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WINTER GARDEN, FL — The Wolverines held their first practice in Orlando in preparation for Alabama in the VRBO Citrus Bowl on Friday, and WolverinesWire got an opportunity to check out the first 20-plus minutes of the maize and blue in action.
Here are some of our takeaways from what we saw as Michigan got in shells for the first time in Florida:
Quinten Johnson back to practice
The freshman safety, who we hadn’t seen dress for the majority of the season as he was dealing with injury, seems to be back in good health, as he dressed and was back with the team as it prepares for the VRBO Citrus Bowl.
Could he play?
Ben VanSumeren with the tight ends
It’s been a long journey for Essexville (MI) Garber product Ben VanSumeren, who started his Michigan career at fullback, then switched to linebacker, then to running back.
At practice on Friday, WolverinesWire noticed that VanSumeren was working with the tight ends, so it looks like there’s another position switch for the in-state talent.
Quarterback observations
It doesn’t look like, for the most part, that starting QB Shea Patterson has missed a beat. While we did see a handful of overthrows still, he managed to drop the ball right into the wideouts’ basket most of the time. Notably, a pass he threw to WR Donovan Peoples-Jones was high-pointed down the seam, the type of catch only he could make (though, that was not an easy catch-and-run type of deal). Also witnessed a couple nice catch-and-runs by Ronnie Bell, who seems to be continuing where he left of.
The same could be said of Dylan McCaffrey, though we didn’t see him throw many deep routes. The few passes we saw of freshman Cade McNamara were somewhat uneven, as he made a couple really nice throws, but missed on a few as well.
Joe Milton, from what we saw, looked about the same, but we didn’t see anything either spectacular nor horrendous.
Chuck Filiaga looked really good
When watching the offensive line, noticed that Chuck Filiaga absolutely dominated in his one-on-one matchups. He looks even more physically imposing than what we remembered.
What was particularly notable was seeing him standing next to freshman tackle Trevor Keegan, who looks big in his own right standing alone. But as he stood next to Filiaga between drills, it became obvious that the third-year lineman from Aledo (TX) already has the physical stature to be a solid guard in the Big Ten, and also looked the part in drills.
We Didn’t see Christian Turner
But that doesn’t mean anything as far as his status with the team.
After speaking with a Michigan team spokesperson, they confirmed that Turner will be arriving in Orlando in a matter of days, as he’s been dealing with an undisclosed injury.
Speaking of injuries…
After missing the last two games, safety Brad Hawkins was fully dressed and ready to go, and looked good in what limited action we saw him in. Same can be said of defensive tackle Carlo Kemp, who was significantly banged up in the Ohio State game. Kemp, however, was doing more individual work from what we saw, rather than working with the group. Defensive tackle Phillip Paea, who’s had intermittent injury issues was practicing in full gear, as well.
Freshman defensive end Mike Morris was not dressed, but was working out individually. If that holds, it might put his opportunity to play in the bowl game in jeopardy.
Michael Barrett notably bigger
The VIPER of the future looks like he’s growing into a behemoth.
Since we last noticed him, Barrett looked like a physical specimen, and, from a body composition standpoint, looks ready to step in and make an impact at the hybrid linebacker position.
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