An Unlikely Michigan Football Freshman 'To Watch in 2023' From 247Sports

The running back room is crowded, but he showed enough in the spring game to prove he can earn some valuable playing time.

The Wolverines have a few freshmen entering the 2023 football season that can earn some meaningful playing time, but with Michigan returning so much production from last season's College Football Playoff team, it's hard seeing many of the freshmen earning starting jobs in '23.

247Sports created a 23-freshmen watch list for the upcoming football season. Included was Michigan's running back, the star of the spring game, Benjamin Hall.

One of the stars of the Wolverines' spring game, Hall would be higher on this freshman impact ranking if he didn't have two All-American candidates — Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards — playing in front of him. Hall would likely see a starting role as RB1 at just about every other Big Ten program in 2023 outside of Penn State, Ohio State and Wisconsin. He's special.

Hall came to Michigan out of Kennesaw (Georgia) North Cobb and he wasn't a big-time recruit. Hall was a three-star back according to the Composite ranking and the 787th-ranked recruit in the class of 2023. 

But Hall is more than likely going to be the next example of why stars don't ultimately matter. 

The 5-foot-10 back impressed the coaching staff as soon as he got onto campus and he made Wolverine fans extremely excited during the spring game. He rushed for 96 yards and scored a touchdown. 

Hall is like a bowling ball -- he will only get stronger -- but he moves with ease on the field and can get around defenders. Running back coach, Mike Hart, who was also a three-star recruit coming out of high school, compared him to Hassan Haskins and former five-star recruit, Kevin Grady. 

Hall is battling CJ Stokes and Kalel Mullings for the No. 3 job behind All-American candidates, Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards. As we saw last year, one injury can make or break a season, and having a capable back to fill in is crucial. 

With the addition of Hall, the Michigan running back room may be as good as it's been in a very long time. The battle for the No. 3 spot will continue to make both Stokes and Mullings better, and we can't forget about four-star freshman, Cole Cabana.