First of all, I’m not a college football writer. I hate talking about the business side of the sport, NIL, TV rights deals, etc. I’m a kid at heart who loves sports and hates the business aspect.
But I do love the games. The tradition. The uniforms. The clashes of playing styles. Air Raid vs. smash-mouth. Option vs. pro style. David vs. Goliath.
So if you want a discussion of how this opens up the Seattle TV market and increases the payout for the people in Piscataway, go somewhere else.
Name: Hudson Hollenbeck Height: 6’2″ Weight: 208 lbs. High school: Collierville (TN) Collierville Position: Kicker/punter Class: Redshirt freshman Jersey number: #90 Last year: Hollenbeck redshirted at Mississippi State. TTB Rating: N/A
This seems like an appropriate place to slot Hollenbeck, who is in his first year at Michigan after transferring from Mississippi State. (Sadly, Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach passed away toward the end of last year.) Hollenbeck went to Starkville as a walk-on and comes to Ann Arbor as a walk-on. The Wolverines landed him and expect to use him as competition for kickoff duty. He fancies himself as a punter, where he will be battling with Tommy Doman, who is the expected starting punter and probably would have been handling kickoff duties if not for the arrival of Hollenbeck.
Right now it seems that Michigan has four specialists for three jobs, with Louisville transfer James Turner expected to kick field goals, Doman expected to punt, and then Hollenbeck and freshman Adam Samaha trying to get in where they fit in. I expect Samaha to be the odd man out in 2023. Hollenbeck says he’s kicking the ball 70-75 yards on kickoffs, which should be good enough for pretty consistent touchbacks. My guess is that he will be the kickoff specialist, but the other options reduce his individual importance for this season.
Name: Max Bredeson Height: 6’2″ Weight: 240 lbs. High school: Hartland (WI) Arrowhead Position: Tight end Class: Redshirt sophomore Jersey number: #82 Last year: I ranked Bredeson #86 and said he would be a backup tight end (LINK). He caught 5 passes for 78 yards. TTB Rating: N/A
The second Bredeson to suit up for Michigan in the last decade, Max had a mini-breakout in 2022. After redshirting in 2021 as a walk-on, he earned playing time last season despite being surrounded by a bunch of starting-quality tight ends. He mostly lined up in the backfield as an H-back/fullback and was used like Joel Honigford – a former offensive lineman – except with more pass catching ability.
Bredeson was so impressive that starting tight end Erick All bolted for Iowa instead of staying to get one-upped by a walk-on.
For the 2023 season, we should expect more of the same from Bredeson, who has proven himself on the field. He will likely be the fourth tight end behind Colston Loveland, A.J. Barner, and Matt Hibner, but Michigan uses multiple tight ends regularly. Max will probably take on a bigger H-back role with Honigford gone. I don’t expect him to take on a much bigger receiving role, but the added weight (he’s up to 240 lbs. from 222) should help with his blocking efforts. He should be a quiet, solid contributor once again this fall.
Name: C.J. Stokes Height: 5’10” Weight: 205 lbs. High school: Columbia (SC) Hammond Position: Running back Class: Sophomore Jersey number: #23 Last year: I ranked Stokes #83 and said he would redshirt (LINK). He ran 55 times for 273 yards (5.0 yards/carry) and 1 touchdown, while catching 1 pass for 15 yards. TTB Rating: 71
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Stokes had a bit of a head-scratching 2022. He was the #798 overall recruit in the 247 Composite, but he immediately jumped to the #3 running back slot, sliding past Tavierre Dunlap and a couple walk-ons. He got his biggest chance against Illinois when he ran 11 times for 36 yards in the absence of Donovan Edwards (who was injured) and Blake Corum (who got injured against the Illini), but a couple crunch time plays went to walk-on Isaiah Gash. Later in the season, linebacker Kalel Mullings converted to running back and became the backup to Edwards with Corum out. Stokes was nowhere to be found in the Big Ten championship game against Purdue or in the playoff game against TCU.
Personally, I liked what I saw from Stokes, who averaged 4.8 yards per carry as a freshman against Big Ten opponents. With an additional nine pounds added since last season (196 to 205), he should be a little stronger and tougher to bring down. But he has a battle on his hands for the #3 spot, with Mullings, freshman Benjamin Hall, and freshman Cole Cabana now on campus. Michigan went from having four scholarship backs in 2022 to suddenly having seven (depending on how one categorizes LB/RB Mullings), so competition for carries will be tougher in 2023.
Name: Raheem Anderson II Height: 6’3″ Weight: 316 lbs. High school: Detroit (MI) Cass Tech Position: Center/offensive guard Class: Redshirt sophomore Jersey number: #62 Last year: I ranked Anderson #61 and said he would be a backup center/guard (LINK). He played in four games. TTB Rating: 83
Anderson has spent the past two seasons backing up the center and guard positions. A classmate of Greg Crippen’s, one interesting ongoing battle has been the one for the center spot. It’s not often that Michigan takes two centers in one recruiting class. Anderson played in four games last season while Crippen played in one, which got back Crippen’s redshirt that he burned in 2021. So now instead of having a year of wiggle room between the two, they’re both back to being redshirt sophomores.
I have Anderson ranked ahead of Crippen in the countdown, but some recent comments from Jim Harbaugh have it looking like Crippen is the #2 center. In fact, he said that both Drake Nugent and Crippen could be All-Americans. I would typically rank the backup center higher than this, but with both Anderson and Crippen available if Nugent gets hurt, the importance of either one gets diminished a bit. It still might be good to get all these guys playing time in 2023 since there will be multiple openings to start in 2024.
