Brandon Minor Set to Lead the Recharged Wolverines

Brandon Minor just grinned when asked what a healthy Brandon Minor is capable of.  If he can perform like he did in the second half of last season, Michigan fans will be quite pleased.

Playing in the last five of six games, Minor showed what he is capable of; when getting the ball more than 20 times, he can rack up 100+ yards and at least a couple TDs. 

He is capable of performing very well on the field.  With the stable of RBs Michigan has, Minor being 100 percent healthy is the most important.  

Minor can be the rock in an offense that is in need of a new leader.  Having, most likely, a freshman QB in the backfield with him, he needs to step up in that form.

He needs to start by staying on the field.  More often than not, Minor gets banged up. Through no fault of his own, he plays up the middle, bang-your-head type of football. Injuries, therefore, are going to be a part of his life.  

Let's just try to limit them.

Minor can fill the void left by Mike Hart after the 2007 season. Michigan missed that leadership in 2008. Minor was banged up, Carlos Brown was banged up, and that left most duties to freshman Sam McGuffie.  

We all know how that went!

McGuffie has since transferred to Rice, and Minor is now healthy, as is Brown. So we can only imagine what kind of an effect this will have on the offense. 

In Minor's first game back carrying a full load, he rushed 23 times for 117 yards with two TDs and a 5.1 ypc average against Penn State in Happy Valley. That was against a defense that ended the season ranked fifth in team rushing.

Brandon Minor is entering his Senior season at Michigan, and he does not want to leave like last year's seniors.  

Minor, in a conversation on Mgoblue.com with Doug Karsch, said "everybody wasn't on the same page [last year], we'd get calls, and people would misread the signals...It was a mess out there. We got it together this year."

Michigan faithful hope they get it together, too. They can't live through another 3-9 season in Ann Arbor.  

Nor will they.

Rich Rodriguez believes that Minor will have a fantastic season, saying, "I would be disappointed if Brandon does not have a great senior year." 

He would not be the only one, either. I assume every Michigan fan would be disappointed if he has another injury-plagued season.  

Coming out of Varina High School near Richmond, VA, he was a four-star recruit. He was also recruited by Virginia Tech, Tennessee, and Miami.  

From Rivals.com on June 21, 2006, Brandon Minor on his frosh competition in Ann Arbor, Carlos Brown, "He's a good kid—we're cool even though we both want the same thing," Minor said. "I just want my chance." 

And three years later, he will finally have that chance.  Albeit, in tandem with, you guessed it, Carlos Brown.  

Michigan will have a much improved rushing attack.  After rushing for only 1,777 yards as a team last season, Brandon Minor himself could surpass that this year. But seriously, overall, the rushing attack should see over 2,500 yards this year.  

A vast improvement from last year is needed.  And if Michigan is going to see that improvement, Brandon Minor will have to be a constant figure on the field.