The first real, extensive look at Michigan football in the Jim Harbaugh era is less than 72 hours away.
On Saturday, April 4, the Wolverines will hold their annual spring game. Even though play-calling is vanilla and points are meaningless in the Whose Line is it Anyway? sense, fans hope to see something—anything—indicating the program is moving in the right direction.
Harbaugh likes to select each side—the Maize Team and Blue Team—with some flair. Last weekend, the coaching staff held a spring game draft in which each side picked its team playground style. Below are the rosters for each side, courtesy of Michigan's official website:
Now, a few takeaways from the announcement...
Quarterbacks Will Duel
The single most watched storyline this spring for Michigan—this entire offseason really—is the quarterback battle. Michigan needs a quarterback; Harbaugh was a quarterback and knows how to coach quarterbacks, etcetera, etcetera.
It's interesting, then, that junior-to-be Shane Morris and freshman early enrollee Alex Malzone are on opposite teams. According to a tweet from Bryan Fuller of MGoBlog, Malzone and Morris, in that order, were the first two quarterbacks selected in the draft.
Does that mean Malzone is the early front-runner to start? Not necessarily. Offensive coordinator Tim Drevno recently told Mark Snyder of the Detroit Free Press that neither Malzone, Morris nor redshirt freshman Wilton Speight has separated himself in the competition.
"They've all taken their time as they stood out," Drevno said. "We feel good about it, absolutely."
Speight, for what it's worth, is on the same team as Morris. The thing to watch there is which quarterback takes the field first.
Keep in mind that the quarterback who looks best in the spring game may not be the starter in the fall. Freshman Zach Gentry will join the team this summer, and Fox Sports' Bruce Feldman reported Iowa transfer Jake Rudock looks to be on his way to Ann Arbor in earnest.
The Return of Jabrill Peppers
Jabrill Peppers came to Michigan in 2014 as a 5-star athlete who was expected to play right away in the secondary. And, technically speaking, he did—in three games before being shut down for good with an ankle injury.
Peppers, with a medical redshirt and all, has re-emerged this spring at a new position: safety. However, he could still play multiple positions in the secondary.
"We'll move him around," defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin said of Peppers, per B/R's Ben Axelrod. "We're going to find the best fit and the best mix for everyone. He'll play several spots."
Michigan's secondary is loaded with returning starters, so where Peppers plays and how much will be closely monitored. Peppers will be on the same team (Maize) as Jeremy Clark, one of the starting safeties from a year ago. Jarrod Wilson, another starting safety, is on the Blue Team.
Will the Offensive Line Improve?
Michigan fans probably should have known they were in for a long season a year ago when Nick Baumgardner of MLive.com painted this rosy picture of the Wolverines offensive line following the 2014 spring game:
Michigan struggled to run the ball at all times Saturday. Maybe that's a hat-tip to the team's defensive line, but it's also a knock on the offensive front five. You can hide a lot of things in a spring game situation. But you can't hide a failure to control the line of scrimmage.
There wasn't one offensive line grouping that looked anywhere near ready to push a Big Ten defensive front around. Not even close. Were there as many negative plays? No, probably not.
This, of course, was coming off of a season (2013) in which the Wolverines finished with the No. 87 overall offense. And, in fact, the Wolverines were even worse on offense last year, finishing 115th in total offense. It didn't matter who was at quarterback or how talented the skill players were. Everything starts up front, and the Wolverines were abysmal in the trenches.
The good news is that there's a decent amount of experience coming back, even with the transfer of Kyle Bosch to West Virginia and retirement of center Jack Miller. Playing together over time is one of the most important things an offensive line can do, if not the most important.
Tackle Mason Cole and guards Kyle Kalis and Graham Glasgow should be penciled in as starters, and the former two will be on the Maize Team together.
We won't get a great feel for what the starting O-line will look like in the fall since so many linemen are split between two teams, but those are the names to watch.
Which Wide Receivers Step Up?
Devin Funchess was technically considered a wide receiver last season, but he was previously classified as a tight end. However you wanted to identify him, Funchess was the top target for the Wolverines. Now that he's gone, someone else has to assume that No. 1 role.
There aren't a lot of wide receivers who stand out, and the top target could again be of the tight end variety. Jake Butt, in addition to being a noted member of the B/R All-Name Team, is the Wolverines' top returning pass-catching tight end (21 catches, 211 yards, two touchdowns). But what about a true wide receiver?
Amara Darboh is the team's leading returning wide receiver, but no other wideout beyond him caught more than 15 passes a year ago. Jehu Chesson and Freddy Canteen should be the top players battling for starting jobs and are on the Maize Team.
Early impressions are that the Maize Team, with Malzone, Chesson, Canteen and running backs De'Veon Green and Derrick Green, should have a lot of playmakers on the field at the same time.
Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football. All quotes cited unless obtained firsthand. All recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports. All stats courtesy of cfbstats.com.
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