Projecting three Michigan football players to have breakout years

Michigan is coming off of a 12-2 campaign in 2021 where it had a magical run. The Wolverines managed to knock off Ohio State 42-27 at the Big House and then shut Iowa completely down in the Big Ten Championship game.

The only knock on the resume last year was the inexplicable loss to Michigan State and then the loss to Georgia in the College Football Playoff.

The maize and blue return just about all of their offense from last year. The only two major departures are Hassan Haskins, who will forever be remembered after scoring five touchdowns against the Buckeyes, and Andrew Stueber from the offensive line.

Michigan’s offense should be as lethal as its ever been under Jim Harbaugh in 2022. Whoever gets the nod at quarterback will have plenty of skill weapons to help them succeed.

Every season players that may not be thought of in fall camp, or that will get an extended role, will have a breakout year.

Here are three offensive players that we could see having breakout years in 2022.

1
Donovan Edwards

Photo: Isaiah Hole

This one feels like cheating, but we are talking about a guy that was third on the depth chart last year behind both Haskins and Blake Corum.

The former five-star recruit out of West Bloomfield rushed for 174 yards and three touchdowns in 2021. He also caught 20 receptions for 265 yards and a score.

Now that Haskins has departed for the NFL, Edwards is going to be the 1B in the backfield behind Corum, but according to Joel Klatt, Edwards may be a Heisman contender.

Jim Harbaugh has made it known that Edwards is one of his favorite players, and is a ‘generational talent’ so the writing is on the wall on how big of a season the sophomore could have.

The maize and blue will be able to utilize Edwards in a variety of ways this upcoming season from running the ball, to receiving out of the backfield, and even being able to use him as a decoy. In fact, during his freshman campaign, he broke a…