Projecting Michigan Football's Entire Two-Deep Heading Into 2020
With the early entry deadline for the NFL draft having come and gone, we now have an accurate understanding of what the Michigan Wolverines' football roster will look like heading into the 2020 campaign.
Below is TheWolverine's best guess as to who the club's 22 starters will be, along with the projected backups at each offensive, defensive and special teams position.
Note: every players' listed year below refers to what class they'll be in 2020.
Quarterback — Dylan McCaffrey (redshirt junior)
Top Backup: Joe Milton (redshirt sophomore)
It’s safe to assume that whichever of the two aforementioned quarterbacks doesn’t win the starting job will wind up being the backup, with rising redshirt freshman Cade McNamara likely still a year or two away.
Both McCaffrey and Milton are relatively inexperienced, however, with the former only having attempted 35 career passes and the latter just 11.
It’s clear head coach Jim Harbaugh held McCaffrey in high regard coming into the 2019 campaign, evidenced by the fact that he said he planned on playing both him and senior Shea Patterson regularly this season when he spoke about it in July at Big Ten Media Days.
That plan was derailed, however, when McCaffrey suffered a concussion in the loss at Wisconsin Sept. 21, with the redshirt sophomore only playing 21 snaps from that point on and perhaps opening the door a bit for Milton heading into 2020.
The two combined to go 13-of-27 passing for 175 yards with two touchdowns and an interception in 2019, and they each also rushed for one score.
When Milton met with the media prior to the Citrus Bowl Jan. 1, he noted the competition for the starting spot started “in the beginning of the bowl practice.”
Running Back — Zach Charbonnet (sophomore)
Top Backup: Hassan Haskins (redshirt sophomore)
The two were basically co-starters in 2019, with Charbonnet starting the first six games of the year and Haskins the final six.
It’s fair to expect the tandem to once again be co-starters in 2020, though there should be more competition at the spot with the arrival of incoming freshman Blake Corum and the potential return of rising fifth-year senior Chris Evans, who was suspended for the entire 2019 campaign.
A pair of rising redshirt sophomores in Christian Turner and Ben VanSumeren also return.
Charbonnet and Haskins will likely be ahead of the pack, however, after the former led the team with 726 rushing yards and 11 scores this season, while the latter racked up 622 yards and four touchdowns.
Evans has rushed for 1,722 yards and 14 touchdowns in his career, and has caught 40 passes for 392 yards and two scores.
Wide Receiver — Nico Collins (senior), Ronnie Bell (junior) and Mike Sainristil (sophomore)
Top Backups: Giles Jackson (sophomore), Cornelius Johnson (sophomore) and A.J. Henning (freshman)
The Maize and Blue received a significant boost Jan. 5 when Collins announced his return for the 2020 campaign, bringing his 729 yards and seven touchdown catches from last fall back with him.
“He’s on the short list already when we talk about the top receivers for next year’s [NFL Draft] class,” DraftCountdown.com’s Scott Wright told The Wolverine.
The duo of Collins and Bell — who led the club in both receptions and yards in 2019, with 48 and 758, respectively — should form one of the better wideout tandems in the nation next year.
Those two will be surrounded by a trio of rising sophomores bursting with potential in Sainristil, Jackson and Johnson, after the three combined for 21 receptions, 348 receiving yards and three TD grabs in their debuts.
A pair of speedy incoming freshmen in A.J. Henning and Roman Wilson could also see early playing time.
Tight end — Nick Eubanks (fifth-year senior)
Top Backup: Erick All (sophomore)
Eubanks is the odds-on favorite to reclaim his starting role in 2020 after receiving the starting nod in 10 games this season and hauling in 25 receptions for 243 yards and four scores.
With Sean McKeon (235 yards and two touchdowns) gone to graduation, one of the club’s young tight ends — likely either All or rising redshirt sophomore Luke Schoonmaker — will need to step up and assert themselves as the No. 2 man at the position.
All played in 11 contests as a freshman in 2019, but only hauled in one reception for 10 yards.
Schoonmaker, meanwhile, hauled in a 29-yard reception against Rutgers Sept. 28 and snared a 25-yard touchdown pass in the win at Illinois Oct. 12, but failed to register another catch the rest of the way.
Incoming freshman Matt Hibner will be in the mix to see playing time as well.
Offensive Line — LT Jalen Mayfield (redshirt sophomore), LG Chuck Filiaga (redshirt junior) OR Nolan Rumler (redshirt freshman), C Andrew Vastardis (fifth-year senior) OR Zach Carpenter (redshirt freshman), RG Andrew Stueber (redshirt junior) and RT Ryan Hayes (redshirt sophomore)
Top Backups: LT Karsen Barnhart (redshirt freshman), LG Filiaga OR Rumler, C Vastardis OR Carpenter, RG Rumler and RT Barnhart
Offensive line will be one of the biggest question marks on the entire team heading into 2020, with fifth-year senior left tackle Jon Runyan, senior left guard Ben Bredeson and senior right guard Mike Onwenu all having graduated, and junior center Cesar Ruiz leaving early for the NFL.
Mayfield is the lone returning starter after an outstanding redshirt freshman campaign that saw him earn a 70.1 overall grade from Pro Football Focus (PFF), where a 64.0 mark is considered average.
It’s a safe bet Hayes will earn a starting job as well after appearing in 10 games and playing 257 snaps in 2019, but uncertainty surrounds the interior.
Filiaga served as Bredeson’s backup this season and will be in a battle with Rumler at left guard, while Vastardis and Carpenter will compete for the starting center duties.
It would not be a surprise to see Stueber slide from tackle to right guard after missing the entire 2019 campaign due to injury.
Defensive Line — DE Kwity Paye (senior), DT Carlo Kemp (fifth-year senior), DT Chris Hinton (sophomore) and DE Aidan Hutchinson (junior)
Top Backups: DE Taylor Upshaw (redshirt sophomore), DT Donovan Jeter (redshirt junior), DT Mazi Smith (redshirt freshman) and DE Luiji Vilain (redshirt junior)
Kemp started 12 games in 2019 and is expected to return for a fifth-year senior season in 2020, which would provide the defensive tackle spot with a massive boost at a position that is severely lacking depth and experience.
Redshirt junior Michael Dwumfour’s transfer opens the door for Hinton to start alongside Kemp next season, after the Johns Creek, Ga., native concluded his freshman campaign by averaging 32 snaps per outing over Michigan’s final three games.
The return of Paye and Hutchinson will once again give Michigan one of the best defensive end duos in the conference, after the pair racked up a combined 22.5 tackles for loss and 11 sacks in 2019.
Linebacker — Cam McGrone (redshirt sophomore), Josh Ross (redshirt junior) and Michael Barrett (redshirt sophomore)
Top Backups: Kalel Mullings (freshman), Devin Gil (fifth-year senior) and Anthony Solomon (sophomore)
McGrone will be expected to headline the unit after tallying 66 stops, 9.5 tackles for loss and four sacks in 10 starts as a redshirt freshman in 2019.
Ross played in only four games this season due to injuries and subsequently redshirted, and will likely reclaim his starting role (he opened the first three contests this year) as a redshirt junior.
Gil should provide quality depth as a fifth-year senior who started all 13 outings in 2018.
The biggest question resides at senior Khaleke Hudson’s vacated viper spot, with Barrett set to step in as the successor.
However, he only has 29 career defensive snaps under his belt, and received a subpar 55.8 overall grade from PFF in the limited action he saw this season.
Defensive Back — CB Ambry Thomas (senior), CB Vincent Gray (redshirt sophomore), S Brad Hawkins (senior) and S Daxton Hill (sophomore)
Top Backups: CB D.J. Turner (redshirt freshman), Gemon Green (redshirt sophomore), S Sammy Faustin (redshirt sophomore) and S Quinten Johnson (redshirt freshman)
Despite the graduation of senior Lavert Hill, Michigan’s top cornerback tandem should still be in outstanding shape in 2020 with Thomas and Gray as the likely starters.
The former’s 80.8 PFF grade this season was the best among U-M’s cornerbacks, and even though Gray only started one game in 2019 (the Oct. 12 win at Illinois when Hill was out with injury), his 525 snaps on the year were only 34 fewer than Hill’s 559.
The Wolverines’ projected safety duo looks equally as potent with Hawkins and Daxton Hill, who racked up a combined 89 tackles and four passes broken up this year.
Hawkins’ 81.5 PFF grade was the third-best mark on U-M’s defense in 2019, while Hill received 331 defensive snaps, picked off a pass and recovered two fumbles throughout his freshman campaign.
Special Teams — K Quinn Nordin (fifth-year senior), P Will Hart (fifth-year senior), KR Giles Jackson (sophomore) and PR Ronnie Bell (junior)
Top Backups: K Jake Moody (junior), P Brad Robbins (redshirt junior), KR Michael Barrett (redshirt sophomore) and PR Mike Sainristil (sophomore)
Nordin ended the 2019 season by converting his final 10 field goal attempts, giving him a leg up on Moody heading into the 2020 kicking competition.
Hart’s 44.2-yard average on punts this year was a regression from the 47-yard clip he posted in 2018, and he’ll have to fend off Robbins for the starting job.
Jackson shined during his debut season as a kick returner, averaging 25.9 yards per return (fourth best in the Big Ten) and taking one 97 yards to the house in the win at Maryland Nov. 2.
Punt return is the only spot on Michigan’s special teams unit with a significant question mark, with early NFL Draft entry Donovan Peoples-Jones having filled the duties for each of the last three years.
Bell will be expected to step into the role after filling in as the backup this season — though he has just 10 career punt returns, he did post a higher clip (8.4-yard average) than Peoples-Jones (7.2) on his eight chances in 2019.
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