Tag: 2024 season countdown

2024 Season Countdown: #14 Giovanni El-Hadi

Name: Giovanni El-Hadi
Height: 6’5″
Weight: 310 lbs.
High school: Sterling Heights (MI) Stevenson
Position: Offensive guard
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #58
Last year: I ranked El-Hadi #33 and said he would be a backup offensive guard (LINK). He played in fifteen games.
TTB Rating: 84

It seems like El-Hadi has been around forever. It seems like he’s been a backup forever. And it seems like a long time ago that he started three games in place of a banged up Trevor Keegan. But it hasn’t been forever. He was a part of the 2021 class and started those three games in 2022. Normally it seems like a player with El-Hadi’s recruiting pedigree and talent would have been playing by at least his second year, but Michigan has had the advantage of having a veteran offensive line room for the past several seasons. El-Hadi’s PFF scores were higher in 2021 and 2022 than they were in 2023, but I wonder if that’s a function of feeling a little stagnant while waiting his turn.

But the time has now come for El-Hadi to be a full-time starter. Keegan and Zak Zinter, both long-term starting offensive guards, have moved on to the NFL. Along with Myles Hinton at left tackle and Josh Priebe at the other guard spot, El-Hadi is one of three solidified positions on the offensive line. The battles have continued at center and right tackle, but El-Hadi was a shoo-in. Furthermore, Sam Webb has been touting El-Hadi this off-season, including saying he would take El-Hadi as the “breakout offensive player of the year.” With the way Sherrone Moore has developed offensive linemen, it might be a good bet that El-Hadi turns into an all-conference lineman this season.

Prediction: Starting offensive guard; Second Team All-Big Ten

2024 Season Countdown: #15 Josh Priebe

Name: Josh Priebe
Height: 6’5″
Weight: 306 lbs.
High school: Edwardsburg (MI) Edwardsburg
Position: Offensive guard
Class: Fifth year senior
Jersey number: #68
Last year: Priebe played for Northwestern. He started all twelve games at left guard and was named Third Team All-Big Ten.
TTB Rating: N/A

Priebe is a Michigan native who started 29 games for the Northwestern Wildcats over the past four years. He played in eight games as a true freshman in 2020 and has basically been starting ever since. He had a couple rough appearances in 2023 according to Pro Football Focus, but Northwestern is not a good football program. Additionally, offensive linemen are very dependent on what’s going on around them (combo blocks, communication, etc.), so it’s tough to be a good offensive lineman on a bad offense. From what I’ve seen of Priebe, he has the tools to step in and be a solid player at Michigan.

And that’s what I expect Priebe to do. Head coach Sherrone Moore has already announced that Priebe and Giovanni El-Hadi will be the starting offensive guards, and that’s been the situation all camp, according to what I’ve heard. Despite guys like Raheem Anderson II, Dominick Giudice, Evan Link, etc. pushing for playing time, nobody seems to have been able to challenge for Priebe’s spot. There was one insider report that said if Priebe had been at a place like Michigan, he would have been First Team All-Big Ten. While I think that might be going a step too far, Priebe should be a part of a solid interior offensive line in 2024.

Prediction: Starting offensive guard; Honorable Mention All-Big Ten

2024 Season Countdown: #16 Semaj Morgan

Name: Semaj Morgan
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 174 lbs.
High school: West Bloomfield (MI) West Bloomfield
Position: Wide receiver
Class: Sophomore
Jersey number: #0
Last year: I ranked Morgan #68 and said he would be a backup wide receiver (LINK). He caught 22 passes for 204 yards and 2 touchdowns; ran 4 times for 67 yards and 2 touchdowns; returned 12 kickoffs for 186 yards; and returned 3 punts for 101 yards.
TTB Rating: 76

Semaj Morgan was perhaps the most pleasant surprise of the 2023 season. Coming in as a receiver who’s a little undersized without the most impressive athletic profile, it wasn’t clear if he could carve out a role as a freshman. After all, he was a 3-star, the #70 wide receiver, and #501 overall in the 247 Composite. But he turned out to be one of Michigan’s most exciting players overall. He broke off an 87-yard punt return against Iowa that would have gone for a touchdown if not for an outstanding chase down tackle by an Iowa safety. He caught a short pass against Indiana where he looked to be 100% cornered . . . and then he bobbed and weaved and found the end zone. Altogether, he was more elusive and creative with the ball than I expected.

Even though I think Tyler Morris will catch more passes than any other receiver, I’m ranking Morgan ahead of Morris. Overall, I think Morgan offers a variety of skills (receiving, rushing, returning) that other receivers on this squad don’t have. The coaches seem to be pretty high on him, too, because they rewarded him with the #0 jersey for this season. I still have questions about whether Morgan can become a downfield threat and/or win jump balls this year like Jeremy Gallon, another short-ish receiver, used to do. But whether it’s returning a punt, running a jet sweep, catching a screen, or turning a hitch into a 40-yard gain by forcing missed tackles, I think Morgan is going to be a dynamic player in 2024.

Prediction: Starting wide receiver; 33 catches for 375 yards and 5 touchdowns

2024 Season Countdown: #17 Max Bredeson

Name: Max Bredeson
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 240 lbs.
High school: Hartland (WI) Arrowhead
Position: Tight end/Fullback
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #44
Last year: I ranked Bredeson #46 and said he would be a backup tight end (LINK). He caught 2 passes for 19 yards.
TTB Rating: N/A

Bredeson was a backup fullback to converted lineman Joel Honigford in 2022, but he still managed to get 233 snaps that year. Last year he started three games but had 238 snaps in fifteen contests, which is a surprisingly small uptick in playing time considering Honigford was out of the picture in 2023. Bredeson ranked as the second-best run blocker on the team with a 78.0 grade, according to Pro Football Focus; the only person ahead of him was tight end A.J. Barner at 81.4. Bredeson’s improvement from 2022 to 2023 is symbolized by going from a 63.4 as a run blocker (#17 on the team) to that 78.0 grade.

Bredeson might end up being Michigan’s highest graded run blocker in 2024 now that Barner is gone, but I have a hard time ranking a fullback higher than #17. Even though Bredeson is now a captain, he’s still not going to be on the field for a majority of snaps. Backup Jalen Hoffman is an unproven commodity, but Michigan can massage its personnel if Bredeson gets hurt to include other tight ends. In other words, the absence of a starting fullback shouldn’t tank Michigan’s offense altogether; they’ll just need to make some adjustments. But when he’s in there, Bredeson can be expected to destroy some defensive ends, linebackers, and an occasional safety, like he did to former Alabama (and current Ohio State) star Caleb Downs.

This is completely random, but here's Max Bredeson absolutely dominating Caleb Downs pic.twitter.com/gvdPEXnP69

— Blue By 90 (@bluebyninety) January 20, 2024

Prediction: Part-time starting fullback/tight end

2024 Season Countdown: #18 Tyler Morris

Name: Tyler Morris
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 185 lbs.
High school: La Grange Park (IL) Nazareth Academy
Position: Wide receiver
Class: Junior
Jersey number: #8
Last year: I ranked Morris #29 and said he would be a part-time starting wide receiver with 20 catches for 240 yards and 2 touchdowns (LINK). He caught 13 passes for 197 yards and 1 touchdown, and he returned 9 punts for 88 yards.
TTB Rating: 83

Morris was often on the field in 2023 but a lot of Michigan fans probably didn’t notice him much. Would you believe he only played 26 fewer snaps (344) than Donovan Edwards (370)? Morris was #14 on the team in offensive snaps, ahead of Myles Hinton, Max Bredeson, and Semaj Morgan. But with Roman Wilson, Cornelius Johnson, and Colston Loveland eating up passing targets, Morris just kind of blended into the background.

And then in the Rose Bowl against Alabama, it all changed. With the game tied 7-7 in the second quarter, Morris got matched up on a linebacker in man coverage, ran a crossing route, caught a J.J. McCarthy pass, and housed it from 38 yards out to take a 13-7 lead. In a game that was tied 20-20 at the end of regulation, that was a huge play. A couple steps slower or a drop there, and maybe Michigan’s storybook season ends differently.

Michigan’s Tyler Morris hit 20.8 mph on this 38-yard touchdown. #ReelSpeed pic.twitter.com/a2I1ezXcx6

— Reel Analytics (@RAanalytics) January 1, 2024

Morris could very well be Michigan’s #1 receiver in 2024, and reports out of practice have been positive. But this is still a player who caught just 13 balls and didn’t score a touchdown until the post-season. We have yet to see how he handles more targets or whether he can shake loose from opposing teams’ #1 corners, if they choose to defend him in that way. A lot of comparisons have been made to Ronnie Bell, and it would be a good thing if he can approximate Bell.

Prediction: Starting wide receiver; 40 catches for 560 yards and 5 touchdowns