Critics have been hard on Michigan Wolverines running back Donovan Edwards. In 2022, he rushed for 991 yards and seven touchdowns, averaging 7.1 yards per carry.
Through five games this year, Edwards has 157 yards on the ground, zero touchdowns, and averaging 3.3 yards per carry. He also hasn’t eclipsed 100 yards in a game, compared to five last season.
Part of the reason his numbers are down is due to Blake Corum’s return, along with the emergence of Kalel Mullings in short-yardage situations. Not to mention, running backs coach Mike Hart and offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore have continued to find ways to get both Corum and Edwards on the field at the same time, placing Edwards in more passing-down situations rather than in the backfield.
While Michigan fans and critics have been hard him, Edwards continues to keep his head down, figure out new ways to be productive, and always get better.
“I (had) the slow start, of course,” Edwards said. “But there are more games to come. I’m not tripping at all. Not one bit. I know that I get bashed a little bit, but critics are critics, who cares? At the end of the day, I know what I can improve on. I know what I’m doing well, and that’s all I can continue to do is be me, and not get down on myself. Just keep my head up and continue to work. That’s what I’m gonna continue to do. That’s what I’ve been doing my whole life. Even when I was a freshman (and) Blake and Hassan (Haskins) were the starters. That’s all we can do is just continue to be gritty.”
One of the main ways Edwards is attempting to improve is by focusing on the medium-yard carries that have the potential to break open, rather than looking for the home run every time he touches the ball. Against Nebraska, Edwards carried the ball 14 times for 48 yards, with a long of nine yards. It was in that game Edwards and Hart started to see the progress come to fruition.
“Was it a slow start? I don’t know,” Hart said. “I think that he’s going to have the opportunities he gets. When you’re limited in opportunities, you only have so many chances to make plays. And the thing is just being consistent, the consistency of getting four or five yards and that’s what he’s doing. That’s what he did last week, and those big plays will happen. So excited to see him over the next couple of weeks.”
Edwards added: “I feel like the last game was a good game for me. I ran hard, I hit the hole better. Of course, I want the big plays, but that’s going to come, and the coaches have done a great job of consoling me. (They tell me) to just worry about getting four yards, the five yards to six yards, and it challenged me, that’s what I needed. I needed that.”
Over the offseason, Edwards mentioned he was working on incorporating Corum’s shimmy into his game, moving side to side instead of just north and south. This week, however, Edwards said he needs to first focus on running harder downhill.
“You go north-south and then you shimmy, but you have to go north and south before you can make somebody miss it at the second level,” Hart said. “You have to be a north and south running back in some of our schemes and you have to be downhill. That’s the big thing that we preach is just get four or five yards and those big plays will happen. He’s doing a great job. I mean, last week, the first half, he was downhill running through people, and that’s what we want to see. And that’s what he’s doing.”
One of the main reasons Edwards felt he started off the season slower was second-guessing himself. He said there were a lot of high expectations for himself, so he was paying too much attention to the outside noise rather than focusing on his game.
Overall, Edwards continues to be grateful for the position he is in as a running back at Michigan. No matter how he is playing on the field, he has continued to show to be a good teammate and stay level-headed.
“Many people don’t get the opportunity that I’m in right now,” Edwards said. “And many people wish that they were in the spot that I am in. So that’s just me being grateful for being where I am and being who I am and being at such an amazing, prestigious university. Being thankful, to talk to you guys, to take the field in the Big House, to practice — you’re not going to get this time back.”