Projected Michigan football post-spring depth chart: Offense
Michigan Wolverines football‘s spring practices are in the books, and the summer cycle will soon be here. More players will join the team this summer, and others are on track to getting healthy, ahead of a late-July start to fall camp.
Here’s our depth chart projection for Michigan’s offense coming out of the spring, with at least two deep at each position. This projection takes into account injuries, but includes players that we expect to be healthy by the time fall camp rolls around. This isn’t a prediction on where things will be in fall camp or at the beginning of the season, but rather a look at where things stand now.
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Quarterback
1.Junior J.J. McCarthy6-3, 1962.Junior Davis Warren6-2, 195ORGraduate Jack Tuttle6-4, 2104.Sophomore Alex Orji6-3, 235
McCarthy is Michigan’s No. 1 quarterback — no ifs ands or buts about it.
The Warren vs. Tuttle competition will continue into the summer (and likely into the season), it appears. Tuttle was “on fire” to begin spring practices, per Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh, but Warren was spoken highly of, as well. Both had their moments (good and bad) in the spring game, but neither looked to be the clear leader ahead of the other.
Orji remains one of the more interesting players on the roster. We have him slotted fourth here, but it wouldn’t shock if Michigan finds a role for him this fall.
Running back
1.Senior Blake Corum5-8, 2102.Junior Donovan Edwards6-1, 2043.Senior Kalel Mullings6-2, 2324.Sophomore CJ Stokes5-10, 1965.Freshman Benjamin Hall5-11, 235
Corum and Edwards are No. 1 and No. 2, and both will get plenty of run this fall. They could see the field together, too, with position coach and run game coordinator Mike Hart recently pointing out once again that Edwards could start at slot receiver for plenty of other teams (and probably at Michigan if he wanted to, in our opinion).
The No. 3 running back spot is up for grabs. It looks like Mullings has the lead, but he’s being pushed by Stokes and Hall, an early enrollee who was one of the bigger stories of the spring game. Hall rushed for 96 yards and 1 touchdown on 13 carries in the scrimmage.
This group is extremely deep, Hart pointed out. Freshman Cole Cabana is dealing with a lower-body injury and could be used in some capacity this fall, as well.
Wide receiver
PositionXWR / HZ1.Graduate Cornelius Johnson6-3, 208Sophomore Tyler Morris5-11, 185Senior Roman Wilson6-0, 1852.Sophomore Darrius Clemons6-3, 214OR Senior A.J. Henning5-10, 185Junior Peyton O’Leary6-3, 1953.Freshman Fredrick Moore6-1, 176Freshman Semaj Morgan5-10, 180Junior Cristian Dixon6-2, 195
It’s always important to note with wide receivers that Michigan cross trains each player, and depending on situation, many of them will play multiple spots.
Neither Morris nor Henning played in the spring game. The former was a spring standout mentioned by teammates and may take the job.
Clemons and O’Leary look like the next two behind Johnson and Wilson on the outside. Both — especially O’Leary — flashed in the scrimmage.
Moore and Morgan were impressive and both look like they could out-play their three-star rankings.
Tight end
1.Freshman Colston Loveland6-5, 237ORSenior AJ Barner6-6, 2503.Senior Matthew Hibner6-5, 2454.Junior Max Bredeson6-2, 232
Loveland and Barner will both see the field together quite a bit. Michigan had multiple tight ends on the field in over half of its snaps last season, for reference. We project Loveland will play more at the ‘Y’ spot — he even lined up wide quite a bit in the spring game, a potential sign of things to come — and Barner will be more in-line at the ‘TE / H’ position.
A pleasant surprise of the Michigan spring game was how well Hibner played. He’s one who’s been buried on the depth chart behind talented tight ends his entire career, but may be able to make a move as a senior. Bredeson is still a valuable asset as an ‘H.’
Offensive line
PositionLTLGCRGRT1.Graduate Karsen Barnhart6-5, 308Graduate Trevor Keegan6-6, 305Graduate Drake Nugent6-1, 300Senior Zak Zinter6-6, 315Graduate Trente Jones6-4, 3112.Graduate LaDarius Henderson6-5, 310Junior Giovanni El-Hadi6-5, 317Junior Raheem Anderson6-3, 320Senior Reece Atteberry6-5, 315Senior Myles Hinton6-6, 3203.Junior Tristan Bounds6-8, 311Sophomore Andrew Gentry6-7, 312OR Junior Greg Crippen6-4, 301OR Freshman Amir Herring6-3, 305Senior Jeffrey Persi6-8, 309
Henderson, an Arizona State transfer who will join the Michigan team this summer, could absolutely come in and win the left tackle job. That’d put Barnhart back into consideration at right tackle, where he started eight games last season. Barnhart, Jones and Hinton are quite the potential trio for one spot.
Michigan offensive coordinator and line coach Sherrone Moore is all about playing the best five linemen, and plenty of players listed above have positional versatility. Gentry, for example, plays both tackle and guard, Barnhart has done both in his career, and someone like Persi can play either tackle. If injuries occur — as we saw last season — Michigan will mix and match to find that best five.
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