I dunno about you guys, but I am fiending for some
Michigan football.
With ESPN releasing updated Top 300 recruiting rankings and it being
only 43 days until resumption of the rivalry with Notre Dame (7 Saturdays from now), it seems like a good time to get our annual thread started.
First off, any and all speculation on the starting unit is most welcome. Here's my guess...
QB: Shea Patterson
RB: Karan Higdon
FB: Ben Mason
WR1: Tarik Black
WR2: Donovan Peoples-Jones
SLOT: Grant Perry
TE: Sean McKeon/Zach Gentry
LT: JBB/James Hudson
LG: Ben Bredeson
C: Cesar Ruiz
RG: Mike Onwenu/Stephen Spanellis
RT: Jon Runyan Jr.
SDE: Rashan Gary
NT: Aubrey Solomon
DT: Michael Dwumfour
WDE: Chase Winovich
VIPER: Khaleke Hudson
MLB: Devin Bush
WLB: Josh Ross/Devin Gil
CB: Lavert Hill
CB: David Long
NI: Ambry Thomas
FS: Tyree Kinnel
SS: Josh Metellus
As for the recruiting stuff, it smarts a bit that MSU may have the top recruit in the state of Michigan (OL Devontae Dobbs) despite what a mess that school is. But, Michigan does have plenty of blue chippers in the 2019 class (ranked #4 currently) with a couple more big names possibly being added:
DL Mazi Smith (#27)
DL Christopher Hinton (#41)
OL Trente Jones (#157)
DL Stephen Herron Jr. (#171)
OL Nolan Rumler (#183)
QB Cade McNamara (#256)
RB Eric Gray (#282)
DL David Ojabo (#283)
LB Charles Thomas (#295)
RB Zach Charbonnet and TE Erick All are likely to see their recruiting rankings rise significantly, imo.
Compelling storylines for Team 139...
1. Kill me now so I don't have to hear "make or break" and "Jim Harbaugh" and "going back to the NFL in year 20XX" in the same sentence 500 bazillion times. Can this team beat a rival? Preferably by a lot of points.
2. Don Brown and a defense that just keeps on coming. Watching Rashan Gary seek and destroy.
3. Gee, Michigan has a capable (maybe even
special) QB now? If things go well, any chance of Patterson being involved in the Heisman convo?
4. Will the OL be competent or the team's worst frenemy (looking at LT and RT specifically)? How many underclassmen will be forced into key roles because upperclassmen are hurt/bad at football.
5. Has Ben Herbert and the new S&C staff really made monsters out of these kids? Does Michigan blow teams off the ball like they damn well should?
