Michigan Wolverines football redshirt sophomore Ben VanSumeren recently revealed on Twitter he has been moved from running back to linebacker.
"Ben, do you see yourself continuing to be a RB or possibly moving to TE in [offensive coordinator Josh] Gattis' offense?" a fellow Twitter user asked him, to which VanSumeren replied, "I am now a LB."
He came to U-M as a versatile athlete from Essexville, Mich., as a prospect who was capable of playing multiple positions, before eventually settling in at running back/fullback.
The redshirt sophomore played a minimal role in the Wolverines' backfield each of his first two years on campus, only receiving nine carries for 20 yards and a touchdown, all of which occurred last season.
VanSumeren lost a fumble in Michigan's Sept. 7 double-overtime victory over Army and fell out of the rotation as a result, appearing in just two more games on offense the rest of the season (the Sept. 28 blowout of Rutgers and the Oct. 26 destruction of Notre Dame).
The 6-2, 244-pounder likely would have been buried on the Maize and Blue's running back depth chart in 2020 had he remained at the position, seemingly sitting behind the likes of sophomore Zach Charbonnet, redshirt sophomore Hassan Haskins, fifth-year senior Chris Evans, freshman Blake Corum and redshirt sophomore Christian Turner.
VanSumeren will have an opportunity to crack the two-deep, however, in a linebacking unit that lacks experience beyond projected starters redshirt sophomore Cam McGrone and redshirt junior Josh Ross.
It is widely assumed that McGrone, Ross and redshirt sophomore viper Michael Barrett will earn the starting linebacking spots, while a plethora of others will compete with VanSumeren for the backup roles, including sophomore Anthony Solomon, redshirt freshmen Charles Thomas and Joey Velazquez, and freshmen Nikhai Hill-Green, William Mohan, Kalel Mullings, Osman Savage and Cornell Wheeler.
ABC12's WJRT in Flint featured a segment on VanSumeren's recent workout regimen, which can be seen below.
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