INDIANAPOLIS — Michigan football won the national championship less than two months ago and now has a record number of NFL combine participants.
Not exactly a coincidence.
The 2023 Wolverines were littered with talent — they’re represented by six offensive linemen, three defensive linemen, two linebackers, two defensive backs, two wide receivers, a tight end a quarterback and a running back — which helped them get to the top of the mountain.
With nearly an entire starting lineup’s worth of talent departing for the next level, along with more than half a dozen coaches and analysts off to the NFL, too, there are questions of who will fill void on the field.
Unless you’re Blake Corum, Michigan’s all-time touchdown leader, then the question answers itself.
“There’s tons of players,” Corum said Friday. “They’re already talking about Mason Graham, Kenneth Grant, Will Johnson. Those guys. Jaishawn (Barham) that came in from Maryland. Donovan (Edwards) is gonna have a breakout year. I talked to him last night. Man, he’s ready. He’s prepared.”
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Graham, Grant and Johnson were debatably the three most talented players on the Wolverines’ No. 1 ranked defense a season ago. Johnson was named a second-team USA TODAY All-American, Graham was named second-team All-American by the Sporting News and Grant was named to the All-Big Ten third team in 2023.
Edwards has already had a season with more than 1,000 all-purpose yards and has had multiple breakout performances, including the 2022 Ohio State game and last season’s national championship game, when he took his first two touches for touchdowns.
Earlier in the day, wide receiver Roman Wilson identified a pair of young pass catchers in his room; one of whom began to break out at the end of the 2023 season.
“Definitely Fredrick Moore” Wilson said. “I mean, he’s got the size, the speed, the work. I think he’s gonna be a dawg this year and next year and the year after. That’s my guy. Semaj Morgan, all the receivers pretty much. I think they’re all very underrated.”
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Moore caught four passes for 32 yards while Morgan returns as the team’s third-leading receiver; having caught 22 passes for 204 yards and two touchdowns. That’s not to mention the Big Ten championship game-record 87-yard punt return he had to spark the Wolverines’ win over the Hawkeyes.
On Saturday morning, six different former U-M offensive linemen met with media, almost all of whom laughed as they pointed out they had more representatives than starting positions available.
Drake Nugent, last year’s starting center, rattled off nearly the entire offensive line room who is returning, smiling as he thought about the depth that still remained in Ann Arbor.
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“I think we’re going to do great,” he said. “We’ve got the Northwestern transfer (Josh Priebe), Crip (Greg Crippen) is coming back so he’ll take hold of all the calls and stuff. … Myles (Hinton) is coming back, he has some game experience. (Andrew) Gentry, (Jeff) Persi I think too is still there. Gio (El-Hadi) I mean they’ve got a lot of dudes who are going to keep that strong O-line tradition going.”
Though the names aren’t as well-known, there is a surprising amount of experience.
Priebe was a multi-year starter at Northwestern, Hinton has played in 33 games (21 starts) the past three seasons), El-Hadi has played in 20 games on the line with three starts in his career, Persi has a start at left tackle and has played nearly a dozen games on the line, while Crippen has appeared in 15 games throughout his career.
He battled in center competitions with graduate transfers Olusegun Oluwatimi and Nugent each of the past two years, and though he came up short both times, for Nugent all that means is it’s his time to shine.
“I think he’s been ready for it for years,” Nugent said. “But the fact he stayed there, shows a lot of character for who he is as a person, who he is as a player and how much he loves Michigan, too. Those three things in itself show what he’s able to do and willing to do for the program.”
As for those who line up behind the big men, Corum mentioned Benjamin Hall, one of last year’s spring game stars, as a name to watch alongside Edwards in the backfield; Kalel Mullings could figure into the mix as well.
However the main question this offseason will remain at quarterback.
After going 27-1 in 28 career starts, with two Big Ten championships and a national championship under his belt the past two seasons, J.J. McCarthy is gone and there’s nobody on the roster with true starting experience.
Alex Orji, the 6-foot-3, 235-pound mobile signal caller is a tantalizing prospect, but has attempted just one career pass and run the ball 21 times. Jack Tuttle, a career-backup who has as many touchdowns (six) as interceptions in his career, was just given a waiver by the NCAA for a seventh season of eligibility, is another option as a veteran voice in the huddle during a year of certain transition, but the upside seems lower.
As for Karsen Barnhart, another one of the big men in Indianapolis on Sunday, he sees the competition playing itself out in the way all other positions have
“They’re going to put the best guy back there,” he said. “Those guys who were behind J.J. last year, they could’ve done some good things. Very talented, there’s different types of quarterbacks we have in that room, different styles and they’re going to find the best one, that’s for sure.”
Contact Tony Garcia: apgarcia@freepress.com. Follow him at @realtonygarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football losing great talent: Here’s who should step up
