In an already thin running back class, Michigan RB Blake Corum announced that he will not enter this spring’s NFL Draft, opting instead to return to Michigan for his senior season with the Wolverines.
Corum rushed for 1,463 yards and 18 touchdowns during his junior season at Michigan and was a Heisman candidate.
Corum clocked in on PFF’s 2023 NFL Draft Top 100 big board at No. 55 and was projected to be as high as a second-round pick. That said, Corum also went down with a torn meniscus and a sprained MCL against Illinois in late November. He tried to play the following week against Ohio State before undergoing season-ending knee surgery.
Here’s what the Michigan running back had to say about his decision to return to Ann Arbor for his senior season: “This was a tough decision. It was a business decision. I think I have unfinished business,” Corum (via The Athletic) “I didn’t like the way I went out in the Big House. I didn’t like people remembering me being hurt. I will be coming back for it all next year.”
Despite the sprained MCL and torn meniscus that ended his junior season prematurely, Corum was ranked just behind Texas running back Bijan Robinson (whom PFF has ranked as their No. 22 prospect) on PFF’s Top 100 when it comes to running backs in this draft class.
With Corum returning to Michigan and Robinson slated as a likely first-round pick, we might not see another running back come off the board until sometime in the third round in April. PFF has Syracuse’s Sean Tucker (70), Alabama’s Jahmyr Gibbs (75), and Auburn’s Tank Bigsby (79) as the only other running backs in their Top 100.