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Michigan running back Blake Corum didn't set out to add weight in the offseason, but he's preparing for the upcoming season and an even bigger workload with about 10 extra pounds. Corum, a 5-foot-8 junior, is now 212 pounds, in large part because of eating right and hydrating better, not to mention he has always been known for his tireless work in the weight room. He looks bigger and fit, and during a news conference Friday, he said he feels good at this weight. "If anything, I feel faster," Corum said. "It doesn't change my game at all. Maybe bring a little more power, a little more weight with it." Last season, he was part of the backfield duo with the hard-running Hassan Haskins, whose 20 rushing touchdowns set a program single-season record. They called themselves, "Thunder and Lightning," with Corum the latter because of his breakaway speed.

Corum was on pace for a 1,000-yard season, but a high-ankle sprain late in the schedule forced him to miss the better part of three regular-season games. In 12 games, he had 143 carries for 952 yards and 11 touchdowns. He also had 24 catches for 141 yards and a touchdown. Corum was voted third-team All-Big Ten by the coaches. Heading into this season, it's about Corum and also sophomore Donovan Edwards, who gained valuable experience last season as a freshman. He rushed for 174 yards and three touchdowns on 35 carries, and he also had 20 receptions for 265 yards and one touchdown. - Detroit News

(DS#4 RB) Sr/2024

RB Blake Corum, Michigan
News Source: Detroit News
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08/21/22 - Donovan Edwards, Sr/2025, Michigan, 5-11, 205 (DS#24 RB) + More +

When Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh was asked about Donovan Edwards at Big Ten media days in July, he described the sophomore running back as a generational player. During generations of Michigan football, no running back in program history has more receiving yards in a single game than Edwards. The former top-50 recruit was billed as a versatile running back coming out of West Bloomfield High, but he didn't get many opportunities to flaunt his dual-threat ability early during his freshman season in 2021. With Blake Corum out with an injury in Week 12 against Maryland, Edwards got his chance and took advantage of it. Splitting time in the backfield with Hassan Haskins, Edwards caught 10 passes for a program-record 170 yards in a 59-18 victory.

Although the 6-foot-1, 204-pounder saw his playing time reduced when Corum returned the following week against Ohio State, Edwards still carved out a role during the final three games, especially in the pass game. Of his 20 receptions last season, 18 came in the final four games. He totaled 265 receiving yards - good for fifth on the team - and added 174 rushing yards on 35 carries. "When I had him in high school, he had a bad injury his sophomore year," said Michigan's receivers coach Ron Bellamy, who also was Edwards' coach at West Bloomfield. "I knew how talented he was; I knew he was a guy that's going to be a high-level college recruit. I vowed to him that we're going to protect him, and we just found various ways to get him the football. Everything didn't have to be inside the tackle box. So, we trained him up as a receiver. We thought that he can be a top-10 receiver in the nation, just as well as he was as a (top-10) running back. I think he took to that, and here he is today. He has that skill set." - Ann Arbor News

(DS#24 RB) Sr/2025

RB Donovan Edwards, Michigan
News Source: Ann Arbor News
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08/18/22 - Josaiah Stewart, Sr/2025, Michigan, 6-1, 249 (DS#5 OLB) + More +

2022 PRESEASON ROTARY LOMBARDI AWARD WATCHLIST: Josaiah Stewart, Coastal Carolina, So Bandit,...Tabbed the 2022 Sun Belt Conference Preseason Defensive Player of the Year by the league's coaches and media, Stewart also picked up preseason All-Sun Belt first-team honors and earned a spot on both the 2022 Bednarik Award and the 2022 Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch list following a record-setting freshman campaign in 2021. - Coastal Carolina Football

(DS#5 OLB) Sr/2025

OLB Josaiah Stewart, Michigan
News Source: Coastal Carolina Football
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08/18/22 - *Mazi Smith, Jr/2023, Michigan, 6-3, 323 (DS#5 DT) + More +

Michigan defensive tackle Mazi Smith might be better known these days as a "freak," a description that absolutely suits him and is backed up by weight room and conditioning numbers. The 21-year-old senior also has been, to his teammates, noticeably more vocal as a leader heading into this upcoming season, a pivot from Smith's quiet, lead-by-example demeanor. Smith joked during Big Ten media days last month that a lot has changed since he starred at East Kentwood High near Grand Rapids. He slimmed down, added muscle, improved his football knowledge and play, and decided to ditch the goggles he wore when he played in high school. "It's like come on, take off the goggles," Smith said. "Come on, you're a grown man." The goggles were a look, his younger self's version of making a statement. But Smith, now, 6-foot-3, 337 pounds - he added 11 pounds in the offseason - and coming off a season he was named All-Big Ten honorable mention, is planning to make a more significant on-field statement this fall as a leader of what Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh has called a "no-star" defense. - Detroit News

(DS#5 DT) Jr/2023

DT *Mazi Smith, Michigan
News Source: Detroit News
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08/18/22 - Ronnie Bell, rSr/2023, Michigan, 6-0, 191 (DS#28 WR) + More +

"History lessons for the boys, anytime they come into the office," said Bellamy, who played for the Wolverines from 1999-2002. "We just talk about the legacy of Michigan football and the great tradition of wide receiver play." And then occasionally they'll talk about building their own legacy as a group, blessed with a depth of talent that Michigan perhaps hasn't seen at the position in a generation. A group that Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh, as enthusiastic as ever heading into his eighth season at the helm in Ann Arbor, insists has "the ability to be the best we've ever had." On paper, that's hard to argue at the moment, with the Wolverines returning 10 of their top 11 receivers from last season's Big Ten championship roster, including a fifth-year senior leader in Ronnie Bell - Bellamy calls him "Alpha" - who was the unit's clear-cut No. 1 option last fall before suffering a torn ACL in the opener.

But now Bell's back as well, and after setting new personal bests in agility testing this summer, "he looks like his old self again," said Sherrone Moore, Michigan's offensive co-coordinator. Bell is winning 1-on-1 battles, making contested catches in team drills and having fun - "a lot of fun," he says - in fall camp, which is a stark contrast to all those mind-numbing months of injury rehab. "I've been thinking about playing the game for a year now," he said. "I'm beyond excited, man. I'm ready to go." - Detroit News

(DS#28 WR) rSr/2023

WR Ronnie Bell, Michigan
News Source: Detroit News
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08/17/22 - Olusegun Oluwatimi, rSr/2023, Michigan, 6-3, 309 (DS#5 C) + More +

2022 PRESEASON ROTARY LOMBARDI AWARD WATCHLIST: Olu Oluwatimi, Michigan, S-Sr C,...2022 Preseason All-American (Sporting News, Walter Camp Football Foundation)...Second-team All-American by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) in 2021...Rimington Trophy Finalist in his final year at Virginia...All-ACC in 2021 (first team)...32 games played with 32 starts. - Michigan Football

(DS#5 C) rSr/2023

C Olusegun Oluwatimi, Michigan
News Source: Michigan Football
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08/15/22 - Jack Tuttle, rSr/2025, Michigan, 6-3, 211 (DS#999 QB) + More +

2022 PRESEASON ALLSTATE AFCA GOOD WORKS TEAM NOMINEE: Jack Tuttle, Indiana University,...A volunteer at the Tim Tebow "Night to Shine," the San Marcos, California, native has also worked with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes on multiple initiatives, volunteered at Riley Children's Hospital, teamed up with the 2nd & 7 Foundation and handed out water in the community to homeless. A 2021 IU graduate with his degree in supply chain management, Tuttle is working towards his MBA in management and is a two-time Academic All-Big Ten selection. Two separate injuries limited Tuttle to six games in 2021 – including two starts – as he threw for 423 yards and five touchdowns. In 2020, Tuttle earned the program's LEO Award after stepping in and staring the final two games of the season. His first career start came in a road victory over No. 16 Wisconsin, which earned the Hoosiers a spot in the Outback Bowl. - Indiana Football

(DS#999 QB) rSr/2025

QB Jack Tuttle, Michigan
News Source: Indiana Football
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08/14/22 - Ronnie Bell, rSr/2023, Michigan, 6-0, 191 (DS#28 WR) + More +

Ronnie Bell looked forward to the day he could return to the practice field for Michigan. The former all-Big Ten honorable mention wideout missed most of the 2021 season, sidelined in the team's opener with a torn ACL suffered on a freak incident returning a punt. Now, nearly 11 months later, Bell said he's healthy and back practicing at full speed with the Wolverines. "I feel blessed. I feel beyond excited about every single day," Bell told reporters on Friday. "I feel really good. My body feels great making plays. It's a lot of fun."

Bell described the first couple of practices in camp as rusty, with the 6-foot, 190-pound receiver still trying to get his bearings around him. He had worked out for months by himself, running routes and catching balls with no one defending him. The last couple of weeks have allowed him to shake the anxiety. "I don't know what day it was, but I finally jumped up and made a play on the ball in one of the early days of camp," Bell said. "And it was like the biggest weight was lifted off my shoulder that I think I've ever had. "Since then, I feel like I've been back and rolling." Michigan really missed Bell's expertise and influence in the passing game last season. He was the Wolverines' oldest and most productive option at the position, evident by the first play he made last season (before the injury) - a 76-yard touchdown catch and run against Western Michigan. - Ann Arbor News

(DS#28 WR) rSr/2023

WR Ronnie Bell, Michigan
News Source: Ann Arbor News
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08/14/22 - *Mazi Smith, Jr/2023, Michigan, 6-3, 323 (DS#5 DT) + More +

They're not seeing stars yet. But the way Jim Harbaugh sees it, that's just fine. In fact, Michigan's head coach seems to think his "no-star" defense will be a constellation worth watching this fall. Maybe even more so than the lights-out unit that helped lead the Wolverines to their first Big Ten title since 2004 last season. "When you lose players like (David) Ojabo and Aidan Hutchinson, Dax Hill, Josh Ross, that's gonna be the first question: How are you going to replace those guys?" Harbaugh said earlier this week on Michigan's "In the Trenches" podcast. "I really think that our defense could be better as a 'no-star' defense. I've been a part of many of those that were great defenses and it creates more competition. … Guys are more hungry." And so far, at least, his players seem to be eating up that idea, along with the opportunities that come with it. Nine days into fall camp, and barely three weeks from the season opener at Michigan Stadium, the Wolverines are rallying around the promise that a "more cohesive unit" will be their best defense in the face of understandable skepticism.

"When our guys buy into that, and they play really hard, they're not worried about who makes the play," said Jesse Minter, the new defensive coordinator replacing Mike Macdonald, who returned to the Baltimore Ravens after just one season in Ann Arbor. "When somebody makes a play, we all make a play. I've been very, very pleased with the mentality in that regard." That mentality certainly has been embraced by Mazi Smith, the 337-pound senior defensive tackle whose gravitational pull as a leader is just as impressive as his explosive athletic traits in the trenches. Earlier this week, fellow senior Mike Morris found himself repeatedly quoting Smith when he talked about some of these issues. And when asked why, he laughed, "Oh, I have to." "Because we've been separated in the past," Morris added, "and Mazi wants us to be one unit...There's no defense running through just a couple guys. It's 11 men on the field getting to the passer. It's 11 people working together to be the best defense it can be." - Detroit News

(DS#5 DT) Jr/2023

DT *Mazi Smith, Michigan
News Source: Detroit News
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08/14/22 - *Mike Morris, Jr/2023, Michigan, 6-5, 275 (DS#21 DE) + More +

Mike Morris isn't backing down from his comments in spring, when he publicly said he wanted to be Michigan's next standout defensive end. The Wolverines set out this offseason to try and find replacements for Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo, a pair of All-American defensive ends who set records and went drafted by NFL teams. Coaches have done their best to dampen the pressure, saying the production from those two will need to be spread out. And while that might be the case, don't tell that to Morris. He wants to be the new leader of the group and says he's ready to shoulder the spotlight.

"I feel like a lot of eyes are on me," said Morris, who recorded 16 tackles (one for a loss), a sack, pass breakup and had an interception in a reserve role. "Not only by the coaches, but by my teammates as well. That means a lot more to me because I have a lot of younger guys now in my position group that are looking at me like, 'What is Mike Mo doing?' "I want that light on me." To help illustrate his dedication, Morris returned to campus in May after practice and classes wrapped up to meet with team nutritionist and dietitian Abigail O'Connor. He wanted to add weight so he can play comfortably at all four levels of Michigan's defensive line. "I wanted to put on more weight in order to be that dominant," Morris said. "Because at 280 (pounds) last year, I felt like I was making an impact - but I wasn't really very physical in that middle. But now I feel like I'm a lot more physical, a lot more capable, of doing that kind of stuff." - Ann Arbor News

(DS#21 DE) Jr/2023

DE *Mike Morris, Michigan
News Source: Ann Arbor News
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08/12/22 - Luke Schoonmaker, rSr/2023, Michigan, 6-5, 251 (DS#7 TE) + More +

When Michigan football players arrive on campus as freshman, they get their picture taken to see where they stand physically entering their college career. They also get photographed after the season to see how much progress they have made. Fifth-year tight end Luke Schoonmaker, who strutted to the podium inside Schembechler Hall on Tuesday sporting an athletic black tank top, said he barely recognizes the photo he took as a freshman. "He does a great job with everybody," Schoonmaker said of director of strength and conditioning Ben Herbert. "I came in around I think 220-ish. I'm like 250 (pounds) now and I feel great with where I'm at. I feel fast and physical at the same time. "We do those before and after pictures, and everybody just looks like a monster after you go through what he puts us through." Not only has Schoonmaker added muscle in the weight room, but he's also polished his skills on the field.

The Connecticut native had a minimal role in Michigan's offense his first three seasons with tight ends such as Sean McKeon, Zach Gentry and Nick Eubanks perched ahead of him on the depth chart. But while that trio was in the public eye playing on Saturday's, Schoonmaker was working behind the scenes waiting for his opportunity. He and senior Erick All earned more responsibility last season and didn't disappoint. Both played more than 48% of offensive snaps and were vital blockers in Michigan's potent run game. - Ann Arbor News

(DS#7 TE) rSr/2023

TE Luke Schoonmaker, Michigan
News Source: Ann Arbor News
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08/12/22 - *Mike Morris, Jr/2023, Michigan, 6-5, 275 (DS#21 DE) + More +

Michigan edge rusher Mike Morris feels like all eyes are on him entering this season, and that's exactly what he wants. As the Wolverines enter their first season without Aidan Hutchinson, who had a program single-season record with 14 sacks and was the No. 2 overall NFL Draft pick by Detroit and second-round draft pick David Ojabo who added 11 sacks, there's been a lot of talk about who will replace them. Players during the offseason have said it's not about being "another Aidan" or another "Jabo" as they refer to Ojabo. In the spring and since preseason camp began Aug. 3, it has been about finding new ways to get pressure on quarterbacks without trying to be someone else. After spring practice, Morris said he felt he had to be the next player to fill those shoes. "I want it to be me," Morris said at the time.

Now, a week into camp, Morris has doubled down on that approach. "I feel like who else will?" Morris said Tuesday night after practice. "I want that light on me. I never said I didn't want the light on me. I wanted to be in that light, and now I'm in that light."With that light comes expectations. Morris is more than aware of that. "I feel like a lot of eyes are on me," Morris said. "Not only by the coaches but by my teammates as well, which means a lot more to me because I have a lot of younger guys now in my position group that are looking at me like, 'What is Mike Mo doing? Let me see if I can apply what he's doing to my game and make it better.' That's the difference right now." Taking on greater expectations, wanting the spotlight and the pressure of filling in the gaps in the post-Hutchinson-Ojabo world, the 6-foot-6 Morris decided in May he needed to add weight without disrupting his speed. Last season he played at 278-280 pounds. He entered this camp weighing 292 pounds. - Detroit News

(DS#21 DE) Jr/2023

DE *Mike Morris, Michigan
News Source: Detroit News
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08/12/22 - *Mazi Smith, Jr/2023, Michigan, 6-3, 323 (DS#5 DT) + More +

Through Michigan's strength staff, Bruce Feldman found out that: Mazi Smith has benched 22 reps of 325 pounds (not the typical 225), close-grip benched 550 pounds, posts a 44-inch vertical jump, and broad-jumped 9 feet, 4 1/2 inches. And that's just his power and agility. As for speed, well, Smith has that, too. The Grand Rapids, Mich., native has clocked a shuttle time of 4.41 seconds, which Feldman notes would've tied any defensive tackle at the NFL Scouting Combine this year; a 3-cone drill time of 6.95 seconds, which would have been the fastest; and a 60-yard shuttle of 11.90 seconds.

Perhaps even more impressive, however, is Smith's performance in some of the drills Herbert and his staff ask the players to take part in. In one specific drill, players attempt to jump up a series of seven 26-inch high stairs as fast as they can. The program record is apparently 2.21 seconds, and Smith did it in 2.82 seconds. (For comparison, Aidan Hutchinson, who was No. 2 on Feldman's 'freaks' list last year and is 60 pounds lighter than Smith, did it in 2.57 seconds.) Smith even dominated Michigan's combo-twist machine aimed to measure resistance in the trenches, forcing the strength staff to call the manufacturer to have more weight added to the machine. "Mazi's rotational strength is ridiculous," Herbert told The Athletic, touting Smith as the strongest defensive lineman he's seen in his 25 years in football. "He is an incredible combination of rare traits packaged into one player. He is just ridiculously strong and powerful." - Ann Arbor News

(DS#5 DT) Jr/2023

DT *Mazi Smith, Michigan
News Source: Ann Arbor News
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08/09/22 - John Volker, rSr/2026, Michigan, 6-0, 215 (DS#999 RB) + More +

2022 PRESEASON PHIL STEELE/DRAFT SCOUT IVY LEAGUE SECOND TEAM: John Volker, Princeton, Soph.,...Appeared in eight games in 2021...Rushed 35 times for 126 yards, adding four catches for 96 yards and two touchdowns...Caught an 18-yard touchdown at Penn...Reached the end zone from 64 yards out vs. Yale...Ran for 55 yards at Dartmouth...Forced a fumble on special teams at Monmouth...First career rushing touchdown vs. Stetson. - Princeton Football

(DS#999 RB) rSr/2026

RB John Volker, Michigan
News Source: Princeton Football
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08/06/22 - Mike Sainristil, rSr/2024, Michigan, 5-09, 182 (DS#7 CB) + More +

One of the potential stars in the defensive secondary is Mike Sainristil, who has played receiver and special teams during his Michigan career. During spring practice, Harbaugh decided to give him a look on defense at nickel and cornerback. He also took offensive reps and is going to factor into special teams, giving him the potential to be a three-way player. In June, Harbaugh said he knows Sainristil is going to stick on defense this season because he stood out defensively in the spring. Several players during Big Ten media days said he's going to be a player to watch this season. Camp will go a long way toward establishing Sainristil as a significant factor in the defensive secondary. - Detroit News

(DS#7 CB) rSr/2024

CB Mike Sainristil, Michigan
News Source: Detroit News
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