ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- New Michigan football offensive coordinator Jason Beck says it's too early to evaluate the offense at this juncture, given that the Wolverines are just one fall camp practice down. But, after spring ball and summer conditioning and all, it's not surprising that the run game appears to be the strength on that side of the ball.
While Jordan Marshall is the starter at tailback, there's a lot of excitement surrounding true freshman running back Savion Hiter, the top-rated player at the position in his recruiting class. The former five-star has a lot of hype, and Beck notes, he should.
"There's been a lot of buzz around Savion and deservedly so," Beck said. "And a lot of times you can get the buzz in the recruitment, but he showed
up here and is what stands out. He has talent. When you meet him and see him, he's an impressive-looking kid physically.
"But what stands out about Savion is he just works so hard all the time. Like there's no such thing as not full speed with that kid. I mean, it's just full-speed effort all the time. And so he just, he makes a splash from day one because he's in his way in there. He's not like dipping the toe in and taking one step in the pool. He just cannonballs in, and it's full go. And my experience is when you have freshmen like that, that are that way, they have a chance to play early. Where some freshmen are, they got to find themselves and how this whole college football thing works.
"So he's been, yeah, been impressive."
Hiter being a freshman is only as much of an impediment as he'll let it be, given that he's been around since the winter semester in Ann Arbor. But others who have come early, or even late, have a chance to see the field early and often.
Beck notes that just because a player is a late arrival doesn't mean that he isn't going to be an instant impact player. Take new Michigan wide receiver JJ Buchanan -- he was a summer arrival as a true freshman for Utah last year, and he was a starter from day one. Thus, there is one player who Beck sees as a potential player in that regard, while also noting some other first-year Wolverines who could see the field early.
"Otherwise, other freshmen that are standing out in the receiver room, there's some competition going on there," Beck said. "Travis Johnson, Salesi Moa, Pile was out. He's been working, but he's a little more limited today. But those guys stand out as they could have a chance to play this year.
"Mason Bonner and a couple of our O-linemen just showed up this summer. So we're still trying to get our first look at those guys. So it's really early to tell with them. But JJ (Buchanan) was that way at Utah for us. He showed up in the summer and didn't work with him until fall camp. That was the first time we saw him. And he just made some plays early on and started at UCLA, first game, at the Rose Bowl, Week 1, started. So that can happen. But if you show up, mindset, aggressive, making plays, then there's a place for you on the field."
Michigan is one practice down with a month to go until the September 5 season opener against Western Michigan at The Big House.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Freshman Savion Hiter turning heads at Michigan
