griffin korican

Previously: The Story. Podcast 12.4A, 12.4B, 12.4C. Quarterback. Running Back. Wide Receiver. Tight End.

Depth Chart

The reader probably does not have to be reminded that the previous two times Michigan has lost a Rimington-quality center to the NFL the subsequent season was a disaster. David Molk graduates; Michigan flops Elliott Mealer and Patrick Barnum the week before the season. Denard is murdered most foul. Mason Cole graduates; Patrick Kugler steps in. Wilton Speight and Brandon Peters are murdered most foul. John O'Korn starts the Ohio State game.

You're probably thinking "let's not do that again," and hoo boy you've never been more correct about anything in your life. Let's not do that again. Please, please, please. Oh cruel and malevolent gods of the universe, surely we have suffered enough.

CRUEL AND MALEVOLENT GODS OF THE UNIVERSE: no

what?

CAMGOTU: no one has ever suffered enough

maybe you could balance out the suffering some

CAMGOTU: get bent nimrod, ger berks

is that… go bucks?

CAMGOTU: ger berks

goddammit

Anyway, if there is a weapon in Michigan's arsenal that can possibly mitigate the fact that Cthulhu is real and wears an Andy Katzenmoyer jersey to formal events, it's Ed Warinner. Warinner instantly repaired Michigan's disastrous blitz pickup schemes under Tim Drevno, orchestrated the bar-none best-organized Michigan OL your author has ever charted, and is an advocate of making things easy to pick up. This press conference quote from shortly after his hire still stands out:

I just want to understand, ‘simplify,’ a little bit more. I mean, the guys have been talking about it since you got here. And you’re saying, offensive line is complicated. In your mind, what does simplify mean? The scheme’s not simple?

“Well just how you present it. Like, there’s a lot of things that can happen on every play. And nobody knows what, before the play starts, what of those are gonna happen. And realistically, I know there’s six things that could happen. If I give all six of those scenarios to a player, then he won’t play very fast. So I have to simplify that — what are the two most likely things to happen on this play, in this situation. And it’s A or B, and react to one of those two. And if he’s right 80 percent of the time, we win. Cause if the line grades out at 80 percent, we’re gonna win.

A quote from Chris Evans after Warinner arrived and Cesar Ruiz ascended to the throne sums it up:

“How it was last year, it’s like, no matter what, if he comes, you gotta block him,” Evans explained. “Now Cesar’s in there and he can adjust it and you can go at it like that."

Maybe. Maybe one goddamn time.

[After THE JUMP: one time!]

What we want to hear: They think it's gonna happen.

What we're hearing:

What it means: We should do the football bits.

Quick Note on Paywalled Info

This goes for the recruiting stuff too: Please do not share insider information from the paid sites on our message board or in the threads from these articles. I share bits and a link in the roundups but there's a lot more behind the jump because Sam Webb, Steve Lorenz, EJ Holland and the rest do this for a living and are very good at it. Rivals has a promo code (Blue60) going on right now. That will get you 60 days free, more than enough to get you through fall camp and beyond, as well as the recruiting dope EJ's been getting since all the recruits' parents seem intent on feeding him.

Quarterback

What we want to hear: Speculation that the loser of the QB battle will transfer for 2021 because Michigan has two or three guys who will be among the best in the country, followed by both QBs shutting that down emphatically with a promise that none of them is leaving Michigan for anything short of the NFL. Hard to see much because the cornerbacks are so good.

What we're hearing: Joe Milton's improvement has been obvious($) and he's maintaining his lead as QB1 via everybody according to Sam Webb, who made the QB battle the topic of his morning dish($) this week. That article also says McCaffrey's improved and one of their best dudes. One person said "you'd have to be blind" not to put Milton out in front right now, and contextually that his bad days are better than most of Shea Patterson's good ones. The article also says Joe's being a bit robotic.

Devin Gardner worked with Milton over the summer and Sam interviewed young 98 about it:

Sam Webb:  One of the ways in which you [and Gallon] established that chemistry is you guys worked a lot outside of practice… Did you see Joe doing any of that with his guys from Michigan?

Devin Gardner: “Ronnie Bell came out a bunch of times while we were working as well. And I had that conversation with both those guys. Like, 'man, me and Gallon weren't as talented as you two guys, but we left no stone unturned. We worked every single day. There's never a time where we didn't know where he's gonna be.

Shaw and Lorenz discussed it at length on their podcast this week. Lorenz notes Milton had his workouts with Gardner and Ronnie Bell (and associated people covering such) while McCaffery's always kept a low profile. They also recounted the excitement from the staff after they got Milton; it was up there with Rashan Gary. But don't underrate McCaffrey—it's a battle that the coaches think is going to be neck-and-neck. Tie should go to the guy with a higher ceiling.

As for Cade, one observer said he's played better, maybe even better than McCaffery($). Most however talk about a two-horse race that Milton shot ahead in with his offseason work and talent.

What it means: The #2 question I got during the HTTV book events this summer was about QB1 and if Sam is doing interviews about Milton I'm ready to believe the coaches are ready to have us believe it's Joe.

Milton seems to be at the point now where he knows the offense but not at the point yet where he can go off-script. That is absolutely fine, says this person who was shaped by the Lloyd Carr era. You have to do things in practice to do them on the field, but you also need to get into live situations to get that kind of comfort.

It's also a long way to go. At the earliest the season will start in mid-October, which places us at the beginning of fall camp right now, with no pads.

Projected Depth Chart: Milton 1A, McCaffrey 1B, McNamara

[After THE JUMP: the positions you didn't ask me about]

Sponsor note. Are you thinking of starting a business? Maybe handing out water to FSU football players who are unprepared to play in the sweltering temperatures at [checks notes]… their home stadium? Or maybe you'd rather create an army of people to collect giant tips after dissuading Tennessee fans from going inside Neyland?

Well, those are fantastic ideas. You'll need some paperwork to get off the ground; you'll need someone to write up contracts for you. You'll need… a lawyer. Richard Hoeg is that lawyer. Call him. No ideas are bad ideas. Except going to Tennessee.

Well, then. My preseason projections that Tru Wilson would hold on to a plurality of Michigan snaps did not account for this possibility:

Key quote on Charbonnet: "I’ve been around pro backs that don’t understand protections the way the freshman back did. "

— Zach Shaw (@_ZachShaw) September 2, 2019

Harbaugh also said that Charbonnet had won the starting job with or without Wilson's injury. Also:

Zach Charbonnet had nine pickups in protection, which, I don’t think we’ve had a back get nine pickups in a protection since we’ve been here, one single back,” Harbaugh said. “And to be 100 percent, nine out of nine, that’s like, wow. That’s really good.”

If Charbonnet is instantly Also Tru Wilson as a pass protector nothing is keeping him from a monster freshman year. Here's rooting for a big fat zero on one of my stupid predictions.

A shift. Here's a bit from PFF's preseason top 25:

In 2018, Patterson flashed with almost 60% of his yards coming through the air. He co-led the Big 10 in adjusted completion percentage on second or third and long with Dwayne Haskins. The Wolverines ran on almost 60% of first- and second-down plays.

As Dave mention on the podcast, Michigan's first down run rate was 45% against MTSU. That may be even a bit more of a sea change since Michigan was very run heavy once McCaffrey came in.

[After THE JUMP: Avenatti has the goods?]