The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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I know my assignments a lot better than last fall." Harris, though, could be the X factor; he's a 6-4 strider with great athleticism. He showed off his leap- ing ability with a great last week of spring ball, Fisch said — the best days he'd had all spring — and hauled in a 30-yard reception among his two catches for 38 yards in the scrimmage. The rub with him is he still looks like a lanky shooting guard in a 6-4 frame. He played at 175 pounds last season and is up to 182, but he hopes to add more weight over the sum- mer. It's not as though he hasn't tried. "I just have a fast metabolism," he said. "I put on [about] eight pounds after the season ended … but I rely on speed and my quickness to get off the line. Adding more strength will help me get defenders off me and help with my blocking. "I've got to put on 10 more pounds before this season starts. Just being out there and not having any inju- ries has helped me, too, because by playing it helps you become a better player. I must learn more and more every day." He's battled two hamstring in- juries and a hurt ankle in the last three seasons, but he showed a burst he hadn't in a long time during the spring game. "There's always going to be a chip on my shoulder," he said. "There are always people that are doubting. Ob- viously, with all the injuries that I did have my freshman year, it's just go- ing to be going out there and proving people wrong." The injury onus is now on Ways, though he remained in good spirits heading into an offseason of rehab. He worked hard on his consistency and earned praise from Fisch for that, as well as for getting behind the de- fense for some big plays. "I worked a lot this offseason on just catching the ball," Ways said. "A lot of jugs [machine work], hand- grip work … just to make sure I have strong hands so that when the ball comes my way, it's a sure catch. "It wasn't a weakness, but I def- initely could have gotten better at it. I've gotten better, worked on my weaknesses in the offseason. I'm more confident. I know what I'm doing. I'm just going out there ev- ery day, going hard, trying to make plays." At least one of them will rise to the occasion, Fisch predicted, add- ing about Ways: "I don't think I can remember a drop all spring." True freshman early enrollee Ah- mir Mitchell, a great athlete who is continuing to learn the receiver posi- tion, is also pushing them. "Ahmir Mitchell has come in and is competing. These guys are supposed to be in high school, and he's practic- ing as hard as he can," Fisch said. "Those [other] guys have all done a nice job coming back, letting us pick up where we left off." A DYNAMIC DUO But the seniors will lead them, and the two fifth-year guys — kindred spirits, they'd say, and like broth- ers off the field — both have All-Big