Athlon and Street & Smith's preseason college football magazines have officially hit store shelves, and both publications are tabbing the Michigan Wolverines as a top 15 club heading into the 2020 campaign.
Each outlet views the Maize and Blue in nearly an identical light, with Street & Smith's pegging Michigan as the preseason No. 14 team in the nation, and Athlon as the No. 15 overall club.
Street & Smith's doesn't project a final record for the Wolverines in 2020, but pegs them as the fourth best team in the Big Ten behind No. 2 Ohio State, No. 4 Penn State and No. 12 Wisconsin, and once again winding up in the Citrus Bowl.
"This season will be the biggest test of [head coach Jim] Harbaugh's development of recruits at Michigan, which might not have a ton of experience but consistently has signed talent," they wrote.
"The Wolverines will have perhaps the most interesting quarterback competition to watch in the Big Ten. [Shea] Patterson's successor will be either [redshirt junior] Dylan McCaffrey or [redshirt sophomore] Joe Milton, both of whom have waited their turns to possibly start at Michigan."
Street & Smith's goes on to note that the offensive line will be the biggest question mark on U-M's entire team in 2020, though it quickly mentions that Michigan "will be able to run the ball" thanks to the presences of sophomore Zach Charbonnet, and redshirt sophomores Hassan Haskins and Christian Turner.
Despite the fact that Michigan's defense will be "trending younger" in 2020, the outlet is high on the Wolverines' defensive unit and cites sophomore safety Daxton Hill, sophomore defensive tackle Chris Hinton, redshirt junior linebacker Josh Ross, redshirt sophomore linebacker Cam McGrone and senior defensive end Kwity Paye as the primary reasons why.
"The schedule, however, doesn't offer many favors," the magazine concluded on its writeup. "U-M opens the season at Washington, draws Wisconsin, Minnesota and Purdue from the West Division and will have to play both Michigan State and Ohio State on the road.
"The Wolverines will be good again, but they're in for more of the same — still a step away from the top of the Big Ten East."
Street & Smith's also had several peculiar projections in regards to Michigan's 2020 depth chart, the most notable of which was the exclusion of a pair of fifth-year seniors in tight end Nick Eubanks and defensive tackle Carlo Kemp from cracking the two-deep at their respective spots (the outlet had redshirt sophomore Luke Schoonmaker starting at tight end and senior fullback Ben Mason starting alongside Hinton at defensive tackle).
They also projected redshirt junior Joel Honigford to start at right guard and freshman A.J. Henning to earn a starting job at receiver, neither of which is entirely out of the question.
Athlon, meanwhile, has the Maize and Blue finishing with a 9-3 record, a 6-3 mark in league play and heading to the Outback Bowl to take on Tennessee, though it doesn't specify who it thinks the aforementioned losses will come against.
The publication is highest on the Wolverines' group of running backs and their defensive line unit in 2020, citing each position as the third best in the Big Ten.
"It's clear that the Wolverines will be going through some changes on offense," Athlon wrote. "In year two of [Josh] Gattis' offense, it's crucial that the Wolverines settle on the right quarterback.
"While no clear favorite is apparent right now, both have the talent to take the position and make it their own. It's up to the coaching staff to make the right call, as very little can be discerned from existing game film and spring practice was wiped out."
Athlon's depth chart predictions were much more realistic than Street & Smith's, with redshirt freshman Karsen Barnhart winning the left guard spot and Honigford earning the right guard job being the only notable projections.
One interesting segment Athlon does every year involves anonymous opposing coaches discussing league members, and this year's nameless coaches talking about the Maize and Blue was, as usual, quite interesting.
Here are a few of the highlights:
• "It's crazy to think they're judged on Ohio State, because they've done a really fantastic job with the program and developing guys and recruiting, but it is what it is."
• "When you look across the position groups at the NFL talent, when you look at their development and their schemes, this is as complete a program as you would want. They're just falling short against their rival."
• "The offense will almost certainly have a program-developed quarterback for the first time. They're really good at running back, they're really good on the line. The question on offense is how far Josh Gattis goes with his system. Last year you saw Shea Patterson in uncomfortable situations. You got the feeling they didn't know who they wanted to be with that system, or there was a disconnect somewhere."
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