Michigan linebacker Desmond Morgan has played his final college football game in 2014, but the Wolverines are hopeful there will be more to come in 2015. The senior linebacker will miss the rest of the 2014 season with a hand injury. He has not played this season since the season opener against Appalachian State.
“Desmond Morgan, we’re going to redshirt (him) this year and he’ll be back as a fifth-year senior next year,” Michigan head coach Brady Hoke said Monday, per MLive.com. According to NCAA rules, Morgan is eligible for a medical redshirt as long as he does not play again this season. This appears to be the plan for Morgan based off Hoke’s statement.
A medical redshirt also appears to be in the works for freshman safety Jabrill Peppers, the prized recruit in Michigan’s Class of 2014 that has been sidelined with a leg injury for much of the season. It is unknown if Peppers will return to play this season or not, but he would be eligible for a medical redshirt to preserve a year of eligibility if he does not play again this fall. Peppers has been removed from the recent depth chart, but Hoke is waiting to see what his status will be for the rest of the season.
Morgan started the season as a co-starter along with Joe Bolden (he who drives stakes in his opponent’s fields) at linebacker. Morgan has started games in each season he has been in Ann Arbor.