With NFL roster decisions pretty much a wrap for the Wolverines, we take a look at each position heading into winter workouts with one question and one opinion at each spot.
With Michigan’s National Championship run already in the rearview mirror and NFL decisions also finalized, the focus turns towards winter workouts and spring ball in a few months.
There will be ample questions surrounding the program regardless of who is coaching the team; they are on the verge of having up to 17 or 18 players drafted in April in the NFL Draft.
They will also be returning a lot of talented players. This holds mostly true on the defensive side where the team has a chance to be one of the best units in the country once again.
This piece takes a look at one question mark and one opinion at every major position on the roster.
Question: Can a current scholarship quarterback emerge?
With J.J. McCarthy moving on, Michigan has an interesting but completely inexperienced group at quarterback. Alex Orji (1) and Jayden Denegal (5) have almost zero experience throwing the ball in legitimate settings.
Freshman Jadyn Davis walks in as perhaps the most talented pure quarterback of the group but will be a true freshman, albeit one getting the extra winter and spring sessions as an early enrollee.
All three have some level of intrigue: Orji as the high ceiling player with a cannon for an arm and a legitimate ability to be a threat running the ball.
Denegal is the more polished passer between he and his 2022 counterpart and didn’t look overwhelmed by the moment when he was in. Davis is the top talent freshman who was at the top of the staff’s board last cycle.
Opinion: Michigan HAS to at least seriously evaluate the portal
This is where not taking a quarterback in 2023 puts Michigan in a bit of a quandary.
They also don’t have the benefit of a soft early schedule to get a new quarterback acclimated; two of their first four games are against Texas and USC.
Orji is a tantalizing prospect but still feels very boom or bust at the position. I think a defending national champion with a defense that will almost certainly be championship level again next season should do their due diligence to at least bring in another challenger at the game’s most important position.
