The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/262939
aren't operating on a razor-thin edge at quarterback depth, like they did throughout the 2013 campaign. U-M featured starter Devin Gard- ner, true freshman Morris and walk-ons, after redshirt sophomore quarterback Russell Bellomy tore an anterior cruciate ligament in his knee during spring football. Speight num- bered among seven Wolverines en- rolling in January, making him avail- able for spring football. Instead of two healthy scholarship quarterbacks, the Wolverines should feature twice that number competing this spring. Whereas Gardner will be a fifth-year senior and certainly pos- sesses the inside track to directing the show again, Hoke insisted the competition will be wide open. "We were 7-6 as a football team," Hoke said. "We have a lot of young guys on this team that are making progress. Russell Bellomy is back in the mix. Wilton Speight came in here in January. His learning curve will be pretty good." While Gardner loses a couple of favored targets in team MVP Jeremy Gallon and versatile Drew Dileo, he gains another lanky and talented wideout in early enrollee Drake Harris. The 6-4, 170-pounder out of Grand Rapids (Mich.) Christian lost his senior season to a hamstring in- jury, but still accounted for 2,966 re- ceiving yards and 33 touchdowns in his prep career. Harris will team with fellow early enrollee Freddy Canteen (6-1, 170) out of Elkton, Md., and Maurice Ways (6-3, 192) from Detroit's Coun- try Day High School to provide a freshman receiving corps with both talent and depth. Michigan bolstered itself the most at linebacker, at least in sheer num- bers. Michael Ferns (6-3, 235) from St. Clairsville, Ohio, enrolled early and will be battling it out in the spring. He'll be joined come sum- mer by Noah Furbush (6-4, 229) from Kenton, Ohio; Chase Winovich (6-3, 216) out of Clairton, Pa.; and Jared Wangler (6-2, 215), the son of former Wolverine John Wangler, from War- ren (Mich.) De La Salle High School. "We've played with and had shorter guys in the mix at 6-1, 6-0, but the length Michael and Noah have, the athleticism Jared has — he was a safety, but became a more of a man, he went down in the box more," Hoke noted. "I like all three, their attitudes, how they attack the game. Noah played with a cast on his hand all year. He took it off with a hedge-trimmer by himself. I wouldn't recommend it — he just wanted to play. "Chase is really athletic. It will be interesting to watch him play. He's a very good athlete with good length. He will remind you physically a little bit of Jake Ryan, that type of body." The early enrollees also included one big body on each side of the line of scrimmage. Defensive tackle Bryan Mone out of Salt Lake City, at 6-4, 328, brings great size to the interior defensive line depth, while Mason Cole (6-5, 284) from Tarpon Springs, Fla., appears well advanced for a high school offensive lineman. In fact, Hoke indicated that the typical redshirt year for all offensive