Michigan football: WR Daylen Baldwin is capable of giving Wolverines so much more
Prior to this season, you probably never heard of Michigan WR Daylen Baldwin — that is, unless, you closely follow all of college football.
Tucked away down south with Jackson State of the Southwest Athletic Conference and suiting up for Morgan State out in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, he wasn’t on the radar of your average FBS-watching college football fan.
However, while in Mississippi with JSU and in Baltimore with MSU, the kid out of Waterford Mott, Mich., steadily built a resume and found himself at a major Division I program — one in his home state, no less.
It’s a true come-up story, the tale of Baldwin. It’s one that Average Joes and hometown supporters can rally around and embrace.
Who doesn’t like to see people work hard and reap benefits? They planted the seeds, so they deserve the fruits that come along later.
And realistically, Baldwin probably wasn’t supposed to have much of a part of the Wolverines’ offense as he has through 5 weeks. He’s not constantly targeted, but when the ball finds him, it pays off for No. 9-ranked Michigan, 5-0 after tilting Wisconsin on its head, 38-17, in Madison.
An injury to star WR Ronnie Bell caused the Wolverines to have to shift around some pieces, most notably Baldwin.
His first catch at Michigan was a 69-yard TD missile from true freshman JJ McCarthy midway through the 4th quarter of the Wolverines’ 47-14 Week 2 blow-out of Western Michigan.
That play put the 6-2, 219-pound senior on UM’s players to watch list. Yeah, it was just 1 catch of a pass from the backup QB during mop-up time. … Well, maybe for some.
But for those who closely follow UM, Baldwin’s score was something that really moved the needle. For some reason, the Wolverines have had the knack of finding diamonds in the rough — you know, either players who weren’t highly recruited and weren’t expected to do much, all the way down to older transfers whose glory days would likely come via prepping the Wolverines’ two-deep for a big game.
Practice squad player of the week types. The un-sungs of the roster.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U65i48U018
Baldwin has only missed on 2 passes thrown his way this season. Granted, he’s only been thrown to 8 times … but the 2 misconnections weren’t his fault — they just weren’t thrown in the right spot.
Two of his catches have resulted in touchdowns, with the latest being a 56-yard connection with McCarthy during the final minutes of Michigan’s rolling of the Badgers at Camp Randall.
So far, he’s been the guy to assist in knocking out the competition. Late scores in lopsided games have been his thing through the first month of the season.
But he can be more, despite never putting up mega stats at Jackson State or Morgan State. In 4 years — 2 at each school — he had 57 receptions for 873 yards and 9 TDs, or, in other words, one really good season for a guy at a school like, say, Michigan.
But take a closer look at those numbers: 57 catches and 9 scores, which equals a TD about every 6 catches. How about 873 yards off 57 catches, which equals about 15 yards for every reception.
Baldwin doesn’t have to contribute with frequency. Quantity doesn’t always result in quality.
Imagine Baldwin getting targeted 3 or 4 times a game. He was thrown to thrice vs. Northern Illinois in Week 3. He caught all of them. Never mind the 23 total yards, just realize that he was a surehanded option.
The Wolverines are opening up the passing game. Roman Wilson was targeted 8 times against Wisconsin, the most for any UM receiver all year. Cornelius Johnson is seeing a handful of chances to make a play. Michigan is involving TEs Erick All and Luke Schoonmaker in its passing plans.
As the season progresses, it’s likely you’ll see Baldwin getting 3 or 4 chances per game to make something happen. Based on his previous output, and his consistency this season, another 30 throws to Baldwin this year could result in a handful of touchdowns. He’s not dropping passes, and he has scored on 33 percent (2-for-6) of his receptions.
As mentioned above, he averaged a TD about every 6 catches when combining his JSU and MSU stats.
Michigan is ironing out its passing game, and figuring out who can help. UM has great options with Wilson and Johnson, but it should really consider incorporating more of Baldwin.