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1. How does the offensive line look?
Michigan was thought to be in pretty decent shape going into 2015 because all five starters were returning, plus a very experienced, versatile Erik Magnuson (who has played tackle, guard, and tight end). Then some funky things happened this spring. Fifth year senior Jack Miller quit football for personal reasons, and classmate Graham Glasgow violated his probation, which earned him some sort of undisclosed suspension. It’s unclear whether Glasgow will play in the spring game, not to mention a possible game suspension for the upcoming season. Now a team with two fifth-year seniors on the line could potentially have zero seniors. The team’s success hinges on the offensive line. Assuming Glasgow is available on Saturday and avoids further trouble, he should be Michigan’s starting center going forward. From left to right, the line should be Mason Cole, Magnuson, Glasgow, Kyle Kalis, and Ben Braden. However, the coaches have been experimenting a bit with Braden at left guard, Cole snapping, and Magnuson at right tackle, so other combinations could appear. Regardless, Michigan is thin on the edge but has several good defensive tackle types (Bryan Mone, Ryan Glasgow, Willie Henry, Chris Wormley) who should put stress on those linemen. This will be a stiff test to see if the offense can run the ball and/or protect the quarterback.
Hit the jump for discussion of quarterbacks, Jabrill Peppers, and more.
2. Who takes command of the offense?
Random message board chatter aside, I have heard very little positive about redshirt freshman Wilton Speight at the quarterback position. The current battle at quarterback seems to be between freshman Alex Malzone and junior Shane Morris. Malzone was the first quarterback taken in the coaches’ spring game draft, and Morris was taken a little while later. (As I mentioned in my spring game mock draft, a drop for the #2 guy isn’t extremely alarming since it would be somewhat pointless for one team to take two high draft picks at the same position.) Regardless, Malzone has earned a lot of praise for his competitiveness, which is a trait you know Jim Harbaugh loves. Neither quarterback has lit the world on fire this spring, so we shouldn’t expect either one to come out with guns blazing. This will likely be a battle of making the fewest mistakes, because this will have to be a ball control offense. Fumbles and interceptions will not be tolerated.
3. Why is there so much hype about Jabrill Peppers?
We’ve all seen the high school highlights, and maybe we’ve seen clips of him doing backflips in practice. So yes, he’s one of the best high school athletes we’ve seen come to Michigan. In fact, he’s the highest rated Michigan recruit in the Rivals/Scout era. Unfortunately, he tweaked a couple things in his leg early on in 2014 and ended up taking a medical redshirt. Last year Michigan had some players who had displayed their potential and could reasonably claim the mantle of “best player on the team” going into the season, with guys like Jake Ryan, Devin Funchess, and Devin Gardner. This year there are no such front-runners. The team is largely made up of fairly highly touted recruits who haven’t been outstanding in college. Cornerback Blake Countess was All-Big Ten in 2013. That’s about where the accolades stop. In steps Peppers once again, who is playing free safety and moves down into the slot for nickel packages. Reports abound that Peppers is intense and loud on the field, calling out defenses, getting people aligned properly, etc. It’s very possible that the redshirt freshman cornerback-turned-safety with three games of experience might be Michigan’s most outstanding player. I don’t expect that the quarterbacks will test the secondary much, but if they do, watch for Peppers to make some plays on the ball.
4. Who is playing where?
One of the really interesting things about every spring practice – especially when there’s a coaching change – is what position switches have been made. This spring numerous guys have either switched sides or are playing on both sides of the ball. Some of them are small changes, but changes nonetheless. Here’s a list of those guys:
- Mason Cole, OT to C/OT
- Royce Jenkins-Stone, LB to DE/LB
- Erik Magnuson, TE to OG
- Dennis Norfleet, WR to WR/CB
- Brady Pallante, DT to FB
- Jabrill Peppers, CB to S
- Henry Poggi, DE to TE/DE
- Ross Taylor-Douglas, RB to CB
- Chase Winovich, LB to FB/LB
5. Who emerges as an offensive playmaker?
The Michigan offense lacks an identity. Last year it had a couple players with dynamic capabilities (Gardner, Funchess, Green), but nobody put a great season together, for various reasons. Now Funchess and Gardner are gone, the offensive line is in flux, late-season breakout Drake Johnson is still injured, speedy wide receiver Drake Harris hurt his hamstring again, and the running backs have been banged up. Realistically, the guy who might be the best with the ball in his hands is Peppers. We have seen big plays in the spring game in recent years (Michael Cox, Denard Robinson, Roy Roundtree), but will we see any this year? So far the defense has been ahead of the offense this spring, which is always expected. After all, defense is mostly about reading and reacting, while offense is about choreographed timing, technique, etc. The best bets for offensive playmaking are running back Derrick Green, running back Ty Isaac, slot receiver Dennis Norfleet, and wide receiver Brian Cole.
