"Worst case" Starting Lineup - Football 2024
I was curious what the "worst case" lineup would be for Michigan next year if almost literally everyone who could leave left and no new players came in. I took a little liberty with the OL for guys who are past their third year, but aren't really going anywhere. This feels like an 8-4 type team, depending on QB play.
OL - Persi, El Hadi, Crippen, Priebe, Gentry
TE – Loveland, Tonieli
QB – Orji / Denegal / Davis
FB – Bredeson
RB – Hall / Henderson / Cabana
WR – Morris, Morgan, Moore
DL – Moore, Grant, Graham, Guy
LB – Hausman, Rolder
CB – Johnson, Waller / Hill
NK – K Jones
S – Sabb, Hillman
January 12th, 2024 at 2:31 PM ^
Missing Barnham, the LB transfer from Maryland.
January 12th, 2024 at 3:26 PM ^
And don't forget Ja'Den McBurrows.
If Mike Sanristil says to "stay tuned" on him, I will gladly oblige.
January 12th, 2024 at 4:22 PM ^
Judging by what he showed down the stretch, I think it’s fair to say that Mcburrows has already provided sufficient proof of concept. If he can (finally) enjoy the benefits of a healthy offseason in fort Herbert, McBurrows may have star potential in 2024.
January 12th, 2024 at 2:33 PM ^
I appreciate the effort to really do "worst case," but I think some things are missing:
LB -- You forget that Barham has transferred to Michigan from Maryland. So he'll be in there.
OL -- Hinton probably will start. And even a worst case scenario should have a couple of (as of yet unknown) transfers in it.
RB -- Mullings needs to be in here, because there is no realistic chance that he leaves. (And what a beast he is going to be).
DL -- I know this is "worst case," but Stewart looks very likely to return to me. We'll have another great D line.
So the question is QB. We'll be fine to excellent at every position group. But JJ's decision looms very large over Team 145.
January 12th, 2024 at 2:38 PM ^
Also missing the freshman TEs. I'd expect at least one of Prieskorn and Hansen to contribute next year.
January 12th, 2024 at 2:42 PM ^
Yea there's guys missing from his list. LB I feel pretty good about, receivers are being missed but weren't irreplaceable, and Mullings looks GREAT when he touches the ball.
IOL and QB are the big ? and I have some faith in this staff on the OL. Without JJ, it still looks like a great team - something like 2021 or one of the pre-Covid teams, but the Big Ten is better now so the result may be a top-15 "bubble" team in the CFP. With JJ, I think we still look like Big Ten contenders, nestled in the top-10, fighting for a shot at a bye.
January 12th, 2024 at 2:50 PM ^
If JJ leaves, someone valuable will enter the portal to replace him. If Deboer leaves UW, it's open season.
January 12th, 2024 at 3:48 PM ^
I'm a big fan of Mullings as well but he is a senior. Does he have another year of eligibility due to the covid year in 2020?
January 12th, 2024 at 2:33 PM ^
That D still looks stout to me. Graham, Grant and Moore look like terrors for the opposition.
January 13th, 2024 at 9:11 AM ^
Graham and Grant could easily be the best tackle tandem in the country. Hell, they probably were this year by seasons end and Grant could be a top 10 pick. Masons a beast and would be a 1st rounder, but with Grants size and his forever tape of catching Penn states running back who had a 5 yard head start….yeah!
January 12th, 2024 at 2:34 PM ^
I like Mulllings at running back unless he is out of eligibility
January 12th, 2024 at 2:36 PM ^
While, yeah, this is worst case, don't you think Trente comes back for a starting role?
January 12th, 2024 at 2:43 PM ^
I believe he's going to the Senior Bowl, isn't he?
January 12th, 2024 at 2:56 PM ^
Nope, there's been no word on Jones going to the Senior Bowl.
January 12th, 2024 at 2:40 PM ^
QB: Davis/Orji
RB: Marshall, Mullings, Hall
WR: Morris, Morgan, Moore????
TE: Loveland, Bredeson, Klein, Tonieli
OL: Persi, El-Hadi, Crippen, Priebe, Hinton
DL: Graham, Benny, Grant, Pierce
Edge: Moore, Guy, Bennett
LB: Rolder, Hauserman, Barnham, Hood
CB: Johnson, McBurrows, Hill, Waller
S: Sabb, Johnson, Berry
If they get JJ back, Edwards, Stewart, and Paige this team is a top 10-15 team next year. They need some depth at WR, edge, corner, safety, and QB. That and we forget: some freshmen can come in and contribute faster than expected, and some guys have had to sit behind others and can be developed more than we think.
January 12th, 2024 at 2:44 PM ^
If they get Edwards, JJ, Stewart and Paige I think we're a top 5-10...Without, I think on the playoff bubble (so top 15ish). That D still looks stout. The position group I'm as nervous about as QB without JJ is IOL.
January 12th, 2024 at 2:45 PM ^
If they get JJ back, this team is without question Top 5. They just won the freaking national championship and would have a 3-year returning starter at QB and the best DL in the country.
January 13th, 2024 at 9:15 AM ^
Yeah man. I can’t believe I’m gonna say this, but the D could maybe possibly be better. If that’s even possible. We’re probably gonna lose Minter, sorry but that’s just reality. We need his assistant to just step in and do exactly the same thing. Or possibly promote his dad.
January 12th, 2024 at 2:53 PM ^
That's a good team. All comes down to QB.
January 12th, 2024 at 2:57 PM ^
Only reason I say top 15 is our schedule. Plus if JJ stays I believe that will assure some older player will transfer to be WR target like Daylen Baldwin in 2021 (who was a UDFA and stuck around the league for a few years with the Browns). That level of transfer is plausible and welcome!
January 12th, 2024 at 3:19 PM ^
It's really hard to project how tough our schedule is right now. Certainly harder than 2022 or 2023, but the 3 west coast schools are all losing their top QB, RB, and WR plus multiple other offensive starters, and only Oregon has added any impact transfers so far. Those teams were highly reliant on explosive offenses and if they can't replace that production they will be in for a rough first year in the Big Ten. My guess is Michigan is still favored in ~9 games, with Texas, OSU, and 1-2 of UW/OU/USC being the underdog games.
January 12th, 2024 at 3:40 PM ^
Also with our schedule we could lose 2 maybe 3 games and still be in the playoffs as long as we don't get smoked.
January 12th, 2024 at 2:41 PM ^
By Henderson do you mean Marshall?
January 12th, 2024 at 2:58 PM ^
Yes. Guess I had English soccer players on my mind.
January 12th, 2024 at 3:25 PM ^
Yep, Marshall Henderson
January 12th, 2024 at 2:43 PM ^
No Benny?
January 12th, 2024 at 2:43 PM ^
"This feels like an 8-4 type team, depending on QB play."
(pulls up 2021 roster) o ye of little faith
January 12th, 2024 at 8:01 PM ^
Stout D and an offense that could be similar in style to 2021. A game manager at QB, good OL and Mullings looks like Haskins 2.0. And Loveland whose Michigan best TE since Jake Butt. I still think that kind of team can win 10 games
January 12th, 2024 at 2:47 PM ^
Yeesh. Let's think positive. We're not dead yet.
January 12th, 2024 at 2:48 PM ^
Who is Henderson at RB?
January 12th, 2024 at 2:49 PM ^
If needed, Orji/Davis ala Tebow/Chris Leak.
( With Orji actually throwing )
January 12th, 2024 at 2:51 PM ^
Benny? Trente?
January 12th, 2024 at 2:58 PM ^
Mullings at RB, Barham at LB and McBurrows at nickel
January 12th, 2024 at 3:00 PM ^
I like this approach, because then each player that announces a return is a bonus. It's fun to think about where this team will go and how they continue to establish their identity.
My company is based out of Atlanta, so I've had a lot of conversations with Georgia fans about how last year felt after finally breaking through in 2021 - "house money" is the term that comes up a lot. It was amazing to win, but wouldn't have been unbearable to lose at that point, finally having gotten the monkey off their back. I think that will be us next year - but maybe we copy them and just go win the whole thing again for fun.
If we do, we'll need to follow a path like Georgia did.- they lost 14 starters and had 15 drafted. They brought back Ringo and Nolan Smith but the rest of their defense was unproven and unknown beyond that. Last year was really odd, in that CB2 was the only question, and there seemed to be 4-5 possible answers to it. I think we just have to remember most years in college football are full of questions until 3-4 weeks in. Our staff has shown a great ability to find answers.
January 12th, 2024 at 3:07 PM ^
I think Brian's column suggested/implied that Paige, Q. Johnson, & Stewart are likely to come back, and it also seems like Jaden McBurrows and Zeke Berry saw more playing time at DB this season than Jones & Hillman, so if you slot all of those guys in your projected starting defensive lineup consists of 9+ returning guys who saw substantial playing time this year plus Barham who started for Maryland. That feels like a top 10 defense again if you can find someone decent to fill in at CB2.
As for the offense, it'd be shocking if Hinton and Mullings didn't come back as they're the next in line for significant playing time bumps at OL and RB. The biggest question marks are definitely JJ, a bigger outside WR, and OL depth. It feels like you could address 2 of those 3 in the portal to get the offense up to a top-25 offense.
As for win total, a lot of it depends on how much of a drop off Washington, Oregon, and USC experience losing their starting QBs and other important pieces (e.g., Deboer going to Bama, UW and Oregon losing multiple additional offensive starts on top of their QBs). But even with your worst case scenario they should be favored against at least 7 teams (Fresno State, Arkansas State, Minnesota, Illinois, MSU, Indiana, and Northwestern), underdogs versus Texas and OSU, and TBD versus UW, OU, and USC. In my mind this still feels like a 9-10 win team if Harbaugh comes back and potentially a 10-11 win team if Harbaugh and JJ come back.
January 12th, 2024 at 3:17 PM ^
If Moore succeeds Harbaugh and JJ stays = 11-12 wins
If Moore is HC and JJ leaves = 8 - 10 wins, I could see this going a number of ways. All depends on the QB play. I could see us having some success with Alex Orji as a Jalen Milroe lite version but unless they land a QB in the portal it's gonna be hard to face our schedule without a difference maker at QB like we have had in JJ.
If Harbaugh and JJ leave and they don't hire Moore = no fucking clue! Depends on who they hire I guess.
January 12th, 2024 at 3:21 PM ^
I agree with this take! Even if JJ leaves and Orji is Milroe Lite it still feels like they should be able to win at least 8 games with that defense and facing some weak non-conference and Big Ten opponents.
January 12th, 2024 at 3:14 PM ^
I'm all in on Orji. Can he pass? Of course he can. He's a QB. One more year of seasoning and he'll be all polished up into a sophomore Jalen Milroe. With Mullings and the run game plus the defense, I'm not totally giving up on back-to-back just yet.
January 12th, 2024 at 3:20 PM ^
I'm all for Jalen Milroe 2.0 but we have not seen Orji pass and something tells me he is probably nowhere near as good a passer as Milroe was last year.
IF he has a full spring AND fall with the no. 1 QB reps then MAYBE he can be that, but I think he's further from 2023 Jalen Milroe than a lot of people seem to believe.
That said - we could run a power spread in the vein of JT Barrett at OSU. We have the OL and RB's for it. Mix in some simple passing concepts and PA and that could work quite well with Orji at the helm.
But for me, best case for QB is we find a veteran in the portal. Even if he's just an experienced game manager type.
January 12th, 2024 at 6:18 PM ^
Hello Cade, are you there? Wanna ditch the Offerentz and corn?
January 12th, 2024 at 3:17 PM ^
Hey, if focusing on the absolute worst case makes you happy, go for it
January 12th, 2024 at 3:22 PM ^
Based on the recruiting roundup segment today it sounds like it could be a whole lot worse than that. Yeesh.
January 12th, 2024 at 3:42 PM ^
Yikes. That was a bit of a warning shot, huh?
January 12th, 2024 at 4:45 PM ^
Can you please provide details?
January 12th, 2024 at 7:49 PM ^
Sam Webb warning us not to underestimate how aggressively some of our underclassmen are being pursued, and the extent of the tampering that’s going on.
It seemed like he was hinting at more Amorion Walker-type transfers, as opposed to established starters — somewhat reassuring but ominous nonetheless.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3e0a5dpzOuoE1la7ZBwmtY?si=9-f__ABDSaCv…
January 12th, 2024 at 3:25 PM ^
Goode?
January 12th, 2024 at 3:27 PM ^
Duplicate
January 12th, 2024 at 3:31 PM ^
Hinton has already said he is coming back, so I presume he would start.
If all the players on the DL leave that are eligible, then I can see Etta breaking through and having a very good season next year.
January 12th, 2024 at 3:38 PM ^
The offense looks worrisome in this worst case scenario, while the defense looks good.
January 12th, 2024 at 3:38 PM ^
Someone needs to earn their paycheck and coach/teach Orji how to pass…
He’d be deadly if it ever happens.