What C.J. Charleston’s addition, Amorion Walker return means for Michigan’s wide receiver room

On Wednesday, the Michigan Wolverines added to their wide receiver room for the 2024 season in a commitment from Youngstown State transfer C.J. Charleston and Amorion Walker’s return to the program. Both players have two seasons of eligibility remaining.

Michigan was forthright about its transfer portal priorities coming out of spring practices. After attrition, U-M spent most of its first camp under head coach Sherrone Moore with five scholarship wide receivers in senior Peyton O’Leary, junior Tyler Morris and sophomores Fredrick Moore, Semaj Morgan and Kendrick Bell. There is plenty of promise there, but they were a bum ankle away from being shorthanded.

Here are some quick thoughts on Michigan adding Charleston and what might be next this offseason.

1. Who is C.J. Charleston?

Standing at 6-0, 190 pounds, Charleston spent his collegiate career at Youngstown State. He redshirted in 2019, but had five catches for 105 yards, then had seven receptions for 112 yards during the COVID-impacted 2020 season. The 2021 campaign saw him make 15 grabs for 144 yards, which was followed by a 2022 season where he did not play due to an Achilles injury.

He was a solid contributor last year with 33 catches for 503 yards and four touchdowns for Youngstown State and entered the transfer portal last week.

Charleston was offered on Monday, and predictions started floating in for him to land with the Wolverines. Michigan had an in with him in the form of analyst Josh Sinagoga, who was his wide receivers coach in 2020-21 and at Youngstown State through 2022. Sinagoga joined the program as an analyst last offseason and was part of Michigan’s national title run.

2. What sort of role will he push for?

Nobody will do cartwheels over this addition, but this was exactly the type of move that was needed to help fortify the depth. Michigan’s top three seems relatively set in Morris, Moore and Morgan, which is a trio that sounds more like a law firm than a stable of wideouts. While he will not be mistaken as a power forward by any means, he still stands at six feet tall and brings a little bit of size to the position, relatively speaking. Michigan still needs to add more there, which we will get to soon.

When looking over the depth chart, Charleston feels more of an understudy to Morris at the Z-receiver position and insurance there, but that’s all Michigan needs. He will likely battle it out for WR4 reps with Peyton O’Leary and Walker. Sophomore Kendrick Bell and freshmen I’Marion Stewart and Channing Goodwin – both arriving this fall – may need some more time to develop.

3. Amorion Walker is also back at Michigan

Michigan was not done on Wednesday. Hours after Charleston’s commitment, wide receiver-turned-cornerback Amorion Walker, who transferred to Ole Miss this winter, officially announced his return to Ann Arbor for a crack at a wide receiver spot. The previous coaching staff did everything it could to make the experiment at cornerback work given how rare his athletic traits are, but at 6-3, 180 he could compete for a role at X-receiver. He entered the portal last week and most of the buzz suggested his designs were set on returning to Michigan. Now, we know that was the case.

Walker’s size and downfield ability add something the team did not have on that side of the ball. He should have a fire lit under him with an opportunity to play the position he most desired to when he was recruited to Ann Arbor. He is still an extremely raw athlete who needs to master his craft, but all of the traits are there. This feels like a rejuvenation for arguably one of the freakiest athletes on the roster the last few years.

A wide receiver room with the law firm trio of Morris, Morgan and Moore with Charleston and Walker fighting it out for who is next in line raises the level of competition in that room.

4. What’s next in the portal?

From there, we think Michigan is looking to add on defense at both tackle and in the secondary. We will have to wait and see how it plays out, but it is very likely more help is on the way.

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