Phall
Master
Since 2005, Michigan has started 8,7,8,9,8,9,9,8,12,11,10,10,8,7,6,5,7, and 5 white players. This year, the team looks like it will bounce back up to 8 starters. Personally, I am pleased with the current trajectory. While the Wolverines will never be an explicitly “white friendly” team, they make for a palatable rooting option among the top tier of playoff hopefuls. Michigan has legitimate stars to support in QB JJ McCarthy and TE Colston Loveland, while edge Braiden McGregor and nose tackle Mason Graham should be two of the best players on a very solid defense. Most incredibly, this team currently has someone to mention in every single position group. I'm particularly happy with the "positional diversity" of the underclassmen and recruits.
Coaching: Jim Harbaugh is staring down the barrel of a 4-game suspension from the NCAA because he is alleged to have taken two recruits out for hamburgers at the Brown Jug. I once fondled a fat girl on a Friday night in the Brown Jug’s men’s bathroom. I’m glad that place is still in business. Anyway, Harbaugh might finally say he’s had enough of these pedantic rules and give the NFL another call next offseason. It's a familiar dance.
Black OC and Offensive Line coach Sherrone Moore has won two consecutive Joe Moore Awards (starting 9 of 10 white players). He gets the title promotion because black quarterback fetishist Mike McDonald got fired for spying on someone’s emails (probably a woman, but the full story never leaked). Harbaugh calls the plays anyway. Jesse Minter returns as DC for a second year; like many on staff, he is upwardly-mobile at age 40.
Recruiting: Michigan brings on a 2023 freshman class with just 5/25 white players. Among them, RB Cole Cabana, LB Hayden Moore, and DL Brooks Bahr are joining mostly black position groups. Signing 4/5 black offensive linemen is certainly a departure from the norm. The 2024 class looks much better and features 12/26 white players, including five defenders (but no backs, of course).
QB: JJ McCarthy won an in-season competition last year with incumbent starter Cade McNamara, who has transferred to Iowa. Without getting into hyperbole, McCarthy has all the tools to play on Sundays. Michigan has always relied heavily on its run game, so if anything, McCarthy doesn’t always get to show his stuff based on the gameplan. This will be a QB-heavy draft, so where he finally ranks might depend on how well the team performs overall.
The backups are Indiana grad transfer Jack Tuttle and capable walk-on Davis Warren, who gets rave reviews in practice but has not seen meaningful snaps. Both are a full rung below McCarthy but would be fine as game managers for most of Michigan’s schedule. Warren may be a reasonable bridge starter next year if McCarthy decides to leave. The three black underclassmen on scholarship don’t seem likely to ever take a snap. Unfortunately, the team has a prized black quarterback lined up in the 2024 class. We'll see what happens next year.
RB: It’s been a long time since the Wolverines have had something to report in this column. True freshman Cole Cabana arrives as a highly-rated 4-star prospect. Although Cole has been an in-state Michigan lean with a strong recruiting profile for awhile, I still give RB coach (and former player) Mike Hart some credit for breaking the stereotype. For those keeping track, this is Michigan’s first white scholarship running back since Sam McGuffie’s lone season with the team in 2008. Cabana is a pass-catching home run threat; the concern with him has been that he’s not (yet) big enough for a full workload. He addressed some of that by showing up to camp weighing 200 lbs.
Michigan has two elite running backs who will probably both go pro after this season. In 2024, competition will be wide open. Harbaugh runs the ball enough that there should be plenty of carries for Cole to show his stuff. The simple comparison is Christian McCaffrey here, and for that reason alone, I wouldn’t be upset if Cabana starts his career returning punts/kicks to maximize early touches.
WR: Here’s another traditionally barren position group with a new player to look for this season. Walk-on Peyton O’Leary opened enough eyes during the spring game by torching scholarship cornerbacks that he’s probably at worst the team’s fourth receiver now. He’s a deep/outside threat (rather than a slot) as a 6’3, 200 redshirt sophomore. Michigan doesn’t have any history with walk-on receivers of any race that I can remember, so O’Leary will have to make the most of his chances early in an offense that isn’t exactly pass-happy.
TE: While Iowa gets the label, the Wolverines have also done a terrific job putting its tight ends into the NFL. Their next star is true sophomore Colston Loveland, who played his way into starting the last five games of the season. Loveland is on a star trajectory, and his ceiling this year is pushing Georgia’s Brock Bowers for some seasonal awards. Grad transfer A.J. Barner arrives from Indiana as a former starter who will see plenty of snaps, including 2-TE sets. Behind them are white athletes Marlin Klein, Matthew Hibner, and true freshman Deakon Tonielli. Max Bredeson, brother of NFL guard Ben, is also in with this group but may play more of an H-back/fullback role with (very) minimal carries.
Offensive Line: Michigan’s team is loaded this year after two straight years of winning the aforementioned Joe Moore Award for best line in the country. Seven players made the Senior Bowl watch list and could all conceivably wind up as pros. The current projection is another 4/5 white starting group led by guards Zak Zenner and Trevor Keegan. Center Drake Nugent transferred from Stanford and will look to stave off fast-rising Greg Crippen. Karsen Barnhart played all over as the sixth lineman last year and will probably assume the right tackle position. Tristan Bounds, Jeffrey Persi, Reece Attebury, Dominic Giudice, and Andrew Gentry are all in queue as successors.
It shouldn’t go unmentioned that the staff brought in six new black scholarship offensive lineman this offseason through recruiting and the transfer portal. The 2024 starting line and beyond could potentially veer away from Michigan’s whiteness trend. However, the 2024 class now includes 5 of 5 white freshman o-line commits, restoring order.
Edge: Braiden McGregor looks to finally fulfill his destiny as the heir to Aiden Hutchinson and Chase Winovich. I’ve written the same preview about him for three years now: high school knee surgery seemed to slow his progress at the college level. He has elite burst and upper body strength but hasn’t added an effective bull rush to skillset. McGregor has another covid year of eligibility but could test the NFL waters with an impressive year. Unfortunately, McGregor’s own heir is not yet on campus.
DT: True sophomore Mason Graham has already made a splash and appears on plenty of pre-season shortlists. At 318 lbs, Graham has this year and next before hitting NFL eligibility but should already be on early-round draft radars. He is one of the very best white DT prospects and not far off the top of the overall list at this point. Apart from Graham, true freshman Brooks Bahr was recruited as an edge but arrived on campus weighing 298 lbs. Sophomore Alessandro Lorenzetti has moved from IOL to DT this offseason. Neither are likely to contribute much this season.
LB: Jimmy Rolder exceeded expectations simply by getting onto the field so much as a true freshman in 2022. He is firmly a contributor but still has upperclassmen above him on the depth chart. Joey Velazquez is a career special-teamer who gets more playing time for Michigan baseball. Hayden Moore will probably redshirt as a freshman.
DB: ‘Special Teams Demon’ Caden Kolesar also plays safety and has appeared in 27 games before losing most of last season to injury. He was initially a legacy preferred walk-on; it’s not clear if he gets put on scholarship each year (scholarships mean a bit less now in the NIL era). Injuries got Kolesar on the field for a bit in 2021, and he acquitted himself well enough, but that ship has probably sailed. Walk-on QB Brandon Mann has moved to safety and walk-on RB Nico Andrighetto has moved to cornerback, presumably just to give Kolesar someone to talk to during practice.
Special Teams: The Wolverines fared very well with their special teams unit in 2022. They poached Louisville kicker James Turner from the transfer portal to replace Jake Moody. Punter Tommy Doman moves into starting duty. Cole Cabana could be in the mix for returns, but that's far from a lock.
Starters:
QB: JJ McCarthy
TE: Colston Loveland, (A.J. Barner)
O-Line: Zak Zinter, Trevor Keegan, Drake Nugent, (Karsen Barnhart)
DT: Mason Graham
Edge: Braiden McGregor
Backups to watch:
QB: Jack Tuttle, Davis Warren
RB: Cole Cabana
TE: Max Bredeson, Matthew Hibner, Marlin Klein, Deakon Tonielli
WR: Peyton O'Leary
O-Line: Greg Crippen, Tristan Bounds, Jeffrey Persi, Reece Atteberry, Dominic Giudice, Andrew Gentry
LB: Jimmy Rolder
S: Caden Kolesar
Coaching: Jim Harbaugh is staring down the barrel of a 4-game suspension from the NCAA because he is alleged to have taken two recruits out for hamburgers at the Brown Jug. I once fondled a fat girl on a Friday night in the Brown Jug’s men’s bathroom. I’m glad that place is still in business. Anyway, Harbaugh might finally say he’s had enough of these pedantic rules and give the NFL another call next offseason. It's a familiar dance.
Black OC and Offensive Line coach Sherrone Moore has won two consecutive Joe Moore Awards (starting 9 of 10 white players). He gets the title promotion because black quarterback fetishist Mike McDonald got fired for spying on someone’s emails (probably a woman, but the full story never leaked). Harbaugh calls the plays anyway. Jesse Minter returns as DC for a second year; like many on staff, he is upwardly-mobile at age 40.
Recruiting: Michigan brings on a 2023 freshman class with just 5/25 white players. Among them, RB Cole Cabana, LB Hayden Moore, and DL Brooks Bahr are joining mostly black position groups. Signing 4/5 black offensive linemen is certainly a departure from the norm. The 2024 class looks much better and features 12/26 white players, including five defenders (but no backs, of course).
QB: JJ McCarthy won an in-season competition last year with incumbent starter Cade McNamara, who has transferred to Iowa. Without getting into hyperbole, McCarthy has all the tools to play on Sundays. Michigan has always relied heavily on its run game, so if anything, McCarthy doesn’t always get to show his stuff based on the gameplan. This will be a QB-heavy draft, so where he finally ranks might depend on how well the team performs overall.
The backups are Indiana grad transfer Jack Tuttle and capable walk-on Davis Warren, who gets rave reviews in practice but has not seen meaningful snaps. Both are a full rung below McCarthy but would be fine as game managers for most of Michigan’s schedule. Warren may be a reasonable bridge starter next year if McCarthy decides to leave. The three black underclassmen on scholarship don’t seem likely to ever take a snap. Unfortunately, the team has a prized black quarterback lined up in the 2024 class. We'll see what happens next year.
RB: It’s been a long time since the Wolverines have had something to report in this column. True freshman Cole Cabana arrives as a highly-rated 4-star prospect. Although Cole has been an in-state Michigan lean with a strong recruiting profile for awhile, I still give RB coach (and former player) Mike Hart some credit for breaking the stereotype. For those keeping track, this is Michigan’s first white scholarship running back since Sam McGuffie’s lone season with the team in 2008. Cabana is a pass-catching home run threat; the concern with him has been that he’s not (yet) big enough for a full workload. He addressed some of that by showing up to camp weighing 200 lbs.
Michigan has two elite running backs who will probably both go pro after this season. In 2024, competition will be wide open. Harbaugh runs the ball enough that there should be plenty of carries for Cole to show his stuff. The simple comparison is Christian McCaffrey here, and for that reason alone, I wouldn’t be upset if Cabana starts his career returning punts/kicks to maximize early touches.
WR: Here’s another traditionally barren position group with a new player to look for this season. Walk-on Peyton O’Leary opened enough eyes during the spring game by torching scholarship cornerbacks that he’s probably at worst the team’s fourth receiver now. He’s a deep/outside threat (rather than a slot) as a 6’3, 200 redshirt sophomore. Michigan doesn’t have any history with walk-on receivers of any race that I can remember, so O’Leary will have to make the most of his chances early in an offense that isn’t exactly pass-happy.
TE: While Iowa gets the label, the Wolverines have also done a terrific job putting its tight ends into the NFL. Their next star is true sophomore Colston Loveland, who played his way into starting the last five games of the season. Loveland is on a star trajectory, and his ceiling this year is pushing Georgia’s Brock Bowers for some seasonal awards. Grad transfer A.J. Barner arrives from Indiana as a former starter who will see plenty of snaps, including 2-TE sets. Behind them are white athletes Marlin Klein, Matthew Hibner, and true freshman Deakon Tonielli. Max Bredeson, brother of NFL guard Ben, is also in with this group but may play more of an H-back/fullback role with (very) minimal carries.
Offensive Line: Michigan’s team is loaded this year after two straight years of winning the aforementioned Joe Moore Award for best line in the country. Seven players made the Senior Bowl watch list and could all conceivably wind up as pros. The current projection is another 4/5 white starting group led by guards Zak Zenner and Trevor Keegan. Center Drake Nugent transferred from Stanford and will look to stave off fast-rising Greg Crippen. Karsen Barnhart played all over as the sixth lineman last year and will probably assume the right tackle position. Tristan Bounds, Jeffrey Persi, Reece Attebury, Dominic Giudice, and Andrew Gentry are all in queue as successors.
It shouldn’t go unmentioned that the staff brought in six new black scholarship offensive lineman this offseason through recruiting and the transfer portal. The 2024 starting line and beyond could potentially veer away from Michigan’s whiteness trend. However, the 2024 class now includes 5 of 5 white freshman o-line commits, restoring order.
Edge: Braiden McGregor looks to finally fulfill his destiny as the heir to Aiden Hutchinson and Chase Winovich. I’ve written the same preview about him for three years now: high school knee surgery seemed to slow his progress at the college level. He has elite burst and upper body strength but hasn’t added an effective bull rush to skillset. McGregor has another covid year of eligibility but could test the NFL waters with an impressive year. Unfortunately, McGregor’s own heir is not yet on campus.
DT: True sophomore Mason Graham has already made a splash and appears on plenty of pre-season shortlists. At 318 lbs, Graham has this year and next before hitting NFL eligibility but should already be on early-round draft radars. He is one of the very best white DT prospects and not far off the top of the overall list at this point. Apart from Graham, true freshman Brooks Bahr was recruited as an edge but arrived on campus weighing 298 lbs. Sophomore Alessandro Lorenzetti has moved from IOL to DT this offseason. Neither are likely to contribute much this season.
LB: Jimmy Rolder exceeded expectations simply by getting onto the field so much as a true freshman in 2022. He is firmly a contributor but still has upperclassmen above him on the depth chart. Joey Velazquez is a career special-teamer who gets more playing time for Michigan baseball. Hayden Moore will probably redshirt as a freshman.
DB: ‘Special Teams Demon’ Caden Kolesar also plays safety and has appeared in 27 games before losing most of last season to injury. He was initially a legacy preferred walk-on; it’s not clear if he gets put on scholarship each year (scholarships mean a bit less now in the NIL era). Injuries got Kolesar on the field for a bit in 2021, and he acquitted himself well enough, but that ship has probably sailed. Walk-on QB Brandon Mann has moved to safety and walk-on RB Nico Andrighetto has moved to cornerback, presumably just to give Kolesar someone to talk to during practice.
Special Teams: The Wolverines fared very well with their special teams unit in 2022. They poached Louisville kicker James Turner from the transfer portal to replace Jake Moody. Punter Tommy Doman moves into starting duty. Cole Cabana could be in the mix for returns, but that's far from a lock.
Starters:
QB: JJ McCarthy
TE: Colston Loveland, (A.J. Barner)
O-Line: Zak Zinter, Trevor Keegan, Drake Nugent, (Karsen Barnhart)
DT: Mason Graham
Edge: Braiden McGregor
Backups to watch:
QB: Jack Tuttle, Davis Warren
RB: Cole Cabana
TE: Max Bredeson, Matthew Hibner, Marlin Klein, Deakon Tonielli
WR: Peyton O'Leary
O-Line: Greg Crippen, Tristan Bounds, Jeffrey Persi, Reece Atteberry, Dominic Giudice, Andrew Gentry
LB: Jimmy Rolder
S: Caden Kolesar
