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2022 Season Countdown: #17 Trevor Keegan

Name: Trevor Keegan
Height: 6’6″
Weight: 305 lbs.
High school: Crystal Lake (IL) Crystal Lake
Position: Offensive guard
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #77
Last year: I ranked Keegan #25 and said he would be the starting left guard (LINK). He started eleven games at left guard.
TTB Rating: 81

Keegan, a highly rated offensive tackle recruit, really came on in 2021. After being a part-time player as a redshirt freshman in 2020, he solidified the left guard position, winning it from then fifth year senior Chuck Filiaga. (Filiaga has since transferred to Minnesota for a sixth year.) Keegan was listed at 324 pounds last season and he was a powerful blocker, good enough to be named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten by the coaches and media.

This year Keegan has dropped 19 pounds, presumably to be a little more mobile. There hasn’t been any talk of players pushing him to start, so I think he has the left guard job pinned down for a second year. I think some of the all-conference awards are more career achievement awards when it comes to linemen, so since he was honorable mention last season, he could very well be a Second Team or even First Team All-Big Ten selection this season if the Wolverines have success on offense.

Prediction: Starting left guard

2022 Season Countdown: #18 Kris Jenkins, Jr.

Name: Kris Jenkins, Jr.
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 285 lbs.
High school: Olney (MD) Our Lady of Good Counsel
Position: Defensive tackle
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #94
Last year: I ranked Jenkins #78 and said he would be a backup defensive tackle (LINK). He started four games and made 22 tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss.
TTB Rating: 77

Jenkins didn’t exactly have a breakout season in 2021, but he definitely made his presence felt, which is saying something for a redshirt freshman defensive lineman. Weighing in the 260s, he used his quickness, leverage, and strength to get underneath and split offensive linemen. I kept expecting to see him get blown off the ball, and it almost never happened. In Michigan’s amorphous defensive front, he started a handful of games, playing 3-tech and some 5-tech. He didn’t make a lot of plays, but he didn’t get taken advantage of very often, either.

Jenkins has put on about 20 pounds this off-season and appears to be ready to take over for Chris Hinton at defensive tackle. There have been positive reports from practices talking about his ability to make an impact. I expect him to be a starter, but how much of a difference-maker will he be? Considering his quickness and pedigree – his dad and uncle play defensive tackle in the NFL – he has the potential to be pretty good, but whether he gets there as a redshirt sophomore is a question. I tend to think most interior defensive linemen need to get to year four or year five before they really take off. Jenkins should begin to break out this year and then 2023 could be a very good year.

Prediction: Starting defensive tackle; 35 tackles, 2 sacks

2022 Season Countdown: #19 Trente Jones

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Name: Trente Jones
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 311 lbs.
High school: Loganville (GA) Grayson
Position: Offensive tackle
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #53
Last year: I ranked Jones #34 and said he would be a backup offensive tackle (LINK). He started two games as a sixth lineman and played in all fourteen games.
TTB Rating: 88

Last year there was quite a battle on the offensive line to see who would start. Trente Jones, Karsen Barnhart, and Chuck Filiaga were all in the running to start somewhere along the line, and all three lost their position battles. Jones became the sixth lineman and played in every game wearing #80 as an extra tight end (or #53 when he came in as a tackle during blowouts). Barnhart played as a backup, and Filiaga was a part-time starter. It portends good things when you’re the sixth offensive lineman for a team, and there was some buzz about Jones, particularly about his athleticism. And it helped the offensive to have a 300+ pound tight end.

Fast forward to 2022. Filiaga has transferred to Minnesota for his sixth and final year, while Barnhart and Jones have remained to duke it out at right tackle. While Barnhart has more experience playing standard offensive line positions, it seems that Jones has at least written in pencil his name on the starting offensive line. It appears that Barnhart will once again be a backup – at least until Ryan Hayes leaves after this season – and Jones will be replacing Andrew Stueber at right tackle. I think Jones is a good athlete with a powerful base, and I expect him to give a Stueber-like performance. In other words, he should be very reliable without being a truly dominant player.

Prediction: Starting right tackle

2022 Season Countdown: #20 J.J. McCarthy

Name: J.J. McCarthy
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 196 lbs.
High school: Bradenton (FL) IMG Academy
Position: Quarterback
Class: Sophomore
Jersey number: #9
Last year: I ranked McCarthy #36a and said he would be a backup quarterback (LINK). He completed 34/59 passes for 516 yards, 5 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions, while also running 27 times for 124 yards and 2 touchdowns.
TTB Rating: 89

Ballyhooed quarterback J.J. McCarthy signed with Michigan in 2021 with sky-high expectations. The 5-star quarterback had a rocket arm, good speed, and an ability to say all the right things that Michigan fans wanted to hear. And if he didn’t already fit in with the Michigan crowd, did I mention he played a lot of hockey growing up?

It didn’t take long for McCarthy to make good on his athletic prowess. In his first game in a Michigan uniform, he scrambled right, looked a little bit lost, and then chucked a deep ball all the way across the field to the left numbers, over a defensive back’s head, and into the waiting arms of speedy Daylen Baldwin, who took it the rest of the way for a 69-yard touchdown. He made several tantalizing plays with his arm and his legs throughout the year.

I had a hard time slotting in McCarthy in this season’s countdown. Some fans want him to start game one. Some insiders think he’ll start by the end of the season. Personally, I wouldn’t rock the boat, considering incumbent starter Cade McNamara went 12-2 last season. But Jim Harbaugh has shown before – when he changed quarterbacks from Alex Smith to Colin Kaepernick in San Francisco – that he is not afraid to make changes, even when the starter is doing pretty well.

I think McNamara will be the starter week one, and McCarthy will mix in throughout the year. McCarthy certainly brings a different element when it comes to mobility and arm strength, but winning is what matters most. I wouldn’t expect a change in the starter unless McNamara plays very poorly or starts losing games.

Prediction: Backup quarterback

2022 Season Countdown: #21 R.J. Moten

Name: R.J. Moten
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 223 lbs.
High school: Delran (NJ) Delran
Position: Safety
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #6
Last year: I ranked Moten #52 and said he would be a backup safety (LINK). He started five games and made 34 tackles, 1 interception, and 4 pass breakups.
TTB Rating: 68

Moten earned some practice buzz going into 2021, which gave me a feeling that he would come off a redshirt year and play quite a bit. That turned out to be the case, as he ended up starting for approximately a third of the season. With Michigan shifting Daxton Hill to the nickel spot, Moten started next to Brad Hawkins early in the season. But as the year went along, he started to lose some playing time to freshman Rod Moore.

Now that Hill and Hawkins are gone, Moten is likely locked in as a starting safety. Some combination of Moten, Moore, and Makari Paige should be on the field, depending on how the nickel position shakes out. Moten has added 10 pounds since last year and will probably take on Hawkins’s role, moving down in the box sometimes to take on tight ends and backs out of the backfield. Moten is a solid tackler with good range, and I think he will be a good player, though good safeties are often pretty forgettable.

Prediction: Starting safety; 65 tackles, 1 interception