Michigan football is getting into fall camp and the season is just around the corner.
There’s a lot of positional battle going on, like at the quarterback, and players are trying to put themselves in a better spot on the depth chart before the first week.
The Wolverines lost a lot of defense from the 2021 season, but Michigan brought back a wealth of experience from last year’s non-starters. Wolverine rotates so many game-in-and-game-out players that experience won’t be a problem for 2022. Wolverine returned most of their fouls for 2022, except for Hassan Haskins and Andrew Steuber, but Michigan’s offense should be deadly this coming season.
One of the main talking points during the college football ‘preseason’ is which players will have the runaway years. Athlon Sports made a list of 50 players who could have a breakthrough season in 2022. There are two Michigan players on that list: Junior Colson and Donovan Edwards.
Junior Colson, LB, MichiganThe Michigan defense is looking for a new face to emerge with just three starters back in place for 2022. Expect Colson to make a name for himself after recording 61 tackles as a freshman last year
As a freshman last year, Colson was fourth in the team with his 61 tackles, and he’s made a name for himself right off the bat for Michigan. The Wolverines have had plenty of notable linebackers coming through Ann Arbor, but you don’t see too many making a significant impact as a true freshman. But Colson is the exception to that. He is an All-American freshman after the 2021 season.
Ahead of the 2022 campaign, Colson will be asked to place the core of linebacking alongside Nikhai Hill-Green. Expect to see a more explosive Colson this coming season in Ann Arbor.
The next player Athlon Sports named was sophomore Donovan Edwards.
Donovan Edwards, RB, Michigan With Hassan Haskins going to the NFL, coach Jim Harbaugh will be leaning on Blake Corum to handle most of the carry. However, similar to last season, Harbaugh and coordinators Matt Weiss and Sherrone Moore will again be involved. Edwards was easily the pick for more chances this fall after running for 174 yards and three scoring and catching 20 passes for 265 yards and a goal as a true freshman last season. Edwards is too talented to be on the touchline and will be heavily involved in fouls.
Since Jim Harbaugh took the job as head coach at Ann Arbor, he has deployed numerous running defenders, never a true ‘homework’. This year will be no different. The Wolverines will beat Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards – perhaps others too – on the court this year. We saw plenty of flashes last year into why Edwards is the five-star recruit of choice from any college in the country.
We know that Edwards is a good runner because he is a runner and so on, but we saw at the Maryland game last year how special he is as a player. Edwards caught 10 passes for 170 yards and a goal against the Terps. Michigan will be able to take advantage of Edwards in many ways for the 2022 season.
These two picks are pretty solid by Athlon Sports, but as usual, there will be another player who really breaks out during the 2022 season. There might even be another David Ojabo on the roster, someone who bursts into the scene that no one talks about.
