Michigan 2023 season preview: Running back

Fall camp is underway for the Michigan football team, and the Wolverines are gearing up for their most anticipated season in decades. With returning starters, an incoming transfer class with starter-caliber players and former top-flight recruits another year older waiting in the wings, Michigan is the No. 2 team in the country, and aims to build off of its two consecutive College Football Playoff appearances.

To get fans ready for the coming season, we’re taking a look at what to watch this season at each position group. We look at each position’s biggest strength, biggest question mark, a defining stat to watch, a position battle to watch, an X-factor player, make a bold prediction and break down the depth chart for the position group.

Biggest strength: Everything.

We take a lot of pride in having a measured tone in these preview, seeking reality instead of getting fans hyped up. But when it comes to Michigan's running back room, it's hard to find an actual, non-nitpicking flaw. Countless national publications list the duo of Blake Corum (1,463 yards, 5.9 yards per carry, 18 touchdowns last fall) and Donovan Edwards (991 yards, 7.1 yards per carry, 7 touchdowns) as the best in the country, and several 2024 NFL draft preview commonly view both backs among the top three at their position.

The last time that happened was in 2016, when Derrick Henry and Kenyan Drake respectively went in the second and third round out of Alabama. That came months after the two helped the Crimson Tide to a national championship.

Both players have individual skills they want to hone this fall, but combined, this is a tandem any defense will once again struggle to contain. They have speed, tackle-breaking ability, vision, explosiveness, versatility, experience, elusiveness and more. You name a skill, and Michigan likely has it at running back.