Michigan football: Three position battles heading into spring practice

With one of the more loaded returning rosters in college football and an influx of transfers with starting experience, there aren't a lot of questions when it comes to who starts for the 2023 Michigan Wolverines. As always with a Jim Harbaugh coached team, there will be competition. With spring practices coming fast, these are the three position battles that I will have my eyes on from the start of camp.

Towards the end of the 2022 season, I was hypothesizing Michigan could see competition at every spot of the offensive line heading into 2023. I expected a situation where Michigan would focus on finding its five best offensive lineman first, then sort out the positions. Now, with the return of Zak Zinter and Trevor Keegan, and the additions of LaDarius Henderson and Drake Nugent, it appears the only battle on the line will be the same as last season, right tackle.

At the start of spring Michigan will have both Trente Jones and Karsen Barnhart returning. Jones led Barnhart throughout the 2022 offseason and started the season at right tackle. Barnhart saw action at other positions and eventually took over starting at right tackle when Jones suffered an injury.

Those two will face more competition than each other in 2023 however. With Henderson the favorite to start at left tackle, Jeffrey Persi will be pushing to start on the right side. Persi was the backup LT and had his first career start in 2022. Former starter Ryan Hayes consistently called out Persi has a player who was getting better every day in practice. When it comes to experience, Michigan added former Stanford right tackle Myles Hinton in the transfer portal. With 16 career starts, Hinton may be the favorite to win the job in the fall.

Other names to consider include Tristan Bounds, Andrew Gentry, and Connor Jones.

This is an interesting conversation. I think the first question is how will Michigan use its top two receivers in Cornelius Johnson and Roman Wilson? In 2021 with Ronnie Bell injured, Johnson played a more Bell like role in the offense. With Bell's return he was used almost exclusively as the X receiver with Bell playing the other outside spot and some slot. Wilson was moved almost exclusively to slot with Bell's return, seeing 90% of his snaps coming from the slot. Who is Michigan's WR3 first depends on how will Johnson and Wilson primarily be used in 2023?

I say primarily because the obvious part that can't be ignored is that Michigan rotates wide receivers into different groups and positions. What we have seen the last couple of seasons is there is a top 6 and a top 3. Johnson and Wilson are the clear top 2 heading to spring. My early favorite for WR3 is Darrius Clemons.

Clemons has been praised by coaches and players alike since arriving in Ann Arbor. If he is able to prove he can be one JJ McCarthy's top 3 targets it means Michigan can keep Wilson in the slot and move Johnson back to the Z receiver, which is the spots each has thrived most.

Michigan coaches may be inclined to move Wilson back to the Z spot and use him similar to how they used Bell in 2022. Bell played 40% of his snaps in the slot last year. Wilson could take on that role while two other primary slot receiver compete for Wilson's old role. AJ Henning and Tyler Morris each played close to 90% of their snaps in the slot when they were on the field last year. Henning is heading into his senior season and will be pushing for more reps after a "Deebo Samuel" role never really materialized in 2022. Morris saw more snaps late in 2022 and could find himself ahead of Clemons in the battle of sophomore wide receivers.

Amorion Walker will be playing on both sides in the spring, but could push as an outside receiver. He will join Cristian Dixon, Peyton O'Leary, and another crop of talented freshmen wide receivers looking to crack the top 6 and possibly top 3.

The one spot where Michigan lost the most from its 2022 starting lineup is cornerback, with starters DJ Turner and Gemon Green heading to the NFL. Green lost reps towards the end of the year to Will Johnson who will enter spring camp the clear CB1.

Last year's spring experiment turned ultimate success, Mike Sainristil will return. He is expected to maintain his slot role but could slide outside. Michigan has Rod Moore, a free safety who can play in coverage very similar to Dax Hill in 2022. Michigan may find adjusting Moore's role while moving Sainristil outside is the best scenario. Zeke Berry is also a player to watch who could take over at nickel, allowing Sainristil to move to CB2.

For now, the day 1 battle will likely be for that outside role. Much like wide receiver, Michigan will rotate players in the secondary, as the versatility those players possess is a huge strength of the defense, but you still expect there to be a primary CB2. The perceived leader currently may be Ja'Den McBurrows. After a late injury ended his 2021 season and kept sidelined for most of 2022, McBurrows will hope to win the job in 2023. He is physical corner and would be a perfect match across from Johnson.

McBurrows missed time means he has no real advantage over sophomores like Kody Jones and Myles Pollard. McBurrows is under 6' but over 200lbs. Pollard is over 6' but closer to 190lbs. Jones is somewhere in the middle of each. What Michigan favors from the spot in terms of scheme may help to determine the eventual starter as much as anything. The previously mentioned Walker will get corner reps this spring as well as Gemon's brother German Green. Michigan added two freshmen late in the cycle this year with Cam Calhoun and Jyaire Hill. Neither was as highly ranked as a recruit as Will Johnson, but each will be pushing to have a similar impact.

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