Michigan Wolverines Football Trio Leading Talented Freshman Class This Fall
Michigan Wolverines football’s 2021 recruiting haul was nothing short of amazing given all the speculation nationally about head coach Jim Harbaugh’s future in Ann Arbor. Quarterback J.J. McCarthy was the Pied Piper of the group, keeping it together when Harbaugh was in contract talks … it stands to reason he’d be the leader of the bunch in practice, too.
He has been. After an up-and-down (as expected) spring in which he showed his raw talent, he dove into the playbook this summer with tight end Louis Hansen, the receivers and others and came back a better quarterback, one fighting for a starting job.
Redshirt frosh Cade McNamara is still QB1 heading into the opener with Western Michigan, but McCarthy is pushing, and pushing hard.
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“There’s a lot of good,” Harbaugh said of the freshmen. “The guys that are playing the best, and we’ll probably start with the leaders of that class — J.J. McCarthy, [running back] Donovan Edward and [linebacker] Junior Colson, both in what they do and how they play. Those three are doing so many things right.”
Hansen got a lot of reps Friday with the twos and has been put in with the top group at times situationally, a big target with great hands. The tight end group has elevated its game, however — Luke Schoonmaker and Matt Hibner are both miles ahead of where they were last year — and Hansen’s best days will probably come down the road.
The frosh has also only been here six weeks, while some others — Colson and McCarthy, obviously, among them — came in January. Colson is ‘going to be a beast … a beast,’ Hutchinson said at Big Ten Media Day’ … he’s since proved he belongs in the two-deep. James Ross and Nikhai Hill-Green are the projected starters, while veteran Michael Barrett is also pushing for time.
“There are two groups of freshmen — ones that came with the midyear and the ones that have just gotten here,” Harbaugh continued. “Going back to some of the midyear guys, [offensive lineman] Greg Crippen continues to be a standout. I consider him in our two-deep. We’re about 10 deep on the offensive line of really good players there.”
Freshman receiver Cristian Dixon isn’t among the top six receivers at this point, but he’s improving. Another frosh, Andrel Anthony, is the seventh and will play.
“Andrel Anthony continues to make a play in practice. He’s on a streak, like a Lou Gehrig hitting streak,” Harbaugh said. “He would do it in spring ball … like, ‘wait for it — it’s going to happen,’ and then he makes it, a play in practice of the big chunk variety. He continues to be really good, as well.”
It’s too early to know just how much any of them will impact, but it’s clear they’ll impact at some point.
They’re part of a group that has showed up with something to prove, evident among all classes.
“There are a lot of guys right now after week one,” Harbaugh said. “It’s been everybody competing, practicing with great energy. Now we’re into week two, and I get the feeling that if anybody doesn’t, they’re going to get left at the curb because that’s the way this team is moving.”
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