Michigan Team thoughts from Outsider Sources

Figured with the start of August and before camp kicks off I would drop what I've been hearing about Michigan from various outside sources (NFL scouts and player personnel, other college staffers, etc). I'll leave out info from the Michigan side, as at this time of the year it's mostly... "this player looks great, best shape of his life, etc" and not as subjective. Side note, that's why the fans that get pissed about Michigan fluff pieces on players make me LOL... no one is gonna put out a piece on how crappy someone looks or put a player on blast. Every player looks great this time of year. This ain't going to be on every player, just the guys I've heard the most about (I.E. nothing on Sainristl because no one has seen him yet).

Offense:

As I've said in previous posts, Gattis gets a lot of love from outside folks. The dude has coached under some great names, and he'll be the best OC Michigan has had in the past few decades (to be fair that list isn't exactly a who's who). He's an elite recruiter and an unbelievable WR coach, so enjoy him while we have him. With that being said don't freak out if we're not putting up 50 a game in the first month of the season. Part of that is it's going to take a little bit of time for the offense to gel and part of it has to deal with who they are facing the first month of the year. MTSU should be a good warm-up and then you have Army who's going to try and keep the ball outta our hands and limit possessions. So if we only win 28-7 or something where the offense output isn't significant, do not panic. Then you move to Wisconsin who has a very good defense, which will be a good test for the offense.

Last year's offense was pretty solid (25th in S&P) but outside folks said their problem was that they couldn't change speeds on anyone. If they got off to an early lead they were solid, but they had real problems when they went down early (NW, ND, OSU). Couple that with a lack of explosive plays and that's where an offense can bog down. If you can't go fast and aren't super explosive you can get yourself into trouble. I give Harbaugh credit for doing what Saban did-- realizing that you have to adapt your offense or you'll get left behind. I think Michigan changes that in a big way (pace and explosive plays) this year and you're gonna see a more consistent offense because of it. 

QB: Shea is the real deal. Folks never really understood the assumption that he'd go pro after last year because scouts really wanted to see him perform in a pro-style offense. And he did pretty well but needed to sharpen some parts of his game. He's on something like his 4th coordinator in 4 years. He bails out of the pocket too quickly but doesn't have the elite straight-line speed to be able to survive that way. That's why RPO is perfect for him as you get him naturally moving around the pocket and he's elite at handling the ball. Also gone will be that long-developing PA shots down the field. Michigan will take their shots, but it ain't gonna be 7-step PA dropbacks anymore. Shea is a sneaky dark horse Heisman candidate if he stays within the offense because Gattis is going to put up some numbers throwing the ball.

RB: By the time October rolls around, you will see Zach Charbonnet as the lead back if he stays healthy. There are college staffs that had him as the #1 RB on their board and think he has high draft pick in 3 years potential. He reminds me of a David Johnson type back. Shifty and can put his foot in the ground, but nasty enough to run you over. Should be a Frosh AA and serious potential to be an AA and early-round RB if he keeps on his progression track. 

WR: Holy cow this is the area that is going to make Michigan very, very difficult to stop this year. I'd put them right behind Bama and Clemson for best WR corps. DPJ, if healthy, is going to blow up-- NFL guys love him and he has the most potential out of any of our WR's. Needs to be a bit more physical, but think Julio Jones where if he catches the ball downfield in space can take it to the house. Nico has the best hands in college football and is an NFL player right now with his size. Has some Alshon Jeffrey comps. Nothing on Tarik, because no one has really seen anything on him. 

TEs: Nothing really here, but McKeon looks to have turned a corner. He had a tough year last year, and I think he was too much in his own head. Needed to take coaching more serious and I think the proverbial light-bulb went off. 

OL: Flat out there are some dudes on this line. Reminds folks of the old Michigan lines, and quite a few teams are envious of what Warriner's put together. Bredeson-Ruiz-Onwenu is an ELITE grouping on the interior. Ruiz will be the highest picked in the draft-- he's heady and a true center. But Bredeson is right there behind him. He's going to be a long-time vet in the NFL. A few scouts have some serious man-crushes on him-- an elite leader who has really improved his game, if he's consistent in his pass pro could be an AA.

Defense:

General thoughts: Talent-wise this group takes a big step back. Devin Bush is flat-out the best Michigan LB ever and I think he wins NFL Rookie DPOY. What he was able to do sideline-to-sideline is impossible to replace. However, I think as a group this defense will be more consistent in big games. I know fans don't understand this, but when you know you're going to be a high pick in the NFL Draft there is a bit of self-preservation that goes on. Every agent and scout you interact with you is telling you where you stand and it's impossible to block that noise out. It has nothing to do with their love of Michigan or their character, but when you are a little banged up and there's potential for you to lose millions of dollars, the calculus changes. That's why it isn't all always about getting the most 5-star NFL talent onto a team-- when you're Clemson or Alabama and you win all of your games it's easy to keep everyone pulling the same direction. But when you lose the first game of the year, it makes it that much tougher for the coaching staff to keep it all together. And I think that's what happened at the end of the year-- guys lose a little bit of focus with their eyes turned to the next step and things can go south quickly. I really think this group will play within Brown's system.

DL: The DL has some real dogs and adding Danna to that group will really help diversify their looks. People have told me that they noticed Michigan has continued to shift up their looks, especially against spread teams. You're going to see a lot more 3 man fronts and a stand-up guy or two off the edge. Aidan Hutchinson is the breakout here-- I have to be careful how I phrase this, but he's in that Bosa/JJ Watt category from talking to folks. That doesn't mean he's going to have that level of production, but he has elite length, get-off, and pure dog in him. Carlo Kemp is also getting a lot of love and is a guy that isn't getting talked about enough. People love his game and he's a leader up-front. 

LB: Probably the spot that is my biggest area of concern. Mostly due to the fact that it's impossible to replace what Bush did. Ross is a dude and a big-time thumper but he can't run like Bush. Khaleke Hudson is going to essentially try and replace that this year, which is his best fit. Let him run around and make plays. Brown wants LB's that can run--gone are the days of 245+ LBs. This group is filled with a bunch of guys who will have roles: Uche, Gil, McGrone, Glasgow, and Anthony. This is Brown's specialty and I think he's gonna throw a ton of guys out there in specialized roles to mitigate the loss of Bush.

DB: Hill will be an AA this year--his issue was always going to be size. He's not going to be a highly drafted CB because of his size but will be a guy who plays in the NFL for a while due to his instincts and toughness. Reminds me of another Detroit guy, Desmond King in that he's smaller, but just makes plays. Daxton Hill is a dude, but everyone already knows that. Other colleges were enamored with his speed and toughness. Runs like a gazelle and will straight up disrespect you if he's got a shot on you. Give him a little bit of time-- Safety is a very hard position to pick-up quickly and especially in Brown's defense. Not worried about this group as they don't face a legit passing attack until Iowa in October and Zordich/Campanile/Brown are known for their DB acumen.

Later on, in the week, I'll do a post about Michigan's rivals (OSU, ND, MSU, and PSU) to give you an idea of what we're going against.