Name: Ryan Hayes
Height: 6’7″
Weight: 305 lbs.
High school: Traverse City (MI) West
Position: Offensive tackle
Class: Fifth year senior
Jersey number: #76
Last year: I ranked Hayes #11 and said he would be the starting left tackle (LINK). He started all fourteen games.
TTB Rating: 84
2022 season prediction: Starting left tackle
Name: Zak Zinter
Height: 6’6″
Weight: 315 lbs.
High school: North Andover (MA) Buckingham Browne & Nichols
Position: Offensive guard
Class: Junior
Jersey number: #65
Last year: I ranked Zinter #12 and said he would be the starting center. He started twelve games at right guard and was named 2nd Team All-Big Ten (media) and Honorable Mention All-Big Ten (coaches).
TTB Rating: 76
2022 season prediction: Starting right guard
NOTE: Due to 1,000,001 things going on, I am not going to be able to finish the season countdown as well as I would like. I will present the top eight in this fashion, with relevant stats and predictions but without the multi-paragraph write-ups. I apologize but I just don’t have time to wrap it all up. It’s been a crazy year.
Name: Cade McNamara
Height: 6’1″
Weight: 206 lbs.
High school: Reno (NV) Damonte Ranch
Position: Quarterback
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #12
Last year: I ranked McNamara #2 and said he would be the starting quarterback with 2,800 yards, 21 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions (LINK). He completed 210/327 passes for 2,576 yards, 15 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions.
TTB Rating: 65
2022 prediction: Starting quarterback; 2,000 yards, 15 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions
Name: Ronnie Bell
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 190 lbs.
High school: Kansas City (MO) Park Hill
Position: Wide receiver
Class: Fifth year senior
Jersey number: #8
Last year: I ranked Bell # and said he would be a starting wide receiver with 43 catches for 670 yards and 4 touchdowns (LINK). He caught 1 pass for 76 yards and 1 touchdown and returned 1 punt for 31 yards.
TTB Rating: 71
Bell was Michigan’s two-time defending champ when it comes to receiving going into 2021. Despite a lot of people thinking he wasn’t fast enough or big enough, he just kept coming through. And despite higher ranked receivers also existing on the roster, he kept outperforming them. I only gave him a TTB Rating of 71 coming out of high school, but I hopped on the bandwagon after watching him bounce off of tacklers over and over again, just like he did in high school. He might have better balance after contact than any Michigan receiver I remember.
And 2021 was off to a great start.
He made a spectacular one-handed grab in the opener that was somehow ruled incomplete.
And he made a 76-yard touchdown catch.
And he made a 31-yard punt return . . .
. . . and at the end of it, he tore his ACL.
He averaged 76 yards per catch and 31 yards per punt return, the best season in Michigan history.
With the miracle of modern medicine, Bell should be back to full speed to start the season. He’s already up to full speed in captain voting, being voted a captain for a second year in a row. I expect him to once again lead Michigan’s team in receiving, but the presence of a solid crew of receivers keeps him here at #9, one spot below last year’s rank. The team showed they could win without him, yes, but he’s an emotional leader who can do a lot of different things – catch, run after the catch, block, return, etc. – as well as make plays on deep, intermediate, and short routes.
Prediction: Starting wide receiver; 45 catches for 650 yards, 5 touchdowns
Name: Jake Moody
Height: 6’1″
Weight: 210 lbs.
High school: Northville (MI) Northville
Position: Kicker
Class: Fifth year senior
Jersey number: #13
Last year: I ranked Moody #7 and said he would be the starting kickoff specialist and placekicker (LINK). He was the kickoff specialist and made 23/25 field goals and 56/56 extra points.
TTB Rating: N/A
Moody went from being a question mark in 2020 – when he made just 1/4 field goals – to a consensus All-American in 2021. It’s probably not a coincidence that fellow kicker Quinn Nordin had gone to the NFL after the 2020 season. It seemed like the pressure of Nordin lurking over his shoulder had been a bit too ominous for him to overcome. Once Nordin was gone, Moody turned into a star. He won the Lou Groza Award as the top kicker in the country and was Big Ten Kicker of the Year.
Moody should be very good again in 2022. Whether he repeats as a winner of all those awards or not, you never know. Other guys could have great seasons, too. If he makes 23/25 field goals and another guy makes 24/25, hats off to the other guy. But it’s not often you get a consensus All-American returning despite being draft eligible. So why is Moody at #10? I can put a kicker in the top ten – or even at #7 like I did last year – but it’s tough to rank a guy all the way at the top who doesn’t play full-time on offense or defense.
Prediction: Starting kickoff specialist and placekicker