I almost decided to stop with the blog after Michigan reached the top of the mountain but I’ve decided to stick with this until the Lions win a Super Bowl. Three straight Big Ten Titles and a National Championship the last three years has been quite the sight to behold. Michigan has gone through plenty of adversity and distractions and still managed to fight their way through it. I think this team that is returning has a ton of talent given the number of players they lost to the NFL. There are four future first round picks for sure, and a lot more on the defensive side of the ball. The real questions all reside on the offensive side of the ball.

I’m sure plenty of people have questions about Sherrone Moore becoming the head coach without head coaching experience…but coaching those 4 games as an interim head coach of sorts last year certainly gave him enough experience. We will just have to trust that he was close enough with Jim Harbaugh to see how you should run a football program (and not run it in some cases). It also greatly helps with the continuity with this team and I think it’s a big reason that they did not lose a lot of players in the portal. Will it work out in the long run? I’d like to think so but it is certainly not a guarantee. Harbaugh certainly took as many people as possible when he left and as much as I love him for winning a National Championship…I cannot say that I’ll be cheering for him in LA after he gutted the staff. But I digress. The coaches they have are plenty qualified and there has been plenty of promotion from within. The most intriguing hire has been bringing in Wink Martindale…I expect the scheme to be the same but play calling will be different. Fortunately for Wink, they have an immensely talented defensive unit. It may not be as deep as last year, but the starting 11 can absolutely ball.

OFFENSE

Alright, let’s get to it. I will be absolutely flabbergasted if Alex Orji is not the starting quarterback. Jack Tuttle has been banged up and seemingly cannot catch up and I’m just not sure Davis Warren gives Michigan the best chance to win. Jadyn Davis is intriguing and clearly the quarterback of the future, but he’s just not quite ready. Orji struggled early in the spring game throwing the ball but settled in after that. If he can find some semblance of consistency throwing the rock around, he will be a tremendous dual threat and give teams fits. He’s fast and he’s an absolute monster. He gives the offense the best chance to move the ball and he’s got to be the guy. Michigan has never had a freak like him at quarterback and it is time to see what he can do.

Donovan Edwards is going to be the key playmaker on the offensive side of the ball. Edwards did not have a good year last year and I’ve always thought of him as more of a wide receiver with his vision (and lack there of) from the backfield. But this dude makes plays when he gets some time and space and that is what the offense is going to need to do. They are going to need to move the ball and finish drives and he will be a driving part of that. Whether it is ripping off 40 yard runs or 3 yards and a cloud of dust, they will have to stay in the positive and cannot get behind the chains. Kalel Mullings coming back offers a great power back compliment and I’m curious to see how the RB3 competition shakes out between Benjamin Hall, Jordan Marshall and Tavierre Dunlap. It sounds like Cole Cabana has not gotten himself in the mix but those three are competing for additional carries. Hall was solid last year and Marshall is an intriguing true freshman and the future starter at RB. The more they can get other guys into the mix and keep the wear and tear off of Donovan will be critical. As much as I think Donovan struggled last year, if he were to struggle again this year or get hurt, the offense might be totally crippled. My hope is that they do a great job using his versatility and get him in more 1×1 matchups with linebackers to catch passes out of the backfield. Get him in space and get him the ball. Please!

When we hit wide receiver, we get to where it’s a bit more of a mess…and by that I mean really just inexperienced. Tyler Morris, Semaj Morgan and Freddy Moore is a pretty solid trio…but after that it gets really hairy. CJ Charleston transferred in and has experience…Amorion Walker returned to Michigan but wanted to move back to wide receiver…and then from there it is Channing Goodwin and I’Marion Stewart and Kendrick Bell…all young fellas. Peyton O’Leary is still on the roster but I do not think it’s realistic to expect anything from him. Morris and Morgan showed their playmaking ability last year and it would behoove Michigan to get them the ball as much as possible. Morris is going to have to be the alpha of the unit and his physical abilities should allow him to do so. He has SEC speed, which everyone saw in the Rose Bowl. Freddy Moore has flashed a few times, but after Morris and Morgan there isn’t a whole lot of experience as a Michigan Wolverine for this crew. I’m expecting Goodwin and Stewart to play this year simply due to numbers but it’s hard to expect much out of the true freshmen. They’re intriguing, but I think it would be ill-advised to count on them to contribute in a meaningful way right off the hop. Morris, Morgan and Moore are going to have to stay as healthy as possible and they’re going to have to make plays when the opportunity is afforded to them. I like the starters, but with any significant injury, this unit gets really scary, really quickly.

After running back, tight end probably has the most depth and talent on the team. Colston Loveland is a bonafide matchup nightmare and a future first round pick. Michigan would do well to make him the pseudo #1 wide receiver and get him the ball as much as possible. He will cause fits for linebackers and even safeties with his athleticism. After the graduation of AJ Barner, Marlin Klein should look to step into the TE2 role and I would expect a fair amount of 2 TE sets given the lack of wide receiver depth for Michigan. Max Bredeson will play a lot and will be more of an H-Back/FB role than a true in-line tight end, but I expect him to see him lined up everywhere and utilized quite often. Klein has solid athleticism and you’ll notice a theme of athletic and complete tight ends behind him. Deakon Tonielli, Zack Marshall, Brady Prieskorn and Hogan Hansen round out the tight end room. I would anticipate Prieskorn and Hansen to redshirt but Tonielli flashed a bit in the spring game and I would not be surprised to see him carve out a role for himself. This is a unit of pass catchers and complete tight ends. I would be willing to say it is the most talented tight end room in the country.

The offensive line has been the strength of the offense the past two seasons and they finally had to pay the piper with all of the players that left. Losing Trente Jones early hurt quite a bit given the competition going on at RT. As of right now, Myles Hinton is your starting LT, Josh Priebe is your starting LG and Gio El-Hadi will be your starting RG. I have no real questions about the guard spots, but after Hinton was benched last year it will be interesting to see how he rebounds. At center there has been a strong competition between Greg Crippen and Dom Giudice…it sounds like they prefer Raheem Anderson to a depth guard option and that’s fine too. I feel like the center options are good, which is solid. The real question comes at the RT spot. Andrew Gentry was thought to be the leader and battling it out with Jeffrey Persi but according to Sherrone Moore’s comments this week, it’s actually Evan Link that has emerged as the real competition. If I had to guess, I would bet that Crippen and Gentry will start at the two question marks but it would not shock me if Giudice and Link overtook. And at the very least, they will make sure to get Link reps when the game is over and the competition could continue as the games go on. My preference would be to start Link and let’s see what the young kid has got. The fact no one took advantage of the opportunity at C and RT is a bit of a concern but I’ve got to believe that Crippen has been around the offense long enough to have a great grasp on it. As for Gentry, he played in a half dozen games last year so he has some experience. As for the depth behind this crew? It’s a lot of inexperience. There is plenty of supposed talent, but it is quite unproven. Tristan Bounds will be your backup LT with Anderson for either guard spot (perhaps Nathan Efobi) and then the loser of the tackle competition will be the back up at RT. Plenty of questions here and if injuries pop up, there will be a lot of interesting looks and offensive line shuffling. This was bound to happen after losing so many players but if anyone can figure out how to get the OL situated, it’s going to be Sherrone Moore.

DEFENSE

Now we can get to the fun part. As much as the offense is filled with questions that need to be answered, the defense is rock solid and arguably a top 5 unit in the country. You have two first rounders in Kenneth Grant and Mason Graham at the interior DL and then you have two guaranteed draft picks in Josaiah Stewart and Derrick Moore at the end spots. Both of whom I think will go in the top 3 rounds when all is said and done. Stewart and Moore showed last year they have a proficiency for rushing the passer, even if it was more of a rotation. Graham and Grant are just straight up elite game wreckers and can do anything that is asked of them. Behind Graham and Grant will be Rashaun Benny, Trey Pierce and Enow Etta. We’ll have to see how Benny has been healing from the injury he sustained in the Rose Bowl, because the three of them will be counted on to provide depth and be able to spell Grant and Graham. Anything this group can do to get the linebackers free will be big time. I’m expecting TJ Guy to have a pretty big role rotating in on the edge but I’m not sure who will emerge as the 4th or 5th guys in the rotation. Breeon Ishmail, Cameron Brandt, Dominic Nichols and Kechaun Bennett are all there…my guess right now would be Bennett based on experience but Nichols has apparently had a good camp and it would be great to see the true freshman grab a spot. If you look at any Michigan depth chart it always shows them in a base 3-4 but Michigan played a ton of 4-2-5 Nickel last year and I would expect that to continue. Sometimes it’s even more of a 4-3 Under but they’ll have guys stand up to get different pass rush looks. At any rate, this starting defensive line unit is going to have an absolutely monster year. It just remains to be seen who will join the Stewart and Moore as the EDGE rushers.

The starting linebacker situation is great…Michigan got fortunate with another transfer with Jaishawn Barham. Between Barham and Ernest Hausmann, they have two of the best linebackers in the Big Ten. The real issue will be if either one gets hurt. Barham is a specimen and Hausmann proved last year he can play sideline to sideline but behind them it gets hairy quickly. Jimmy Rolder looked terrible last year when he was called into action (injured or not) and with Jaydon Hood, Micah Pollard and Cole Sullivan, it turns into a crew with not a lot of game action. Sullivan has apparently been turning heads in camp and we’ll have to see if that’s real or hype because there is plenty of opportunity for him if it’s real. This is a spot though that gets real scary if Barham or Hausmann miss time. Pray that the Cole Sullivan hype is real and that Jaydon Hood takes a step forward.

The secondary was a bit thin last year and they added Josh Wallace into the fray…well this year they’ve added quite a few transfers but it seems like all of the home grown products have won out the jobs…so far. Will Johnson is a mutant and a future Top 10 pick. He’s one of the best cornerbacks in the country and last year he was dinged up most of the year. Jyaire Hill flashed a bit last year and managed to earn some snaps and now he has taken the starting outside corner spot opposite Will Johnson. This is something you love to see. He had great instincts last year and I have high hopes for him and his future. Looking at nickel…losing Mike Sainristil is a major problem. You don’t replace the heartbeat of the team like that. A do-it-all guy that played everywhere just to get on the field. But Zeke Berry won out the job and looks to be the guy trying to succeed in his absence. I like Berry and I think this is another great sign that a younger player won the position battle. Losing Keon Sabb was a big hit, no doubt about it, so it’s good to see other players step up in his absence. It will be hard to replace Mike but I think Berry is a very talented player. Michigan added Ricky Johnson and Aamir Hall from the portal to try to add depth and create some competition for the outside spots and I would expect them to rotate in. Ja’Den McBurrows looks to be the backup nickel but I wouldn’t count out Kody Jones getting some snaps there. Safety-wise, Michigan took a huge hit losing Rod Moore with a torn ACL in spring ball. Having Makari Paige and Rod Moore back would have been an incredible gift for this secondary. Michigan dipped into the portal and added Jaden Mangham and Wesley Walker to compete with Quinten Johnson (who came back after declaring for the draft) and Brandyn Hillman. Safe to say that Makari’s spot is safe, but I would not be surprised to see some rotation with Johnson, Mangham and Walker. Johnson has the upperhand for now because he has familiarity with the scheme but I would not be surprised if he was eventually replaced. Safety is actually a pretty deep spot, even with the loss of Moore…at least theoretically.

All in all you can see that the defensive side of the ball is pretty encouraging. With the starters there is not much debate or posturing…it’s really just Quinten Johnson’s spot..and that only happened because Rod Moore got hurt. The real questions will rise up if there are any injuries. The depth at linebacker is non-existent and the EDGE spots are unproven. It will be interesting to see how they handle playing time because last year they had such a prevalent rotation at so many defensive spots with their depth. One of the reasons Michigan had such an upperhand on defense, especially late in games, is they were always able to rotate and keep guys fresh and there was not much of a drop off in talent. This year will be quite different from that.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Not much to say here to be honest. Tommy Doman returns and will handle punts and kickoffs and Dominic Zvada transferred in from Arkansas State and beat out Adam Samaha. I’m expecting someone other than Semaj Morgan to return kicks and punts just due to lack of depth at wide receiver…but it also would not shock me if they kept him there to get him touches and to try to flip the field.

DEPTH CHART

An educated guess at how things might look. Very curious to see what the lineup looks like against Fresno State.

SEASON PREDICTION

My season prediction is who cares? Reigning National Champs baby!!

Just kidding, obviously. But after winning a Natty it’s hard to feel like Michigan is playing with anything other than house money. I feel like 8-4 is the floor and 9-3 with losses to Texas, Oregon and Ohio State is the most likely. But for the sake of Ohio State fans being in complete shambles, I’m guessing OSU will lose again this year and Ryan Day will be fired. They’re totally in their own head about the game and Michigan has a swagger right now that cannot be stopped. If Michigan can get the OL and QB situation solidified and the defense avoids any big injuries, this is quite possibly a title contender. And I’m not kidding. This team knows what it takes to win because they’ve been there and with a 12-team playoff, you no longer have to go undefeated (and even then it might not help…sorry Tommy). 10-2 will most assuredly get you into the playoff and 9-3 might have you on the bubble…all you need is to get into the dance and anything can happen! Go Blue!