Michigan pass-catcher on nation's top WR award: 'we're hoping somebody here can win it'
Michigan is getting plenty of love entering 2019.
The season itself starts in less than two weeks and the Wolverines are B1G favorites for many.
RELATED: Vegas odds have Michigan as top B1G team to win CFB Playoff
Michigan has a new offensive coordinator this season in Josh Gattis — formerly the co-offensive coordinator at Alabama — who is supposed to uplift the Wolverines’ offense to new heights. A more spread style of offense is expected.
Alabama had a lot of success under Gattis in the passing game a season ago, as four different Crimson Tide pass-catchers recorded at least 693 yards. In 2019, will the Wolverines have the same type of success?
Junior wide receiver Nico Collins is excited about the offense under Gattis and learning the new system. Collins was asked if he ever looks back at the success Bama had with Gattis a season ago:
“I know they had [Jerry] Jeudy and he won the Belitnikoff [Award for the nation’s top receiver]. Now we’re hoping somebody here can win it.”
Collins talked about a number of other things as well, and Austin Fox of Rivals’ article can be found here with a number of different Collins quotes.
But going back to what Collins said about potentially winning the Belitnikoff Award — that may not be as crazy as some might think. Everybody knows that the Wolverines have talent on the outside and Collins is just one of those players. Donovan Peoples-Jones and Tarik Black are other incredibly talented returning wide receivers.
In fact, all three student-athletes are juniors. The passing numbers should be there with QB Shea Patterson and the new-look offense under Gattis. The team should do well enough from a record perspective to impress voters.
To give perspective, Jerry Jeudy (at Alabama who won the award a year ago) recorded 68 catches for 1,315 yards and 14 TDs. Could a Wolverine receiver duplicate those types of numbers?
We’ll find out soon enough. Michigan begins its season on Aug. 31 at home against Middle Tennessee.