Michigan Team 137 Preview: Offensive Overview

By Kevin Schroeder
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Updated: August 16, 2016

Key Losses: C Graham Glasgow, QB Jake Rudock, FB Joe Kerridge, FB Sione Houma, TE A.J. Williams

Next Men In: LT Grant Newsome, QB John O’Korn (Unless it’s somebody else), FB/TE Khalid Hill, FB Henry Poggi, FB Bobby Henderson, TE Ian Bunting, TE Tyrone Wheatley, Jr., TE Devin Asiasi

Key Arrivals: Asiasi, QB Brandon Peters (maybe, slim chance), WR Kekoa Crawford

Of the five players listed as key losses above, two were NFL draft picks (Glasgow and Rudock) and two more were undrafted free agents (the fullbacks). Going into the season, one might think that number would have been at least cut in half. Glasgow probably still would have been drafted, though maybe a bit later than he was, and Kerridge may have caught on with someone as an undrafted free agent. That Jake Rudock not only ended up on an NFL roster but was drafted onto one was one of the most impressive pieces of coaching of Harbaugh’s career, and we are talking about a man who turned a then-Pac-10’s-version-of-Vanderbilt Stanford into a national power in four years and coached in the Super Bowl.

While Michigan did lose some talented Dudes, they return much of an offense that got better as the season went along last year. Up front, Mason Cole slides over to center to fill the vacancy left by Graham Glasgow’s graduation. Cole was a B+ left tackle, doing well against everyone but the top edge rushers, but could end up being an A+ center. Cole’s move leaves an opening at LT that will be filled by Grant Newsome. He’s certainly got the frame to be a great left tackle and the coaching staff must have seen something in him a year ago to be willing to burn his redshirt in order to start preparing him for a starting role. His performance in the spring game, though, wasn’t overly encouraging. Cautious optimism is okay; much more than that and I’ll have to ask you to put the Kool-Aid down. Erik Magnuson returns at RT. He was just okay last year, but I’m perfectly willing to take that from him again this year. Both starting guards return – Ben Braden on the left and Kyle Kalis on the right. Braden took a nice step forward last year, Kalis made more good plays and showed more flashes of the guy he can be a year ago, but still made more than his share of mistakes. Braden seems pretty close to his ceiling, Kalis is nowhere near his. If the light comes on, Kalis could end up as an NFL draft pick. At this point, though, that has to be seen as a pretty big if. The line is definitely the biggest question mark for this year’s Wolverine offense.

Yes, quarterback is a pretty big question mark, too. However, whoever wins the job is someone Jim Harbaugh has faith in and will be coaching. There are plenty of good options. The team should be fine. John O’Korn looks to me like the favorite to win the job. He sat out last year after transferring from Houston. While sitting out, he was the recipient of a ton of hype. At Houston, he showed enormous potential. The film from his time there shows some truly amazing throws, especially considering he was a true freshman when he made a lot of them. Yes, he got benched during his sophomore year. That was after his OC from the previous year, Doug Meachem, left for TCU. Coaching clearly played a role with him and now he’s playing for the best QB coach in the world. O’Korn has showed some gunslinger tendencies, but in the spring game, showed good decision-making ability, one of the few things one can see in a spring game that can translate to the ones that count. O’Korn’s also got nice mobility. He’s got all the tools Harbaugh likes in QBs. He’s my pick to win the job. Wilton Speight is also a serious contender for the job. He doesn’t present the risks O’Korn does, but he’s probably not going to make the greatest plays O’Korn is capable of, either. A case can certainly be made for a game manager, considering how good Michigan’s defense looks to be. However, this does look a bit like the decision Harbaugh faced in San Francisco between Colin Kaepernick and Alex Smith, which Kapernick won.

Shane Morris and Brandon Peters are both dark horses to win the job. I feel obligated to mention them because Jim Harbaugh’s kinda like Sting (the wrestler, not the singer) – the only thing that’s for sure is that nothing’s for sure. O’Korn and Speight look to be a good bit ahead of them at the moment. Watch out for Peters in a year or two, though. His high school tape reminds me a lot of Andrew Luck.

The light came on for De’Veon Smith in the bowl game last year. After missing some pretty obvious holes during the season, against Florida, he exploited those openings regularly. He was such a lock to be the starter that he barely played in the spring game. If bowl game De’Veon is here to stay, this could be a very good season for him. Ty Isaac looked very promising in the spring game. The caveat there is that it’s the spring game. Drake Johnson got run over by a forklift during the spring because that’s the way his Michigan career has gone. He’ll be fine for the season where hopefully he takes the next step after a very encouraging bowl game performance of his own. Jabrill Peppers will get some snaps at running back because his athleticism is too big of a weapon to limit to defense. Karan Higdon and maybe one or two of freshmen Kareem Walker, Kingston Davis, and Chris Evans could see some carries. Walker is pretty well-rounded and can take a hit and keep going. Davis is a bruiser who could end up as a B.J. Askew/Sione Houma type. Evans is a speedster.

Bobby Henderson and Henry Poggi seem like the guys most likely to fill the fullback role. Wyatt Shallman could get some carries from the position and Khalid Hill could end up in the backfield a good amount as well. The position group likely takes a step back after the departures of Kerridge and Houma, though Michigan should still be fine.

Jehu Chesson and Amara Darboh are both back at receiver. Chesson began to show elite potential last year, including going to work on Vernon Hargreaves in the bowl game; Hargreave’s last game as a gator before being drafted 11^th overall, and now the word is that Darboh has become Michigan’s number one receiver. If those reports prove to be accurate, the Wolverines should have one of the top receiving duos in the country. Combine that with Jake Butt and again, the fact that Michigan has the best QB coach in the world, and if you’re still really worried about the QB position this year, you shouldn’t be. And that’s just scratching the surface. Grant Perry got off to a rough start, then looked like the guy we thought he could be in the bowl game. Drake Harris has an awfully high ceiling and is finally healthy enough to really work on getting there. How much work he gets with Chesson and Darboh around remains to be seen. Ditto for Moe Ways. Since Michigan will be losing their top two receivers after the season, it may not be a terrible idea to get a freshman on the field a bit for the sake of getting them some experience. If that’s the route the staff goes, my bet is that it’ll be Kekoa Crawford.

Jake Butt is back for his senior year after getting jobbed out of the Mackey in 2015. Expect great things from him again. Michigan lost A.J. Williams to graduation, but in his place figures to be Tyrone Wheatley, Jr., who has all the blocking skill plus more speed and receiving skill. He could be awfully fun to watch. Khalid Hill should get some snaps at TE, in addition to FB. Ian Bunting should play a bigger role this year. His ceiling is a slightly lesser version of Jake Butt. This year, he should take a nice step towards that. Devin Asiasi could see the field this year, because he’s physically ready to do so. However, Michigan has enough options at TE that redshirting him may be the better option.

So what should you expect from the offense this year? Good-to-great things. The only major question here is the offensive line. If Newsome struggles, Cole can go back to LT and Patrick Kugler can play center. It may not say the best things about Kugler that Newsome moved ahead of him, but such an arrangement would probably be at least fine. Even if all that were to do is move the weak spot from LT to C, that’s a positive. And again, this is all only relevant if Newsome struggles. He may not have looked great in the spring game, but I have faith that Tim Drevno can get him ready to play the position pretty well. The run game looks ready to go and though the QB may not be set, whoever he is will be oached by Jim Harbaugh and have no shortage of weapons to throw to. Remember, things got better as the season went along last year. It’s not unreasonable to think that progress can and will continue.

Twitter: @KSchroeder_312

E-mail: schroeder.giig@gmail.com