At the outset of fall camp, ESPN analyst Greg McElroy was bearish on Michigan football’s chances in 2024. However, as the Wolverines progress towards the season opener, McElroy is adjusting his tune.
On the Always College Football Podcast, McElroy shares some nuggets he’s hearing out of Ann Arbor in fall camp, and it sounds to him like maybe the maize and blue have a more dynamic offense and complete team than he realized.
Thus, instead of insisting that Michigan is likely to take a step back as he had earlier this month, now he appears to believe that the Wolverines are firmly in the hunt to repeat as national champions.
“What if Michigan, defending national champs, what if they are more dynamic offensively this year?” McElroy said. “We’ve said for a while, Michigan is going to win with defense. Michigan is going to be able to get it done because of their depth in the front seven. Defensively, Michigan’s going to be able to basically hold everybody under 20 points, and if they want to win game 17-14, they are very comfortable taking that path to victory.
“Didn’t really think about the possibility that they would be potentially more dynamic (offensively).
“How could you? You lose J.J. McCarthy, who’s a first round pick at quarterback. You lose Blake Corum, an all-time great running back there for the Michigan Wolverines. You lose Roman Wilson, who was always super clutch, super clutch, made big plays when it needed to be made — he always seemed to make it. And Cornelius Johnson, who had great, big-play potential every time he stepped on the field — not to mention an offensive line that pretty much all went on to the NFL. So we kind of knew what the offense was these last couple years. It was, hey, we’re going to ground and pound it, we’re going to shrink the game, we’re going to play ball control, we’re going to create big plays off play-action. Our offensive weaponry is very underrated, but the star of the show is really going to be the offensive line, and that’s really who we are.
“But it sounds like so far in fall camp, the new OC Kirk Campbell is kind of opening things up a little bit. There’s been a lot of competition. Given the fact that this team lost 13 players to the NFL draft last year, means there’s a lot of vacancies offensively, a lot of guys vying for those jobs, and maybe that’s made everybody a little bit better. Sounds like the offensive line is coming together. And if you listen to some of the defenders that have been speaking on behalf of the guys that they’re playing against, sounds like this offense is winning their fair share of the battles, which wouldn’t be expected when taking into account some of the pieces that are back off of last year’s national championship winning team on the defensive side.
“It also sounds like Alex Orji, who primarily in his career has been asked to be a runner, be athletic — I mean, the guy’s got 21 carries for 123 yards and three touchdowns in his career. He has one pass attempt for five yards, so you kind of look at what he’s been asked to do, and I don’t think they’re going to deviate too much from his strength. He’s going to be a factor in the run game, but it sounds like the advancements he’s made throwing the football have been pretty drastic. This offseason, been buzz about multiple touchdown passes throughout the scrimmages. Sounds like he’s been kind of carving them up, and it sounds like this underrated group of wide receivers is actually ahead of schedule. It also sounds like they’re a little deeper at running back than I had originally anticipated.
“So if Michigan’s more dynamic offensively, they come into the season ranked No. 9. Y’all, they’re going to be back in the playoff mix because this defense will be able to carry them, but if their defense doesn’t have to carry them, and the offense is actually super dynamic and difficult to defend, then look out, they’re back into not just being a playoff contender, but back into becoming a national championship contender — even in spite of the 13 absences of the guys that are now playing professionally.”