The Michigan football Pro Day in Ann Arbor was another huge moment for the 2023 Wolverines who are continuing to make history even after lifting the national championship trophy. The squad had a record 18 players get invites to the NFL Scouting Combine and over 150 NFL evaluators attend their Pro Day. Now, they’ll look to set the record for most players taken from one school in a single draft, and running back Blake Corum will be one of the players selected in the 2024 NFL Draft.
RB Blake Corum helped himself at his Pro Day
While seemingly all of the NFL was watching, Blake Corum had a big performance at the Michigan football Pro Day.
“Blake Corum helped himself today, according to one NFL executive in attendance at Michigan’s Pro Day: “Corum’s feet are really good. He’s tough and physical. He plays bigger than he is and he can really catch the football,” Bleacher Report NFL insider Jordan Schultz reported on Friday.
Corum didn’t run the 40-yard dash again at his Pro Day to improve on his somewhat disappointing 4.53-second time. However, he did do the short shuttle drill again and dropped from 4.12 seconds to 4.07 seconds.
At 5-foot-8, 204 pounds, his athleticism in shorts doesn’t jump off the page, but when he gets pads on, the skillset shines.
Last season, Corum was key to the Michigan run to the college football national championship.
The All-American back had 258 carries for 1,245 yards, 16 catches for 117 yards, and 28 total touchdowns. All told, Corum put up 3,737 rushing yards, 422 receiving yards, and scored 61 touchdowns at Michigan.
Corum should be able to help an NFL team starting next season, but where will he go in the draft?
Where will the Michigan football star end up in the 2024 NFL Draft?
Prior to the Michigan football Pro Day, Blake Corum was likely a Day 3 selection. After impressing scouts, he could pop into the backend of Day 2. It all depends on when the run on running backs happen.
Unlike several of the previous few years, there are no first-round running backs in the 2024 NFL Draft. The earliest a back will come off the board is the second round, and if there are no running backs drafted until Round 3, it would not be a complete surprise.
What this class lacks in high-end talent, it makes up for in solid depth in the middle. So, once the first RB comes off the board, don’t be shocked if at least a half-dozen others follow in short order.
Texas RB Jonathon Brooks should be the first player taken at his position, and if he didn’t suffer a knee injury last season, he might be in the conversation for a late first-round spot. That said, with his injury questions, the mid-to-late-second or early third is his likely landing area.
After that, there are eight backs who project as late third, fourth, or early fifth-round picks, and there is a good chance that once Brook goes, most of these guys fly off the board in the next 20-30 picks.
This group includes Corum, Jaylen Wright (Tennessee), Trey Benson (Florida State), MarShawn Lloyd (USC), Ray Davis (Kentucky), Braelon Allen (Wisconsin), Bucky Irving (Oregon), and Audric Estime (Notre Dame).
As for what team would be the best fit for Corum, his balanced skillset would make him a fit almost anywhere. For him, though, going to a good team without an established RB would be ideal, and as a middle-round pick, that is possible.
If a team like the Cincinnati Bengals, Dallas Cowboys, or his old coach Jim Harbaugh and the Los Angeles Chargers draft him, Corum will have a real chance at success.
Corum could be part of a historic NFL draft class
While we don’t yet know where Corum will go in the 2024 NFL Draft, what we do know is that he will go at some point. And if all 18 of his fellow Michigan football teammates who were invited to the combine also get drafted, it would make NFL history.
In 2020, 16 LSU Tigers got invited to the combine after their national championship, which was the record Michigan just broke. Two years later, the Georgia Bulldogs national championship squad had 15 players taken in the 2022 NFL Draft, which set a new record there.
Now, Michigan looks to break Georgia’s record, but if they do, it will look a lot different than the way the Bulldogs did it.
Georgia had five first-round defenders go in 2022 and another two players in the second round. Michigan seems to only have one first-round pick this year in quarterback JJ McCarthy and two or three second-rounders in defensive lineman Kris Jenkins, wide receiver Roman Wilson, and offensive lineman Zac Zinter Round 2 possibilities.
That means the other 14 Michigan football NFL draft prospects, including Blake Corum, will likely be Day 3 selections.
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