Moore Has Only Seen One Other Freshman RB Block The Way Charbonnet Did
Michigan Wolverines football second-year tight ends coach Sherrone Moore didn’t necessarily see his unit make a huge impact in the box score in last Saturday’s win over Middle Tennessee State, though senior Sean McKeon’s 28-yard touchdown reception (the longest of his career) in the second quarter was obviously an encouraging sign.
McKeon and redshirt junior Nick Eubanks expectedly played the bulk of the snaps at the position, while freshman Erick All and a pair of redshirt freshmen in Mustapha Muhammad and Luke Schoonmaker were all inserted once the game was well in hand.
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“Overall, they played pretty well and with a lot of intensity and focus for a first game,” Moore said this week of his position group. “There were no real jitters with the two veteran guys [McKeon and Eubanks] who have been there before. It was just exciting to get them into the new offense.”
Head coach Jim Harbaugh raved about All for much of the offseason and proclaimed on several occasions that he would see plenty of game action this fall.
The freshman didn’t make his first appearance until late in the game, however, and Moore talked about both how far the Ohio native has come since his arrival and what he still needs to do to earn more playing time.
“I think Erick played 10 or so snaps,” Moore recalled. “He did okay, but has some things to clean up technically in the run game. From an athletic and physicality standpoint, he’ll be just fine. It will take game experience, special teams action and a certain role on offense to get him to where he needs to be.
“Erick literally craves contact. Even if someone is out of the way, he wants to find them — people call him a heatseeking missile. It’s a really cool mindset for a guy who was undersized in high school — he’s now 235 [pounds] and is putting on the proper weight.
“I just let [strength and conditioning] Coach [Ben] Herb[ert and [team nutritionist] Abigail [O’Connor] go to work — he came in at 218, and is doing what he needs to do. He’ll keep growing and is already an inch taller than me, despite being eye to eye with me when he first got here. We don’t have a specific weight number for him and will just let his body do whatever God wants it to.”
While All is expected to eventually make headlines during his time at U-M, another freshman stole the show on Saturday night.
Running back Zach Charbonnet made by far the biggest impact of any Wolverine freshman against the Blue Raiders, carrying eight times for 90 yards, while averaging 9.9 yards per touch overall (he also had two catches for nine yards).
It was his pass blocking, however, that drew the most praise from Harbaugh after the game, with the U-M head man revealing that he had nine pickups in pass pro against MTSU, which may have been the most for any running back at Michigan under the current staff (since 2015).
“I’ve only seen one other freshman back block like that, and that’s the guy I played with [All-Pro Adrian Peterson],” Moore noted with a smile. “Zach had nine pickups and never backed down. He also knew who to block, which was impressive when considering how much pressure they brought.
“He’s all about his business, is very mature for his age and is obviously a special talent.”
Though not a freshman like All or Charbonnet, the Wolverines also have a key newcomer on the defensive side of the ball in fifth-year senior defensive end Mike Danna.
The Detroit native played the first four years of his collegiate career at Central Michigan, before transferring to U-M this past offseason. Danna spent three of his four years in Mt. Pleasant with Moore, who was on the CMU coaching staff from 2014-17 prior to arriving in Ann Arbor before the 2018 campaign.
“I’ve known Mike since he was in high school and then obviously at Central,” Moore recalled. “He is an awesome kid and has done a great job here. I definitely have high praise for him.
“There wasn’t much to say to him during the transfer process, because he’s all about his business. I told him to come in and be who he is and to work hard. Everything worked out just the way it should. He has a lot of God-given talent, but his drive, motivation and upbringing from his parents are what make him a great kid.
“He’s so focused and is very mature, and has been that way since he was a freshman. Mike has the mindset that he’s going to be successful and that he’s going to do whatever it takes.”
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