The Michigan Wolverines football team is in outstanding shape at the majority of its positions heading into the 2019 campaign, which is the main reason it has been tabbed as the Big Ten favorite by numerous outlets.
Which position group is the strongest of the bunch though?
We've given our take and have ranked the top three, with all three just happening to be on the same side of the ball…
3. The Offensive Line
Position coach Ed Warinner has worked wonders with this unit during his short stint in Ann Arbor (he was hired prior to the 2018 campaign), and it was obvious by how much the unit progressed throughout last season.
Four starters return in fifth-year senior left tackle Jon Runyan, senior left guard Ben Bredeson, junior center Cesar Ruiz and senior right guard Mike Onwenu, all of whom made the All-Big Ten squad in some fashion last year.
It's incredible how far the group has come since 2017 alone, when it ranked 114th nationally in sacks allowed and 101st in tackles for loss surrendered.
Right tackle remains the only question mark heading into 2019, though redshirt freshman Jalen Mayfield and redshirt sophomore Andrew Stueber (who are still neck-and-neck) appear more than capable of being adequate starters.
Quality depth has also been established among the group, an asset that has been lacking for the better part of a decade.
Redshirt freshman left tackle Ryan Hayes, redshirt sophomore left guard Chuck Filiaga, redshirt junior center Stephen Spanellis, redshirt sophomore right guard Joel Honigford and the loser of the Mayfield/Stueber battle was the two-deep coming out of spring, a group that contains several individuals who would be more than capable of holding their own in the instance of injuries to the starters.
The 2019 crew is not only expected to be the best offensive line of the Jim Harbaugh era, but also the best since the Lloyd Carr days.
2. The Quarterbacks
A large reason this position ranks so highly on the list is due to the depth Harbaugh has built at it.
If something were to happen to senior Shea Patterson, most believe redshirt sophomore Dylan McCaffrey would be more than capable of running the offense at a high level.
Harbaugh had high praise for McCaffrey in late July at Big Ten Media Days in Chicago, when he said he'll likely play both quarterbacks in every game this fall.
"I'm really not talking about playing them both at the same time," he said. "It's going to be where they're both playing quarterback during the same game. That's probably where it stands now — and in every game."
Though Patterson shined for most of 2018 by tossing 22 touchdowns and completing 64.6 percent of his passes, McCaffrey also showed glimpses of what he was capable of (two touchdown passes and a 9.9 yard per carry average) before breaking his collarbone in the Oct. 13 win over Wisconsin.
Most teams would also kill to have a No. 3 quarterback — redshirt freshman Joe Milton — like the Wolverines do.
Harbaugh realized the poor state the position was in in 2017 when John O'Korn and Brandon Peters were unable to generate any kind of offense after Wilton Speight went down with injury in late September, and has since built the game's most important position into one of great strength for U-M.
1. The Wide Receivers
Clemson and Alabama may be the only two teams in the country who boast a better receiving trio than juniors Nico Collins and Donovan Peoples-Jones, and redshirt sophomore Tarik Black.
Despite being criminally underused last season (Michigan's 26.7 passing attempts per game ranked 104th in the country), the former two wideouts still managed to each rack up over 600 yards and a combined 14 touchdowns as sophomores.
Add a healthy Black back into the mix (he was limited to just six games last year due to injury), and it's easy to see why first-year offensive coordinator Josh Gattis has emphasized getting the ball into the trio's hands more.
It remains to be seen whether or not freshman Mike Sainristil will continue to excel the way he did when Harbaugh tabbed him as a starter coming out of spring, but his speed should allow him to see the field in some capacity.
Sophomore Ronnie Bell also exceeded expectations last season as a freshman when he hauled in two touchdown passes, and will undoubtedly take on a larger role in Gattis' spread out system.
The first-year coordinator also had praise for another freshman wideout — Cornelius Johnson — yesterday afternoon.
"He is having a great camp as a freshman and wowing people the same way Mikey did in the spring," Gattis exclaimed.
While the depth being built at the position is strong, the unit grabs the top spot on the list thanks to Black, Peoples-Jones and Collins, with the latter two having dropped a combined one pass all of last season (according to Pro Football Focus).
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