Ahead of potential breakout season, Semaj Morgan looking to be a complete receiver

Semaj Morgan knows he’s still young. 

The explosive sophomore wide receiver knows that even if he’s a top option on the No. 9 Michigan football team’s depth chart right now, he still has more to learn. Morgan knows that the flashes he showed during his freshman season earned him that opportunity, but to capitalize on it, he wants to “make a statement.” In order to make that statement, he’s dedicated his offseason to becoming a more complete receiver.

“I’ve really just been attacking it the same way, because my foot’s been on the gas since I was 6 years old,” Morgan said Monday. “Going into this season, it is a different role. … I feel like I can run routes pretty well, I feel like I got pretty good hands. I work on everything that I feel like I’m good at too, not just what I’m not good at.”

Morgan showed some of those things he’s good at last season. His ability to create separation led to his two receiving touchdowns, including a nifty route that left him open in the end zone for a back-shoulder catch against Rutgers. His evasiveness in more than just the passing game led to two more rushing touchdowns, and helped the Wolverines set the tone in the Big Ten Championship with an 87-yard punt return against Iowa’s vaunted special teams unit. 

But if he wants to play the majority of snaps this season as he’s expected to, then blocking needs to be a key aspect of his game too. Michigan isn’t likely to shy away from running the ball, and Morgan will need to get downfield and block when the Wolverines pound the rock. He knows that, and he knows that being able to do so will help turn him into the complete receiver he wants to be.

“A complete receiver blocks just like a lineman,” Morgan said. “… ‘No block, no route,’ that’s what (Michigan wide receivers coach Ron Bellamy) always says, and I want the ball. So being a complete receiver, to me means learning how to block because a lot of receivers forget about that art. But it’s really important.” 

Morgan continued on, discussing how blocking springs big plays for the Wolverines’ playmakers. He showed further gratitude for Bellamy, who coached Morgan in high school, for instilling that mindset in him. As he takes on a bigger role, Morgan wants to be pushed hard, and Bellamy, who’s “like his uncle,” does that for him. 

Bellamy isn’t Morgan’s only role model in the program, either. Similarly to Morgan, junior wide receiver Tyler Morris’ role will likely grow this season. As the duo tries to complement each other in their physical roles, Morris has helped Morgan improve on the mental side, too.

“(Morris is) an older guy, and I’m still kind of young, so I could mess up on things too,” Morgan said. “… When I get frustrated, sometimes he just comes, like, ‘you feel me, it’s all good, it’s all good.’ He’s just really like a big brother to me because I’m still young. I have a little emotions and some stuff I don’t understand sometimes, and him as an older guy, he does understand.”

Whether or not Morgan understands everything yet, Michigan needs him to step up. Despite his age, he’s a veteran relative to everyone in the receiver room besides Morris. The Wolverines return just 23.8% of their wide receiver production from last season, and Morgan accounts for nearly half of what remains.

So Morgan knows he’s still young. But he also knows that Michigan needs him to be on the field for most plays, and that he needs to be a complete receiver to make the most of those snaps. He has a “big brother” and an “uncle” to guide him, and as a willing pupil, he’s learning the ropes of featuring as one of the Wolverines’ top options out wide.

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