8/22/2018 football Edit

Michigan Football: Tarik Black — 'Shea Just Brings A Positive Energy'

Austin Fox • Maize&BlueReview

Staff Writer

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Redshirt freshman receiver Tarik Black played in three games last year before getting hurt and missing the rest of the season. (Lon Horwedel)

Most are in agreement that junior quarterback Shea Patterson is the biggest addition to Michigan’s offense, but redshirt freshman receiver Tarik Black is a huge re-addition (if you will) as well.

Black played in U-M’s first three games last year before breaking his foot and missing the rest of the season, and was clearly U-M’s best wideout.

The youngster would certainly qualify for a medical redshirt, but whether or not he actually applies for one may be a different story — he may wind up being good enough to leave early for the NFL.

Black talked in depth about Patterson yesterday, and what it’s been like working with the newly-anointed starting quarterback.

“He does a lot with his feet and is very accurate,” Black exclaimed. “The other quarterbacks are too though — it’s an all-around good group.

“It helps knowing who the starter is because you can build a bond with that person. It’s good to know who’s throwing us the ball and where he’s going to put it. Shea scrambles to create things too, and we’re just getting the timing right with him and getting in sync.

“He adds an intensity to the offense and is always bringing up the energy. We have our own personal confidence, but he brings us all up as a group.

“Having a guy who can make plays with his feet is a good addition to our offense as well. We practice quarterback scrambles a lot, where one receiver goes up and one goes down.”

Michigan didn’t have a full-time receivers coach last year, and it showed on the field.

The Wolverine wideouts had trouble creating separation all season long, and Jim McElwain was brought in during the offseason to coach the group as a result.

“We’ve worked on creating separation a lot with him,” Black revealed. “We work on release and our acceleration — Coach Mac been a great addition and brings a positive energy.

“He’s actually one of my all time favorite coaches already. He’s always teaching us little things and how to pay attention to the details.

“Roy Roundtree has also helped — he played for Michigan recently, so he understands us in a different way than the other coaches do. We look to him for advice.

“There has been an added emphasis on coming back to the ball, and not drifting on our routes.”

Going up against arguably the best defense in the country will obviously help to make U-M’s wideouts better, especially when they face the first-team unit.

“We go up against the 1s every day in practice,” Black revealed. “We win some and we lose some.

“[Outside of junior cornerbacks Lavert Hill and David Long, sophomore cornerback] Ambry Thomas is probably the toughest to go against. He’s long and gives us a lot of trouble.”

It’s fair to wonder if there will be any lingering effects from Black’s broken foot, but the youngster insisted that it is all healed up.

“I’m 100 percent healthy and feel great,” he admitted. “I’m more than a deep threat guy out there on the field — I can run good routes too.

“I wanted to get bigger, faster and stronger this summer, and our staff made us all those things — I’m 10 pounds heavier.”

Notes

• Freshman receiver Ronnie Bell's two-star rating out of high school has probably led many to believe he won't contribute this year, but that Black insisted that may not be the case.

"Ronnie is very athletic and can jump out of the gym," he said. "He’s gotten better on his routes from the start of camp, and I think he’ll see the field this year.”

• Another freshman who has impressed in camp is quarterback Joe Milton.

He may wind up being fourth on the depth chart, but could still see some action in blowouts due to the new rule that allows players to play in up to four games and still keep their redshirt.

“His arm is very strong," Black laughed. "He has a rocket. It’s kind of hard to catch them sometimes — he has to take something off his throws because he doesn’t know how strong he is.

"He used to make a lot of little mistakes, but has continued to get better. I’ve seen a lot of progress from him."