Kicker
| Jake Moody |
| Karl Kerska |
Jake Moody has handled kickoffs every game since he arrived in Ann Arbor. We anticipate that will stay the same.
We surmise his backup would be second-year Dexter (MI) native Karl Kerska, but it could also be Quinn Nordin, though Nordin has primarily been at place kicker for field goals.
Place Kicker
| Quinn Nordin |
| Jake Moody |
This was a back-and-forth battle between Nordin and Moody from the tail end of the 2018 season, but Nordin seemed to have the job in-hand late last year. With him returning for his fifth-year, we anticipate he’ll run with it, just barely holding Moody off.
Punter
| Will Hart (or) Brad Robbins |
Though we haven’t heard anything concrete as to whether or not Will Hart is returning for a fifth-year, we anticipate that he is. After being benched early in 2017, he returned in 2018 to have a breakout year. Brad Robbins was the man who supplanted him in early 2017, but has been out with injury.
We expect this to be a heated battle, and wouldn’t be surprised if both saw time this year.
Kick Returner
| Giles Jackson |
| Roman Wilson (or) Mike Sainristil |
Giles Jackson led the charge last year, and there’s no reason for him to not continue. He had a touchdown against Maryland to open the game, and was close to returning another at Indiana.
The bigger question is who would be his alternates. Given his speed, we could see first-year wide receiver Roman Wilson getting a chance, but Mike Sainristil seems like another obvious choice.
Punt Returner
| Mike Sainristil |
| Roman Wilson (or) Ambry Thomas |
Given that Sainristil could be a kick returner, we’re giving him the nod at punt returns. The past three seasons, Michigan has used different men for kicks and punts, but in 2015-16, Jabrill Peppers did both.
Special teams in the offseason is always a lot of guesstimation, so we’re going with Sainristil. Same thing with kicks applies with Wilson and punts, but we also wouldn’t be surprised if Ambry Thomas got a chance. He returned kicks in 2017-18, but due to his bout with colitis last offseason, he stuck strictly with cornerback.
Longsnapper
| Cam Cheeseman |
| William Wagner (or) Greg Tarr |
Cam Cheeseman has one more season of eligibility and should be returning as the starting longsnapper. Behind him, we have second-year LS William Wagner and true freshman Greg Tarr, both five-stars in specialist recruiting rankings.