CAMP KICKOFF SERIES:
Five Freshmen to Watch

Michigan Football's 2023 roster is loaded, at nearly every position on the field. This is thanks to some of the most returning production in all of college football. This means there aren't a lot of question marks when it comes to starters. But there are some, including who will protect JJ McCarthy's blind side, who lines up across from Will Johnson, and how exactly will EDGE rotation look?

Let's take a look at the position battles, current depth charts heading into fall camp, and predict the final outcome.

Let's lead off with the spot that has been the topic of conversation all offseason, who starts as the second outside corner. Michigan knows they have one of the best corners in the Big Ten and possibly the country with Will Johnson at CB1, but who plays across from him?

Mike Sainristil returns, and while he played the nickel last season as Michigan's second-best corner on the roster, Michigan could utilize him on the outside, especially early in the season. Michigan has coverage flexibility thanks to safety Rod Moore, who can play a similar role to Dax Hill in 2021. With Johnson, Sainristil, and Moore your top 3 coverage guys who can each line up outside or in the slot, that is the focus of the secondary. In this situation, Kody Jones or Zeke Berry could play nickel with both players bringing the versatility to lineup outside or as a safety,

Michigan added some experience this summer in UMass transfer Josh Wallace. Wallace is a 4-time starter and 2-time captain. His first action with the team will be in the fall, so his late start means he has work to do if he wants to win the job coming out of fall camp. An experienced player that should not be slept on is Keshaun Harris. The fifth-year senior has been a consistent contributor on special teams the last two seasons and made 10 appearances at corner.

Ja'Den McBurrows is arguably the favorite, given he was expected to be a solid contributor in 2022 but a lingering injury from 2021 cost him the season. He's a physical corner that fits what Michigan likes to do in the run game, and can also line up in the slot.

Amorion Walker received a lot of hype in the offseason and his ceiling is still as high as any. It will be interesting to see the progress he has made ahead of fall camp, and what he can do leading up to the season opener. I have a feeling he starts the year backing up Will Johnson. Same with Myles Pollard, but like Harris he is a player being slept on that could surprise some and crack the two-deep to start the season.

MIchigan's offensive line group is the deepest I have ever seen. Jake Butt recently said that the second unit would be good enough to start over 2/3 of the OL in college football, and he's not wrong.

Michigan is fortunate to have both guards returning with Trevor Keegan and Zak Zinter. Had either elected to enter the NFL, Giovanni El-Hadi would have stepped and Michigan would have felt fine. He played often last season and there was little to no drop-off when he stepped on the field. He's as valuable as any backup OL in the country.

The best center in the country last season, Olu Oluwatimi, is in the NFL and Michigan has options to replace him. Greg Crippen and Raheem Anderson were already on the roster and had strong springs. Michigan also brought in Stanford transfer Drake Nugent who was limited in the spring due to injury rehab. Crippen has the edge ahead of camp because of Nugent's injury, but Nugent has the potential to be one of the best IOL in college football.

Both tackle spots are up for grabs. Karsen Barnhart finished the season as the starting RT and he is the current leader at LT. He will be pushed by Arizona State transfer Ladarius Henderson who joined the team this summer. With Barnhart penciled in for LT, that gives the RT spot to Trente Jones who started 2022 as the starting RT. If Henderson ultimately wins the job, Barnhart would likely slide back to RT. Michigan also has Jeff Persi who started a game last season, Standford transfer Myles Hinton, and former top recruit Andrew Gentry.

I have spent most of the offseason obsessed with the wide receiver depth chart. While we know Cornelius Johnson and Roman Wilson return and will start the season as WR1 and WR2, where Wilson lines up as such an impact on the rest of the depth chart.

Wilson spent 90% of his snaps in the slot last season and the expectation is that is where he will begin fall camp. The coaching staff loves what Tyler Morris has shown this offseason and the Ronnie Bell comparisons have been consistent, especially with him now wearing the #8. With Wilson in the slot, Morris can take over the Z role.

Sophomore Darrius Clemons is 6'5" 230lbs, and while his future is likely the X receiver replacing Cornelius Johnson, he is an intriguing weapon as a Z receiver. With his sub 4.4 speed, Clemons could be a unique deep threat that can be moved to the slot or weak side to create mismatches. It's no secret Peyton O'Leary has impressed going back to last spring, and he is a strong fall camp away from being the backup X receiver and getting decent targets this season.

There tend to be tiers of top 3 and top 6 WR at Michigan and heading to fall camp, two freshmen are battling for that 6th spot. Frederick Moore and Semaj Morgan each had strong springs. With AJ Henning at Northwestern, Moore and Morgan have put themselves in a spot to replace Henning on special teams and as the backup slot. That will be a battle within a battle to watch this fall.

I hesitate to call this a position battle because Michigan is going to rotate at the EDGE, but it is fair to say roles are still to be determined.

Starting out for fall camp at the strong side, rush EDGE, Braiden McGregor will be the starter. Now, I use that word loosely because Derrick Moore is no backup and he will likely have a pretty even split with McGregor to start camp. What the defense needs most for the spot once held by Aidan Hutchinson is consistency. If that comes from both players in a committee approach or if one player is able to break out and become the consistent starter like Hutch and Mike Morris, well that starts to get figured out in camp.

On the opposite side, the SAM role will once again be Jaylen Harrell. An underrated piece of the defense, Harrell has improved his pass rush the last two seasons making a more balanced EDGE player primarily used against the run early on. He will rotate with Coastal Carolina transfer Josaiah Stewart. There might not be a better pass rusher on the roster than Stewart. He has double-digit sack potential in this defense. Much like McGregor and Moore, they are likely to be rotated fairly evenly early on but each player has a chance to take the role.

While these four are the clear top tier, they won't be the only players to see the field at EDGE. Kechaun Bennett is another veteran player on defense that can provide reliable snaps in rotation. He will be the primary RUSH backup to start the season. On the weak side, TJ Guy will get another chance to earn a contributor role. Guy was strong in the spring of 2022 but that didn't lead to much on-field time. He starts the year as the primary backup but he will be challenged by converted linebacker Tyler McLaurin.

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