If you’re a regular here at Touch the Banner, you probably know what begins in the month of May. Every year since 2009, I have counted down from the least important player on that year’s roster to the most important player, including starters, scholarship players, preferred walk-ons, special teams players, student body walk-ons, and everyone in between. That’s right, this is the eleventh (11th!) annual season countdown.
In case you want a look back at last year’s countdown, here it is (LINK).
YEARLY DISCLAIMER: The countdown is by the player’s importance to the team, not his overall talent. A talented player at a deep position won’t necessarily be missed a lot if he gets injured, but an injury to a moderately talented player at a thin position could be devastating. For example, former Michigan quarterback Wilton Speight wasn’t supremely talented, but backups John O’Korn and Brandon Peters mostly struggled in his absence, resulting in a dropoff from 10-3 to 8-5 from 2016 to 2017.
Be ready for the countdown to begin on May 1.
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“A talented player at a deep position won’t necessarily be missed a lot if he gets injured”
WR’s fit in here. Maybe safeties too.
“an injury to a moderately talented player at a thin position could be devastating”
Interior DLs fit in here.
O linemen are in the in between of the two categories. That is a first since Jim Harbaugh has been at Michigan. I hope they keep Ed Warinner happy. He says the O Line is prepared 3 deep at all positions. What a coach he must be.
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I’m curious where you’ll have true freshmen Daxton Hill, Chris Hinton, Mazi Smith, Nolan Rumler, Trevor Keegan, Cornelius Johnson, Mike Sainristil, and Cade McNamara.
I am also personally wondering, seriously, not kidding here, if Shea Patterson and Dylan McCaffrey both get injured if there will be a strong temptation by coaches Harbaugh, McDaniels, and Gattis to burn Cade McNamara’s redshirt.
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Look forward to reading it every year. Congrats on 10 years.
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Sweet. I’ve long enjoyed the countdown. Congratulations on the anniversary. 🙂
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First thought: a QB may miss the #1 slot this year, as Shea and Dylan have shown they are both very capable QBs.
Second thought: Who is going to be more significant loss?
I like a lot of our OL, but I think there are a decent number of bodies there to mitigate a loss.
DL depth is weak, but I don’t feel anyone has shown they are the guy we can’t afford to lose, yet.
CB depth is a little lighter, after Hill and Thomas the depth chart takes a little hit. Hill will be higher up.
RB thoughts are the same as DL.
For LB you had Hudson at #2 last year. Uche has come on a bit and Glasgow hasn’t been a liability in Hudson’s absence which could lower that ranking, but if we have more 3-4 looks this year that could raise that ranking.
Very excited for the countdown.
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