The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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OCTOBER 2023 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 65 A l t h o u g h p e o p l e e x p e c te d Michigan football's offense to be loaded this season, the star power was supposed to be at every po- sition other than wideout. The Wolver- ines returned arguably the nation's best running back duo in Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards, three starters from the two-time Joe Moore Award-win- ning offensive line, junior quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who was primed to make the leap to elite, and a sophomore tight end in Colston Loveland who convinced everyone in a small freshman sample size he will contend for the Mackey Award in the future. Yet with the nonconference slate in the books, albeit all against cupcakes, senior wideout Roman Wilson's star is shining the brightest — McCarthy's star dimmed somewhat after a 3-pick performance in Week 3 — and Wilson may be embarking on an incredible 2023 campaign. Wilson, who switched from No. 14 to the prestigious No. 1 in the offseason, is already living up to the aura related to his jersey number. Through the first three weeks, Wilson had been the most prolific scoring receiver in the coun- try, finding paydirt in each contest. He tallied 3 receiving touchdowns in the season-opener against East Carolina, becoming just the 12th different Wol- verine to catch at least 3 in a game, be- fore he hauled in 2 scores versus UNLV and another against Bowling Green. His 6 touchdown catches were tied for the most with Vanderbilt's Will Sheppard, but Sheppard had played in four games, whereas Wilson and U-M had played only three games. Although Wilson's average of 2 re- ceiving touchdowns per game is almost certainly unsustainable while Michi- gan starts to face tougher defenses in the Big Ten, he stunningly should have more. Wilson easily could have had two more against the Falcons. On both Mc- Carthy's second interception and his flea-flicker, tip-drill touchdown pass to wideout Cornelius Johnson, Wilson was actually the open option. He had raced ahead of his defenders by a few steps, and if McCarthy had targeted him rather than Johnson, both should have been easy scores. Wilson has been so lethal so far pri- marily because Michigan is weapon- izing his burst. He always has had scary speed that terrifies opposing secondar- ies. However, now with Ronnie Bell in the NFL and Wilson having tightened his route running, the Wolverines are making more of an effort to get him the ball down the field into open grass. In 14 games all of last season, Wilson was targeted 10 or more yards past the line of scrimmage only 18 times. He reeled in just 7 of those balls for 171 yards and 3 touchdowns. In only three games this year, he had already generated more catches (9), yards (181) and scores (5) on 12 throws of 10 or more yards in the air. As opposing defenses commit more re so u rce s to s to p p i n g M i c h i ga n 's vaunted ground game, more space opens up behind the front seven, par- ticularly on play action. Defensive backs have not kept pace with Wilson on his longer corner, post and dig routes into those gaps where he has more time to separate. He often gains leverage on his defender to become an open target, and once Wilson has gotten his mitts on the ball, he has been able to accelerate away for six points. Wilson also has thrived at becoming an open receiver for McCarthy during the scramble drill. Twice against ECU, McCarthy had to maneuver out of the pocket when he felt pressure, kept his eyes up and found Wilson for touch- downs in open pockets in the end zone. As a result, Wilson has been McCar- thy's early favorite target as the Wol- verines try to use more of the playbook and be more balanced, attempting to have a more 50-50 run-pass distribu- tion. If defenses are intent on not letting Corum and Edwards wear them down, Wilson will make them pay. If Wilson continues to make defenses pay, he will easily be the best Michi- gan receiver under head coach Jim Har- baugh. Since Harbaugh took over in 2015, only four Wolverine wideouts have posted more than 6 receiving touch- downs in a season, and not one of them has reached double digits: Jehu Chesson (9 in 2015), Donovan Peoples-Jones (8 in 2018), Nico Collins (7 in 2019) and Amara Darboh (7 in 2016). Wilson needs to find the end zone only four more times to have the most of any Wolverine wideout under Harbaugh, and he should have at least 10 more games to do it. With that many games left, it is not difficult to start glancing at Michigan's record book to see how far up the list Wilson could travel this season. Only eight Wolverines have recorded double- digit touchdown grabs in a single year in U-M history (three of them did it twice, including the school's record-holder, Desmond Howard, who had 19 in 1991). Wilson easily could be the ninth and very well could compile one of the more impressive statistical seasons for a U-M wideout. Not too bad for a player that few people anticipated would be a star this season. ❑ INSIDE THE NUMBERS ❱ DREW HALLETT Roman's Early Reign Staff writer Drew Hallett has covered Michigan athletics since 2013. Contact him at drew.c.hallett@gmail.com and follow him on X (Twitter) @DrewCHallett. After switching his jersey to No. 1 for his senior season, Roman Wilson was tied for first in the nation with 6 touchdowns receiving in the first three games. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN