Three Standout Players from Michigan’s Spring Game

With the 2023 Spring Game done and dusted, no doubt fans of Michigan football are picking apart every last thread of information they can to figure out what this team will look like in five months' time.

While one can’t give too much credence to what they saw in the scrimmage, there were a few standout performances that could spell big things both in the immediate and long term future.

Here are three of the most noteworthy performances at this year’s spring game:

Peyton O’Leary

Coming out of the game, the most immediate hype surrounded wide receiver Peyton O’Leary. Now a full fledged scholarship player, O’Leary looked to have an almost effortless connection with both J.J McCarthy and Davis Warren on the field — pulling in six of his seven targets for 126 yards and also catching the game winning two-point conversion.

While no one would make any substantive claim to O’Leary dethroning Cornelius Johnson and Roman Wilson at the top of the depth chart, don’t be surprised if he catches his fair share of targets this fall — even potentially becoming the WR3 or WR4 of this squad.

Benjamin Hall

While O’Leary made the most buzz through the air on Saturday, Benjamin Hall turned an equal number of heads with his performance on the grown. The true freshman earned comparisons to Hassan Haskins in the post game press conference, and with a 96-yard, touchdown scoring day in the spring game it’s not hard to see why.

Much like O’Leary’s situation, the odds of Hall’s spring game hype turning into a substantial role this season are non existent — the plain reality of having two Heisman hopefuls in Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards in the starting spots. However, don’t be surprised to be hearing Hall’s name a couple years down the road. With fellow true freshman Cole Cabana also a well regarded prospect headed into spring camp this year, there could be a little remix of thunder and lightning in the cards.

Ernest Hausmann

O’Leary and Hall may be long term prospects, but Ernest Hausmann entered this spring camp with the weight of being a presumptive starter on his shoulders. On Saturday, he proved why he was one of the top ranked transfer prospects in the nation.

Hausmann led both the Maize and Blue teams in tackles in the game with eight (four solo and four assisted), while also notching a forced fumble. It was about as strong a debut in the maize and blue you could ask for from Hausmann, and it bodes well for his role on the team in the fall.