The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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42 THE WOLVERINE FEBRUARY 2017 F ormer Michigan All-American Jon Jansen understands the level of tal- ent that left Schembechler Hall follow- ing the Orange Bowl. He also knows what remains, and is coming. Jansen, a member of Michigan's ra- dio broadcast team, will be watching closely when spring football opens on March 24. He's as interested as any fan of the Wolverines in how things are go- ing to shake out. He also issues some strong opinions. Start with the fact that he likes sopho- more tailback Chris Evans to become the successor to De'Veon Smith as Michigan's starter in the backfield. "We saw Chris Evans throughout the year, and I think he's got to have a leg up," Jansen said. "When I watch him run, he runs hard, he's got good instincts. "[Junior] Karan Higdon, I expected more out of him last year, and maybe it's just because he didn't get as much opportunity, but spring will be very important for him." Jansen also points to the fact that this will be a huge spring, once again, for fifth-year senior Ty Isaac. The veteran needs to become a more physical run- ning back, Jansen opined, which at 6-3, 230 pounds, can be done. "I really hope, for Ty Isaac, he em- braces the fact that he is a big, fast dude," Jansen said. "He can run people over. He can run downhill. I know he can get to the edge, but I'd much rather see him be a between-the-tackles run- ner and get that tough, extra couple of yards. When he breaks free, hey, take it to the house. But I hope he embraces who he is." Jansen likes Michigan's situation at fullback, where Khalid Hill returns for a fifth-year senior season. "When Khalid Hill had the year that he had last year, he was able to create a name for himself in that short-yardage, goal-line situation," Jansen said. "Ob- viously, at fullback he played really well. He can also, because of his back- ground, play that tight end position as well. We'll look for him to maybe be somewhat of a hybrid, who plays different situations in a number of dif- ferent positions." The quarterback spot, Jansen in- sisted, is all about competition, with redshirt junior starter Wilton Speight getting pushed by fifth-year senior John O'Korn, redshirt freshman Bran- don Peters and true freshman Christian McCaffrey. "If it's Speight again, he's going to be much better than he was last year," Jansen said. "If one of those other guys — Peters, McCaffery, whoever it is — plays better, hey, all the better for Michigan. "As we learned at the end of last year, when you're in the Big Ten, and if you want to make a national championship run, you've got to have two quarter- backs who are elite quarterbacks. You can only start one. You start that guy, and at some point, whether he's dinged up or he's sick, you have to have an- other guy who can step in and play at the same level to get your through one or two games, or the rest of the season. "I think we have that at quarterback now — or at least we have the opportu- nity and the talent there. Now it's up to those guys, [Jim] Harbaugh and who- ever has got hands on quarterbacks to develop that talent." It all starts up front, of course, and nobody knows that better than Jan- sen. Those next up will be young, but they'll improve, he stressed. "You're going to see a huge jump by week six, seven, eight, nine, 10, all the way up to the Ohio State game," Jansen said. "And honestly, that first week is going to be a great test be- cause Florida has a pretty good de- fense. That's the strength of their team. They've got a lot of question marks on offense, but when you look at their defense, they've got some studs, and we're going to be tested early." MICHIGAN SETS SPRING PRACTICE SCHEDULE Michigan has released its spring practice schedule for 2017, a slate much later than normal, leading to three practices in Rome, Italy. The Wolverines begin spring ball on Fri- day, March 24 in Ann Arbor. They'll practice three times the fol- lowing week, on Sunday (March 26), Wednesday (March 29) and Friday (March 31), while week three prac- tices will take place Sunday (April 2), Tuesday (April 4), Thursday (April 6) and Saturday (April 8). Michigan will hold two more closed practices April 11 (Tuesday) and April 13 (Thursday) before open- ing the April 15 spring game to the public the Saturday before Easter Sunday. The Wolverines will practice one more time in Ann Arbor, April 18 (Tuesday), before leaving for Rome, MICHIGAN FOOTBALL Jon Jansen Weighs In On Spring Football 2017 MICHIGAN FOOTBALL SCHEDULE Date Opponent Time Sept. 2 vs. Florida* TBA Sept. 9 Cincinnati TBA Sept. 16 Air Force TBA Sep. 23 at Purdue TBA Oct. 7 Michigan State TBA Oct. 14 at Indiana TBA Oct. 21 at Penn State TBA Oct. 28 Rutgers TBA Nov. 4 Minnesota TBA Nov. 11 at Maryland TBA Nov. 18 at Wisconsin TBA Nov. 25 Ohio State TBA Dec 2 Big Ten Championship Game^ * at Arlington, Texas; ^ at Indianapolis After Chris Evans ran for 614 yards and four touchdowns as a freshman, former Michigan All-American Jon Jansen expects the youngster to take over for graduated starter De'Veon Smith. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN