Daily Brews: RB Benjamin Hall featured on impact freshmen list

Michigan has been able to run the ball really well over the last few seasons, largely due to the tutelage of Sherrone Moore, an award-winning offensive line, and talented running backs like Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards.

That duo should get the majority of the carries for the Wolverines, but one national writer thinks Benjamin Hall could play a role in Michigan’s offense this season.

In a list of 23 true freshmen to watch in 2023, Brad Crawford with 247Sports listed Hall first, implying that he’d play more this season if he weren’t buried on the depth chart.

“One of the stars of the Wolverines’ spring game, Hall would be higher on this freshman impact ranking if he didn’t have two All-American candidates — Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards — playing in front of him. Hall would likely see a starting role as RB1 at just about every other Big Ten program in 2023 outside of Penn State, Ohio State and Wisconsin. He’s special.”

Hall impressed Michigan fans in the Spring Game a few months back, tallying 96 yards, running for 7.4 yards per carry and scoring a touchdown. At 5-foot-11 and 235 pounds, his size was certainly felt by Michigan’s defense.

“He’s Hassan-like, he’s hard to tackle,” running backs coach Mike Hart said after the game. “He’s hard to bring down. But his legs are just so thick. I mean, you look at him waist down. I mean, he’s a big guy. So you know, I would probably compare him to the guys we’ve had here to Hassan. Go back to Kevin Grady, if you want to back in the day. It’s how Grady was built that way back in 2005, 2006 for those young reporters out there.”

There’s no doubt that he’s a talented player. Still, as we covered in Hall’s outlook article, there are tons of backs he will be competing for carries with, like returnees C.J. Stokes and Kalel Mullings, plus other freshman backs in Cole Cabana, Tavierre Dunlap, Isaiah Gash and Leon Franklin. But if Hall keeps proving himself in practice, he could climb up the depth chart rather fast. Perhaps the season ends with him as the RB3.

Who do you want to see as Michigan’s RB3 behind Corum and Edwards? Let us know in the comments.