Stock Report: Michigan Offense Post-Week 9

STOCK REPORT will be a season-long feature where we rank and rate Michigan football players within their position groups. This is more than a depth chart as we consider the player's impact and potential. After each game, we will reassess the rankings as players see their stock rise while others may see their stock fall.

Alright, is this starting to get concerning?

The clamoring for JJ McCarthy was about this offense taking the next step, what his arm talent and playmaking ability could bring to the offense. While we saw his scrambling ability pay off against the Spartans with 3 scrambles each going for first downs, 52 yards total, the passing game continues to look like, well, Cade McNamara is still the starting quarterback.

To be clear, that isn't an insult. Michigan won a Big Ten Championship playing this way with McNamara and they are now 8-0 with McCarthy also leading a safe and efficient offense. It just isn't what we expected.

Now, there are acceptable reasons for this, from opponents' scheme to issues with receivers, which we will get to later. But Michigan is good enough that they should dictate the game. It is perfectly fine to take what the defense gives you, but sometimes you have to impose your will.

For Michigan, that typically means running the ball. They are ALWAYS going to run the ball, that is that team's identity and it works. In fact, I spent most of the week telling my coworkers at Maize and Blue Review that this wasn't going to be a big game for JJ. That Michigan will run the ball because that's how you win these game. So what am I talking about with McCarthy? Is he what is concerning?

He led the nation with a 77.1% completion percentage entering the game but completed only 60% against the Spartans. The Spartans give up 269 passing yards a game, JJ threw for 167. McCarthy had an 8.7 yard per attempt average but was 6.7 against Michigan State. Only 2 throws over 20 yards against the Spartans, completing one for 29 yards. It's not that Michigan needs to throw the ball to win, they don't, typically the team that runs the ball wins these games, but they should be better than this against a bad pass defense, right?

My concern for JJ is rhythm. Irrespective of the "deep shot", McCarthy looks best when the offense gives him plays and reads that lend to his strengths. Play action, bootlegs, out routes to the sidelines, multi-level reads in line. McCarthy was pressured only 5 times on 29 drop backs, so he was kept clean. Michigan ran play action on 10 of McCarthy's drop backs, that is pretty big number. Credit to MSU for keeping that largely in check, but JJ still completed 10.4% more of his passes for 4.3 yards more per attempt. 56.3% completion on non-play action drop backs, 5.4 yards per attempt.

As far as my concern for the passing game, it's not JJ.

Running out of words for Blake Corum. Probably going to just have to give him stock up every week.

STOCK UP: 33 carries against the Spartans. 5 straight Big Ten games with 25 carries or more. 843 yards and 7 touchdowns in those games. Whatever question people had about workhorse back, short yardage, etc. Answered. Blake Corum is simply unreal.

118 of Corum's 177 yards against Michigan State came after contact. 15 missed tackles. 14 of 33 carries went for a first down. 8 directional gaps on the offensive line, Corum had at least 3 to every gap and no more than 5 to any single gap. He had first down runs at every gap. He thrived on the outside, but also did more than enough between the tackles and up the middle. He literally ran well, everywhere.

Donovan Edwards continues to develop his role since returning from injury.

Running the ball, Edwards had 10 carries for only 42 yards. 19 of his yards came after contact and he had zero rushes that went for 10 yards or more. It probably isn't fair to compare Edwards to Corum at this point in their careers, but a clear separation exists in terms of vision and ability to anticipate developing lanes. Edwards is a strong runner once he finds a lane and has home run ability, but he just isn't finding the seams as well as Corum.

Not surprising is Edwards as a threat in the passing game. His breakout last season was a 10 reception 170 yard game against Maryland. Against Michigan State, Edwards saw the third most targets with 4. He caught 3 for 38 including a nice play action leak that went for 28.

Edwards should continue to be used as a weapon in the passing game. He was in for 16 pass snaps, 13 of those as a receiver. Edwards also lined up outside twice and twice in the slot.

CJ Stokes trip out of the doghouse continues to come in only mop up duty. Would really like to see him get more work in the future, especially with Corum topping 28 carries in 4 of 5 games.

No way around this, not a good game for the Michigan receivers. At this point some concerning patterns are developing and opposing defenses are exposing some of those issues. Let's take a look at the snap counts first.

Ronnie Bell continues to be Ronnie Bell. For better he led the team in targets with 8. For worse, he only caught 4 for 53 yards including not winning his 2 contested targets and "almost" coming down with a great catch. Bell leads the team in receiving, his heart and leadership are second to none, he is a really good receiver, but he isn't the game breaking talent a lot of teams have at WR1. He struggles to create separation, and does most of his damage in the middle of the field. I expected him to play slot this year because he just isn't the kind of receiver you want on the outside. A guy that can burn a corner deep, win jump balls, and fight for contested receptions.

Teams are afraid of Roman Wilson, which is a good thing. The bad thing is in the last two games Penn State and Michigan State have shown that taking him out the game handcuffs the entire passing offense. Michigan sent Wilson out on routes 17 times, 16 of which in the slot. The Spartans did the same thing as the Nittany Lions consistently playing two high safeties and double covering Wilson. They also often pressed Wilson at the line and fought his initial release. He finished the game with 1 target and reception, a 3 yard loss.

Cornelius Johnson feels like he is about to put it together and then has a tougher game. Johnson has shown the size, hands, and strength to be the outside receiver we were talking about with Bell, but again, consistency. Only two targets for CJ who also struggled to create separation. Credit to Charles Brantley for largely keeping Johnson under wraps. But CJ's struggles went beyond that, his one reception ended with a fumble and on special teams he had a costly offsides gifting the Spartans a first down. I have been a fan of Johnson since he committed, he's made countless big plays in his time as a Wolverine, he'll make more before he is done.

Andrel Anthony continues to see the field more, but not opportunities. Brantley broke up his one target. WIth MSU looking for a game breaker to pair with Wilson I was convinced we would see Anthony targeted more in this one, but again, only 7 receiving routes for the sophomore. AJ Henning saw only 9 snaps total and Darrius Clemons was sent out for just one blocking snap.

Well at least I was right about something leading up into this game.

STOCK UP: Big day for Luke Schoonmaker and Colston Loveland took over as TE2.

Schoon was not some unknown taking over for Erick All, but still is performances as TE1 continue to be impressive. His zero spot against Penn State was surprising but he bounced back nicely against Michigan State with a team leading 5 receptions and 70 yards. With Michigan State focusing on the run and putting a ceiling on deep throws, Schoonmaker was more than happy to do work in the middle of the field against the Spartan linebackers.

Loveland played his most snaps and like we discussed against Penn State the staff is trusting him more in the run game. In the passing game, he had 1 target but was credited with a drop after it appeared he heard footsteps and tried progressing without completing the catch. I give him stock up for the increased role, but it wasn't the best performance for the freshman.

Honigford and Bredeson continue to play in 12 personnel. Neither did anything spectacular in the run game, but Honigford graded out as the 5th best pass blocker, ahead of Olu.

This offensive line is really clicking.

On a podcast appearance recently, I said I don't know the politics of the Joe Moore Award, but if winning it back-to-back is no issue, I can't see how you can't tell me this isn't the best offensive line in the country again.

At this point, semantics are seperating the tiers here. Zak Zinter and Olu Oluwatimi continue to be the top 2 on the line. The leaders of the pin and pull scheme, they've been unreal. Olu is heading to the NFL Draft after this season and Zinter might be joining him. Each did give up a pressure in this one.

STOCK UP: Ryan Hayes continues to be underrated. I can't put him above Zinter or Olu, that's the only reason he is at 3, but the gap isn't large. Hayes was Michigan's best OL against Penn State. Highest graded in run blocking and pass protection, allowing 0 pressures against the Spartans. Michigan very well could have three OL go in the first two or three rounds of the draft.

Karsen Barnhart continues to play well at RT, hanging with the top guys in the run game, and allowing no pressures against the Spartans. Trente Jones was dressed for this one and was likely held out for precautionary reasons. Will be interesting to see if there is a competetion this week or if Jones simply takes his role back. Great news either way.

Trevor Keegan take a bow. I haven't hid my favoritism for Mr. Keegan, he has a great first name, but he also happens to be a really good offensive lineman. His year has been inconsistent, he's been challenged differently than anyone else in the group. I kept saying, I fully expect him to be on par with the rest as the season goes on, and here we are. He was Michigan's second-best pass blocker despite allowing a pressure and he's moving people for the run game. Unless something dramatic happens, this part of the Stock Report is going to turn into, "Yep, they are all really good."

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