The Michigan Wolverines would have had their open spring football practice on Saturday afternoon in Ann Arbor, but like everything else in our world now, those types of things are not taking place.
There will be a lot of new faces in prominent positions this season, assuming there is one. Spring practices would have seen a lot of those position battles start to play out and a loose pecking order begin to take place. Without that, all we are left to do is speculate seeing as weight room reps and winter conditioning is not enough to accurate paint that picture.
Let us pretend for the sake of the exercise, though! Here are the units on both sides of the ball.
(Note: This is the entire roster including the players that did not enroll early)
Offense
Pos. | First | Second | Third |
---|---|---|---|
Pos. | First | Second | Third |
QB | Dylan McCaffrey | Joe Milton | Cade McNamara |
RB | Zach Charbonnet, Hassan Haskins | Chris Evans | Christian Turner, Blake Corum |
FB | Ben Mason | Ben VanSumeren | |
WR1 | Nico Collins | Cornelius Johnson | Roman Wilson |
WR2 | Ronnie Bell | Mike Sainristil | |
Slot | Giles Jackson | AJ Henning | Eamonn Dennis |
TE | Nick Eubanks | Erick All | Luke Schoonmaker, Matthew Hibner |
LT | Ryan Hayes | Trente Jones | Jack Stewart, Zak Zinter |
LG | Chuck Filiaga | Karsen Barnhart | |
C | Zach Carpenter | Andrew Vastardis | Reece Atteberry |
RG | Andrew Stueber | Nolan Rumler | |
RT | Jalen Mayfield | Joel Honigford | Trevor Keegan, Jeffery Persi |
Offensive Thoughts:
- Dylan McCaffrey likely entered the offseason as the favorite to start and there is no reason to think that still is not the case. In fact, the lack of practice reps might make it more likely given that he has more experience than Joe Milton.
- Zach Charbonnet and Hassan Haskins enter the year as a 1a. and 1b. tandem. The staff will hand to ride the hot hand, but Charbonnet is the roster’s most complete back. How Chris Evans winds up factoring in will be fun to watch when the time comes.
- Ronnie Bell’s production was tied to chemistry with Shea Patterson. Will someone else emerge with new variables at the quarterback position?
- It will be interesting to see where Stueber fits in if he is one of the best five linemen on the roster. Outside of Jalen Mayfield, nothing feels set up front.
Defense
Pos. | First | Second | Third |
---|---|---|---|
Pos. | First | Second | Third |
SDE | Kwity Paye | David Ojabo, Taylor Upshaw | Kris Jenkins, Julius Welschof |
DT | Chris Hinton | Mazi Smith | Donovan Jeter, Mike Morris |
NT | Carlo Kemp | Jess Speight | Phillip Paea |
WDE | Aidan Hutchinson | Luiji Viliain | Braden McGregor, Aaron Lewis |
SLB | Mike Barrett | Anthony Solomon | Joey Velasquez, Nikhai Hill-Green, William Mohan |
MLB | Cam McGrone | Cornell Wheeler, Kalel Mullings | Edward Warriner, Charles Thomas |
WLB | Josh Ross | Ben VanSumeren | Osman Savage |
CB | Ambry Thomas | DJ Turner | Gemon Green, George Johnson |
FS | Dax Hill | Germon Green | Makari Paige |
SS | Brad Hawkins | Quinten Johnson | Jordan Morant, RJ Moten |
CB | Vincent Gray | Sammy Faustin | Jalen Perry, Andre Seldon, Darion Green-Warren |
Defensive Thoughts:
- Jess Speight is going to be a polarizing player among the fanbase. He has busted his tail to earn his spot and has been a trending name since bowl week, but if his snaps come at the expense of Chris Hinton and Mazi Smith, fans are going to freak out. The best players should play, regardless of previous accolades. But it would be nice to see everyone get an opportunity.
- Mike Barrett and Joey Velasquez are the two players that are expected to battle for the VIPER position. We will have to see how Joss Ross is worked in at linebacker. It feels likely see see a decent amount of three-man fronts.
- The starters in the secondary are all but set, but depth behind them at every single spot is something that needs to be worked out. I have no idea what this could look like yet.
- Specialists aren’t listed here, but would expect Jake Moody and Quinn Nordin to once again trade responsibilities at kicker. Giles Jackson is Michigan’s most valuable weapon in the return game.
A reminder that we plan to update the depth chart when more information comes available. That can be accessed here.