Aidan Hutchinson (image via Wolverines Wire)
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Lots of things will change between now and the 2019 season opener against Middle Tennessee State, but it’s fun to think about the future, nevertheless.
Hit the jump for a look at 2019.
QB: Shea Patterson (Sr.), Dylan McCaffrey (RS So.), Joe Milton (RS Fr.), Brandon Peters (RS Jr.), Cade McNamara (Fr.)
RB: Chris Evans (Sr.), Tru Wilson (Sr.), Zach Charbonnet (Fr.), Christian Turner (RS Fr.), Hassan Haskins (RS Fr.)
FB: Ben Mason (Jr.), Ben VanSumeren (RS Fr.), Peter Bush (RS Jr.)
WR1: Nico Collins (Jr.), Cornelius Johnson (Fr.), Quintel Kent (Fr.)
WR2: Donovan Peoples-Jones (Jr.), Oliver Martin (RS So.), Nate Schoenle (Sr.)
WR3: Tarik Black (RS So.), Ronnie Bell (So.), Giles Jackson (Fr.), Michael Barrett (RS Fr.), Mike Sainristil (Fr.), George Johnson III (Fr.)
TE: Sean McKeon (Sr.), Nick Eubanks (RS Jr.), Mustapha Muhammad (RS Fr.), Luke Schoonmaker (RS Fr.), Erick All (Fr.)
LT: Jon Runyan, Jr. (RS Sr.), Jalen Mayfield (RS Fr.), Trente Jones (Fr.)
LG: Ben Bredeson (Sr.), Chuck Filiaga (RS So.), Andrew Vastardis (RS Jr.)
C: Cesar Ruiz (Jr.), Stephen Spanellis (RS Jr.), Nolan Rumler (Fr.), Jess Speight (RS So.)
RG: Michael Onwenu (Sr.), Joel Honigford (RS So.), Phillip Paea (RS So.), Zach Carpenter (Fr.)
RT: Andrew Stueber (RS So.), Ryan Hayes (RS Fr.), Trevor Keegan (Fr.), Jack Stewart (Fr.), Karsen Barnhart (Fr.)
SDE: Kwity Paye (Jr.), Ron Johnson (RS Jr.), Julius Welschof (RS Fr.), Michael Morris (Fr.), David Ojabo (Fr.)
DT: Carlo Kemp (RS Jr.), Chris Hinton (Fr.), Carl Myers (Sr.)
NT: Michael Dwumfour (RS Jr.), Donovan Jeter (RS So.), Mazi Smith (Fr.)
WDE: Aidan Hutchinson (So.), Luiji Vilain (RS So.), Reuben Jones (RS Sr.), Gabe Newburg (Fr.)
Viper/SAM: Khaleke Hudson (Sr.), Jordan Glasgow (RS Sr.), Joshua Uche (Sr.), Joey Velazquez (Fr.), Quinten Johnson (Fr.)
MIKE: Josh Ross (Jr.), Charles Thomas (Fr.), Amauri Pesek-Hickson (Fr.)
WILL: Devin Gil (Sr.), Jordan Anthony (RS So.), Cameron McGrone (So.)
CB: Lavert Hill (Sr.), Vincent Gray (RS Fr.), Myles Sims (RS Fr.), Jalen Perry (Fr.)
CB: Ambry Thomas (Jr.), Benjamin St-Juste (RS So.), D.J. Turner II (Fr.)
FS: Brad Hawkins (Jr.), Daxton Hill (Fr.), Jaylen Kelly-Powell (Jr.), German Green (RS Fr.)
SS: Joshua Metellus (Sr.), J’Marick Woods (Jr.), Gemon Green (RS Fr.), Sammy Faustin (RS Fr.)
K: Jake Moody (So.), Quinn Nordin (RS Jr.)
P: Will Hart (RS Jr.), Brad Robbins (Jr.)
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This offense does not have 3 WR positions. The majority of the time, one of Peoples-Jones, Collins or Black will be standing on the sidelines watching the other two take the snap.
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We’ll see. Josh Gattis talked about running a lot of 10 and 11 personnel.
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Every new coaching hire brings optimism of more aggressive and exciting schemes, better than last year. I’ll wait to see it on the field, in real games. For now, I’ll expect more fullbacking.
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FB was dramatically deemphasized in 2018.
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How so? Last year, Mason had 33 carries for 80 yards. In 2017, he and Hill combined had 20 carries for 38 yards.
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A lot of Mason’s carries were with Mason lined up as a tailback.
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Mason is a fullback. A guy you never give the ball to unless you don’t need more than 2-3 yards and who other than that is just a battering ram is a fullback. It doesn’t matter if he’s the only guy behind the QB when he gets the ball. He’s a fullback. When he gets a handoff, it’s fullbacking.
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That’s funny. When I tell my football players to line up at fullback, they don’t go stand 7 yards behind the quarterback.
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RB/FB could be viewed as a combined position group like Viper/SAM.
While some are distinctly one or the other others are both. When a pure FB is used it tends he tends to be on the field with a RB and ditto for SAM with Viper.
Wangler – Furbush
Mason – Hudson
Evans – Glasgow
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It could be, but it isn’t. See my post above. Mason is a pure FB. Period. We will NEVER hand to ball to him if we need more than 3 yards on third down. SAM/Viper is an irrelevant BS distraction. So is Houma. He’s gone 2 years and has zero to do with offensive trends of this team going into 2019.
Try again.
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Mason is FB/RB or perhaps even a RB/FB. Hill and Houma – same. Houma outplayed 2 5-star RBs.
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Let’s hope we use our best players more. Also, let’s hope Steuber improves his footwork, or that Mayfield ascends as the passpro Tackle we’ve been missing
I’ve read really good thoughts on why we could expect a 3man front on D. That should be interesting
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Yeah, I would be in support of exploring more 3-down looks. A lack of DTs and the emergence of Josh Uche seem like good reasons to switch it up a little bit.
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Some buzz that Hill is headed for Viper. Past history says best and/or most athletic available safety ends up there.
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Having a true freshman, even a talented one, as starting FS is not ideal. A strong safety’s mistakes turn into first downs, a free safety’s mistakes turn into touchdowns.
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Either safety’s mistakes can turn into a TD and Brown likes his safeties to be able to flip assignments based on alignment.
I agree your concern and with Thunder showing Hawkins ahead of Hill at this point.
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Trevor Keegan may be a bit upset with your depth chart.
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Oops. Good catch!
P.S. Welcome to the site!
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?
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Isn’t Moody going to be a Soph next year?
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Meh…i think Gil is always gonna be a step slow and out of position. He’s been in a system a while though so let’s hope he continues to improve. Maybe one of the higher rated recruits makes a breakthrough this year.
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Harbaugh will never replace an established starter with someone younger and less experienced, no matter how much better they are.
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Do you have an example of a younger/better player who didn’t start?
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Why do I need one? I stand by what I said. Do you have evidence of the opposite?
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Yes. The claim is audacious and unsubstantiated.
So, give an example of a much better player who Harbaugh sat because someone else was ‘established’.
I’m curious if the you can do something better than naming a freshman.
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My claim is about what will happen in the future, btw. I’ve made no claims about what’s happened in the past, so I’m not sure what kind of example you’re looking for.
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Thanks for clarifying. You could have just said: No – I have no examples. My baseless speculation is just idle negativity.
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I figured that saying “will never” and not “has never” would have made that obvious to all English speakers. Silly me.
And “I don’t agree” doesn’t equate to “baseless”.
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Most predictions are based on some sort of past evidence. You concede that yours is baseless, which is immaterial to me agreeing or disagreeing.
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A counter example of a better player sitting is a better player starting. So my evidence is: every starter.
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Milton, i believe, will be a RS FR – didn’t play in 5+ games, correct?
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My minor quibbles with the depth chart order:
RB: Would put Turner 2nd given bowl game performance, winter buzz, and talent-level.
LG: Vastardis seems to be on the 2-deep while Filiaga is still a project. Vastardis did get most of his time at center but Spanellis is probably the first guy in anywhere on the interior.
WILL: I think Anthony came in at Mike (?) last year. Doesn’t mean he can’t move but I expect he and McGrone to be next guys in at the 2 ILB spots ahead of freshman.
Viper: Though I understand the LB overlap in the Venn Diagram it’s strange to have a guy mostly used at DE (Uche) next to a DB (Glasgow). Setting that aside, Uche got a lot more snaps last year and with the DL turnover can expect even more in 2019. He may not be a starter next year but he’s already a rotation player. Glasgow’s more clearly a backup (Hudson stays on the field when he’s healthy). Also expect that they’ll look to groom the 2020 starter which may cut into Glasgow’s relevance a bit.
SS: Faustin drew some buzz (more than Green) in the lead up to the bowl.
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Here’s a somewhat reasonable best-case scenario for the 2019 DL:
1. Uche adds 10 pounds without compromising his elite pass rushing. Holds up well enough against the run to get a majority of WDE snaps and lead the Big Ten in sacks. Winovich 2.0.
2. Paye builds on last season’s breakout. Plays multiple positions on the DL include reprising his role as pass-rushing DT. Front 7 (but really just 6) MVP.
3. Hutchinson adds 15 pounds, flips to SDE, and becomes a starter-quality rotational player there, freeing up Paye to be the swiss-army knife.
4. Vilain finally gets healthy and emerges as a starter-quality rotation player at WDE. Is thunder to Uche’s lightning.
5. Dwumfour continues to reprise Mo Hurst’s career arc, becoming adequate against the run and a force as a pass rusher.
6. Kemp becomes one of the more consistent DTs in recent memory. Not a stats guy but reliably disruptive and always executing his assignments.
7. Jeter has a breakout junior year, replacing Mone as a run-stuffer. Michigan’s answer against teams trying to overpower Dwumfour/Kemp inside and a goalline stalwart.
8. Hinton makes an instant-impact at DT, a la Gary or Solomon. Limited snaps but noticeable. By OSU he’s splitting snaps with Kemp.
Despite limited size and lack of starting experience, the team’s expected weakness turns into a strength due to depth and versatility. Paye, Uche, and Dwumfour get consensus all-conference honors. Honorable mentions for a couple others.
Maize-colored glasses.
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Definitely Maize-colored glasses
But, I’d take it
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