Ranking The Top 5 Michigan Football Running Backs Since 2010

The Wolverines have had some excellent running backs come through Michigan in the past 15 years.

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Continuing on with our mini-series of ranking the top five players at each position, we are onto the position that immediately comes to mind when thinking about the Wolverines: running backs.

The maize and blue have had, overall, good enough quarterback play throughout the last 15 seasons, but it's the running back position that has really set Michigan apart from the rest of the country — especially since 2021.

Here are our top five running backs since 2010.

5. Jordan Marshall (2024-present)

I'm certainly using some projection into this ranking, but that's fine. Fitzgerald Toussaint or De'Veon Smith could've gone here, but not even having one full season under his belt, Jordan Marshall has proven to be special. And entering 2026, barring injury, he has the chance to well exceed 1,000 yards.

Marshall, a former Mr. Ohio Football winner, came to Michigan in 2024, where he took a redshirt season. However, he shined in the ReliaQuest Bowl win over Alabama, winning MVP of the game, after rushing for 100 yards.

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Going back to 2025, he began the season as backup to Justice Haynes, who got out to an explosive start. After an injury, Marshall took the reins and never looked back. He had four straight games over 100 yards and he finished the season rushing for 932 yards on the ground.

He can already be viewed as a top-10 running back entering 2026, and with at least one more season in Ann Arbor, Marshall can go down as one of the best to suit up.

4. Donovan Edwards (2021-2024)

Donovan Edwards' career never materialized the way he had hoped, or how Michigan fans would've envisioned. The former five-star running back showed flashes of greatness in 2021, coming into Ann Arbor behind both Blake Corum and Hassan Haskins.

Then in 2022, playing behind Corum, everything clicked for the speedster, rushing for 991 yards and seven touchdowns as the backup running back.

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And then he made the comparison to Barry Sanders. Following his explosive sophomore season, Edwards proclaimed he would go down as one of the best running backs to play the game, in consideration with Walter Payton and Sanders.

In 2023, one season after showing the world what he's capable of, took another backseat to Corum, and rushed for a meager 497 yards on the ground, en route to a Michigan championship. And then in his final year at Michigan, Kalel Mullings ended up being the lead back, and Edwards ran for 589 yards.

Even with some lackluster years, Edwards flashed speed and opposing teams had to know where he was at when he was on the field. He impacted games, including two long touchdowns in the Wolverines' win over Washington for the national title, and for that, he deserves to be in the top five since 2010.

3. Karan Higdon (2015-2018)

Karan Higdon ranks 14th at Michigan with 2,616 career rushing yards. His final two seasons at Michigan were great, rushing for 994 yards and 1,178 yards, respectively. Higdon was never the most exciting player on the field, but he was consistent and did all the right things.

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He was a two-time All-Big Ten player and was named the Wolverines' Offensive Player of the Year in 2017. After rushing for over 1,100 yards in 2018, he was also a Doak Walker Award finalist. He became Michigan's first 1,000-yard rusher since 2011 and that was before Michigan's offensive line was really, really good again.

Higdon finished his career with 27 rushing touchdowns and if he could've seen the field sooner in his sophomore year, it's hard to tell just how good Higdon could've been at Michigan.

2. Hassan Haskins (2018-2021)

Hassan Haskins easily makes this list and earns the No. 2 spot thanks to what he did for Michigan in 2021. Haskins contributed in both 2019 and 2020, rushing for 622 yards and 375 yards — in a shortened season —, respectively.

But in 2021, Haskins put everything together and rushed for 1,327 yards and a whopping 20 scores on the ground. He also tied a Michigan school record after he scored five touchdowns against rival Ohio State in 2021, giving the Wolverines their first victory over the Buckeyes since 2011.

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Haskins was a two-time Big Ten Honoree and was named an All-American in 2021. The Wolverines' offensive line also became the Joe Moore Award-winning line that season, paving way for Haskins, Blake Corum, and Donovan Edwards. For his career, Haskins left Michigan rushing for 2,324 yards and 30 touchdowns.

1. Blake Corum (2020-2023)

Who else would go here?

Blake Corum is one of the greatest running backs to play at Michigan, and he left his stamp on the program. Corum's 3,737 career rushing yards rank 7th all-time for Michigan, and he was a scoring machine. He ran for program record 58 career rushing touchdowns during his time in Ann Arbor, passing Anthony Thomas.

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Corum scored 27 rushing touchdowns in 2023, setting a school record. He also tied Hassan Haskins, rushing in five scores against UConn in 2022. He was a two-time All-American, and finished in the top-10 of the Heisman voting twice.

After tearing his ACL in the 2022 season, Corum didn't skip a beat in 2023, earning Comeback Player of the Year, rushing for 1,245 yards and setting records.