There never seems to be a dull moment in college football these days, especially when it comes to the Michigan football team.
The Wolverines won a national championship last week, commemorated the victory with an indoor celebration and broadcast procession, had players register for the NCAA Transfer Portal, and watched almost two dozen players choose to pursue the NFL Draft. However, as of Tuesday, those deadlines for making decisions have past, providing us with an opportunity to examine the Wolverines’ current situation in light of their start to the 2024 season preparations.
Using a first-look depth chart is how we do it first. We look at who we would currently project to start, backup, and mix in at each offensive position group while keeping track of which players have come and gone. We also provide an overview of the current situation, complete with a Transfer Portal need metre.
As usual, we don’t use ties in our depth charts, but we might give an explanation for why we chose a particular player over another. We’re limited to returning players, transfers, and recruits for this edition. Additionally, we’re not projecting breakout players who might declare for the draft in August just yet; instead, we’re staying with the lineup the Wolverines would choose if they had a month to get ready for a game.
Alright, let’s get started with the offence. It has to replace its starting quarterback, running back, two best wide receivers, and six best offensive lineman.
However, based on our observation of brief practice footage over the previous month, Denegal has the minor advantage because he seemed to be a more polished and self-assured passer. Denegal played 28 snaps to Orji’s 17 throughout the whole season, although Orji played more in the latter stretch of the game, primarily in a run-first style. Although he had one completion for five yards over the past two seasons and did not attempt a throw this season, he is undoubtedly Michigan’s greatest athlete on the team.
This season, Denegal finished 4 for 5 for 50 yards and a touchdown, seemingly overtaking Warren to take over as Michigan’s third-best quarterback behind McCarthy and Tuttle. Though it might not seem like much, Orji only attempted one pass in his 17 snaps this season. Is Michigan committed to having him start at quarterback for a team aiming to defend a national championship?
We’re fascinated by Davis, who finished the 2024 cycle as a top-100 recruit and earned two MaxPrep North Carolina Player of the Year awards. In the previous two years, Davis has completed 71.7 of his passes for 6,975 yards, 86 touchdowns, 15 interceptions, and 11.5 yards per attempt. Even though he is no longer a five-star player, Michigan isn’t giving up. Having said that, we won’t have too many year-one expectations on him until we see how spring practices go. Recall that Jim Harbaugh made JJ McCarthy and Andrew Luck wait a year to get starting positions.
The three quarterbacks for Michigan are extremely athletic and have strong arms, and they all have enormous potential. However, the quarterback prospects mentioned above have a combined total of 10 collegiate completions, so they have plenty of opportunity to add a transfer and a lot of work ahead of them as the spring approaches.
