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2024 Season Countdown: #65 Tavierre Dunlap

Name: Tavierre Dunlap
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 229 lbs.
High school: Del Valle (TX) Del Valle
Position: Running back
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #22
Last year: I ranked Dunlap #80 and said he would be a backup running back and special teamer (LINK). He ran 5 times for 21 yards and played in ten games on special teams.
TTB Rating: 59

Dunlap played a good amount of special teams last season, but going into his fourth year, he probably hasn’t carried the ball as much as he expected coming into his Michigan career. That’s understandable when you’re behind a couple athletes like Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards, but a lot of people expected Corum to be gone to the NFL prior to 2023. Luckily, he decided to come back and help win a national championship, but Edwards and the guys behind him were probably a little disappointed in how little they had chances to touch the ball. Dunlap played quite a bit on special teams, but 5 touches as a third-year player isn’t the norm for somebody who’s in line for a big role.

However, Michigan had to hire a new running backs coach to replace Mike Hart, and Tony Alford seems to like Dunlap’s ability a little more than Hart did. Dunlap played quite a bit in the spring game and seemed to have a little extra pep in his step. I probably would have ranked Dunlap roughly around where he was last year if not for what I saw in the spring. Edwards and Kalel Mullings are the guys at the top of the depth chart, but it’s a free-for-all for that third running back spot between Dunlap, Benjamin Hall, Cole Cabana, Jordan Marshall, and Micah Ka’apana. That third spot has received 36, 55, and 35 carries over the past three seasons when Moore was offensive coordinator, so whoever wins the job will probably be getting a decent chunk of carries in 2024.

Prediction: Backup running back

2024 Season Countdown: #66 Connor Jones

Name: Connor Jones
Height: 6’6″
Weight: 320 lbs.
High school: Monument (CO) Palmer Ridge
Position: Offensive guard
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #76
Last year: I ranked Jones #86 and said he would be a backup offensive guard (LINK). He played in one game.
TTB Rating: 65

Jones has played in three total games over two seasons at Michigan, including one contest in 2023. It has been a slow start to his career, but that’s to be expected when Michigan has had such a dominant, veteran offensive line for the past few seasons. The Wolverines sent six linemen to NFL camps after last year, and there are still several upperclassmen who have just been waiting in the wings for a few years to play in 2024.

I have never been the biggest fan of Jones as a player, but he has an opportunity this season to stake his claim for playing time in 2025. Michigan recruited Josh Priebe from Northwestern to start over Jones (among others), and a few other players have also been vying for playing time on the interior. Giovanni El-Hadi will start opposite Priebe, so it probably comes down to Jones, Dominick Giudice, and Raheem Anderson II for those backup roles, unless a true freshman comes in and jumps a few spots on the depth chart. Jones is probably behind all of them based on past depth charts, but he has added 22 pounds since last year’s countdown, so maybe the added bulk will help his case. At this size Jones might also be able to help on extra point/field goal protection units.

Prediction: Backup offensive guard

2024 Season Countdown: #67 Tyler McLaurin

Name: Tyler McLaurin
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 252 lbs.
High school: Bolingbrook (IL) Bolingbrook
Position: Edge
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #27
Last year: I ranked McLaurin #78 and said he would be a backup outside linebacker and special teamer (LINK). He did not play in any games.
TTB Rating: 75

I’ll be the first one to admit that as a fan, we have no idea what’s happening behind closed doors or in players’ personal lives. I’m sure players have medical issues all the time (illnesses, syndromes, allergies, etc.) that prevent them from training or eating the way we expect them to. They have deaths in the family and girl problems and monetary issues we don’t know about. Sometimes their genes or metabolisms are limiting factors.

But I was thoroughly confused last year when Michigan moved Tyler McLaurin to the “edge” position and listed him at 6’3″, 231 pounds. No Big Ten player is going to set an edge at that size. If Michigan faces a military program with a 230 pound outside linebacker – or 240 or 250 or maybe even 260 – they Wolverines are champing at the bit to roll over that dude with a 310 pound offensive tackle or an extra “tight end” or a kickout block from a 250 pound H-back.

I said I didn’t think McLaurin would play much defense (he didn’t play any) but that he might play some special teams (he didn’t play any). Maybe he didn’t know the playbook. Maybe he didn’t try hard in practice. Maybe he wasn’t doing well in school. Maybe he’s great in all those areas but just wasn’t good enough to get on the field.

But 231 isn’t going to cut it in the Big Ten.

But you know what? Tyler McLaurin is listed at 252 pounds now. And that is a playable weight. Jaylen Harrell was 246 pounds. Josaiah Stewart is 245. Michigan can work with 252.

Outside linebacker is a spot that needs some help after Harrell left. While Stewart is stepping in as the starter, there’s no clear answer about who will be the primary rotation guys at edge outside of Derrick Moore and T.J. Guy. I’ll once again say that I don’t expect McLaurin to play much defense, but I can see a scenario where the fourth-year player gets a few mop-up or injury-related snaps. Michigan has lots of inexperienced options (Lugard Edokpayi, Devon Baxter, Aymeric Koumba, etc.), and maybe McLaurin’s time in the program will set him apart. He was named Scout Team Player of the Week four times last year (three times for special teams, one time for defense), so perhaps that will translate into some playing time this season.

Prediction: Backup outside linebacker, special teamer

2024 Season Countdown: #68 Breeon Ishmail

Name: Breeon Ishmail
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 260 lbs.
High school: Hamilton (OH) Princeton
Position: Edge
Class: Redshirt freshman
Jersey number: #58
Last year: I ranked Ishmail #108 and said he would redshirt (LINK). He redshirted.
TTB Rating: 71

Ishmail was raw and light last year, which led to him redshirting. As a bit of a do-everything guy in high school, he also needed some time to adjust to being an edge player at the college level and focus on refining his technique. On top of that, Michigan had solid depth at the edge positions in 2023, with Braiden McGregor and Jaylen Harrell (both now in the NFL) starting, and Josaiah Stewart and Derrick Moore (this year’s presumed starters) backing them up.

This year the depth is more questionable. Stewart had proven himself a competent player at Coastal Carolina, and Moore had already looked good as a freshman in 2022. Outside of T.J. Guy’s 81 snaps and Cameron Brandt’s 60 in 2023, nobody else really played much last year. So Michigan needs some new faces to step up and rush the passer when Stewart and Moore are off the field. I don’t think Ishmail will work his way into the two-deep, but he could be a depth piece or a special teams player.

Prediction: Backup outside linebacker

2024 Season Countdown: #69 Kody Jones

Name: Kody Jones
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 193 lbs.
High school: Memphis (TN) Germantown
Position: Safety
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #14
Last year: I ranked Jones #67 and said he would be a backup defensive back and special teamer (LINK). He played in three games and made 1 tackle.
TTB Rating: 80

The situations for Jones and yesterday’s subject Myles Pollard (LINK) are pretty similar: both have been at Michigan for two years and haven’t played much. And in both cases, Michigan went out and recruited transfer portal defensive backs instead of looking to Pollard and Jones to step up their roles. Jones has bounced around a little bit, having a go at cornerback and safety and some run at nickel.

Nickel seems like the best path for Jones, who’s got safety skills but cornerback size. However, Zeke Berry appears to be the starter there and the next guy mentioned is always Ja’Den McBurrows. The third-string nickel probably isn’t that big of a role, but Jones does have some positional flexibility if there’s a run of injuries in the defensive backfield somewhere. Overall, it appears he might be on the Terry Richardson path to playing a few games per season before winding up elsewhere to finish out his career.

Prediction: Backup defensive back, special teamer