Nico Collins Returning For Senior Season

Michigan football got a boost of good news Sunday evening when wide receiver Nico Collins announced his intent to return for a senior season.

After a series of departures by junior center Cesar Ruiz and junior wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones over the weekend, Michigan football got some good news when junior wideout Nico Collins announced via social media he will return for his senior season in 2020. 

Arguably Michigan's top wide receiver, Nico Collins ranked second on U-M in receptions (37) and receiving yards (729) but led the Wolverines in yards per catch (19.7) and touchdowns (seven). In his career, Collins has caught 78 balls for 1,388 yards and 13 touchdowns. 

He needs 65 catches, approximately 900 yards and four TD receptions to move into the Top 10 all time at Michigan in each category. 

With Collins' return, the Wolverines should have one of the most formidable receiving units in the Big Ten, perhaps the country, featuring rising junior Ronnie Bell, sophomores Cornelius Johnson, Giles Jackson and Mike Sainristl, and incoming freshman AJ Henning and Roman Wilson. 

With the right quarterback and a passing attack that mirrors the final three regular-season games for the Maize and Blue, when U-M threw for 384, 366 and 305 yards, Collins could put up the kind of numbers befitting his immense talent. Or, the 6-4, 218-pounder could continue to go underutilized, having caught only a career-high 38 balls in 2018. 

However, Collins' decision to return could be a good sign of what he thinks of Michigan's two competing quarterbacks, redshirt junior Dylan McCaffrey and redshirt sophomore Joe Milton, and what he thinks of the burgeoning aerial assault. 

WolverineDigest.com will have more on Collins' announcement and what it could mean for Michigan in the days to come.