We're now just three days away from Michigan's season opener against Western Michigan, which means fall camp has more or less reached its conclusion and the depth chart, though unlikely to be released to the public, is probably set. This is also the period when the insiders share their final takes and give their team evaluations as practice winds down and the game week begins. That means we've got a glut of information to sift through for what will be our final Fall Football Bits of 2021. 

 

Quarterback

What we want to hear: Cade McNamara is a good B1G starter and JJ McCarthy is ready to be called in whenever necessary. Alan Bowman has learned the offense and is the best #3 QB in the B1G. No worries in Michigan's QB room. 

What we're hearing: One of the most consistent themes of fall camp has been a see-saw-like bouncing motion in reports as to how close the QB battle is. One week the insiders will insist that it's a true 1a and 1b situation, and then the next week they'll claim that Cade is clearly ahead and it was never close. It's a pendulum trajectory that's quite tough to get a feel of. This week was one of those weeks where we got more of the "1a/1b" chatter, particularly stemming from a strong McCarthy practice at last Wednesday's scrimmage ($). Others with knowledge of the situation have indicated to the brain trust at MGoBlog that JJ McCarthy could very well win the job by the season's conclusion. 

All that private chatter aside, though, the public discussion has been uniformly pro-Cade. It starts with the head coach himself, who came out and flatly said "Cade McNamara is our starting quarterback" at a press conference on Monday. JH's appearance on Jansen's radio show on Monday gave us a tiny window into why that is the case: 

(McNamara's) just done things a little bit better, you know, day in and day out, week in and week out. I think his biggest talent is he makes the other players better, and not that JJ doesn't have those same traits. Just that Cade is doing them at a level of consistency that earned him the starting job. 

Consistency is a theme in that response. Whether the consistency that earned Cade the job is "more consistent compared to a true freshman who has never taken an NCAA snap" or the "legit consistent B1G QB" kind of consistency remains to be seen. But barring something weird happening during the week, Cade McNamara will be starting under center on Saturday. 

One more note: JH mentioned the possibility of using Dan Villari in wildcat situations back in the spring and reports of that popped up for the first time this week, confirming it is indeed being practiced and observers note that it has looked good so far. Take that with a 3 gallon bag of salt. 

What it means: Yet again, Cade is #1, and JJ is lurking. I tend to believe that McNamara is pretty clearly ahead right now but that McCarthy could be the better option by the end of the season. We just have to hope that we see McCarthy when he's ready to be the starter and not because he's forced into action because OH NO I'M GOING TO STOP TALKING ABOUT THIS NOW. Villari will be used as a one-trick pony and Bowman probably won't see the field unless <redacted> happens. 

 

[AFTER THE JUMP: Good news for a player I'm a big fan of]

 

Hassan Haskins is going to break this tackle all the time [Patrick Barron]

Running Back 

What we want to hear: HASSAN HASKINS WILL SWALLOW YOUR LINEBACKER WHOLE. BLAKE CORUM WILL GO FROM 0 TO 60 IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE LIKE A GODDAMN FERRARI. GIVE THEM MOAR CARRIES. 

What we're hearing: Basically nothing new this week. The RB room has been settled since fall camp began and that has not changed. Corum and Haskins showed up in the "improved" category of a Balas ITF update ($), but that's really all I have to tell you that you don't already know, so let's keep this short and move on. 

What it means: No buzz is good buzz. Michigan feels good about its RB room (for good reason) and is busy hyping up other positions. Still 1.) Haskins and Corum, 2.) Edwards, 3.) Dunlap. 

 

Wide Receiver 

What we want to hear: Michigan's receivers are ready to catch any balls thrown near them. Ronnie Bell is ready for All-B1G status, Cornelius Johnson will have 8 TD receptions, Daylen Baldwin is another jump ball option, and all the little slots are ready to burn by opposition linebackers. 

What we're hearing: Sam Webb put out an interesting update ($) talking about how the offensive staff is hoping for the WR's to be more physical this season compared to past years. He had the most praise for Cornelius Johnson in terms of someone who has had a great fall camp and deemed CornJo the team's best deep ball threat. The physicality stuff (mentioned in the context of blocking) saw praise showered on both Johnson and Ronnie Bell and that seems to have been an emphasis for coaches. Daylen Baldwin got the usual buzz, while Roman Wilson and AJ Henning got the customary slot shoutouts. 

The omission of Mike Sainristil by Webb was particularly interesting because he was the first slot mentioned by Harbaugh in his appearance on the Jansen pod, and then was made available to the press this week. Probably doesn't mean anything. Sainristil's media availability was mostly just the usual blustery talk about how the team is motivated to prove the #haterz wrong. You can read it here if you want. 

The final note comes from a source of Seth's, who discussed Donovan Edwards being split out wide and running a real route (!). Tough to say if this is a VillariCat-type gimmick or something more serious, but they are practicing it. 

What it means: Nothing really has changed. The physicality stuff is interesting but ultimately not that useful when discussing the depth chart. Johnson and Bell are going to play probably close to every play, with Baldwin and the slots (led by Sainristil) rotating in, and you may get the occasional Donovan Edwards WR appearance. 

 

Tight End 

What we want to hear: Erick All is back to 100%, Luke Schoonmaker is ready to step into a larger role, Joel Honigford is a mauler who will crush a DE into pulp on short yardage packages, and the young TE's are making progress. 

What we're hearing: Pretty subdued again. We got another healthy dose of Luke Schoonmaker hype, who showed up on Balas' improved players list and Isaiah Hole interpreted Schoonmaker being available to the media as reason enough to feature him in the "players in line for more playing time" article, which I concur with. We didn't hear much about All again this past week, and it's unclear if that's related to the potential lingering injury or not. We're not hearing anything about him being out though. 

Harbaugh dished out some blanket praise on the TE room in his appearance on the Jansen pod, mentioning All, Schoonmaker, Honigford, Selzer, and Hibner, in that order. That list may very well be the depth chart at TE. Otherwise, not much else to talk about here. 

What it means: That previously mentioned list of tight ends is probably what to expect in terms of playing time. Seth did mention on the pod that they had Honigford down to a weight that could be plausibly see him play as a traditional TE, so he may be used in more situations than jumbo packages. But bets are on All and Schoonmaker getting the vast majority of the snaps. 

 

Ryan Hayes still anchors LT [Campredon]

Offensive Line 

What we want to hear: The coaches and team feel good about the offensive line. They have a group of five that work, the unit is clicking together and generating chemistry on the field, and if anyone goes down they've got four more Big Meaty Boys to sub in as virtual clones and ensure the level of play doesn't drop a smidge. 

What we're hearing: The same starting offensive line that we've been reporting for weeks is still going to be the starting group, should everyone be healthy: Hayes-Keegan-Vastardis-Zinter-Stueber. Harbaugh mentioned that line to Jansen (they were the first five names invoked), but he followed it immediately with a mention of Chuck Filiaga, saying that he "had a tremendous camp and entire offseason". In the aforementioned press conference, JH said that they were not going to announce a starting line and that "I feel like we're five, six, seven, eight really good players we consider our starters at this time".

Sherrone Moore also threw some Filiaga hype out there in an appearance with Jansen, mostly the usual stuff, talking about Filiaga's great camp and summer. However, it was explicitly noted that Moore declined to say whether Filiaga would start. Otherwise, Moore raved like Harbaugh did about Michigan's depth at this position. 

What it means: The summation of this to me is pretty related to what we had heard previously: that at least one lineman has been banged up and so the coaches are keeping the door open in case that player can't go on Saturday. They don't want to name a starting group in case the starting five they name aren't the group who begin week one against Western. And assuming that player is on the interior (we have been told that is likely), then Filiaga will be the one to fill in, hence why he continues to get praise. Your starting line is set, with Filiaga the most likely to fill in on the inside and then Trente Jones is the most likely to slide in if an injury at tackle arises. Karsen Barnhart and Greg Crippen are on the two-deep too, something we reported in previous weeks. 

 

Aidan Hutchinson: Still a Dude [Bryan Fuller]

Defensive Line 

What we want to hear: The defensive line is calming your nerves. It's young and has potential, but the Jeter hype is real this time, the Hinton potential is breaking through, and the Mazi Smith hype is also real and the nose tackle is a mountain of a man ready to eat two blocks like a Big Mac. The edge guys are a monster and several young guys who are going to be monsters imminently. 

What we're hearing: Welp. The chasm in optimism with the edge guys compared to the optimism with the true DL in the  Macdonald defense (read: the defensive tackles) could not be larger. While the edge rushers are talked about as being deep and loaded, the true DL is discussed like it's a hot air balloon with a rip in the balloon, plummeting to the ground. Let's talk about the good stuff you want to hear about first.

This week of rumors was good news for me, as I said David Ojabo would earn All-B1G votes as my raw take on the defensive pod released yesterday. The praise of the Scot was uniform this past week and coming from every direction. Balas reported that Ojabo (and Hutchinson) were playing standing up in the Wednesday scrimmage and brought tons of pressure. He was named as one of the most improved players on the team in a separate post, while Moore talked about Ojabo (in addition to Hutchinson) as the two pass rushers giving his positional group the most trouble in practice when he was on Jansen's show. And then Mazi Smith was asked at a press conference who we should watch out for on the defense and he said: 

David Ojabo. Just his ability is really shining through. He's really locked in — we're all locked in and trying to play together. There's plenty of guys, but he's the first that comes to mind. 

Shaun Nua was also made available to the press recently and he said that Ojabo is "nothing but talent". I'll take your tickets now as the conductor of the Ojabo hype train. 

There was also a nice touch of news about the depth in the edge category. Sam Webb discussed Mike Morris as a player rounding into shape in fall camp ($), and Balas mentioned Ojabo, Morris, and Taylor Upshaw as three of the most improved players on the defense. It seems to be coming from multiple sources that the coaching staff likes what they have from the edge position and they're starting to consistently generate pressure in practice. 

Consistency appears to still be badly needed with the regular DL, though. Donovan Jeter is still talked about in a uniformly positive manner, but frustration with Mazi Smith and Chris Hinton is seeping through. The inconsistency with Mazi is hinted at as being tied to his conditioning, although he insisted that there was no issue when he was at the podium, saying "this is the best shape I've ever been in" and that he feels "comfortable" with the weight he put on. I would expect Mazi to have stretches of brilliance and stretches of sputtering, much like an old car engine, given the chatter we've been hearing. As for Hinton, it's mostly just disappointment that his level of play is not higher right now given the talent. 

Beyond them, the depth suggested in posts this week is so hilariously concerning that it made Brian laugh so hard he nearly cried on the defensive pod. Jess Speight is in the two-deep, as is Elijah Pierre, a transfer from Brown who sat out last season and who I am only 55% certain is a real person. Jordan Whittley may see snaps, depending on who you talk to (Nua was about as non-committal as it gets: "you'll see him on Saturday... or the next Saturday"). Kris Jenkins did get a recent shouout from Nua as a dark horse who could get playing time, while Julius Welschof news was mostly silent this week. It gets very bad, very quickly and lord help us if there's an injury. 

What it means: Talk about a double-edged sword. I'm very optimistic about the edge stuff and it seems like the team is set to get creative with their rush packages. If Ojabo is really up to the hype, I think the edge position could be the strength of the defense. The kid's athleticism is scary good. On the other hand, the talk starting to come out of the building about the regular DL has me lowering the bar of expectations to the point that it's so low a small rodent could leap over it. Hopefully this is all just a Zordich and our fears will be extinguished week one, but the last three seasons of Michigan's interior DL play suggests that is not likely. 

 

Linebacker 

What we want to hear: Josh Ross and Nikhai Hill-Green are locked in as starters and are playing well together. Michael Barrett is a trusty #3 option, while Junior Colson is getting back up to speed, and the few Viper-shaped players remaining after The Great Post-Don Brown Viper Purge are picking up the position quickly. 

What we're hearing: Mostly pretty good buzz. If you want to talk about one position with the biggest disconnect between the temperature of the fanbase and the buzz from the coaches, it's linebacker. Fans seem to feel this is still a very shaky position, while the insider scoops are extremely cheery. That continued this week. There was quite a few notes on the LB's in the reports detailing that Wednesday scrimmage last week, coming from multiple sources. Sam Webb was the latest insider to dedicate nearly an entire post to Nikhai Hill-Green, praising his improved strength and athleticism as well as the mental to component to his game. We know he's locked in as a starter and the coaches seem to feel great about him. Josh Ross continues to be a "known quantity" which means we get no chatter about him other than the implication that "he's a Dude" (something that hasn't really been true since 2018, but it would be nice if that returns). 

The story of this week in Insider-Land was the first real speculation about the non-Big Three LB's. Junior Colson is healthy and practicing now, but is not quite back to where he was. Joey Velazquez showed up a couple times in the past week as someone working with the twos, while Kalel Mullings also was noted as a player that's gotten better over fall camp. Anthony Solomon and Michael Barrett seem to be rounding out the second and third units at LB. It's good to hear names like Mullings and Solomon, because both were recruits this site liked and up until this point the discussion about them has been essentially non-existent. One note on Barrett: it seems to me that the gap between him and NHG is widening. Previously it seemed as if the youngster had just edged out the veteran but that it would be more of a platoon but multiple reports this week suggest that Barrett's camp has not inspired enthusiasm from the coaches and he's farther behind Hill-Green than previously thought. 

What it means: Ross and NHG are your starters, followed by a gap of some kind, followed by Barrett and then ? in the fourth spot. Colson and Mullings would be my guess for who comes on the field after Barrett in the scenario of major injuries. The LB position will be fascinating to watch during the season to see if the coaches are right about all this optimism. 

 

Two of the three usable corners are shown in this picture [MG Campredon]

Cornerback 

What we want to hear: DJ Turner II and Gemon Green are going to prove a lot of people wrong, and there's not much reason for Vince Gray to even see the field. The younger corners are finally picking up steam and Steve Clinkscale has worked wonders on this positional group. 

What we're hearing: The cornerback position with regards to camp rumors feels eerily quiet, like we're creeping through a haunted house just before the villain comes and busts down the door with a chainsaw. There hasn't been much hype, but there also hasn't really been any anti-hype from the insiders like with the defensive line. In fact, Sam Webb flat out said "the corners haven't been a liability" in a recent post. Contrast that, again, with DL, where the insiders are pretty much screaming at us to put on our life vests before the ship plummets to the bottom of the ocean. It's rather odd. 

Gemon Green and DJ Turner II are the starters and they were both highlighted as "improved" players in the Balas piece. Vincent Gray continues to be mentioned in the "well you can't forget about Vincent Gray!" sense, as if he were the least popular member of a three person band (the Krist Novoselic to Green and Turner's Cobain and Grohl, let's say). Given all the buzz we're hearing about Dax at nickel (more on that in the safety section), it seems to me like Gray's appearances on the field may be limited this fall. 

The depth corner conversation this week shifted to Ja'Den McBurrows. The true freshman corner showed up in a couple insider posts this week talking about him as one of the pleasant surprises of the fall. That continued when Gray was made available to the media yesterday and discussed his enthusiasm for the young corner: 

Ja'Den's really good— that's my boy, that's my young dude. He's really good. I can't wait to see what he does here, too. He's got a couple things to work on, but he's going to be really good here. 

Gray went on to praise McBurrows' football IQ and ability to read the balls and get natural breaks on passes. That summary is pretty standard for what we've been hearing about McBurrows: the coaches and players seem to love his potential but it's probably not happening this year. That we're hearing good things about him now is a very good indicator, as it's already more praise for McBurrows than we've ever heard about say, Andre Seldon or Darion Green-Warren, who haven't shown up in practice reports since the Macarena was #1 on the Billboard charts. 

In fact we've now heard more hype this camp about both George Johnson III (featured last week) and Eamon Dennis than either of the two 4* 2020 corners. Dennis was briefly mentioned this week as a player who's "coming on" at CB, but he and GJIII are, like McBurrows, probably a year away from seeing the field. 

What it means: If Green and Turner are healthy, this position group might be okay. Those 2 + Dax at nickel could be respectable if they're well coached, something we're expecting from a guy with Clinkscale's track record. But boy, one injury and it's trouble because next up is Vince Gray and after that you're talking about a pile of players who are all in the "remove from the packaging next year" category. 

 

Safety 

What we want to hear: Dax Hill can play any position on the field and be an All-B1G caliber player, Brad Hawkins is using his 9th year of eligibility to be a football savant, and RJ Moten is set to be the breakout player of the year on defense.  

What we're hearing: Though the coaches continue to insist Dax Hill will be playing "all over the field", it really sounds like he will be at nickel most of the time. His freakish athleticism is a good fit to cover the speedy slots that would line up opposite him there and the coaching staff seems to be quite comfortable with their #3 and 4 safety options so that they can deploy Hill as a corner. Most all of the Dax chatter centers on him at nickel. Brad Hawkins is still in the Bell/Haskins/Ross/Hutchinson "known quantities" category, so the remainder of the safety talk continues to revolve around Makari Paige and RJ Moten. Balas reported that it was Moten who started at safety across from Hawkins (with Dax at nickel) in the Wednesday scrimmage and most other reports have corroborated that Moten has pulled past his classmate Paige on the depth chart. We reported last week that Moten was available to the media, which generally suggests that he's going to see the field a good bit, and that remains every bit as true as it was seven days ago. 

The other bit of safety news comes via Seth's sources, which are stating that Caden Kolesar is going to have a role at safety too. He hasn't shown up in many of the insider reports but it wouldn't shock me if he sees the field some on defense, in addition to his likely role on special teams. Logically, Kolesar would be a more comfortable option to come on at safety as a RS SO than say, true freshman Rod Moore, even if Moore has the higher potential long term. 

What it means: Pretty much what we've been saying. Expect a lot of Dax in the slot, with Hawkins and Moten as your standard safeties, and then Paige and potentially Kolesar as the twos. A lot of body rotation is likely, but right now this feels like the strength of the defense (either this or edge). 

 

This is probably your punt returner [Bryan Fuller]

Special Teams

What we want to hear: Words about special teams. Literally anything. Just tell us SOMETHING. We want to know who is going to be kicking the football. And catching it and running with it. And blocking. Does Jake Moody still have legs? Is there a plan to stop Giles Jackson from returning a kickoff to the house against Michigan in the Washington game, thus triggering a new level of BPONE in the Michigan fanbase? We need special teams #content. 

What we're hearing: SOMETHING! Hallelujah! For the first time since I've been doing Bits this fall, we actually got some special teams buzz. We've been told that Jake Moody has had a very strong camp, good and consistent, and JH gave a shoutout to both Moody and Brad Robbins at his Monday presser. About the returners, he said: 

We're feeling good about where the returners are. There's a couple - a couple punt returners, a couple kick returners. I would say - you want to go through a week of practice, especially leading up to the game, make sure the guy you put back there gives you the best opportunity to catch the ball and return it. 

I bolded that last part because that's something Seth discussed on the third pod (released this morning), that the team is looking for a returner who can track the punt down and catch it, as opposed to just being speedy. Can't return the punt if you can't get to it, and the team wants to cut down on instances where the ball lands and rolls 20 yards after the bounce. In that vein, the chatter seems to point to Ronnie Bell as being the trusty veteran who can ensure that happens, while some of the younger jitterbugs aren't quite as sharp there. 

What it means: About what we expected. Moody the kicker, Robbins the punter, Doman the backup at both spots, and then Bell probably as the main returner, but there's any number of names who could pull through as the year goes along.