The Michigan Wolverines' football team has finally built up its running back unit to feature quality depth and talent, but will it be enough for the position to muster a 1,000-yard rusher in 2020?
Sophomore Zach Charbonnet and redshirt sophomore Hassan Haskins appear to be the top two candidates to do so, though it's worth noting Chris Evans will once again be in the mix as a fifth-year senior as well.
TheWolverine's Austin Fox and Clayton Sayfie discuss the aforementioned question below, and whether or not any of U-M's rushers will reach the milestone in 2020.
Austin Fox — Sell
Charbonnet and Haskins each appear to be capable of handling the bulk of Michigan’s carries and eclipsing 1,000 yards in 2020, but we’re taking 'the under' on this one for a few reasons.
First of all, carries are expected to be split pretty evenly between the two aforementioned runners, with Evans also seeing his share of snaps along with potentially even freshman Blake Corum and redshirt sophomore Christian Turner.
Head coach Jim Harbaugh has often rotated multiple backs on a consistent basis during his five years at Michigan, with the way Karan Higdon emerged as a workhorse in 2018 being one of the rare exceptions.
We expect a heavy rotation to continue in 2020, which could result in several backs putting up respectable statistics (three runners with 500 or more yards, for example), but none quite reaching 1,000.
Not that history will have an impact in 2020, but it has actually been quite rare for U-M running backs to reach the milestone in recent years. An achievement that seemingly used to happen on a yearly basis at Michigan has gone by the wayside, with it only occurring once in the last eight seasons.
Another potential stumbling block that could prevent it will be a young and inexperienced offensive line that is breaking in four new starters. Even last year’s veteran unit that had plenty of experience under its belt struggled to run block throughout the first five games, with the ground game averaging 3.9 yards per carry or fewer in four of those contests.
Position coach Ed Warinner has proven to be one of the best in the business, but it’s fair to expect growing pains with an offensive line that will primarily be made up of inexperienced players.
Michigan's 2020 offense as a whole is also expected to be more balanced than past Harbaugh attacks have been, with offensive coordinator Josh Gattis having unleashed the air attack last November when the team averaged 322 passing yards per game over the final four contests.
A receiving unit led by senior Nico Collins and junior Ronnie Bell is sure to be utilized at a high level once again, which may not give Charbonnet and Haskins as many carries as recent primary U-M running backs have seen.
The fact that we’re not pegging any individual rusher to reach 1,000 yards next year isn’t a knock on the group, but instead a testament to the depth and quality Michigan has finally built up at the position.
Clayton Sayfie — Sell
This is an interesting one, because it’s less about the talent of each candidate to gain 1,000 yards on the ground and more about the fact that Michigan has so many candidates.
There’s not one elite running back on the team; instead, there’s several solid ones. Last season, the backfield was led by a two-headed monster in Charbonnet and Haskins. The return of redshirt senior Chris Evans after a season-long suspension adds an intriguing storyline, as does the arrival of freshman speedster Blake Corum.
There were 56 players in college football to reach the 1,000-yard mark in 2019, meaning that over 43 percent of teams had a player to do so. While it’s possible one of these backs accomplishes the feat, becoming the first Wolverine to do so since Karan Higdon in 2018, it seems unlikely given how much rotation we’ve seen from the position under running backs coach Jay Harbaugh and head coach Jim Harbaugh.
They certainly have a strong and deep stable to work with, so it would be no surprise that what could be a very effective running game doesn’t end up producing a 1,000-yard rusher.
Charbonnet is the top candidate to reach the landmark, having rushed for 726 yards as a true freshman. Haskins is right behind him, having gone for 622 yards a year ago. Evans actually has the most career yards (1,722) out of the group, but we expect him to be used much more situationally this year, mostly on third downs and as a change of pace back.
As a freshman, Corum will be more of a change of pace, as well, making it hard for him to be considered seriously in this argument. Michigan rushed for just shy of 2,000 yards last season as a team, which checked in as just the 77th-most in the country.
It’s hard to predict whether or not the Wolverines will be better on the ground in 2020, considering that they’ve lost four starters on the offensive line. We expect the yard totals to be spread out between the backs, and unless the team rushing yardage is much more than a year ago, we don’t expect any back on Michigan’s roster to reach the elusive 1,000-yard rushing mark.
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