Big Ten Coaches ID Several Wolverines As Best Players In Conference

Michigan players have been making a mark on opposing coaches all season long.

Author:
Brandon Brown
Publish date:
Dec 1, 2022 1:52 AM EST

In this story:

Adam Rittenberg of ESPN reached out to more than 45 head coaches and coordinators in the Power 5 conferences and asked them a simple question: Who are the best players in your league this season? It's not shocking that in the Big Ten, CJ Stroud and Marvin Harrison Jr. received a lot of praise, but several Wolverines did as well.

It's no surprise that Heisman hopeful Blake Corum received a lot of praise even in a league that also contains Chase Brown of Illinois and Minnesota's Mohamed Ibrahim. Michigan's junior running back consistently dominate opponents on the ground and scored a touchdown in every game he played in this season except for the most recent contest against Ohio State.

Michigan's Blake Corum has received the most national attention, eclipsing 100 rushing yards in every Big Ten game before a knee injury limited him to two carries in last week's win over Ohio State. [Corum] also drew praise, as one Big Ten coach said, "He has that ability to make you miss in the hole, he's so strong. [After Harrison], he's the next player that dominates."

Obviously if Corum got love, so did the big fellas up front. Michigan's offensive line won the Joe Moore Award last year, and is probably even better this year. Corum got loose week after week and always praised his offensive linemen. Opposing coaches in the Big Ten did the same thing.

Michigan's offensive line jumped out to coaches for the second straight year. One defensive coordinator listed Wolverines center Olu Oluwatimi, a transfer from Virginia, as the best player he saw all season, edging out even Harrison. Another defensive coordinator mentioned Wolverines tackle Karsen Barnhart.

More than 20 Wolverines earned All-Big Ten honors so some of them were bound to stand out to opposing coaches. All 22 players are listed below.