Year over year, regardless of coaching changes and the like, analysts, media types, and fans tend to look at Michigan football by position group, vying to determine how much they’ve perhaps improved or devolved from the previous season. For the Wolverines, given the coaching changes, there’s a lot to like, especially given Kyle Whittingham’s ability to do more with less. But what about the rooms themselves? In terms of improving the maize and blue’s chances just via the roster, how much better or worse did each get?
Taking a look at just the five primary offensive positions, we’re analyzing how much the rooms have improved from last year. We’re taking into account new faces, more experience, player trajectories, and more to determine just how much better, worse, or even the same.
Quarterback
Verdict: Better
The majority of the post-spring game Michigan football banter has surrounded quarterback Bryce Underwood and whether or not he’s made any improvements from last year. Our position has been that to extrapolate an admittedly discouraging showing from nine passes attempted in an intersquad scrimmage in April isn’t the best barometer to determine his progress or lack thereof.
While we aren’t necessarily adding coaching prowess into the equation, it is worth noting that Underwood will be getting a lot more hands-on time compared to the previous regime, now that he has Jason Beck and Koy Detmer Jr. overseeing his development. Though it’s still a work in progress, Underwood himself should be much improved from his freshman campaign.
But we’re not solely looking at one player as we go room to room. Though the Wolverines lost Mikey Keene, Davis Warren, Jake Garcia, and Jadyn Davis, they added Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi (arriving this summer) via the transfer portal, along with recruits Tommy Carr and Brady Smigiel. Chase Herbstreit, aside from Underwood, is the only holdover from the previous team. Carr was impressive in the spring game, which shows the Wolverines perhaps have another option there. Fowler-Nicolosi, assuming he can digest the playbook in a quick fashion, easily has the most snaps on the roster and has multiple years of starting experience. Smigiel is recovering from a senior year ACL tear and is unlikely to be in the mix this year. Michigan had added LSU transfer Colin Hurley in the winter, but he left the team early in spring ball.
There aren’t a ton of bodies in the room, but the floor feels like it’s been lifted. The ceiling is still only as high as Bryce Underwood can take it, as he has the physical tools that the others just can’t match. But he wasn’t pushed as much in spring ball as perhaps was hoped. Even still, the room is better off than it was this time last year, when all of the team’s hopes were pinned on a talented but inexperienced freshman.
Running backs
Verdict: Same
In terms of personnel, it’s a fair trade for Michigan football to lose the talented, experienced, but oft-injured Justice Haynes for five-star freshman phenom Savion Hiter. They’re different kinds of runners, and it remains to be seen if Hiter can find that home-run hitting gear that Haynes had. But, his 10 carries for 44 yards in the spring game was tantalizing in a way that made people forget that Jordan Marshall is the clear-cut starter.
Marshall was very impressive last year, and that continued this spring. He’ll be the 1A to Hiter’s 1B, the staff says, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them both on the field at the same time quite often. Bryson Kuzdzal, who saw extended time and started late in the season last year, withdrew from the transfer portal and should be a nice change of pace back. Micah Ka’apana had high hopes, but he was already ruled out for the season with an injury.
Beyond those three, there’s not a lot of obvious depth. Jonathan Brown is a true freshman, and he told WolverinesWire last summer that even he figures himself to be a developmental prospect. Donovan Johnson hasn’t shown the same promise as he did before a series of injuries that started in high school. Regardless, it’s hard to top the three-headed monster Michigan has at running back, unless you look to last year.
Wide receiver
Verdict: Better
Perhaps the most improved unit on the entire team, the wide receivers in Ann Arbor have the look of a group that could actually strike some fear into the hearts of defensive backs. And that’s not something that could have been said in recent years.
After a breakout second half of the season last year, Andrew Marsh figures to be the ‘top dawg’ of the group. Utah transfer JJ Buchanan, also entering his second year, had the type of year that wasn’t too far off from Cornelius Johnson’s junior campaign or Roman Wilson’s sophomore year in terms of catches and yards. But there’s a lot of other names who have joined the team who should be high-production players. Jaime Ffrench was ranked as high as No. 26 overall by ESPN as a recruit, and he transferred over from Texas, where he redshirted behind players like Ryan Wingo and Parker Livingstone. Salesi Moa, a five-star according to Rivals, spent a week in Salt Lake City before transferring to Ann Arbor. Travis Johnson was electric as a high school senior and enrolled early. And there are other returning players (Channing Goodwin, Kendrick Bell, Jacob Washington) who very well could take another step forward after getting increased experience last year.
The room feels much closer to a bona fide weapon than it has in years past. Yes, they still have to prove they can produce, but there’s a lot to like about the bodies that now comprise the unit. It would now actually be a surprise if this group doesn’t take a massive step forward.
Tight end
Verdict: Worse
Now, on one hand, this group could be better, as players like Zack Marshall and Deakon Tonielli played well when unexpectedly thrust into action last year. It wouldn’t surprise if, in the aggregate, the tight ends have better numbers than they had recently. However, a lot of the group’s hopes rest on Hogan Hansen not only remaining healthy, but living up to his potential. But otherwise, even though NFL draft pick Marlin Klein didn’t quite reach his promised heights, losing him does hurt the room, as the only offseason addition was Mason Bonner, a true freshman who arrives in summer.
That said, it will be interesting to see how the aforementioned, along with Jalen Hoffman and Eli Owens, figure into the Jason Beck offense. Owens quietly had the best receiving performance in the spring game, much like Hoffman had the year before. But that doesn’t always (it often doesn’t, actually) equate to in-season usage or capability.
Regardless, there’s less hype surrounding the tight ends compared to a lot of year’s past, and worse doesn’t spell doom. It just says that the roster isn’t quite as deep as it once was, but it certainly still could achieve great things.
Offensive line
Verdict: Better
The question will be how much better, though.
There’s a lot to like about the offensive line this year, even if there aren’t 10 obvious players who could take the field at any given time. The staff reportedly loves Andrew Babalola, and it’s not even clear that, when healthy, he’ll have a starting spot. Two of the three third-year players — Blake Frazier and Jake Guarnera — were unexpectedly thrust into action last year, and both exceled once called upon. Andrew Sprague had a little bit of a rough start but settled in by year’s end. Nathan Efobi looked good in spot duty as well in the few weeks where he saw action. Evan Link had improved greatly before he was lost for the season with an injury. And then there’s Brady Norton, who is still in the mix, along with second-year guard Avery Gach.
That essentially sums up the group, and we didn’t put positions because you never know where players will end up (though it’s likely that Guarnera is the starting center, but other than that, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the staff finagle it so whoever is considered the best starting five ends up on the field in some capacity). The depth isn’t nearly what it was a few years ago, but the same could have been said back in 2021, when the line didn’t even have high expectations (it won the Joe Moore Award that year).
There are still questions about the pass protection, and those couldn’t be answered by a split-squad spring game. So it will be interesting to see how the unit does in that regard. The offensive line will be better, the main question is by how much?
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: How Michigan football offensive units stack up now
Reporting by Isaiah Hole, Wolverines Wire / Wolverines Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Isaiah Hole, Wolverines Wire | USA TODAY Network
