Tomorrow is Michigan Football's first formal spring game since 2017 and first open spring practice since 2019. COVID washed out 2020's event, and one was not held in 2021. 2019 was an open practice, but was not a game format, and 2018's was canceled due to weather. It's been awhile! The game will consist of four twelve minute quarters, the rosters for each team will be drafted by the players, and the "head coaches" will be Sherrone Moore and Steve Clinkscale. You can watch it at the Big House for free, or on BTN at noon tomorrow. 

On the heels of a successful season, Michigan Football is looking to keep the momentum going in 2022, but like any year, there is plenty of roster turnover. With roster turnover comes positional battles, and when you add in the occasional injuries that naturally happen during any series of practice, new players who have seldom seen the field get their images elevated and reasons to watch them during spring practice increase as well. With all that in mind, today I'm going to run through seven storylines to watch at tomorrow's spring game: 

1.) MAZI and the new DL 

No area of Michigan's team sees more personnel changes than on the defensive line, understandable when you boasted the two of the best edge rushers in the conference last season and the NFL tends to like very good edge rushers. Chris Hinton (somewhat surprisingly) followed Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo out the door, meaning that Michigan is looking to replace three starters on the defensive front. If you want to, you can also consider coaching as a personnel change here, since old DL coach Shaun Nua departed for USC, and Michigan brought in Mike Elston from ND as a replacement. 

The only piece of continuity in the whole DL room is one Mazi Smith. All through spring practice, the insider reports have been something like "MAZI! MAZI! MAZI! MAZI!", as no player on the defense has been showered with more praise than Smith. Mazi was not yet an All-B1G caliber player last season but he was a consistent starter who showed enough flashes to make you believe he will round into one in 2022. The coaches and insiders are convinced that Smith is growing into one right before their very eyes in spring practice, and the spring game is a small opportunity for us to take a gander with our own set of eyeballs and see how much of the hype lines up. 

[Marc-Gregor Campredon]

Beyond Mazi, the next names to watch are those currently running with the ones in spring practice: Kris Jenkins at DT and Mike Morris and Taylor Upshaw at edge. All three of these guys played rotational roles last season, but now the spotlight will be on them. Morris and Upshaw in particular are different kinds of pass rushers than Ojabo and Hutchinson were, but they have potential and made some plays of note in 2021. Jenkins is an intriguing piece, with the versatility to play inside and outside and this is around the time when we assumed he would begin to challenge for a starting role. 

The twos are also worth watching at this position, because they will become the rotational pieces this fall. Julius Welschof has played here and there in the last two seasons and is now in his fifth year in the program. If there was ever a time for our mogul-skiing German son to hit the big time as a pass-rushing DT, it would be now. Young guys George Rooks and Rayshaun Benny have started to pick up some murmurs from the insiders and this will be our first substantial glimpse of them after both redshirted in 2021. Braiden McGregor is a plausible option to challenge Morris and Upshaw on the edge, and you can throw in Jaylen Harrell, who did play some real snaps in 2021, in that thought too. 

There are a lot of fresh faces here, many of whom have never seen starter or even rotational snaps in a regulation CFB game. This will not be a regulation game either, obviously, but it is an opportunity to give guys buried down the depth chart a little run. If anyone here is winning snaps with consistency against any of Michigan's starting OL, I would say that is a good sign. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: Six more bullets]

[Marc-Gregor Campredon]

2.) Newcomers on OL 

Staying in the trenches, Michigan's vaunted OL lost a couple pieces in the offseason. Starting center Andrew Vastardis opted to take off after a length Michigan career, and RT Andrew Stueber is attempting to get drafted in this month's NFL Draft. Mainstays Ryan Hayes, Trevor Keegan, and Zak Zinter are still around, occupying the LT and guard spots, but they aren't really worth focusing on in the spring game because we know all about them. The holes on the line, though, deserve the attention, as Michigan wants to find viable new starters to ensure that the strength of last year's offense doesn't have any drop off. 

The starting center in spring practice is UVA grad transfer Olusegun "Victor" Oluwatimi. Michigan nabbed him out of the portal and the reviews so far are stellar. We know quite a bit about Oluwatimi since he's been a P5 starting lineman for a couple years, but he has yet to play a watchable event in the winged helmet, so tomorrow represents the first glimpse at this pivotal cog on the 2022 team. At RT, there's been an open competition but the leader right now appears to be Trente Jones. We've seen a bit of him in non-garbage time minutes, but normally as the sixth OL in the jumbo package, which is a bit different of an assignment than being the starting RT. 

Beyond the starters, OL is one of those positions where depth is a necessity, so keep your eye on the backups, because they will inevitably be called upon at least once at some point in the season when a starter gets rolled up on. Karsen Barnhart is the sixth OL at the moment, while Greg Crippen is the designated backup center and the presumptive Center of the Future after Oluwatimi's one year is up. Crippen, I assume, will be the main center for one of the two teams in the game, so we'll get plenty of chances to watch him. The younger developmental tackles Jeffery Persi, Giovanni El-Hadi, and Tristan Bounds are guys I'm interested to see some of too. 

[Patrick Barron]

3.) The non-Cade/JJ QBs 

Moving to everyone's favorite position, quarterback, the spring game represents the opportunity to see the non-big names in action. Cade McNamara is the likely starter for one of the teams, but with JJ McCarthy dealing with a shoulder issue, it seems like Alan Bowman will start for the other team. Once those two exit the games, we'll likely get to see both of Michigan's true freshmen QBs, Alex Orji and Jayden Denegal, for the first time, as well as walk-on Davis Warren. Warren has started to get some buzz as the QB who is challenging Bowman for the #3 role, with one insider noting that he could "start at some MAC programs" ($). We've never seen Warren in action at all, so it'll be our first look into whether that is nonsense walk-on hype (remember the conversation about Elijah Pierre last summer?) or if he could be Michigan's designated "come in during the final minute of a blowout and throw an interception" QB. 

This is a much lower stakes position, because if Cade and JJ are both on the fall roster, it's (*sacrifices a small lamb to the Injury Gods*) highly unlikely Alan Bowman or Davis Warren or any of the freshmen see the field in meaningful moments. But this is football! Injuries happen. Not to mention that there's still a chance that something happens and one of Michigan's co-starters transfer out. I don't see it as likely, but the portal is ubiquitous in modern college football. You never know when disaster strikes and you go scavenging down the depth chart. 

[Marc-Gregor Campredon]

4.) Tavierre Dunlap and the reserve RBs 

Michigan enters the fall with a case for the best RB tandem in the conference, boasting Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards, but there is considerable drop off after those two. You can keep your eyes on the two horses if you want, because they are fun to watch, but both are known quantities at this point. What's far more interesting at the RB position is what the depth chart looks like beyond Corum and Edwards. The great Hassan Haskins is out the door, which leaves a massive hole on the depth chart. Though Edwards taking the next step fills a lot of those carries, it doesn't fill the stylistic hole left by Haskins, as neither Corum nor Edwards are the tough, physical runner that Haskins was. 

Enter Tavierre Dunlap. He was a true freshman last fall, of the same age and class as Edwards, and Dunlap's got a full 20 lbs. on Edwards and is marketed as more of a thunder back. We only saw Dunlap twice last season, and NIU was the only game where he got more than a passing glimpse. It was too early to say anything, but this season we expect to see a lot more of him, especially in short-yardage situations. Dunlap is a player to watch tomorrow, as this will likely be the most he has ever played in a televised format available to the public. Leon Franklin is a walk-on name, but the depth is quite thin here, especially with the lone true freshman RB (CJ Stokes) not on campus until the summer, and reports are that AJ Henning and Kalel Mullings have been getting a run at RB as a result. Someone will need to step up as the #3 RB and this is the first chance to see the candidates. 

[247 Sports]

5.) The true freshmen who are on campus 

I mentioned Stokes above as a non-early enrollee, and Denegal/Orji as players are at spring practice, but none of them are who I'm talking about here. Of the early enrollees, the ones who currently look like they have the best shot at playing time in the fall are TE Colston Loveland, DT Mason Graham, S Keon Sabb, DE Derrick Moore, and WR Darrius Clemons (I'm purposefully omitting Will Johnson because he gets his own point). All of these players offer something different to the team, but the reports are promising about all of them. Sabb should get some extended run at safety with Rod Moore being out for spring practice due to an injury, and the same can be said about Darrius Clemons getting more snaps because Ronnie Bell is still rehabbing from his knee injury. 

Loveland is one I'm particularly interested in seeing because Michigan has no reason to be hyping him up, yet his name has still penetrated some of the reports. In returning Erick All and Luke Schoonmaker, in addition to Joel Honigford and players who are older/more experienced than Loveland (Matt Hibner, Louis Hansen), the Wolverines are loaded at the TE spot. Loveland, in theory, should be totally buried at the bottom, yet he has shown up as a player who has a good shot to see snaps in year one ($). The same could be said for Clemons, who is competing at an equally-loaded WR position. Moore and Graham are likely benefitting from the turnover on the DL we mentioned in point one and seem to be fighting hard. 

[Bryan Fuller]

6.) Hello, Will Johnson 

I gave CB Will Johnson his own point, because he's the only one of the true freshman who isn't just a "he could see the field as a freshman" player. He's a "real chance he could be a starter" player. The 5* corner happens to play a position where it's much easier for a fresh-faced spring chicken to play a considerable role, which helps him out (Alabama made the national title game running true freshman corner Kool-Aid McKinstry as a key piece). It also helps that Will Johnson is extremely good at football, and has connections to the program, which have allowed him to hop into the mix quickly. 

Right now it sounds like Johnson is competing for a role in the secondary, next to fellow corners DJ Turner and Gemon Green. There's a slot open at nickel, but a fresh name has been practicing there for the time being (next point). Tomorrow represents the first chance to see Johnson in a Michigan uniform, and since the Wolverines have so many talented receivers, any rep that Johnson partakes in covering a WR is going to be a notable test of his talent and skill. This is our first measuring stick of the vaunted recruit. 

[Patrick Barron]

7.) Mike Sainristil, the nickel 

The big positional change in the months following the Orange Bowl was the switch of Mike Sainristil from WR to nickel corner. With the receiver depth chart as log-jammed as ever, Sainristil and Jim Harbaugh discussed the possibility of him moving to defense, where his path to playing time would be easier. They agreed and sure enough, Sainristil made the switch in time for the start of spring practice. Since practices have gotten underway, the reviews are uniformly positive and it's not like this is completely foreign to Sainristil- he played on both sides of the ball back in HS in Massachusetts. Blocking was his biggest attribute as a receiver, and being able to translate that physicality to the defensive side of the ball seems logical. 

Could Sainristil actually be Michigan's starting nickel? I don't know, but we can't discount the possibility at this point. With Vincent Gray leaving school, there is an opening in the secondary, and whether it's Sainristil or Will Johnson or somebody else that fills it, it remains to be seen. Tomorrow is the first opportunity to see Sainristil, the new-look nickel, and he might be the piece I'm most interested in watching. Like with Will Johnson, due to the quality of Michigan's receivers, each snap is a real test, even in an intrasquad game.