With kickoff now just two and a half weeks away, we have a solid understanding of what the Michigan Wolverines' football depth chart will look like heading into 2020. All 22 offensive and defensive starters have been projected below, along with a listing of where they were ranked as high school recruits.
The 22 projected starters below is our best guess as to what things will look like come Oct. 24 at Minnesota, and not necessarily where things stand right now in practice. For example, several position coaches have revealed a few leaders and standouts in position battles that are currently taking place, but again, we're picking which starters we think will eventually emerge.
Rivals.com rates players out of high school as either a two-star, three-star, four-star or five-star prospect, with five stars being the highest honor an athlete can receive. The top 30-35 players in the country are the only ones who gain five-star status on an annual basis.
Rivals.com also rates the top 250 players in the nation numerically, with prospects ranked from No. 35 (or so, which is usually the cutoff line for five-stars) to No. 250 given four-star status.
There are then an additional 140 (ish; it varies by year) four-star recruits who don't receive numerical rankings every cycle outside the Rivals250.
Projected Offensive Starters
• QB — Redshirt sophomore Joe Milton (4-star, No. 200 overall player)
• RB — Sophomore Zach Charbonnet (4-star, No. 60 overall player)
• WR — Junior Ronnie Bell (2-star)
• WR — Sophomore Giles Jackson (4-star, No. 233 overall player)
• WR — Sophomore Cornelius Johnson (4-star, No. 171 overall player)
• TE — Fifth-year senior Nick Eubanks (4-star outside the Rivals250)
• LT — Redshirt sophomore Ryan Hayes (3-star)
• LG — Redshirt junior Chuck Filiaga (4-star, No. 175 overall player)
• C — Fifth-year senior Andrew Vastardis (2-star)
• RG — Redshirt junior Andrew Stueber (3-star)
• RT — Redshirt sophomore Jalen Mayfield (4-star outside the Rivals250)
Notes
• Sophomore running back Zach Charbonnet's No. 60 ranking out of high school is the highest of any of Michigan's 11 projected offensive starters. He was also rated as the fifth best running back in the nation in the 2019 class.
• U-M is expected to start two former two-stars on offense this season — junior wideout Ronnie Bell and fifth-year senior center Andrew Vastardis. The latter originally came to Michigan as a walk-on, while Bell's plan was actually to play college basketball at Missouri State.
• Redshirt sophomore Joe Milton is one of five four-star quarterbacks head coach Jim Harbaugh has signed out of high school during his time at Michigan, joining Zach Gentry in 2015, Brandon Peters in 2016, Dylan McCaffrey in 2017 and Cade McNamara in 2019.
Projected Defensive Starters
• DE — Senior Kwity Paye (3-star)
• DT — Fifth-year senior Carlo Kemp (4-star, No. 215 overall player)
• DT — Sophomore Chris Hinton (5-star, No. 15 overall player)
• DE — Junior Aidan Hutchinson (4-star, No. 129 overall player)
• LB — Redshirt sophomore Cam McGrone (4-star, No. 195 overall player)
• LB — Redshirt junior Josh Ross (4-star, No. 222 overall player)
• LB — Redshirt sophomore Michael Barrett (3-star)
• CB — Redshirt sophomore Vincent Gray (3-star)
• CB — Redshirt freshman D.J. Turner (3-star)
• S — Senior Brad Hawkins (4-star outside the Rivals250)
• S — Sophomore Daxton Hill (5-star, No. 24 overall player)
Notes
• The Maize and Blue are expected to start two former five-stars on defense this season, in sophomore defensive tackle Chris Hinton and sophomore safety Daxton Hill. The former was rated as the second best defensive tackle in the country, while the latter was tabbed as the top safety nationally.
• We have pegged redshirt freshman D.J. Turner as the cornerback starter opposite redshirt sophomore Vincent Gray, though defensive coordinator Don Brown confirmed earlier this week the spot is wide open. Turner was rated as just a three-star out of high school, but had the offer list of a five-star. Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oregon, Penn State and Tennessee all offered him.
• Senior safety Brad Hawkins was originally in the 2016 class as a wide receiver and the No. 235 player nationally, but wound up taking an extra prep year and coming to Ann Arbor as a prospect outside the Rivals250 in 2017.
• Redshirt sophomore Michael Barrett came to Michigan after having played quarterback for Lowndes High School in Valdosta, Ga. He was listed as an athlete by Rivals.com, and after a few position changes at U-M, has finally settled in at viper.
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