Daily Brews: What Michigan’s starting offense might look like when 2020 begins

Bye weeks are peak times for “eff it...we’re bored and need something to talk about” content and that’s what our Friday Brews seeks to deliver heading into our last weekend without Michigan football until the season is over.

Michigan’s offense has been the biggest topic of conversation for this season due to the development and growing pains under first-year coordinator Josh Gattis. Those pains have become less and less with each passing week with Gattis developing a feel for the game and the flow of calling plays, as well as players finding a comfort level with the system in place.

But what could the starters look like next year? This is based on a whole lot of nothing, but this is what the lineup could look like in year two of the Jim Harbaugh-Gattis era.

Quarterback: Dylan McCaffrey (RS Jr.)

Running Back: Zach Charbonnet (So.)

Wide Receivers: Donovan Peoples-Jones (Sr.), Tarik Black (RS Jr.), Ronnie Bell (Jr.)

Tight End: Erick All (So.)

Left Tackle: Ryan Hayes (RS So.)

Left Guard: Chuck Filiaga (RS Jr.)

Center: Cesar Ruiz (Sr.)

Right Guard: Nolan Rumler (RS Fr.)

Right Tackle: Jalen Mayfield (RS So.)

Now for a few thoughts.

• I’m not as sold as a lot of Michigan fans seem to be on McCaffrey. He’s got a chance to be really good, but Joe Milton’s development as a passer throughout the rest of this year and throughout the offseason is going to make this the best and most legitimate quarterback battle the Wolverines have had under Harbaugh, assuming everyone stays and no other factors are added in.
• The running back position gets a heck of a lot more interesting if Chris Evans winds up back on the team in 2020.
• My gut says that there’s a chance Michigan loses two of its “big three” wide receivers this offseason, but for now, let’s project one. When teams put on the film, they’ll see at the very least a day two draft pick in Nico Collins. With what this offense looks like it wants to be, it’s going to be impossible for all of those guys to showcase their talents all at once. Collins is the most ready for the NFL now.
• The offensive line will be extremely fluid this offseason with three All-Big Ten performers graduating. The good news is that we know who is going to fill out the tackle spots, and then there’s Andrew Stueber returning from injury. The question becomes who the best five will end up being. Part of me wonders if Mayfield may be able to kick inside to guard if you’re trying to get your top five lineman out there. This will be the biggest non-quarterback storyline of the offseason.

Michigan fans weigh in on possible home-and-homes

On Thursday, we posted a story listing some hypothetical home-and-home matchups that Michigan fans would like to see moving forward. The massive haul of votes have been counted (thanks to Google forms) and here’s what you guys said you were most interested in with one series coming in way ahead of the rest.

LSU - 42.1 percent

USC - 13.5 percent

Clemson - 11 percent

Georgia - 7.7 percent

Tennessee - 7.5 percent

Miami (Fla.) - 5 percent

Auburn - 3.1 percent

Oregon - 2.8 percent

Oklahoma State - 1.5 percent

We’ll share more on these as the votes continue to come in. At the time of this posting, this was based on 816 submissions from fans, so these top candidates are pretty solidified. We will share the final totals once we hit 1,000.

Other Brews

• Michigan LB Josh Uche has received and accepted an invite to the Reese’s Senior Bowl in January, which would seem to squash the idea he could come back for a fifth season in Ann Arbor.
• Deion freaking Sanders is apparently now a candidate for Florida State’s head coaching job. What a world.
• Butch Jones has removed his name from the Rutgers coaching search. Probably not the best place for the career rehab that he is looking for, anyways.