Expect To See More Of This Michigan Wolverines Football Player At Nebraska
Jim Harbaugh's Michigan Wolverines football team is down a few men on offense, and some players are going to have to step up approaching the midpoint of the schedule.
Wide receiver Ronnie Bell went down in the second quarter of the opener and was lost for the season, a huge blow. He was arguably the Wolverines' best skill position player, and he was also a weapon on punt return. Now, amid rumblings of another injury in the receiving corps, U-M might turn to second-year frosh A.J. Henning for even more production in the receiving game.
Henning has already been an asset on punt return and on jet sweeps and reverses, having notched 100 yards on four carries (it had been two before Wisconsin shut him down for no gain on two rushes last Saturday).
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To this point, however, he hasn't been a factor in the passing game. He's caught only three passes for 36 yards, thought one of those was a 24-yarder in a 63-10 win over Northern Illinois. He also carried for 26 yards on an end around and returned a punt 25 yards in the same game.
“He’s very dynamic with the ball in his hand,” head coach Jim Harbaugh said. "You can see, when it comes to speed and elusiveness ... he’s one of the best on the team, right there with Roman Wilson. If you could race those two guys, it would be pretty tight. They’re both those type of athletes."
Wilson had the best game of his career against Wisconsin, stepping up as the offensive player of the game in providing six catches for 81 yards.
“He is growing leaps and bounds,” Harbaugh said. “… It’s almost like some of those X-Men movies, where the little kid or the teenage X-Man finds their power. Now they know they have it, and they’re using it. It’s really exciting to watch as a coach.”
And now it's Henning's turn, and he'll likely get much more time Saturday night in Lincoln against Nebraska. If his classmate can do it, there's no reason he can't, and he realizes it.
But he's also going to continue to be an asset on punt return, where he looks like a natural but hasn't always been. It took him weeks to get comfortable catching the ball — obviously hugely important when it comes to ball protection — but he's since been outstanding.
Special teams coach Jay Harbaugh knew it was only a matter of time before his young standout 'got it,' and now he's reaping the benefits.
"He really invested himself in becoming a great decision-maker and improving his ball skills back there," he said. "It’s a difficult thing to do and ... I don’t think most people know that it’s very different than catching a football. A lot goes into it in terms of how the punter kicks it, how the ball spins, the flight of the ball, the wind, the sun, the rain ... S,o it’s not a simple as, 'hey, this guy — put him back there.'
"You look around college football, and there are plenty of dynamic players that don’t return punts. Most of the time, it’s not because they’re trying to save them or something. It’s because the guy can’t catch punts. It’s a tough thing."
Henning wasn't among the top three or four when camp started, but he took it upon himself to practice it more often. When he caught it, he was good — but it was catching that was the problem.
When he finally earned the trust, he started to show just who he was and why he was so heavily recruited. He's fielded nine punts for 136 yards (long of 32) and is averaging 15.1 yards per return.
"He’s done an awesome job so far. He’s been explosive, and the guys look back there and it inspires them to play harder to do a better job blocking downfield, making better decisions downfield, being smart," Jay Harbaugh continued. "The whole thing feeds off itself.
"It all goes back to [trust] ... when you’re a punt return player and you know A.J. Henning’s back there, you have to have a level of belief like, 'man, this guy could do anything with the ball in his hand. It looks like he’s going to get tackled and he’s not, so I’m going to play it harder. I don’t want to commit any big penalties, take any big plays off the board. I’m just going to believe that anything can happen. I’m going to make this block.'"
It's been part of a group that's excelled all year, back to when Bell was handling the job. Special teams have been outstanding as a whole, in fact, and Harbaugh deserves praise.
Henning is a big part of it, and now he'll be even more involved with the offense, as well.
"We've been thrilled with A.J., and I love the depth of the guys behind him, as well," Jay Harbaugh said. "We’re going to try to keep doing a good job in that phase."
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