Answering 10 Big Michigan Football Summertime Questions

TheWolverine.com's Clayton Sayfie participated in an article series with writers from all of Rivals.com's Big Ten team sites, discussing the top offseason football storylines.

Here are his answers to 10 big Michigan football questions.

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The offensive story of the spring is that, while redshirt freshman Cade McNamara enters the summer penciled in as the starting quarterback, the Wolverines' QB battle will go into fall camp. Highly-touted true freshman J.J. McCarthy has an outside shot to win the job, but he's likely a year away, and redshirt sophomore Texas Tech transfer Alan Bowman, who joined the team in June, is the wildcard — don't count him out.

McNamara impressed in limited action last season, most notably when he led the Wolverines to a triple-overtime triumph at Rutgers after entering the game down 17 points. On the season, he completed 61 percent of his passes (43-for-71) for 425 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions.

Quarterbacks coach Matt Weiss called McNamara the team's starter this spring, but McCarthy has only been on campus several months and continues to grasp the playbook and adjust to the college game. Bowman has the most experience out of the bunch, but has battled injuries during his career and will need to prove himself in Ann Arbor.

Outside of a new coordinator, which we'll cover later on, the biggest storyline on defense is that the front seven is unproven and largely inexperienced.

The Wolverines are switching from a 4-3 to a 3-4 (though they'll be multiple), and that means there are some on the roster who are transitioning positions. Junior defensive end Aidan Hutchinson is a great piece to start with, but the linebackers and defensive tackles need to step up if Michigan wants to be able to stop the run against the big boys in the conference.

The Wolverines lost Cameron McGrone, now a New England Patriot, to an early entrance into the NFL Draft this offseason, and are planning to rely on redshirt junior Josh Ross and redshirt sophomore Michael Barrett, who is transitioning from the 'viper' spot, to carry the bulk of the load at inside linebacker.

It's no secret that Michigan is thin at defensive tackle, which is why the staff brought in seventh-year senior Oregon State transfer Jordan Whittley to help out. After finishing 79th nationally in rushing yards allowed per game last season, sophomore Chris Hinton, redshirt freshman Mazi Smith and others will have to step up.

The guy with the biggest shoes to fill is 2021 first-round NFL Draft pick (No. 21 overall to the Indianapolis Colts) Kwity Paye.

We have redshirt sophomore defensive end (will play as a stand-up outside 'backer as well) Taylor Upshaw as the projected starter opposite of Hutchinson and in replacement of Paye.

Upshaw gained some experience last season while Hutchinson and Paye were out with injuries, and he showed some flashes, notching 17 tackles, three stops for loss and one sack. He's no Paye, however, and will need to have improved this offseason if he wants to be an All-Big Ten type of player this fall.