The Michigan football team said it wanted to find wide receiver help in the NCAA Transfer Portal.
The Michigan football team said it wanted to find wide receiver help in the NCAA Transfer Portal. And Wednesday, the Wolverines got two, the latter from a rather familiar name.
Amorion Walker, who transferred from Michigan to Ole Miss in January, has committed to re-join the Wolverines. The former three-star receiver recruit, who moved to defensive back last offseason, is expected to return to Michigan’s wide receiver room.
The move was first projected by The Michigan Insider’s Sam Webb, who registered a Crystal Ball in favor of Walker returning to Michigan minutes after Walker entered the portal Friday.
Sources say a desire to flip back to offense, where he was once a coveted receiver recruit who picked Michigan over Notre Dame back in 2022, played a key role in his decision,” Webb wrote. “The Wolverines have been open about their plan to pursue receiver help in the portal, and they’ve been targeting longer, rangier types that will add a height to a room that lacks it.”
Walker, who is listed at 6-foot-3 and 180 pounds, played in six of Michigan’s 15 games as a sophomore last fall for a total of 66 snaps, all on defense. He allowed three receptions on six targets in coverage, with one pass breakup. He finished with three tackles, and did not play in either of Michigan’s College Football Playoff games
The year prior, he played 38 offensive snaps, six defensive snaps and 22 special teams snaps as a true freshman. He caught one pass for four yards on four targets.
Still, his athleticism at 6-foot-3 gives him a lot of potential to make an impact in 2024, even as he once again switches positions. Last winter, he posted a hand-timed 6.10-second 3-cone drill, which is faster than any time in NFL Combine history. According to Michigan’s strength and conditioning staff last summer, he also posted a 3.89-second shuttle run, 4.34-second 40-yard dash, 42.5-inch vertical leap and an 11-foot-4 broad jump. Even if those numbers are slightly embellished or inaccurate, even being in the ballpark of that athleticism makes him one of the more athletic players in the country.
That wasn’t enough for Walker to crack Michigan’s two-deep at cornerback last season. But now healthy and returning to a wide receiver room that only has five other scholarship players, Walker has an opportunity to change the narrative of his Michigan career.
“I think we’ve got some explosive guys. And obviously, I think it’s a top-loaded room,” Michigan offensive coordinator Kirk Campbell said last week of Michigan’s receiver room. “We need to get some guys to help out there. We probably will look at some guys in that position. How many, I’m not sure.”
In fact, Michigan’s only scholarship receiver on campus listed taller than 6-foot-1 is Peyton O’Leary, who himself is a former walk-on who has three receptions and 17 receiving yards in three seasons on campus.
“We just don’t even have numbers. You look at the roster depth, you need enough guys. Hamstring injuries are going to happen, quad injuries. So we just got to make sure we have enough guys to field the roster.”
Walker’s return to Ann Arbor can help with that — as can C.J. Charleston, a Youngstown State wideout who committed to U-M earlier Wednesday. And if things go according to plan this summer, Walker can offer a lot more than depth to the Wolverines this fall.
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