Michigan football needs Donovan Edwards more than ever. But can he live up to the hype?

Late in the first quarter of Michigan football’s 34-13 conquest of Washington in the College Football Playoff championship game, ESPN announcer Chris Fowler bellowed, “Welcome back, Donovan Edwards!” In that moment, the Wolverines’ star was nearing the end zone for the second time that night, on a 46-yard touchdown sprint that showcased the natural talent of a player who had mysteriously faded away over the course of the 2023 season.

At the 11th hour of Michigan’s title run, Edwards had gained a measure of sweet redemption following a difficult autumn when he crashed hard.

“It was a very much of a mental struggle for me,” Edwards said last Saturday at West Bloomfield High School, his alma mater and the site of his latest youth football camp.

Michigan running back Donovan Edwards throws a football back to a young fan during a parade for the National Champions on campus in Ann Arbor on Saturday, January 13, 2024.

RETUR TO GLORY? Quinten Johnson’s injury led him back to Michigan football — and could get him to the NFL

Edwards, in some ways, was to blame for that. He became freighted with the hype he created for himself last summer, when he boasted to a national website that he’d go down as one of the greatest running backs of all time and professed his belief that he would one day “revolutionize the game.”

It was a lot of bluster coming from someone who remained in the shadow of Blake Corum, the Wolverines’ top ball carrier and the offense’s de facto heartbeat during Michigan’s latest golden age. The self-aggrandizing comments were bound to blow up in Edwards’ face, and they did. In the 14 appearances preceding his 104-yard, two touchdown performance against the Huskies, Edwards averaged only 28.1 rushing yards per game.

The weekly flameouts left Edwards chastened and searching for the “fire…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/michigan-football-needs-donovan-edwards-100655571.html

Author : Detroit Free Press

Publish date : 2024-06-20 10:06:55

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.