It reads like a cycling, semi-coherent roll call of Michigan’s skill position players.
Massaquoi. Breaston. Avant. Massaquoi. Breaston. Hart. Avant. Avant.
But no, it’s not a drunk fan trying to remember his favorite players while tailgating outside the Big House. In fact, it’s a sequential list of sophomore quarterback Chad Henne’s passing targets during the Wolverines’ first offensive series against Northern Illinois on Saturday. And it looks quite different from what most observers remember from last year’s Michigan team. The 2004 version went something like this:
Braylon. Braylon. Braylon. Breaston. Braylon. Avant. Braylon. Braylon.
A season ago, Braylon Edwards was the unquestioned focal point of the offense in general and the passing game in particular. The Biletnikoff Award winner’s 97 catches gave him 59 more than the total of his closest teammate, then-junior Jason Avant. But with Edwards now playing for the NFL’s Cleveland Browns, the rest of the team has adopted a different philosophy for the new season. Sharing has become trendy in Ann Arbor.
“Last year, we had a designated man,” said offensive coordinator Terry Malone, referring to Edwards. “He was actually our designated possession guy and our deep guy. “(This year we have to find) different ways of getting set up and getting guys down the field.”
Though many see Edwards’s absence as a disadvantage for the current Wolverines, those close to the program don’t necessarily agree. By spreading the ball around to different receivers and backs — Henne threw completions to seven different teammates on Saturday — an offense can often dilute a defense to the breaking point.
“If we’re running the ball well, then the safeties have to come up,” sophomore running back Mike Hart said. “That’s going to open things up for Chad. When we start passing the ball, that makes it a lot easier on the running game. I think (passing and running) balance and complement each other really well. If one’s doing good, the other one’s going to do good. We just have to keep defenses on their heels.”
With Hart, high-profile freshman Kevin Grady and sophomore Max Martin leading the backfield attack and Avant and playmaker Steve Breaston heading up the receiving corps, there are plenty of dangerous options at Henne’s disposal. Sometimes, the threat of lining up against so many potential weapons is enough to create weak spots in the defense that can become targets for a precise, well-oiled offense.
“When you spread your defense, you create more creases,” running backs coach Fred Jackson said. “That’s going to help the backs (and receivers) be more effective.”
Avant, now a senior co-captain, led the team with nine catches for 127 yards and a touchdown. Still, the physical receiver realizes that a number of his teammates are capable of putting up similar numbers. Moreover, Avant acknowledges that he probably won’t fill Edwards’s role as the superstar pass-catcher every game.
“I was just one of the guys in the package that probably had some of the plays coming to me this week, and Chad was delivering the ball on time,” Avant said. “It can be Steve Breaston next week or Adrian Arrington or anybody out there.”
Malone’s job this season is to worry less about feeding the ball to a particular player and more about confusing and exploiting defenses.
“It wasn’t really a plan to get the ball to anybody,” Malone said of Michigan’s preparation for the Huskies. “Hopefully (Henne) was going to make his reads and throw it to the open guy, and I thought he did an excellent job of that. I think the one thing is, we want to be as difficult as possible to defend.”
By racking up 289 yards of total offense in the first half alone — including 198 passing yards and two touchdowns through the air for Henne — Michigan showed a glimpse of what it might be capable of this year despite Edwards’s departure.
“If we spread the ball out like we did today, then the sky is the limit for us,” Henne said.
And that list of Henne’s intended receivers might soon expand to include even more names.