Spring Preview: Michigan's Top Returning Statistical Leaders On Offense
The Michigan Wolverines' football team is returning plenty of past production at both running back (fifth-year senior Chris Evans, sophomore Zach Charbonnet, redshirt sophomore Hassan Haskins, etc.) and wide receiver (senior Nico Collins and junior Ronnie Bell, most notably) in 2020, but will be thin on proven experience at quarterback.
With the start of spring ball less than a month away, TheWolverine has taken a look at every career passing, rushing and receiving yard the Maize and Blue will have returning to their roster in 2020.
Most Returning Passing Yards
1. QB Dylan McCaffrey (redshirt junior) — 242 yards, three touchdowns, zero interceptions and a 51 completion percentage: He is expected to be Michigan's starter in 2020, but is still quite inexperienced with only 35 career passing attempts under his belt. It's worth noting that injuries have interrupted both McCaffrey's redshirt freshman (broken collarbone) and redshirt sophomore (concussion) campaigns, meaning it will be crucial for the veteran to put together an injury-free 2020 season.
2. QB Joe Milton (redshirt sophomore) — 117 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions and a 55 completion percentage: He will be McCaffrey's top competition for the starting quarterback job, but has only thrown 11 career passes and one score during his two years at Michigan. Milton has plenty of potential, however, and is therefore expected to at least make the quarterback competition a heated battle that rages on well into fall camp.
3. LB Michael Barrett (redshirt sophomore) — 25 yards, zero touchdowns, zero interceptions and a 100 completion percentage: He is expected to be U-M's starting viper in 2020, and the lone reason he is on this list is because he's the only other player on Michigan's roster — outside of McCaffrey and Milton — who has any passing yards on their resume. Barrett's 25 yards came last year against Army when he completed a pass to then-freshman safety Daxton Hill on a successful fake punt.
Most Returning Rushing Yards
1. RB Chris Evans (fifth-year senior) — 1,722 yards, 14 touchdowns and 5.7 yards per carry: He is expected to once again be a significant part of U-M's running back rotation after being suspended for the entire 2019 campaign. Evans was a heavy contributor during his first three years at U-M, with his best statistical year coming in 2017 when he rushed for 685 yards and six touchdowns.
2. RB Zach Charbonnet (sophomore) — 726 yards, 11 touchdowns and 4.9 yards per carry: He burst onto the scene last year as a freshman by rushing for 11 touchdowns, an all-time freshman record at Michigan. Charbonnet and redshirt sophomore Hassan Haskins were basically co-starters in 2019 (they each started six games), and it's fair to expect them to be co-starters once again in 2020.
3. RB Hassan Haskins (redshirt sophomore) — 622 yards, four touchdowns and 5.1 yards per carry: He redshirted as a freshman in 2018 and then got off to an extremely slow start last season (compiled a combined 64 yards through Oct. 5), before averaging 69.7 yards over Michigan's final eight games. Haskins will be expected to pick up in 2020 right where he left off in 2019, when he found the end zone at least once in three of U-M's final five contests.
4. RB Christian Turner (redshirt sophomore) — 270 yards, one touchdown and 4.2 yards per carry: He was one of the team's primary running backs early last year, receiving 36 carries through U-M's first five games. Ineffectiveness and an inability to properly take care of the ball caused Turner to fall out of the rotation, however (did not play in any of Michigan's final four outings), and it's unclear if he'll even have a role in the Wolverines' 2020 offense.
5. QB Dylan McCaffrey (redshirt junior) — 166 yards, two touchdowns and 7.2 yards per carry: He rushed for 99 yards in 2018 and 67 last season, averaging an impressive 9.9 yards per carry as a redshirt freshman. Both of McCaffrey's significant collegiate injuries have come on running plays, however, first suffering a broken collarbone against Penn State in 2018 and then a concussion at Wisconsin last year.
6. FB Ben Mason (senior) — 87 yards, nine touchdowns and 2.4 yards per carry
7. WR Giles Jackson (sophomore) — 69 yards, one touchdown and 6.9 yards per carry
8. QB Joe Milton (redshirt sophomore) — 47 yards, two touchdowns and 3.9 yards per carry
9. RB Ben VanSumeren (redshirt sophomore) — 20 yards, one touchdown and 2.2 yards per carry
10. LB Michael Barrett (redshirt sophomore) — 14 yards, zero touchdowns and 14 yards per carry
11. CB Ambry Thomas (senior) — 11 yards, zero touchdowns and 11 yards per carry
12. WR Ronnie Bell (junior) — seven yards, zero touchdowns and 1.2 yards per carry
Most Returning Receiving Yards
1. WR Nico Collins (senior) — 1,388 yards, 78 catches, 13 touchdowns and 17.8 yards per catch: His decision to return for his senior year served as the best news Michigan's offense has received this offseason, with the 6-4, 222-pounder expected to be on a short list of the best receivers in the Big Ten in 2020. Collins has been consistently productive each of the last two years, hauling in 38 receptions for 632 yards in 2018 and 37 grabs for 729 yards in 2019.
2. WR Ronnie Bell (junior) — 903 yards, 56 catches, three touchdowns and 16.1 yards per catch: He led U-M in both receptions and yards last season, reeling in 48 of the former and 758 of the latter. Bell was one of the primary beneficiaries of first-year offensive coordinator Josh Gattis' wide open attack last season, accumulating at least 78 yards on six different occasions.
3. TE Nick Eubanks (fifth-year senior) — 461 yards, 35 catches, five touchdowns and 13.2 yards per catch: He split the tight end duties with then-senior Sean McKeon in 2019, but will undoubtedly earn a role as the primary player at the position in 2020 with the Dudley, Mass., native off to the NFL. Eubanks became one of the primary red zone targets in Michigan's offense late in 2019, scoring three touchdowns in U-M's final five games.
4. RB Chris Evans (fifth-year senior) — 392 yards, 40 catches, two touchdowns and 9.8 yards per catch: He has been the most productive receiving running back during head coach Jim Harbaugh's tenure at Michigan, hauling in at least 148 yards in both 2017 and 2018. Although Evans will be expected to contribute in 2020, it's fair to expect there to be some rust in his game after a year away from football.
5. WR Mike Sainristil (sophomore) — 145 yards, eight catches, one touchdown and 18.1 yards per catch: He had the most receiving yards among the three freshmen wideouts who saw action last year (Giles Jackson and Cornelius Johnson being the other two), with his best game coming in the Oct. 26 blowout of Notre Dame when he hauled in a career best 73 yards and a touchdown. With Donovan Peoples-Jones off early to the NFL and Tarik Black gone to transfer, Sainristil should become one of the focal points in U-M's offense in 2020.
6. WR Giles Jackson (sophomore) — 142 yards, nine catches, one touchdown and 15.8 yards per catch
7. WR Cornelius Johnson (sophomore) — 61 yards, four catches, one touchdown and 15.3 yards per catch
8. TE Luke Schoonmaker (redshirt sophomore) — 54 yards, two catches, one touchdown and 27 yards per catch
9. RB Hassan Haskins (redshirt sophomore) — 40 yards, six catches, zero touchdowns and 6.7 yards per catch
10. RB Zach Charbonnet (sophomore) — 30 yards, eight catches, zero touchdowns and 3.8 yards per catch
11. RB Christian Turner (redshirt sophomore) — 29 yards, five catches, zero touchdowns and 5.8 yards per catch
12. S Daxton Hill (sophomore) — 25 yards, one catch, zero touchdowns and 25 yards per catch
13. FB Ben Mason (senior) — 15 yards, one catch, zero touchdowns and 15 yards per catch
14. TE Erick All (sophomore) — 10 yards, one catch, zero touchdowns and 10 yards per catch
15. CB Ambry Thomas (senior) — five yards, two catches, zero touchdowns and 2.5 yards per catch
16. QB Dylan McCaffrey (redshirt junior) — one yard, one catch, zero touchdowns and one yard per catch
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