Michigan Wolverines football first-year offensive coordinator Josh Gattis met with the media this afternoon for the first time since fall camp began last week, and provided an in-depth breakdown of how every position group has developed under his tutelage.
Since his arrival this past winter, Gattis has had no problem providing plenty of details about his position units, and that was once again the case this afternoon.
Unsurprisingly, he was asked about head coach Jim Harbaugh’s comments in Chicago in late July involving playing both senior Shea Patterson and redshirt sophomore Dylan McCaffrey at quarterback this fall, and had this to say…
RELATED: Gattis on Locksley: 'Ask him Where the Game Plans Came From'
The Quarterbacks
“Multiple quarterbacks have played everywhere I’ve been, so it’s nothing new for me," he began. "We’ve even had two on the field at the same time before. In college football today, you have to prepare your No. 2 and No. 3 as if they’re starters.
"If you lose your top guy, you don’t want it to be a culture shock. We’re a multiple personnel offense and will find ways to use all our play makers. Coach Ben McDaniels has done an unbelievable job developing our quarterbacks.
"Our QBs will all be prepared and play in certain situations, though it’s too early to identify what those situations might be. We’ll find ways to use them all, and they’ll all be prepared as if they’re the starters.
"No job is ever set in stone, and our guys know they have to bring their best each and every day.”
The Running Backs
“The group looks completely different now, because we were down three running backs in the spring," Gattis recalled. "We’ve got five backs we like, and it’s probably the deepest position for us right now.
"[Senior] Tru Wilson has done a great job reshaping himself and using his athleticism. We’ve seen [redshirt freshman] Christian Turner’s explosive capabilities, and [freshman] Zach Charbonnet is having an outstanding camp as well.
"Zach’s maturity stood out right away to us, as did the way he is always in the weight room and in the coach’s offices. He missed all of spring ball but still hasn’t made any mistakes in fall camp.
"I was worried about what the transition period would be like for the guys who missed spring, but they haven’t missed a beat — that’s a credit to Coach Jay Harbaugh. [Redshirt freshman] Hassan Haskins is shining as well, and has great vision and great body control.
"[Redshirt freshman] Ben VanSumeren is a 240-pound back with really good speed, which gives us five backs who can play with no drop off between them. I could give the ball to any of them in a 4th-and-1 situation — I wouldn’t dare pick just one though, because I truly believe all five could get it done for us.
"I haven’t seen one guy pull away from the group, and that’s exciting to me. They all can make the cuts we need them to make and they all have good speed, though they’ll all need to keep working on catching the ball.”
The Wide Receivers
“The depth we have at the receiver room is tremendous, especially with the injured guys being back," Gattis said. "[Redshirt sophomore] Tarik Black has had a great camp and has turned it up even more than the way he did in the spring.
"The spring was an adjustment period for him, but he has bought in to the coaching and to the details. He and [sophomore] Ronnie Bell are two who have stood out at receiver, and Tarik will be a big-time play maker for us.
"[Junior] Donovan Peoples-Jones is doing well too and hasn’t missed a snap of practice. He has done a good job learning the details and the techniques we teach at the position, and has done a great job catching up.
"Everyone is excited about [freshman] Mikey Sainristil because he has picked up right where he left off in the spring. Cornelius Johnson is having a great camp as a freshman and is wowing people the same way Mikey did in the spring.
"We don’t always play fast, but these guys have to continue to play fast when we do choose to go at that speed.”
The Tight Ends
“[Senior] Sean McKeon had one of the best springs I’ve ever seen from a tight end, and was one of our top two offensive players in the spring," Gattis revealed. "The spring was a learning adjustment for [redshirt junior] Nick Eubanks, where he showed his athletic ability but didn’t quite fine-tune all the details.
"We challenged him out of the spring, and I hands down believe he and Sean are the two best tight ends in the country. We also have [freshman] Erick All, [redshirt freshman] Mustapha Muhammad and [redshirt freshman] Luke Schoonmaker, which allows us to go five-deep at tight end.
"We have all the pieces necessary to build an explosive offense.”
The Offensive Line
“The battle at right tackle been great, though it’s too early to name a starter," Gattis noted. "We have two starters there in [redshirt freshman] Jalen Mayfield and [redshirt sophomore] Andrew Stueber.
"In my mind, we have six starters up front, though we’ll never line up in a six offensive linemen formation, so no one will ever have to worry about that. It’s unfortunate we can only play five at a time.
"[Senior right guard] Mike Onwenu is 370 pounds and has really good feet and can run and move well. He actually has one of the lowest body fat percentages of all of our offensive linemen.
"When he knocks back a defensive lineman, you see the guy move — it's like running into a brick wall.”
---
• Talk about this article inside The Fort
• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolverine
• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolverineMag, @BSB_Wolverine, @JB_ Wolverine, @AustinFox42, @Balas_Wolverine and @DrewCHallett
• Like us on Facebook
