it was Collins who caught 
two 
touchdowns, 
including 
a trademark jump ball over 
cornerback Avery Young in the 
corner of the end zone. That 
ability to make contested catches 
quickly became Collins’ most 
reliable attribute, as he finished 
with six touchdowns on the 
season, including two against 
Ohio State.
“The biggest thing is the way 
(the receivers) catch the ball,” 
said 
Michigan 
coach 
Jim 
Harbaugh 
after 
the 
Rutgers 
game. “All the 
pass 
receivers, 
still the amount 
of drops is really 
so low right now 
for 
the 
year. 
The way they’re 
catching the ball 
is 
really 
good. 
Also, the separation they’ve 
gotten in the passing game. The 
precision in how they run the 
routes has been really good. The 
third thing I would point out is 
their blocking.”
LOW POINT: Peoples-Jones 
and Collins stood along the 

Michigan 
sideline, 
watching 
from afar as the Wolverines’ 
offense struggled more than 
its bevy of talent should have 
allowed for.
This is not a description of any 
specific moment. Rather, it’s a 
repeated 
scene 
that 
became 
emblematic 
of 
Michigan’s 
ultimately 
disappointing 
season. For each 
highlight-reel 
catch 
from 
its 
top receiving duo 
came a slew of 
drives in which 
the targets went 
elsewhere, the offense stagnated 
and the Wolverines fell short of 
their lofty potential.
In 
that 
same 
win 
over 
Michigan State, Michigan’s top 
duo combined for just 16 yards in 
the nearly three quarters before 
Peoples-Jones’ 
touchdown, 

as Perry and tight ends Nick 
Eubanks 
and 
Sean 
McKeon 
finished 
second, 
third 
and 
fourth, respectively, in receiving 
yards.
In the Wolverines’ season-
defining loss to Ohio State, it 
took 16 pass attempts before 
Patterson completed a pass to 
Collins. By the time he grabbed 
a second reception, the Buckeyes 
led 41-19.
Meanwhile, Black — another 
highly-touted signing from the 
2017 recruiting class — managed 
just four catches for 35 yards 
after returning from injury. He 
was the class’ most productive 
receiver early in his freshman 
season, racking up 149 yards in 
his three games at Michigan 
before his first broken foot 
sidelined him for the rest of that 
season. Since then, he has only 
seen sporadic usage, despite 
being declared fully healthy in 
early November.
The trio’s success when on the 

field led to calls for more three-
receiver sets, but the Wolverines 
instead opted to rely on their 
tight ends and running game. 
When they were used together, 
the results often followed, such 
as in a 71-yard first-quarter drive 
in the Peach Bowl, during which 
the three combined for 61 yards 
and a touchdown.
Unfortunately for Michigan, 
that seldom happened. Instead, 
the receiving corps’ success was 
sporadic, 
capping 
Patterson’s 
ceiling in his first season with 
the Wolverines.
THE FUTURE: The future, 
as with the present, lies in the 
hands of Peoples-Jones, Collins, 
and to a lesser extent, Black.
Just two years ago, those 
three — along with Martin 
— comprised one of the most 
impressive receiver hauls in 
recent memory. But through two 
seasons, they have managed just 
1,857 combined yards.
On Jan. 10, though, the group’s 

outlook took a sharp turn for the 
better when Michigan hired 
offensive 
coordinator 
Josh 
Gattis from Alabama, where he 
was the co-offensive coordinator 
and wide receivers coach. Gattis 
helped coach a potent Crimson 
Tide passing attack that averaged 
320.2 yards per game. Four of 
Alabama’s 
receivers 
finished 
with at least 693 yards — more 
than any Wolverine pass catcher 
— including Jerry Jeudy, who 
won the Biletnikoff Award for 
the nation’s best receiver with 
1,315 yards and 14 touchdowns.
A 
year 
ago, 
Michigan’s 
offensive expectations hovered 
near an all-time low. Now, with 
Gattis in tow, an NFL-caliber 
quarterback under center and a 
prized recruiting class entering 
its junior year, 2019 has all the 
ingredients to be the Wolverines’ 
best offense in years. Whether 
or not it gets there may rest on 
the shoulders of its talented 
receiving corps.

Behind Enemy Lines: The Daily sits down with Iowa forward Tyler Cook

The 
Michigan 
men’s 
basketball team (20-1 overall, 
9-1 Big Ten) will face its 
toughest test since losing to 
Wisconsin two weeks ago when 
it travels to Iowa City to play 
Iowa (16-5, 5-5).
The Hawkeyes have been 
one of the biggest surprises 
in the Big Ten this season, 
playing their way into NCAA 
Tournament 
contention 
after missing out in the past 
two 
years. 
They 
struggled 
to a program-worst 4-14 Big 
Ten record a year ago, but 
have 
already 
improved 
on 
that win total with five in 
conference play so far this 
year 
— 
including 
victories 
over Ohio State and Nebraska. 
The biggest improvement has 
come on the defensive end, 
where they currently have the 
nation’s 120th-ranked adjusted 
defensive efficiency — up from 
242nd a year ago.
Offensively, they were 19th 
last season before improving 
to 10th this year on the back 
of a team-leading 16.6 points 
per game from junior forward 
Tyler Cook. The Daily sat down 
with Cook at Big Ten Media 
Day in October.
The 
Michigan 
Daily: 
What’s been the leadership 
role of players who were on the 
team when Iowa last made the 
NCAA Tournament in 2016?
Tyler Cook: Coming in when 
I was a freshman, we had Peter 
Jok. And he was a great leader 
from the standpoint of, he led 
by example. When you looked 
at Pete, he was always the first 
guy in the gym and always the 
last guy to leave. So when you 
ask guys like myself or Jordan 
(Bohannon) or Nicholas (Baer) 
or Isaiah (Moss), that was 
kinda our first impression of 
what leadership looks like. So 
whether we choose to lead in 
that same way or if we choose to 
be more vocal, we always gotta 
realize that it starts with what 
we do first. Holding ourselves 
accountable as individuals and 
then we can begin to other 

accountable as well.
TMD: Do the current players 
still keep in contact with Jok?
Cook: Yeah, most definitely. 
I talk to Pete probably a couple 
times a week, at least. And he’s 
back on campus during the 
offseason as well. So we talk 
with Pete and see Pete all the 
time.
TMD: What kind of advice 
does he have for you guys going 
into the season?
Cook: Really just to keep 
working, and keep working 
hard. Because preseason stuff, 
it only holds so much weight. 
The real show starts when 
we get on the floor. So when 
November comes, we lace them 
up and we’re ready to go, that’s 
when it really counts. So he just 
always tells us to keep working 

stay in the lab, don’t listed to 
what other people have to say. 
And just do what we know what 
to do and we’ll be fine.
TMD: Have you looked at 
the preseason rankings? Do 
you use them as inspiration?
Cook: I haven’t looked at 
the team standings yet. But 
they probably have us at the 
bottom. We got a team full 
of guys that have really been 
overlooked and underrated for 
the majority of our career so 
far so it’s nothing new to us. It’s 
more fuel to the fire and I think 
we use it to our advantage.
TMD: What went into the 
decision-making 
process 
to 
enter your name in the NBA 
draft last summer?
Cook: Toward the end of the 
season, I pretty much knew 

what I was gonna do, in terms 
of putting my name in the 
draft. I had a lot of interest, got 
a chance to work out for a lot 
of good organizations and got 
some good information as well. 
Made a lot of new friendships, 
new relationships and stuff. 
The decision to come back was 
tough, but I made it and I’m 
happy I came back. Hopefully, 
I’ll be in a better position — 
whether that be next year or 
the next year — for myself.
TMD: What feedback did 
they give you?
Cook: Teams aren’t gonna 
tell you, ‘Okay, you did bad in 
today’s workout.’ It’s kinda 
really on the individual to 
realize your strengths based 
on what they say they saw 
from you over the season, 

what they say they saw they 
liked, how you performed in 
the workout, going to head-
to-head with whatever guys 
they bring in with you. So at 
the end of the day, they really 
leave the decision up to you 
wholeheartedly and let you 
make your own decision.
TMD: 
What 
was 
coach 
(Fran) McCaffrey’s advice to 
you through that process?
Cook: 
Coach 
was 
super 
supportive 
of 
myself 
and 
basically just let me know that 
whatever decision I ended up 
making, he was 100 percent 
behind me. He forwarded me 
all the information that he got, 
we talked a lot throughout the 
process. I’d go to him for advice 
and stuff like that. So coach is 
— I couldn’t ask for anything 

more from him throughout 
that process. He was great and 
I wouldn’t expect anything else 
from him.
TMD: Have you used that 
experience of going through 
that process to mentor some of 
the younger guys who might go 
through that in the future?
Cook: 
Most 
definitely. 
Whenever I get information 
that can help myself get better 
or help any of my teammates get 
better, I always try to forward 
that on to them. Because I want 
my guys to be successful as 
well, in whatever they choose 
to do. So whatever they ask 
me, as to how it was like, I 
give them my honest opinion, 
what I thought about it, what 
they’ll see in the future. And 
I’ll continue to do that as well.

THEO MACKIE
Daily Sports Writer

Position Review: Wide receivers

THEO MACKIE
Daily Sports Writer

RYAN MCLOUGHLIN/Daily
Iowa forward Tyler Cook tested the NBA Draft waters last summer, before ultimately returning to the Hawkeyes for his junior season, in which his team has been a surprise contender in the Big Ten.

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Sophomore wide receiver Nico Collins led all Michigan receivers with 632 receiving yards, good enough to rank 151st in the nation, along with six touchdowns.

The amount of 
drops is really 
so low right now 
for the year.

