Phil Steele's 2020 college football preview magazine has officially hit store shelves, with many fans viewing it as the 'holy grail' of preseason releases. Jam-packed with information as usual, Steele sees the 2020 Maize and Blue finishing with the exact same record as last year — 9-4.
That equates out to a third-place finish in the Big Ten East, behind first-place Ohio State and second-place Penn State. The Wolverines check in at No. 15 overall on the expert's "Power Poll," behind league members No. 1 Ohio State, No. 10 Penn State and No. 14 Wisconsin.
"Last year it was Michigan's turn to break through and win the Big Ten East," Steele writes in his preview magazine. "I had picked Ohio State to finish ahead of Michigan 12 straight years in the magazine and had been right 12 times.
"I actually picked Michigan last year as OSU had a new head coach and QB and Michigan had the Big Game at home. Oops! Michigan was disappointing early (lost at Wisconsin 35-14) and dropped a tying TD pass at Penn State."
Steele concludes his initial writeup on U-M by saying it looks like its "window has closed." He does, however, have high expectations for Michigan's offense next season, explaining they "should top '19's numbers," despite the fact they "only have five starters back."
While previewing U-M's 2020 defense, the analyst notes they "opted for more speed on defense and played more zone in 2019," and were "undersized up front."
"This year six starters are back and my computer is calling for 318.5 yards per game and 21.4 points per game."
Those numbers would be a slight step back from last season's defensive statistics, when the Maize and Blue allowed 307.2 yards per game and 20.7 points per outing. In Steele's final 2020 outlook for U-M, he notes that the club gets both Wisconsin and Penn State at home, but "wonders how many fans will be on hand."
"If [head coach Jim] Harbaugh can win a bowl game, they could top last year's nine-win total," he concludes. "I won't call for that, however!"
The expert's projected depth chart is straightforward and practical, with redshirt junior Dylan McCaffrey pegged to win the starting quarterback job. The only other notable predictions Steele makes are sophomore Giles Jackson to grab a starting receiver job, redshirt freshman Zach Carpenter to come out on top in the center battle, and redshirt freshman Karsen Barnhart to emerge at left guard.
The individual Michigan position units that Steele is most high on are the Wolverines' special teams and defensive line, tabbing them each as the second-best in the Big Ten (he has Iowa No. 1 in the former and Ohio State No. 1 in the latter). He also placed the club's defensive line as the ninth-best in the nation.
Steele also projects U-M's running back stable to be the league's third-best (and 15th in the country), and its receivers, linebackers and defensive backs all as the conference's fourth-best. The unit the analyst is unsurprisingly most worried about is Michigan's offensive line, which he slots at ninth in the Big Ten.
Another interesting aspect Steele analyzed in his magazine was the difficulty of U-M's 2020 schedule. Prior to its league-only altering, the expert tabbed Michigan's slate as the 18th-toughest in the nation, noting that the Wolverines' opponents held a 2019 winning percentage of 58.4.
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