It’s been about a month since the Wolverines played their spring game, and it wasn’t a stellar performance by Michigan’s wide receivers. Here’s why we shouldn’t overreact when it comes to the wide receivers, at least not yet:
The Michigan Wolverines had one of the worst offenses in all of college football a season ago. Subpar quarterback play and a struggling offensive line factored into that, but Michigan also didn’t have a true WR1 that its quarterbacks could trust throwing the ball to.
If things are going to positively change, the Wolverines need some guys at the position to step up. While you can learn some things about the group from the spring game, it’s still too soon to make claims about how the passing game will look this fall.
Here are three reasons to not overreact (yet) to the wide receiver room in Ann Arbor.
Chip Lindsey hasn’t had much time with the offense
Head coach Sherrone Moore was quick to make a change, letting go Kirk Campbell and hiring Chip Lindsey. As several Maize n Brew writers have alluded to, Lindsey is looking to improve the offense, not give it an entire overhaul. He’s a coach with a history of utilizing the best players on the roster, and we’re hoping he’ll be able to unlock some of the untapped potential from the receivers.
Spring ball isn’t enough time to iron out issues or coach everyone up on your offensive philosophy. The spring game didn’t provide any offensive fireworks, as it seemed like the coaches used the game as an opportunity to learn more about the team, not convince fans all the issues were already completely fixed.
The hope is that things will be ironed out enough before the end of fall camp.
The spring game doesn’t help players build chemistry
For some time now, Michigan has conducted a spring game draft to assemble its teams. While this is a fun way to encourage competition, it’s not exactly the best way to create chemistry between the quarterbacks and receivers.
Jadyn Davis was paired up with Donaven McCulley, Semaj Morgan, Peyton O’Leary and Kendrick Bell, while Bryce Underwood had Fred Moore, Andrew Marsh, and Jamar Browder as his wide receivers. Most people expect McCulley to be a top guy at the position this fall, but pairing him with Davis, not Bryce Underwood, doesn’t exactly work to build that connection. Along with that, McCulley was only on the field for a few plays before the coaches pulled him.
It’s tough to assess how the offense will ultimately look when we don’t get to see that in the lone open spring practice.
Adjusting to a new system takes time
It’s no secret that installing any new scheme will take some time. The defense wasn’t perfect right away when Mike Macdonald came to town in 2021, so we shouldn’t expect the offense to click instantly either.
No matter how the wide receivers looked during the spring game, there is still hope they will get things worked out over the summer and in fall camp. Lindsey has been a good coordinator for a while now and is known to scheme open his wideouts, so we should provide him and the players a little bit of time to get things sorted out.