News & Views: Analyzing Jay Harbaugh's Words On The Entire RB Competition

NEWS: Which running back lines up to take the first snap against Middle Tennessee State on Saturday night remains a mystery, with three candidates — redshirt freshman Christian Turner, freshman Zach Charbonnet and senior Tru Wilson — all seemingly having a realistic shot.

The odds appeared to be in Turner's favor this offseason, but have since shifted more toward Charbonnet and perhaps even to Wilson as of late.

JAY HARBAUGH: “We’ll see come game time. It’s a bunch of guys who are practicing at a very high level, and we’ll see how everybody practices today and tomorrow [he said this on Wednesday].

"We have five guys with Tru Wilson, Christian Turner, Zach Charbonnet and [redshirt freshmen] Ben VanSumeren and Hassan Haskins.

"Those last two are names nobody really thinks about because they came over from defense, but they’ve practiced very well.”

VIEWS: Sure, Haskins and VanSumeren could see meaningful snaps this season, but it has become clear that Wilson, Turner and Charbonnet are the top contenders at the spot.

Harbaugh obviously wasn't interested in naming a starter prior to the game, but that could actually be because the coaching staff simply doesn't know who it will be yet.

The role of "starter" may be a bit overused anyway, seeing as how it is heavily assumed Michigan will rotate at least two or maybe even three backs on a regular basis tomorrow night.

Heck, it wouldn't even be a surprise if two runners (Wilson and Charbonnet, for example) were both on the field for the first play against MTSU.