FORMER PLAYERS
WR Tarik Black (Texas): Black did not start but made 1 catch for 24 yards in a 53-45 loss to Oklahoma.
TE Mustapha Muhammad (Kilgore Junior College): Muhammad transferred from Michigan to Houston and is now at Kilgore Junior College, which has canceled its season due to COVID.
CB Myles Sims (Georgia Tech): Sims made 1 tackle in a 46-27 win over Louisville.
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Name: Cam McGrone
Height: 6’1″
Weight: 236 lbs.
High school: Indianapolis (IN) Lawrence Central
Position: Linebacker
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #44
Last year: I ranked McGrone #47 and said he would be a backup linebacker and special teamer (LINK). He started ten games at middle linebacker and made 66 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, 4 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 1 pass breakup, and 5 quarterback hurries.
TTB Rating: 80
Nobody expected McGrone to be a starter in 2019. Josh Ross was the starting middle linebacker, Jordan Glasgow was the starting weakside linebacker, and Devin Gil had started at WILL in 2018. So Michigan had three starting inside linebackers for two spots, and that didn’t include Jordan Anthony, who was in the rotation.
Then Ross got hurt, and the inexperienced McGrone – who had played in just one game in 2018 – was the wide-eyed beneficiary. He made 6 tackles against Wisconsin, showing off his speed. Shortly afterward, he would go on his best streak of the year, with 35 tackles, 6 tackles for loss, and 3.5 sacks against Iowa, Illinois, Penn State, and Notre Dame.
This year McGrone leaps into the top ten of the countdown partly because of the important position he plays – middle linebacker – but also because of the complete lack of experience behind him. Glasgow is blocking punts in the NFL, Jordan Anthony entered the transfer portal, Gil transferred to USF, and Ross shifted to WILL. Michigan has two solid players at inside linebacker, but behind them is redshirt freshmen Charles Thomas and Joey Velazquez, true freshmen, and walk-ons. And while there has been positive buzz about the true freshmen, the crickets have drowned out anything about Thomas and Velazquez.
McGrone should get a chance to show off his blitzing ability and sideline-to-sideline speed in 2020, and hopefully he can stay healthy throughout the year.
Prediction: Starting middle linebacker
Name: Carlo Kemp
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 286 lbs.
High school: Boulder (CO) Fairview
Position: Defensive tackle
Class: Senior
Jersey number: #2
Last year: I ranked Kemp #13 and said he would be the starting nose tackle with 25 tackles and 1.5 sacks (LINK). He started twelve games, making 40 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, and 1 fumble recovery.
TTB Rating: 84
A quick recap: Kemp started his career at linebacker and has since played every position on the defensive line, from weakside end to nose tackle.
He continued making strides on the defensive line in 2019, becoming Third Team All-Big Ten to the conference’s coaches. That’s a pretty nice accomplishment for a guy who’s undersized for the nose tackle job. Kemp doesn’t even have the consistent quickness off the ball of a guy like Maurice Hurst, Jr., but he does use leverage and athleticism to find his way to the ball. Michigan was able to use him on stunts with some effect. Unfortunately, the quickness and stunting was embarrassingly ineffective against power running teams like Ohio State and Wisconsin.
This year it appears Kemp will be moving over to 3-tech as Michigan deploys more four-man fronts. That makes more sense to me and hopefully allows a guy with more weight/stoutness to play nose tackle. Kemp gave a valiant effort, but without sufficient junk in his trunk, it’s an exercise in futility to play nose tackle when getting gashed by the stellar offensive lines of the Badgers and Buckeyes.
Prediction: Starting defensive tackle
Name: Dylan McCaffrey
Height: 6’5″
Weight: 220 lbs.
High school: Castle Rock (CO) Valor Christian
Position: Quarterback
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #10
Last year: I ranked McCaffrey #26 and said he would be a backup quarterback (LINK). He was 10/20 for 116 yards and 1 touchdown; he also ran for 67 yards and 1 touchdown.
TTB Rating: 91
Well, here we find Dylan McCaffrey, the guy once destined to be the Next Great Quarterback at Michigan who now appears to be headed for, I dunno, Northern Colorado to play for his dad. McCaffrey was pegged by many – including me – to be Michigan’s starter in 2020, ahead of Joe Milton. For whatever reason, McCaffrey lost the job and therefore announced he would opt out of the season and would explore transfer options.
I had McCaffrey ranked #10, which is low for a starting quarterback. The reason? He seems injury-prone. A concussion and a broken collarbone have ended each of his previous two seasons prematurely. The only season he finished healthy was when he was redshirting in 2017. So by my estimation, Michigan was going to end up with at least two starting quarterbacks for lengthy stretches in 2020, McCaffrey and Milton. Now the job goes to Milton, and we have to hope that redshirt freshman Cade McNamara is ready to roll as the backup.
Prediction: Starting quarterback
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Name: Chris Hinton, Jr.
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 305 lbs.
High school: Norcross (GA) Greater Atlanta Christian
Position: Defensive tackle
Class: Sophomore
Jersey number: #15
Last year: I ranked Hinton #38 and said he would be a backup defensive tackle (LINK). He made 9 tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss.
TTB Rating: 90
Hinton entered 2019 with some expectations to contribute immediately. He was an All-American with an NFL pedigree, and Michigan needed help at defensive tackle. Michael Dwumfour never fully developed (and has since transferred to Rutgers), and otherwise, Michigan was relying on position-switchers like Donovan Jeter, Carl Kemp, Jess Speight, and others to hold down the fort in the middle. It was a breath of fresh air to see two true defensive tackles recruited in the 2019 class (Hinton and Mazi Smith), but Hinton was more college-ready.
His play was not disappointing – defensive tackle is tough for freshmen – but he also didn’t really show many flashes of greatness, either. That doesn’t mean it won’t come. Hinton already showed some stoutness and made a few tackles, and I liked what I saw from him.
This season Hinton is up 20 pounds from where he started last year, and he has a year of technique and S&C under his belt. I went into the countdown thinking he and Kemp would be the starters on the interior, but recent news from insiders has Jeter pegged to start alongside Kemp. I don’t have a lot of trust in Jeter because of how he has underperformed, but I did like him as a prospect, so maybe the light finally came on. Either way, there’s a lot of rotation on the defensive line, so Hinton will play quite a bit. That size and toughness will be valuable inside when Michigan comes up against Wisconsin and Ohio State.
Prediction: Part-time starting nose tackle