2015 Season Predictions

2015 Season Predictions


September 3, 2015

Here are my predictions for the upcoming year:

Leading Rusher
I think Michigan will run the ball pretty well this year, but no running back is likely to run away with the yardage lead. There are three or four backs who could emerge as the leader, but my guess is that the week one starter, De’veon Smith, edges out the others.
Prediction: De’Veon Smith, 700 yards

Leading Receiver
The receiving corps is underwhelming, and the only big-play threats are guys who are totally unproven at this point. I’ll go with the consistent guy who lacks flash in redshirt junior Amara Darboh.
Prediction: Amara Darboh, 650 yards

Leading Tackler
Senior Joe Bolden finished his junior year second on the team with 102 tackles. The leading tackler (Jake Ryan) left, and the other inside linebacker (Desmond Morgan) isn’t quite as athletic as Bolden. I’ll give Bolden the edge here, and I think these two are really the only realistic candidates unless injuries occur.
Prediction: Joe Bolden, 100 tackles

Hit the jump for the rest.

Leading Sacker
Michigan lost its top two players in this category from last season in Frank Clark and Brennen Beyer, but senior Mario Ojemudia and junior Taco Charlton tied for third on the team with 3.5 sacks each. My metaphorical money is on Ojemudia since I think he’ll play more than Charlton.
Prediction: Mario Ojemudia, 5 sacks

Leading Interceptor
This is a tough one, because Michigan didn’t make many picks last year, and the leading interceptor was then-sophomore Jourdan Lewis. I’ll go with Lewis again this season, although Jabrill Peppers has a good chance as he gets moved around from safety to the slot.
Prediction: Jourdan Lewis, 3 interceptions

All-Big Ten First Team
There is a void at the tight end position in the Big Ten after last year’s top two players at the position were Maxx Williams and Jeff Heuerman, both of whom are now in the NFL. Considering Jim Harbaugh’s penchant for using tight ends, Jake Rudock’s adeptness at checking down to tight ends, and Jake Butt’s considerable ability to play tight end, he’s my choice. But he’s my only one for Michigan.
Prediction: Jake Butt

Leading Scorer
This is tough, because no running backs, wide receivers, or tight ends are likely to pile up the scores. I’ll go with Ty Isaac, who can be a power runner, has a little bit of speed, and is the best receiver out of the backfield.
Prediction: Ty Isaac

Breakout Offensive Player
I think Jake Butt is going to have a good season, but he’s already sort of a known quantity to some extent. I’m nervous about this guy’s health, but I’ll go with Drake Harris. He’s listed as an “or” on the depth chart with Amara Darboh, and provided he stays healthy, he should provide a bit of a spark in the big-play department.
Prediction: Drake Harris

Breakout Defensive Player
I know this is probably the obvious choice, but Jabrill Peppers has received a lot of hype without having done much of anything last year. Is he already somewhat of a star? Sure. But he still has to prove it at the college level. I think he will if he can remain healthy this year.
Prediction: Jabrill Peppers

Most Disappointing Offensive Player
Derrick Green has already been placed behind De’Veon Smith on the depth chart, and he could very well find himself behind Ty Isaac and Drake Johnson by the end of the year, too.I think he’ll probably play just fine, but going from #1 back in the country (on Rivals) to third- or fourth-stringer would be a considerable fall from grace.
Prediction: Derrick Green

Most Disappointing Defensive Player
Some unrealistic fans will expect Jabrill Peppers to be a superstar, Charles Woodson clone from game one of this season. That’s unlikely to happen, but he should still be pretty good. My guess is that Taco Charlton will continue to be somewhat disappointing. Michigan fans were excited about his raw skills coming out of high school, but he’ll be a junior this season and might find himself getting third-stringer’s reps behind Willie Henry and Chris Wormley.
Prediction: Taco Charlton

The Big Finish
September 3 at Utah: WIN. I keep hearing a lot about Utah, but they lost quite a bit defensively and at wide receiver. Their best offensive player, running back Devontae Booker, goes up against Michigan’s best unit, the front seven of the defense.

September 12 vs. Oregon State: WIN. I might chalk this up as a loss if it were at Oregon State, but it’s Jim Harbaugh’s home opener.

September 19 vs. UNLV: WIN. UNLV is not good.

September 26 vs. BYU: LOSS. BYU has lost a fair amount this off-season, too, and I think Michigan should win on paper. But as we all know, games aren’t played on paper – they’re played inside TV sets. (Oh, how I used to love SportsCenter.)

October 3 at Maryland: WIN. I have a friend who loves Maryland, and he’s one of those guys who gets overly optimistic about his mediocre football team. I want him to shut up.

October 10 vs. Northwestern: WIN. I just don’t think the Wildcats will have the horses to match up.

October 17 vs. Michigan State: LOSS. I just don’t think the Wolverines will have the horses to match up.

October 31 at Minnesota: WIN. Minnesota is a good team, but the Wolverines won’t be as inept on offense as they were last season when Shane Morris started and, among other things, threw a pick six.

November 7 vs. Rutgers: WIN. I’m pretty sure Rutgers is bad.

November 14 at Indiana: WIN. It’s not often that Indiana can topple the Wolverines.

November 21 at Penn State: LOSS. This is a toss-up game that I’ll give to the Nittany Lions since it’s a home game for them. State College is a tough place to play.

November 28 vs. Ohio State: LOSS. I can’t realistically predict Michigan will knock off the defending national champs.

8 comments

  1. Comments: 183
    Joined: 9/3/2015
    suduri xusai
    Sep 03, 2015 at 2:06 PM

    8-4, eh. I am going to go with 10-2, with losses to Mich State and Ohio State. I just don’t see Michigan losing to BYU under Harbaugh, and Penn State isn’t that good and J Franklin is so overrated. We can get that bowl win to go 11-2, setting up for a good recruiting class and a lot of hope for next year.

    • Comments: 1364
      Joined: 8/11/2015
      WindyCityBlue
      Sep 03, 2015 at 5:13 PM

      10 wins is our absolute ceiling if a whole lot of things break our way. Even if we were an 80% favorite in every one of our games (and we’re not even close to that good), that’d still project to 2-3 losses. We’ve gone into a lot of seasons with better talent on paper than we have now and not won 10 games…it’s not that easy, and I just don’t see us running the table on everyone but MSU and OSU. We have too many question marks and areas where we’re thin to imagine that we win every close game on the schedule.

      • Comments: 1
        elmprov121
        Sep 03, 2015 at 10:12 PM

        I totally agree with Windy…this team will lose at least one game that’s a toss-up or that they’re expected to win. 8-4 seems reasonably optimistic to me.

  2. Comments: 49
    Joined: 8/11/2015
    Blue in NC
    Sep 03, 2015 at 4:02 PM

    I think 8-4 is the right call. Yes, you can see them possibly getting to 10-2, very possibly 9-3 but that’s really if things go as we hope. With a key injury or two, this could easily be 7-5 or even (gasp) 6-6. I am optimistic but 8-4 seems like the logical outcome.

  3. Comments: 1364
    Joined: 8/11/2015
    WindyCityBlue
    Sep 03, 2015 at 5:25 PM

    I’d have to put Utah and Minnesota down as more likely losses than BYU. I think we’ll be very tough to beat at home this year, though we’ll probably lose close ones to MSU and OSU. I think 8 wins is most likely, and about a 90% chance that we’ll be within one win of that.

  4. Comments: 2
    Joined: 9/3/2015
    goblue1213
    Sep 03, 2015 at 11:28 PM

    Thunder. Rudock has thrown 3 picks while targeting Perry, a freshman. In your opinion, how many of those picks were on the QB and how many were on the receiver? The first one seemed to be a wrong route. 2nd was an overthrow, and the pick six seemed to be a product of Rudock staring the receiver down. What are your thoughts?

    • Comments: 3844
      Joined: 7/13/2015
      Sep 04, 2015 at 12:02 AM

      The first one was on the wide receiver (Perry), I believe. He hitched up rather than running an out. A freshman mistake, I think.

      The second one was an overthrow, but it still looked like it might have been two guys on different pages.

      The pick six was not only Perry being stared down by Rudock, but it was just a flat-out bad choice by Rudock. It’s not like someone jumped the route, really – Perry was just well covered.

      • Comments: 4
        Joined: 9/4/2015
        Blue4life
        Sep 04, 2015 at 7:43 AM

        Thunder great site/blog I have followed it for 5 yrs. I thought your countdown was decent. In my lack of patience for your review of last night’s let down I will throw out my 5 predictions after listening to Harbaugh’s presser:
        1. Jake Butt will be a first round pick in the 2016 NFL draft.
        2. Michigan will get steadily better each week as promised resulting in a 9-3 record with the upset of Sparty coupled with a loss to Minn or PSU and Ohio.
        3. This is a top 10 defense in the country. Barring significant health issues they will hold every opposing offense to 20 pts or less provided the opposing offense starts on the other side of the 50.
        4. Harbaugh will stay loyal to Rudock and refrain from handing the offense to a lefty which is a national trend at the collegiate and pro level. Morris gains a redshirt and or transfers despite the fact that I think he has drastically improved and his abilities offer a higher upside than Rudock.
        5. Or 3b, this defense has 4 guys selects in the 2016 NFL draft.

You must belogged in to post a comment.