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2024 Season Countdown: #7 Jaishawn Barham

Name: Jaishawn Barham
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 248 lbs.
High school: Baltimore (MD) St. Frances
Position: Linebacker
Class: Junior
Jersey number: #1
Last year: Barham played for Maryland. He started eleven games and made 37 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, 1 interception, and 1 pass breakup.
TTB Rating: N/A

You might remember Jaishawn Barham from when Michigan recruited him as a 4-star linebacker out of Baltimore (MD) St. Frances back in the 2022 class.

You might also remember Jaishawn Barham from when he picked off J.J. McCarthy in the red zone of Michigan’s narrow escape against the Terps in 2023.

Michigan opponents are going to remember Barham for living in their backfield in 2024.

Barham escaped Maryland after two years of playing for his home state Terrapins. It’s one thing to play in your home area, but when it becomes apparent that toppling the likes of Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State is going to be tough even when the program reaches its peak, that has to be frustrating. Meanwhile, Michigan lost its top two linebackers and leading tacklers from 2023 to the NFL draft with both Junior Colson and Michael Barrett getting picked.

So there was an opening for a linebacker alongside Nebraska transfer Ernest Hausmann, who was the #3 tackler for the Wolverines last year. In steps Barham, who has earned rave reviews from all parties. Offensive line coach Grant Newsome called Barham the most gifted second-level athlete in his time at Michigan, and Newsome has been with the Wolverines through the Devin Bush era, a guy who could blitz and fly sideline to sideline. Defensive coordinator Wink Martindale has praised Barham for his physicality, athleticism, and versatility.

I think we can expect to see Barham used as both an inside linebacker and an edge rusher in 2024. He’s fast enough and big enough to be an edge guy (he’s taller and heavier than starting outside linebacker Josaiah Stewart), but he’s also athletic enough and instinctive enough to roam the middle. If Barham lives up to the hype, he could be an exciting chess piece for the Wolverines to use in a variety of ways.

Prediction: Starting middle linebacker; 65 tackles, 4 sacks, 1 interception

2024 Season Countdown: #8 Alex Orji

Name: Alex Orji
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 235 lbs.
High school: Sachse (TX) Sachse
Position: Quarterback
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #10
Last year: I ranked Orji #50 and said he would be a backup quarterback (LINK). He played in six games and ran 15 times for 86 yards.
TTB Rating: 55

Orji had a really weird odyssey last year as a quarterback, especially for one who is supposedly the heir apparent to the quarterback position. He started off the season as a deep backup who wasn’t allowed to pass the ball at the beginning of the season to . . .

. . . well . . .

. . . yeah, he was just never allowed to pass all year. Not even once.

I say that with one caveat, and that’s that there was a trick play – a QB pop pass call – against Alabama in the Rose Bowl where it looked like throwing the ball was a possibility, but Alabama covered it well so Orji kept it and ran. But it amounted to zero pass attempts.

Jim Harbaugh did praise Orji in the 2023 pre-season and say that Orji could be an outstanding kickoff returner.

Going into the 2024 season, Orji seems to be the betting favorite to win the quarterback position. As has been discussed here and elsewhere, Orji the freak athlete possesses a potential game-changing skill that nobody else has. None of the other quarterbacks have the arm strength of a Joe Milton or the speed of a Denard Robinson. What Orji has is a Tim Tebow-esque ability to be both a quarterback and a power runner. It remains to be seen whether Orji has the leadership or even the throwing ability of a Tebow.

Normally I would rank a starting quarterback higher than #8, but it’s not clear whether Orji will even start the opener, let alone hold onto a starting job. Walk-on Davis Warren has been pushing to start, and the most experienced guy on the roster is Utah/Indiana transfer Jack Tuttle, who was the #2 quarterback in 2023 but who has been unhealthy for the majority of his career. It will be interesting to see who starts at QB and whether that guy can hold onto the job throughout the year. But even if Orji ends up as the backup, he should have a package of plays as a rushing threat.

Prediction: Starting quarterback; 1,900 passing yards, 16 touchdowns; 500 rushing yards, 7 touchdowns

2024 Season Countdown: #9 Ernest Hausmann

Name: Ernest Hausmann
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 235 lbs.
High school: Columbus (NE) Columbus
Position: Linebacker
Class: Junior
Jersey number: #15
Last year: I ranked Hausmann #31 and said he would be a backup linebacker (LINK). He made 46 tackles and 2 tackles for loss.
TTB Rating: N/A

Hausmann is a Nebraska transfer who Michigan was lucky to stumble into after he played his freshman year at Nebraska. With a couple solid linebackers on the roster and then some big question marks, the Wolverines needed an heir apparent to Michael Barrett and Junior Colson. In stepped Hausmann, a good-sized player who had good athleticism and got to play quite a bit under the bright lights already. He could step in as a backup in 2023 without too much pressure, and that’s exactly what he did. Backing up both Barrett and Colson, he finished third on the team in tackles behind those two starting linebackers.

So this year it just makes sense that Hausmann steps in to fill their shoes. I was impressed last year with how well Hausmann moved, and he looked even bigger than his listed 237 pounds (down to 235 this year). Hausmann will be the starter at weakside linebacker (Barrett’s position) while Maryland transfer Jaishawn Barham comes in to play the MIKE spot. It should be one of the better linebacker units in the conference. Wink Martindale recently said it would be either Hausmann or safety Makari Paige with the “green dot” (in-helmet communications), so that shows how much the defense is going to depend on Hausmann.

Prediction: Starting weakside linebacker; 60 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 interception

2024 Season Countdown: #10 Dominic Zvada

Name: Dominic Zvada
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 180 lbs.
High school: Chandler (AZ) Valley Christian
Position: Kicker
Class: Junior
Jersey number: #96
Last year: Zvada played at Arkansas State. He was 17/22 on field goals and 41/41 on extra points.
TTB Rating: N/A

Michigan has had some solid kickers in recent years that made it to the NFL, including Quinn Nordin and Jake Moody. Last year they took a transfer in James Turner from Louisville, who made some key kicks down the stretch and might end up on an NFL roster this season. So despite having homegrown Adam Samaha and Mississippi State transfer Hudson Hollenbeck on the roster, Michigan took a swing for the fences again and landed Arkansas State’s starting kicker. Zvada was a Lou Groza Award semifinalist in 2022 as a freshman, and he was still pretty solid as a sophomore, converting all of his extra points and 17 out of 22 of his field goal attempts.

I don’t have a ton of confidence in Samaha, who has seemed a little shaky since arriving on campus. Michigan has a tough schedule in 2024 and might need some clutch kicks this season to either ensure victories or tie up some games late. Michigan was blowing out teams in 2023 on a weekly basis – except for Maryland, Ohio State, and Alabama – but that’s not always going to be the case this fall. Zvada has a chance to swing a couple games in Michigan’s favor this fall, so I think he will be a key player if Michigan is going to make a run for the College Football Playoff.

Prediction: Starting kicker

2024 Season Countdown: #11 Myles Hinton

Name: Myles Hinton
Height: 6’6″
Weight: 342 lbs.
High school: Norcross (GA) Greater Atlanta Christian
Position: Offensive tackle
Class: Fifth year senior
Jersey number: #78
Last year: I ranked Hinton #45a and said he would be a backup offensive tackle (LINK). He played in thirteen games and started five.
TTB Rating: N/A

Hinton is a former elite high school recruit who struggled to realize his potential in three years at Stanford. Michigan rescued him from Palo Alto after David Shaw resigned following the 2022 season, and Hinton came in with a chance to win an offensive tackle job in 2023. It wasn’t quite meant to be as Arizona State transfer La’Darius Henderson won the left tackle job and Karsen Barnhart won the right tackle job, but Hinton managed to start four games on the right side and one on the left. He was generally good as a pass blocker and improved throughout the year as a run blocker, and he even won Co-Offensive Player of the Week when he started against Maryland after Henderson got injured. Overall, Hinton was significantly ahead of Barnhart when it comes to Pro Football Focus grades, but . . . well, Michigan won the natty, so I guess they made the right choice.

I feel a little queasy about not putting any linemen in the top ten for most important players in 2024, and Hinton was a tough choice to put here at #11. I wanted to rank him higher, but lots of other spots are missing quality backups, too. I think Hinton has the potential to be a very good tackle this year, and I have high hopes for him if Sherrone Moore and Grant Newsome can help him get rid of some of the mental/technique mistakes he made at Stanford. But Michigan does have some veteran tackles vying for playing time – as well as redshirt freshman Evan Link – so I think they might be able to weather an injury to Hinton without a terribly devastating impact to the offense as a whole.

Prediction: Starting offensive tackle; Third Team All-Big Ten