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Now that the 2019 season is in the books, it’s time to start looking ahead to 2020.
Michigan’s offense will have some returning players, but there’s a lot of churn due to graduation, transfer and players choosing to go pro.
Here’s what we see out of the offense, who is in contention for either starting roles or major playing time, and what we expect to happen once Michigan takes on Washington in Week One.
Quarterback
Michigan will have four scholarship quarterbacks on the roster, but it’s seen by many as a two way battle between redshirt junior Dylan McCaffrey and redshirt sophomore Joe Milton.
No offense to redshirt freshman Cade McNamara or incoming true freshman Dan Villari, but the elder statesmen are the ones who will be in prime position to take over the starting job given their tenures, and they possess certain qualities that differentiate one from the other.
McCaffrey — as we’ve seen — is more of a typical dual-threat, as he looks to run just as much as pass, despite coming to Ann Arbor as a pro-style QB. It’s gotten him into trouble twice, as he broke his collarbone running for a touchdown in 2018 against Penn State and was concussed this past year at Wisconsin. We haven’t seen him throw the ball much, and he’s just over a career 50% passer, completing 10-of-20 in 2019 and 8-of-15 in 2018.
Milton is an incredibly strong-armed passer who’s spent much of his time in Ann Arbor working on his touch and accuracy. He can run — as he’s shown — but he came out of high school as a prototypical pocket passer.
In our opinion, the more accurate quarterback in spring ball and fall camp will be the one who wins the job. Part of that will be the rapport with the receivers as well as mastery of the playbook. Both should be even in that case.
Prediction:
Dylan McCaffrey wins the job by a hair, but should the loser of the starting competition remain and not transfer, both will play often, like the plan was going into 2019 before McCaffrey’s concussion in Week Four.
running back
This will be Michigan’s most loaded position group going into 2020.
The only questions about returning players as of now centers around redshirt senior Tru Wilson — who hasn’t announced whether or not he’ll come back for a fifth-year — and redshirt junior Christian Turner, who’s been plagued by injuries and didn’t travel with the team to Orlando for the VRBO Citrus Bowl. A team spokesman said the latter would have traveled but for the injury, and that he would come to town later, but that never matriculated.
Michigan doesn’t just return its one-two punch in Zach Charbonnet and Hassan Haskins, but also adds senior Chris Evans back into the mix, and true freshman early-enrollee Blake Corum — a potential game breaker — has three practices under his belt and is now on campus in official capacity.
We expect Charbonnet and Haskins to continue to lead the charge, but what is there to do with Evans? He certainly could become something of an H-back — in the way Curtis Samuel was for Ohio State — in that he can be utilized as a versatile skill-position player who also is a wideout as much as a running back.
Prediction:
Pretty much the status quo with the caveat that Evans will be put all over the field. Corum will burn his redshirt and get significant playing time. Evans will take a minute to get going since he took a year off of football.
Offensive line
Michigan now has the unenviable position of replacing four-out-of-five starters on the OL, with center Cesar Ruiz declaring for the NFL Draft and the other three graduating.
The Wolverines have incredible depth at the position, however, with some excellent recruiting classes waiting their turn to come in and get their shot. That includes former four-star guard Chuck Filiaga, who has been the subject of transfer rumors, but hasn’t yet indicated a departure, and the highly-touted 2019 class. Given that Jalen Mayfield returns as a starter and Ryan Hayes has two starts under his belt — both at the tackle positions — the questions are more about who will take over the interior positions.
Any number of candidates could step up in that regard. Stephen Spanellis announced his transfer, and we’ll see if Andrew Vastardis comes back for a fifth-year (he replaced Ruiz in the Ohio State game after he went down with injury). Vastardis and redshirt freshman Zach Carpenter are the candidates for center, Filiaga for one guard position, while others — Nolan Rumler, Joel Honigford, Karsen Barnhart, Jack Stewart, and Andrew Stueber (who’s returning from an ACL tear) — all could compete for the other guard position, or even at tackle.
There’s a lot of options, and a ton of time for it to be figured out.
Prediction:
Again, a ton of time, but if we were to guess, the line would be Hayes – Filiaga – Carpenter – Stueber – Mayfield if it were cemented today.
Tight end
It’s huge news that redshirt senior Nick Eubanks chose to return for his final year, especially with Sean McKeon graduating. But Michigan likes to run deep at tight end, with two considered starters, so someone has to come in and fill the other role.
With Mustapha Muhammad transferring to Houston midseason, there essentially are two options here: redshirt sophomore Luke Schoonmaker and true sophomore Erick All.
The depth isn’t quite what it was going into 2019, but given that Schoonmaker played the more integral role during the season, we expect him to still have the leg up in that regard. However, All will play early and often, regardless.
Prediction:
Eubanks and Schoonmaker start, All gets significant time all the same.
Wide receiver
Michigan loses a lot, but also gains a lot at this position.
Tarik Black transferred, Donovan Peoples-Jones declared for the draft, but Nico Collins announced his return for his senior year on Sunday. Leading receiver Ronnie Bell will be a true junior, and Giles Jackson, Mike Sainristil and Cornelius Johnson all return. Nate Schoenle was out with injury all season, but put on 10-pounds of solid muscle in the interim, and should see playing time. Michigan adds A.J. Henning, speedster Roman Wilson and Sainristil clone Eamonn Dennis to the fold.
Like the running back position, it’s an embarrassment of riches.
Prediction:
Starters are Collins on one side, Bell at slot, and going with Johnson on the other side. Jackson and Sainristil will have packages. Henning will backup wherever, and Wilson will also get significant playing time. The freshmen will burn their redshirts.