Michigan Greg McElroy, a college football analyst and former national championship-winning quarterback released a list of his top 10 running backs going into the 2024 season. Michigan football running back Donovan Edwards didn’t make the list.
I’ll admit, it made me do a double take. But the more I thought about it, the more I can understand Edwards being left off the list — even if I disagree with it.
Michigan football star still has something to prove
Edwards is going to be a top-10 running back in college football this season. I’m sure of it. But that’s also taking a leap of faith because Edwards hasn’t really been that before.
It’s not really his fault that he hasn’t been a featured back. Blake Corum was in front of him and still, in the biggest games, when it really mattered, Donovan always delivered.
Whether it was the Penn State game in 2022 or the Ohio State game in 2022, the Big Ten championship, this year’s Penn State win, or the national championship game, Edwards has had his best moments at the most important times.
The Michigan football star is called “Big Game Don” for a reason.
Time to be more consistent
Yet, Edwards still needs to prove he can do it game in and game out, for an entire season. That’s why it was smart to return to Michigan football. Imagine what a 1,200-yard season would do for his draft stock.
Kalel Mullings will get plenty of carries and he’s got a bright future too. Just watch the Rose Bowl or the Nebraska game. If he were the starter, I’d bet he could rush for 1,000 yards. But he doesn’t have the home-run ability of Edwards.
But Edwards needs to have fewer runs that get zero or negative yards, and more than turn into 3, 4, and 5. That’s what the great backs do — they get positive yards almost every time. It takes patience and vision but he has those tools. He just needed to regain his confidence and I’m guessing the national championship game certainly did that.
The Michigan football offensive line isn’t as good as last season, but I don’t know that the dropoff will be that drastic. And Edwards looked like a different back in the spring. He ran with patience and power and if he does that this season, I have zero doubt that he’ll make McElroy and others who doubt him look like fools.
More must-reads: