The primary story surrounding the Michigan Wolverines' football Signing Day earlier this month involved the coup head coach Jim Harbaugh pulled off, reeling in West Bloomfield (Mich.) High four-star running back Donovan Edwards.
Edwards was the only addition to U-M's class that day, but was nevertheless a massive pickup. Rated as the No. 74 overall player in the country, the 5-11, 193-pounder not only became the third-highest rated player in the Wolverines' 2021 class (behind Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy four-star quarterback J.J. McCarthy and Fresno (Calif.) Central four-star receiver Xavier Worthy), but also one of the highest-rated running backs the Maize and Blue had ever signed during the Rivals.com era (since 2002).
Assuming Rivals.com doesn't readjust their rankings again and alters Edwards' current numerical standing, he will go down as the fifth-highest rated rusher Michigan has signed since 2002.
In numerical order, the four who were ranked higher were five-stars Derrick Green (the No. 8 overall player nationally in 2013) and Kevin Grady (No. 22 in 2005), and four-stars Carlos Brown (No. 39 in 2006) and Zach Charbonnet (No. 60 in 2019).
The only other Rivals100 running back U-M has signed since 2002 (in addition to the four mentioned above and Edwards) has been Justice Hayes, who checked in as the No. 85 overall player in the country in the 2011 signing class.
Unfortunately, most of the highly-rated running backs Michigan has reeled in have either not lived up to their prep rankings or were complete busts altogether. Grady, Green and Hayes each wrapped up their Michigan careers with less than 1,000 yards, while Brown barely eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark, concluding his four-year U-M tenure with 1,025 yards.
Charbonnet's career is still in progress (he was a sophomore for the Wolverines this season), but the Camarillo, Calif., native has already racked up 850 yards through two seasons in the winged helmet.
Grady and Brown were never the feature back in Michigan's offense, thanks at times to the presence of one man — Mike Hart. His four-year career from 2004-07 saw him rack up a school-record 5,040 rushing yards, and therefore prevented any other back from emerging at the position.
Grady actually posted 443 yards and five touchdowns as a freshman during an injury-plagued 2005 season for Hart, but finished fourth on the team in rushing as a sophomore in 2006 with just 187 yards.
Brown, on the other hand, received just 16 carries for 41 yards as a freshman in 2006, before finishing with 382 yards the following year in a season where Hart racked up 1,361 yards.
Brown's career never took off following Hart's graduation though, with the Franklin, Ga., native compiling just 602 yards over his final two seasons (2008-09) in Ann Arbor. Green, meanwhile, got off to a respectable 741-yard start during his first year and a half at U-M, but suffered a broken collarbone that derailed his career midway through the 2014 campaign.
He then ran for just 157 yards in Harbaugh's first season of 2015 and transferred to TCU the ensuing offseason. Hayes, finally, was never more than a role player under Brady Hoke, scoring just one touchdown during his time as a Wolverine.
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