There was an air of excitement at Schembechler Hall Saturday when the players found out they’d have a season this fall, an extra bounce in many steps. Sophomore receiver Giles Jackson was among those celebrating, knowing he’d have a bigger role this year with Nico Collins leaving.

Collins opted to sit out and signed with an agent in preparation for the NFL Draft. Jackson will join sophomores Mike Sainristil and Cornelius Jackson along with veteran Ronnie Bell and potentially some freshmen as this year’s top options.

The offensive line will have five new starters and there will be a new quarterback, too, but Jackson said it’s been business as usual.

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“I wouldn’t say it really feels different. We’re rolling on offense,” he said. “It doesn’t look like we’ve missed a beat, honestly. If you just look out there, yeah, there are new people out there, but you can’t tell, ‘oh this person is new.’

“We look good.”

That includes redshirt sophomore quarterback Joe Milton. It appears to be his show now after reports surfaced that Dylan McCaffrey would be transferring, and he’s preparing to meet high expectations.

Milton upped his game in spring and summer, Jackson reported, and the two have continued to bond.

“I think he’s just more focused, I’d say,” Jackson said. “As soon as the offseason came, he was just like a whole different person … more serious, more focused. You could tell he wanted to play, and he was just more locked in. We were in the football facility [Wednesday after getting the renewed season announcement], he had his headphones in, was singing, having a good time. You could tell he was excited.

“Me and Joe, we’re real tight. We live probably 30 seconds away from each other, I’m always with him, always trying to get better, watching film. I know in the offseason we were getting together throwing footballs a lot. That just helps when you have a good bond.”

It helps too, he continued, to have a guy with a rocket arm throwing to you.

“Joe has a strong arm … one of the strongest arms I’ve ever seen,” he said. “In practice he threw a deep ball, 70 yards out, just launched it. I thought he threw it late, but it beat me to my spot. I was like, ‘whoa.’ He has an arm like I’ve never seen before.”

Jackson’s forte, though, is speed, and he showed glimpses of it a year ago. He became the second freshman in school history to score touchdowns receiving, rushing and in the return game, and he expects to make more of an impact this season.

“Preparation is going to get me a long way. Last year I didn’t have [as much] opportunity … I think this year I can just build on that,” he said. “Making sure my body is healthy … that’s a real big key, and always using the little details with Coach [Josh] Gattis.

“… If I keep doing them, I’ll be good. I’m just using my hands more, not relying mostly on speed. When I first got here, I just used speed for everything. The head, eyes, hips, everything … the arms. Everything he teaches us.”

It’s the same with all the other receivers, he added. Now that the season is a go, they’re ready to show what they can do.

“We were all super excited. You could tell,” he said. “The whole theme of practice kind of changed; the intensity went up. We were all just having fun.

“It’s just more exciting, more adrenaline. We were usually going through the motions, but now that we know we’re having a season we’re having fun, playing full speed, 100 percent.”

NOTES

• Redshirt freshman quarterback Cade McNamara is now the No. 2 guy, and he’s made strides.

“Cade is a technician. I go [back] a long way with Cade,” Jackson said. “I remember we used to play 7-on-7 in high school, so we’ve had a real good bond. I remember he was committed here I wasn’t, and he recruited me here, basically.

“We’ve always been tight. He’s good. He’s real good.”

• Freshmen receivers AJ Henning and Roman Wilson have been tearing it up in practice, Jackson reported.

“They’re as good as advertised. AJ, they call him hot wheels,” he said with a laugh. “He moves all at one speed. He’s exciting to watch, fun to watch. Roman, he’s super-fast. It looks like he’s just jogging, and he just separates from people.

“It’s fun to watch both of them. They’re going to be real good for us.”

• Jackson will wear the No. 2 this year, a change from 15.

“With the zero, I was super excited,” he said. “When I first got here I wanted No. 5, but Joe (Milton) had it, obviously, so I had No. 15. I was at the airport with my brother and [it was reported] you can wear zero. I was like, no way you can wear this. I’m texting coach [Harbaugh] immediately and he responds, ‘if they let people wear it, you can have it.’”

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