Tag: 2024 season countdown

2024 Season Countdown: #4 Kenneth Grant

Name: Kenneth Grant
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 339 lbs.
High school: Merrillville (IN) Merrillville
Position: Defensive tackle
Class: Junior
Jersey number: #78
Last year: I ranked Grant #18 and said he would be a backup nose tackle (LINK). He started five games and made 29 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery, 5 pass breakups, and 6 quarterback hurries.
TTB Rating: 85

Grant made some giant leaps from 2022 to 2023. While he played in a bunch of games as a freshman, he made just 8 tackles and didn’t really have a signature play. Linemen usually take some time to percolate in college, and . . . boy oh boy, Grant percolated.

He percolated into a 339 lb. defensive tackle who could chase down Penn State running backs in the open field from behind.

He percolated into a guy who could get his big, meaty hands in the path of quarterbacks’ passes to break up 5 attempts and intercept another one.

And he percolated into a dude who perp-walked a Washington offensive lineman back into Michael Penix’s face for a sack in the national championship game.

I often hear that planet-sized, athletic defensive tackles don’t grow in the midwest like they do in SEC country, but Grant is an exception. He’s quick, he’s fast, he’s strong, he can play low, and he has good anticipation. Physically, he’s among the most athletic defensive tackles Michigan has fielded in my time watching the Wolverines, right up there with long-time NFLer Alan Branch and current NFLer Maurice Hurst, Jr.

I think Michigan’s offense is going to struggle at times this season without an elite passer and without savvy veteran wide receivers – plus with a whole new offensive line – so there’s going to be a ton of pressure on the defense to win games or at least give the offense a fighting chance. And without much proven depth behind the defensive tackles, keeping Grant healthy will be a big step toward battling for playoff contention in 2024.

Prediction: Starting nose tackle; 35 tackles, 3 sacks

2024 Season Countdown: #5 Donovan Edwards

Name: Donovan Edwards
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 212 lbs.
High school: West Bloomfield (MI) West Bloomfield
Position: Running back
Class: Senior
Jersey number: #7
Last year: I ranked Edwards #13 and said he would be a part-time starting running back with 1,050 rushing yards and 8 touchdowns, plus 30 catches for 350 yards and 4 touchdowns (LINK). He ran 119 times for 497 yards and 5 touchdowns; he caught 30 passes for 249 yards; and he completed 1/1 pass for 34 yards.
TTB Rating: 90

Well, Nostramagnus did a great job with the 2023 predictions, because I predicted Edwards would catch 30 passes and he did.

We’re just going to ignore the fact that I predicted 1,050 rushing yards (he had 497) and 8 touchdowns (he had 5) and 350 receiving yards (he had 249) and 4 receiving touchdowns (he had 0).

Just ignore it.

Edwards struggled in 2023 by a lot of metrics. First, his production was way down, and his yards per carry was among the lowest of qualifying running backs in the Big Ten. He wasn’t breaking big plays . . . or tackles. He supposedly started seeing a sports psychologist because of some of his on-field frustrations. And when he couldn’t eke out a short yardage touchdown, he campaigned visibly to stay on the field . . . and the coaching staff still replaced him with Blake Corum to ensure they would score.

That’s the bad stuff.

The good stuff is that he broke off a big touchdown run against Penn State and had two huge touchdown runs early in the national championship game (41- and 46-yarders) that set the tone against Washington. So he had his moments, but not nearly as many of them as we expected.

Now Corum is out of the way, and Edwards should be the unquestioned #1 back. He’s on the cover of NCAA ’25 and is rated as one of the top 50 players in the game. He got up to 214 pounds by the spring (now listed at 212) after being right around 200 earlier in his career, and the added weight/strength showed in the spring when he seemed a little more willing to try to bring the contact to defenders. A wholesale shift from finesse back to ground-and-pounder is unlikely, but if he can add a little thunder to his lightning for 2024, that would be an improvement. I have faith that Michigan’s coaching staff is going to restore some of his confidence and figure out ways to help him return to his 2022 form, especially if he’s on the field with run threat Alex Orji and fellow running back Kalel Mullings at times, because those are three dynamic runners that teams would have a very difficult time figuring out how to defend.

Prediction: Starting running back; 1,100 rushing yards and 8 touchdowns, plus 25 catches for 225 yards and 3 touchdowns

2024 Season Countdown: #6 Josaiah Stewart

Name: Josaiah Stewart
Height: 6’1″
Weight: 245 lbs.
High school: Everett (MA) Everett
Position: Defensive end
Class: Senior
Jersey number: #5
Last year: I ranked Stewart #23 and said he would be a backup defensive end with 25 tackles and 4 sacks (LINK). He made 38 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, 2 pass breakups, and 3 quarterback hurries.
TTB Rating: N/A

Michigan was very lucky to land Stewart in the transfer portal from Coastal Carolina last off-season. The Wolverines needed some juice at pass rusher, and they were able to find it. It’s not often that players spurn a Michigan offer out of high school to become a Chanticleer, but Stewart was one who did it, so it makes sense that the Wolverines circled back to him after he had made a name for himself for Coastal. And it paid off with Stewart being a key piece of the national championship defense. After struggling a little bit against the run early in the season, he was able to steel himself, improved throughout the year, and was on the field for the game-sealing 4th down stop of Jalen Milroe in the Rose Bowl against Alabama.

This year Stewart will step into a bigger role now that Jaylen Harrell is playing for the Titans in the NFL. He has some quickness off the edge, but perhaps his best attribute is the power he possesses despite being undersized at just 6’1″ and 245 pounds. His leverage advantage and toughness have been a pleasant surprise, and with another year of technique and strength work under his belt, I expect him to be even better in 2024 than he was in 2023.

Prediction: Starting outside linebacker; 40 tackles, 7 sacks

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