2020 2 deep with analysis
January 19th, 2020 at 10:50 AM ^
2 deep, a cleaner look, with less names-
Offense-
QB-
1. McCaffrey
2. Milton
RB-
1. Charbonett
2. Haskins
3. Evans
WR1-
1. Collins
2. Johnson
WR2-
1. Bell
2. Henning
Slot-
1. Jackson
2. Sainristil
TE-
1. Eubanks
2. All / Schoonmaker
LT-
1. Hayes
2. Keegan
LG-
1. Filiaga
2. Barnhart
C-
1. Carpenter
2. Vastardis or Rumler
RG-
1. Stueber
2. Rumler
RT-
1. Mayfield
2. Stueber or Jones
Strengths-
1. RB - 3 returning starters
2. WR- top 3 core in the BT with 2 potential breakout stars in Collins and Jackson
3. QB - 3, 4* guys competing all 3 were top 10 QBs in their class
4. OT / TE- lots of experience and NFL talent here
Questions-
1. Interior OL- 2 Sr's competing with the RS Fr, Rumler and Carpenter are ready to go according to insiders. 4 good guys for 3 spots, plus Barnhart??? Not bad
Defense-
Rush end-
1. Paye
2. Vilain or Ojabo
DT-
1. Hinton
2. Jeter or Welschof ( already 280 lb) or Morris
NOTE- Michigan needs Michael Williams here
NT-
1. Kemp
2. Smith
SDE-
1. Hutchinson
2. Upshaw or McGregor
Viper / SLB-
1. Barrett
2. Solomon or Morant
MLB-
1. McGrone
2. Thomas
WLB-
1. Ross
2. Mullings
CB1-
1. Thomas
2. Turner II
CB2-
1. Grey vs Turner II
2. Green
FS-
1. Hill
2. Faustin or Moten
SS-
1. Hawkins
2. Johnson
Nickel-
1. Dax Hill ( if a #3 safety is ready ) or
1. Seldon ( if opposing offense has a small slot receiver)
Strengths-
DE- 2 all BT type guys with good depth
LB- a star in McGrone a good returning starter in Ross and lots of good options at Viper.
S- Dax and a returning Hawkins could be as good or better than Harbaugh has had at Michigan ( Hill and Thomas 2016)
Questions-
1. DT- I like the starters alot, I think Hinton is on track for a So. breakout similar to Hutchinson, but the depth is thin, Michigan needs a grad transfer like Williams from Stanford, and Smith needs to step up and be ready.
2. CB- Thomas is a great #1, but a couple of 3*s battling for #2 makes me a little worried. Both guys ( Grey and Turner ) have great size but we're 3*s bc of their speed.
K- Nordin
P- Hart
KR- Jackson
PR- Jackson
Overall-
I love this team I think QB, RB, WR, TE and OT are all upgrades offensively from last year. DPJ is a big loss, but I really like the WR core, and I think they will have more defined roles, which will help overall.
OG will be good with 2 veterans ( Stueber and Filiaga,) battling the young 4*s, Rumler and Barnhart, the biggest question will be C.
Gattis in year 2 is going to be fire, having guys like Jackson, Sainristil, Evans, and Henning will make up for an inexperienced OL. Gattis wanted McCaffrey over Patterson last year, he'll get his wish this year, along with the upside of Milton competing.
Defensively, Michigan has potential stars, BT first team type of players in Hutchinson, Paye, McGrone, Thomas, and Hill. That's enough top end talent to be elite.
If Hinton can make a So leap similar to Hutch did, and Michigan can find some depth at DT ( Williams, ) I think Michigan can have a 2016 type defense. It's so close and so similar to that team.
Defensive upgrades from last year are, DE, DT, LB, and Safety. Only CB is headed in the other direction.
2016 vs 2020
Charleton vs Paye -1
Wormley vs Hutchinson +1
Godin vs Hinton
Glasgow vs Kemp -1
Peppers vs Barrett -2
Gedeon vs McGrone +1
McCray vs Ross +1
Lewis vs Thomas
Stribling vs Grey -1
Hill vs Hill
Thomas vs Hawkins
Total- 2016 wins by 2, only real difference is Peppers ( and having Hurst coming off the bench.) Can a guy like McGrone or Hutch or Dax make up that difference??
Offensively, the biggest difference from 2016------> 2019 is Gattis, McCaffrey, Charbonett and Collins.
osu is osu, and Michigan will most likely lose a road game ( Washington or Minnesota,) but I don't see anything worse than 10-2, I also think 11-1 is more likely than 9-3. Go BLUE
January 19th, 2020 at 9:20 PM ^
I agree. Would’ve been nice to have Ruiz back on the line though.
January 19th, 2020 at 9:22 PM ^
Good shit Miroki
January 19th, 2020 at 10:26 PM ^
Maybe the Mods can move this to a Diary so it stays visible longer. (hint, hint)
Nice work! Would be nice to finally win a B1G Championship for a change.
January 19th, 2020 at 9:22 PM ^
I have no doubt we will be playing for the Division in Columbus. Then again, I said the same thing coming into this year so don't listen to me
January 20th, 2020 at 5:22 AM ^
Once again we get screwed with our cross division draw. At Minnesota, home vs Wisconsin and Purdue. So we already have far and away the hardest conference schedule in the big ten, couple that with playing Washington on the road to open. The only game OSU might lose is at Penn State, but Franklin has only been lucky against them once so I wouldn't put money on that. Honestly this feels like a build your confidence year like 2015 was. I don't see us getting out of the regular season with less than two losses
January 20th, 2020 at 9:35 AM ^
If Michigan is worried about going on the road to play Minnesota then I don't know why anyone thinks of Big Ten Titles. Minnesota had a good bowl game, caught Penn State in a trap game and went on the road and lost their only other competition. Minnesota had a very easy schedule. Jonathan Taylor is gone from Wisconsin and they have to come to Ann Arbor. How many times has Franklin beaten Harbaugh in Ann Arbor? The answer is zero. Franklin has gotten some mileage playing at home in a whiteout but when it comes to Ann Arbor he usually loses by 4 touchdowns.
As usual, it will be a tough schedule but I don't see those two losses going into Columbus.
January 20th, 2020 at 10:45 AM ^
Facts do not support your dismissal of Minnesota:
2019 FPI
- Mich: 12
- Minny: 18
2019 RPI
- Minny: 11
- Mich: 18
2019 Sagarin
- Mich: 12
- Minny: 18
2019 A&H
- Minny: 12
- Mich: 20
January 20th, 2020 at 3:34 PM ^
Minnesota has a great season no doubt but they did have everything fall in place for them this year. They are loosing some good talent from the team and I expect them to take a step back this season. We should win there this year
January 20th, 2020 at 4:33 PM ^
Minnesota also brings in a new offensive coordinator
January 20th, 2020 at 10:20 AM ^
At least they don't have to travel to South Bend.
January 19th, 2020 at 9:31 PM ^
Couple things, first off, great job putting this together. I think Evans is a hybrid, a little running back, a little slot. I also like our younger WR’s more than DPJ. I also expect to see both qb’s.....
January 20th, 2020 at 7:46 AM ^
Freshman WR's rarely make an impact. So we need Collins and Bell to stay healthy and productive.
January 20th, 2020 at 10:26 AM ^
Sainristil, Johnson and Jackson got some valuable PT last year.
January 19th, 2020 at 9:36 PM ^
Still thinking they might finally drop one of the tough games along with Minnesota, OSU, and maybe MSU. I see 9-3 or possibly 8-4 and I'm usually the optimist. So much talent lost in the last 3 years that did not get adequately replaced.
January 19th, 2020 at 9:40 PM ^
If this team is bad enough to lose at MSU then they should finish 4-8.
January 19th, 2020 at 11:19 PM ^
MSU was in a peak roster year in 2019, with the 4th most returning starters in the nation. They're going to be BAD next year.
January 20th, 2020 at 9:55 AM ^
I think this will be the year MSU finally forces Mork to 'retire'. It's probably going to be an a train wreck
January 20th, 2020 at 5:07 AM ^
What, exactly, about MSU makes you think that’s even remotely a potential loss? They lose everything from a really bad team, and have recruited like shit.
January 20th, 2020 at 7:50 AM ^
Minnesota loses their All America safety, RB, and 1 of the their stud receivers. I didn't pay much attention to them, but I know they will be tough to beat at home, but MSU no longer scares me. If it wasn't for trouble with the snap, they may have been done 2 years ago.
January 20th, 2020 at 10:59 AM ^
I think Minnesota returns basically everyone else on offense at least. They'll continue to be good.
January 20th, 2020 at 11:25 AM ^
No way we lose to MSU...they are looking at a 4-8 type of year.
Losses: @Washington, @Minny, @OSU. Wisconsin and Penn State at home *should* (?) be wins.
9-3. Bowl game loss, so 9-4.
January 19th, 2020 at 9:41 PM ^
Whoops
January 19th, 2020 at 9:53 PM ^
if i understood your ending chart correctly, you are saying hutchinson is an upgrade over wormley?
as much as i like hutch, wormley was a college star and is a proven DE in the NFL to back up what we all thought of him in college. wormley > hutchinson, at least at this point.
January 19th, 2020 at 10:01 PM ^
Hutch through 2 years has been more productive than Wormley was in his first two years. Wormley was a good player in spots in 13 and 14, and really turned it on as a junior.
My bold prediction is that Hutch will be more productive as a junior at anchor than Gary was
January 20th, 2020 at 5:29 AM ^
thanks for the input. and it would be grand if your bold prediction came true.
January 20th, 2020 at 7:15 AM ^
Thanks XM. Wormley rarely made mistakes and destroyed TEs on the regular. I remember he’d consistently have these UFR lines that would read something like +14/-1 for +13. He was really good. Would love Hutchinson to match that. Same with Paye and Charlton.
January 20th, 2020 at 9:10 AM ^
Today I would rate this as a wash but I would also not be surprised to see Hutch have an All-American year. This young man is very talented, was becoming a significant force by the end of the year, will be a year older...there's good reason to assess him as a +.
January 20th, 2020 at 11:49 AM ^
Hitch is an NFL player and I’d expect him to be drafted in the first couple of rounds after all is said and done.
January 19th, 2020 at 10:10 PM ^
Hadn't heard that Gattis wanted mcaffrey over shea. Interesting. So did i, Haha. What do we know about Jalen Perry, cb, rsfr- ready to go?
January 19th, 2020 at 10:15 PM ^
No he has some work to do. Turner is ahead of him right now and has gotten unsolicited praise from Zordich. I also think Turner is supposed to be pretty fast and his original 40 time was an anomaly because he was working through something.
January 20th, 2020 at 7:43 AM ^
Yeah, it was reported last year that Turner, Dax, and Ambry were the fastest guys on the team, so speed wasn't Turners issue last year. He got hurt in fall camp.
January 19th, 2020 at 10:20 PM ^
This was chatter I hadn't heard. We all remember Gattis jabbing him about the golfing but I didn't hear anything about him outright preferring Dylan.
I was in Madison with a pretty good vantage of that hit. One of the ugliest things I've ever seen in a game. I really hope that doesn't take away any of his mojo.
January 20th, 2020 at 2:05 AM ^
Here's the hit:
January 20th, 2020 at 1:27 PM ^
Can Harbaugh flash the slide sign?
January 20th, 2020 at 2:11 PM ^
Reggie Pearson, River Rouge HS, Inkster MI
what a complete and total piece of shit. I would never root for any player to be hurt or for UM players to retaliate but gotta say... I wouldn’t lose any sleep if this jackwagon lost three years in a row with blown ACL’s.
January 20th, 2020 at 3:56 PM ^
I would support a much longer suspension for hits like this.
January 21st, 2020 at 10:27 PM ^
I always had a ton of respect for the sportsmanship displayed by Wisconsin. They often helped opposing players up. Their fans were generally good natured. But the game this past season caused me to rethink all that. Seems that their D turned into a bunch of thugs when Leonhard took over as DC. And that respect I had is now gone.
January 20th, 2020 at 2:03 AM ^
Gattis wanted McCaffrey over Patterson last year,
I didn't know about that either. Sure would like a link to that!
January 19th, 2020 at 10:17 PM ^
Solid analysis. Hopefully you nail the record part
January 19th, 2020 at 10:34 PM ^
I'll believe Vilain can contribute when I see it actually happen. We've been been hearing about him since Jesus was in high school.
January 20th, 2020 at 11:36 AM ^
I remember Jesus in high school. He used to sit with the same 12 guys in the cafeteria. Oddly, they all sat on the same side of the table.
January 19th, 2020 at 10:40 PM ^
Maybe Dylan will be the guy who can do “it” and win in Columbus. John Navarre, Chad Henne, Nick Sheridan, Denard Robinson, Devin Gardner, Wilton Speight, and Shea Patterson have all tried. Once we can get the one guy to go there and do what Baker Mayfield did and (literally or figuratively) plant the Michigan flag at the 50 yard line,,,the tide will turn.
January 19th, 2020 at 10:47 PM ^
McGrone is not a better LB than Gedeon.
January 19th, 2020 at 10:50 PM ^
Imagine how good Gedeon could have been if he wasn’t inexplicably sitting behind Joe Bolden for 2 years
January 19th, 2020 at 11:06 PM ^
McGrone was essentially a five star, with tons of speed, who will play in the NFL. Gedeon was none of those things. McGrone is elite.
January 20th, 2020 at 5:10 AM ^
Well, Gedeon IS in the NFL. With over 20 starts in his three seasons.
January 20th, 2020 at 8:59 AM ^
And good on him for that NFL thing! But, at the same point in their careers - college sophomores - it is undeniable that McGrone is far better. He's a starter, where Gideon rode the bench 3-deep. He's a legit star on the field, earning All BT honors (2nd or 3rd team), while Gideon rode the bench 3-deep. He pipped the returning starter when he (Ross) went out with an injury. In fact, McGrone played so well that the returning starter was red-shirted for the season! Meanwhile, as a sophomore, Gideon rode the bench 3-deep.
Tell us again how the two players compare at the same point in their careers...
BTW, I have a dollar that says McGrone would have started over Gideon in 2016.
January 20th, 2020 at 7:55 AM ^
Interesting debate, considering the comparison is between a redshirt freshman and a senior. No doubt McGrone will have a better career.
January 19th, 2020 at 11:07 PM ^
This will be their growing, development year. Probably 9-3 or 10-2 and make a run at CFP in 2021. If they survive October undefeated, maybe they can show up a year early. It’s definitely possible.
January 19th, 2020 at 11:08 PM ^
The safety play this year will probably be the best it’s been under Harbaugh. I think they’ve had some better overall talent back there in other seasons, but I think Shoop will have those guys locked in and Hill is extremely talented.