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2016 Season Predictions

Jourdan Lewis

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LEADING RUSHER
This one doesn’t leave much to the imagination. Michigan’s leading rusher from last season returns, and nothing that happened this off-season suggests that he will lose his mantle as Michigan’s top back. Unless a serious injury befalls him, it will be . . .
Prediction: De’Veon Smith, 870 yards

LEADING RECEIVER
Last year I had Amara Darboh with 650 yards, and I was a little low with that yardage total. He also lost out late in the season to Jehu Chesson, who became a big-time deep threat down the stretch. There’s talk that Darboh is the #1 receiver and has stepped up this fall, but I don’t expect him to change much from his redshirt junior season to his redshirt senior year.
Prediction: Jehu Chesson, 900 yards

Hit the jump for the rest of the season predictions.

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2016 Season Countdown: #6 Jake Butt

Jake Butt (image via Michigan Daily)

Name: Jake Butt
Height: 6’6″
Weight: 250 lbs.
High school: Pickerington (OH) North
Position: Tight end
Class: Senior
Jersey number: #88
Last year: I ranked Butt #2 and said he would be the starting tight end with 40 catches for 550 yards and 6 touchdowns (LINK). He caught 51 passes for 654 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Butt was a sure bet to have a very good year in 2015, not only because of his prodigious talent, but because of a coach that values tight ends. While the season started off with a disappointing loss to Utah, it also included a spectacular Butt touchdown catch where he outjumped three defenders. He finished with 8 catches for 93 yards and that 1 touchdown. He broke the 80-yard mark twice more, against Rutgers and Indiana, and had a career-long 56-yard touchdown catch against the Scarlet Knights. He won Big Ten Tight End of the Year after outpacing other tight ends by 16 receptions and 226 yards. And he was a First Team All-American, although he lost the John Mackey Award to Hunter Henry of Arkansas (51 catches, 739 yards, 3 touchdowns).

This year I expect more of the same from Butt. He will be helping to break in a new quarterback, but he went through that in 2015 with Jake Rudock. In this year’s case, the new quarterback will be a guy he’s been practicing with for at least a year. Butt is a pre-season All-American and a captain for Michigan’s offense. His value diminishes slightly because of the additional depth and talent at the position. Even though blocking tight end A.J. Williams graduated, up-and-comers like Tyrone Wheatley, Jr., Ian Bunting, Devin Asiasi, Zach Gentry, and others can play ball, too. It’s perhaps the deepest position group on the team, which is why one could perhaps make the argument that a captain and All-American should be rated even lower than the #6 most important player on the squad. All that aside, though, it should be fun to watch Butt’s continued maturation in a tight end-friendly offense.

Prediction: Starting tight end; 50 catches, 700 yards, 5 touchdowns

2016 Season Countdown: #7 Chris Wormley

Chris Wormley (image via Michigan Daily)

Name: Chris Wormley
Height: 6’6″
Weight: 302 lbs.
High school: Toledo (OH) Whitmer
Position: Defensive tackle
Class: Fifth year senior
Jersey number: #43
Last year: I ranked Wormley #16 and said he would be the starting strongside end with 40 tackles, 9 tackles for loss, and 6 sacks (LINK). He made ten starts either end or tackle, making 43 tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks, 1 forced fumble, and 1 pass breakup.

Wormley was a part-time starter in 2014, and we knew he would play a lot in 2015. It wasn’t clear how big of a step he would take, and the depth chart was murky with a wide array of talent. He broke out immediately in the Utah game with 5 tackles and 3 tackles for loss. From that point forward, he established himself as a player who could be dominant at times. Against Oregon State the next week, he had 6 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, and 1 sack. Of course, his pace of being headed for 36 tackles for loss couldn’t last, and it slowed down to where he just had 14.5 by the end of the year (8th in the Big Ten), along with 6.5 sacks (10th).

Going into the 2016 season, he’s an established player that opponents have to account for regularly. He can play strongside end or defensive tackle, and in fact, he has reportedly played every spot on the defensive line so Don Brown can employ him in many different ways in blitz packages. Despite being 300 lbs., he also regularly wins sprints for his position group. He’s an all-around terror. Scout’s Sam Webb said over the summer that Michigan’s staff planned to start Wormley at defensive tackle and Rashan Gary at strongside end, but I have heard other rumblings recently that perhaps Gary isn’t quite ready to start. Depending on Gary’s readiness, Wormley will either start at end or tackle, with Matt Godin and Maurice Hurst, Jr. being the other options at 3-tech. I don’t expect a huge leap for Wormley this year in terms of production, but the recently elected defensive captain should have another very solid year for the Wolverines.

Prediction: Starting defensive tackle; 50 tackles, 7 sacks

2016 Season Countdown: #8 Ben Gedeon

Ben Gedeon

Name: Ben Gedeon
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 247 lbs.
High school: Hudson (OH) Hudson
Position: Linebacker
Class: Senior
Jersey number: #42
Last year: I ranked Gedeon #28 and said he would be a backup linebacker with 35 tackles and 2 sacks (LINK). He started one game, making 34 tackles and 3 tackles for loss.

Gedeon should have been better than Joe Bolden last year. I don’t mean to turn a Ben Gedeon post into an anti-Joe Bolden post, but Bolden was kind of not very good. Both Brady Hoke and Jim Harbaugh seemed to like Bolden and put him on the field a lot, so Gedeon spent a lot of time looking on from the sideline. It’s not often that there’s a clamoring for a backup linebacker, but I was part of the clamor. Bolden burst onto the scene with a blocked punt return for a touchdown against Appalachian State two years ago, and he has looked pretty decent at times since. Not great, but decent. Meanwhile, Bolden looked consistently . . . replaceable.

Gedeon took some steps forward toward the end of last season. Early in the year, I thought he looked a little hesitant at times, and maybe it was the new defense. Maybe it was a lack of reps. But in the last three games (against Penn State, Ohio State, and Florida), he made 13 tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss. When he’s locked on, he’s a thumper and he has pretty good speed to boot.

Almost by default, this spring it was Gedeon’s show at inside linebacker. Michigan lost four senior linebackers (Bolden, Desmond Morgan, Royce Jenkins-Stone, and James Ross III), and Gedeon is the only experienced linebacker returning. He’s added six pounds and is up to a pretty imposing 6’3″, 247 lbs., and Don Brown likes big inside linebackers. There’s really no competition at MIKE linebacker. I thought Gedeon took charge this spring and looked good in the spring game. He’s a load to handle for blockers, and he can range from sideline to sideline. If he gets hurt – and I hope he doesn’t – I would expect to see WILL Mike McCray II move over from his spot. I expect to see walk-on Mike Wroblewski on the two-deep at MIKE linebacker, but he converted from defensive end and looked bad in the spring. If Wroblewski is needed in crunch time, I do not think things will go well. On one hand, I hesitated to put Gedeon this high on the list because he hasn’t looked consistently good in past seasons. On the other hand, I almost want to rank him higher because there is a void behind him. Regardless, as long as he stays healthy, I think we will see an improved, steadier Gedeon who will probably lead the team in tackles.

Prediction: Starting middle linebacker; 85 tackles, 4 sacks, 1 interception; Honorable Mention All-Big Ten

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2016 Season Countdown: #9 Wilton Speight

Wilton Speight (image via Michigan Daily)

Name: Wilton Speight
Height: 6’6″
Weight: 243 lbs.
High school: Richmond (VA) Collegiate
Position: Quarterback
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #14
Last year: I ranked Speight #86 and said he would be a backup quarterback (LINK). He completed 9/25 passes for 73 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception; he also ran 2 times for 2 yards.

Michigan’s quarterback situation was rather confounding, especially in the spring of 2015. Let us consider the following:

• Jake Rudock was at Iowa. He ended up transferring to Michigan and starting every game.
• Freshman Alex Malzone was the first QB picked in the spring game draft. He was at the bottom of the depth chart and redshirted.
• Junior Shane Morris was the second QB picked in the spring game draft. The only experienced, eligible QB on the spring roster, he ended up redshirting and was third on the depth chart.
• Redshirt freshman Wilton Speight was not picked to play in the spring game. Other than Rudock, he was the only QB to take a single regular season snap in 2015.
• Redshirt sophomore John O’Korn sat out the year while transferring.

The in-season depth chart (Rudock-Speight-Morris-Malzone) looked totally different than the spring one (Malzone-Morris-Speight), and it might not be a good sign for a couple of those guys that they had a head start and still got passed by Speight. Even his 2015 season was mostly uninspiring, with just one decent drive to his credit. That drive ended in a game-winning touchdown throw to Jehu Chesson against Minnesota, but Jake Rudock – who was injured – returned the next week, and Speight went back to standing on the sideline until he mopped up against Ohio State in dreadful fashion (6/14, 44 yards, 1 INT).

Hit the jump for more on Speight.

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