Michigan will open the season a week from Saturday at Minnesota with many question marks. Here’s our take on head coach Jim Harbaugh’s recent comments on his team, in 3-2-1 format.

DECIPHERING THREE OF HARBAUGH’S COMMENTS ON POSITIONS OF UNCERTAINTY

3. First, from Harbaugh on the safeties — "[Senior safety] Brad Hawkins is playing his best football since he’s been around. He’s a returning starter, so that’s really saying something. He’s doing extremely well.

“[Freshman safety] Makari Paige, [redshirt junior safety] Hunter Reynolds — those two have been very good. I have to compliment both the Green brothers. [Redshirt sophomore] German [Green] is playing safety and special teams. [Redshirt sophomore] Gemon Green is fighting for the starting corner position alongside [redshirt sophomore] Vince Gray.

"I’ve been happy with those safeties. [Redshirt freshman] Caden Kolesar has been playing safety and special teams. Those are the ones that are right there in the mix at safety and are doing a really good job … [redshirt sophomore] Sammy Faustin … we moved [Faustin] from safety to corner.”

That’s great news on Hawkins, of course, and everything we’ve heard is that the safety position will be the best it’s been in a long time … as starters go. Sophomore Daxton Hill (more on him in a bit) has a chance to be special, too.

Many don’t realize what a blow it was to lose Hawkins in the defensive backfield for the last two games a season ago — let’s just say that the breakdowns on the back end at big moments were not his fault. He’s been very good about his assignments for a while now.

But notice how we slipped that last bit in there (Faustin)? Safety depth was an area of concern, and the guy we had penciled in to spell both positions is now playing corner. There are two ways to take this, and one is that …

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