Playoff team profiles: The Michigan Wolverines
Is a Michigan-Georgia rematch likely in these playoffs? How are the Wolverines different from a year ago?
I’ve been more bullish on Michigan now relative to many of the people here in Michigan (where I live) or certainly in the national media (except Desmond Howard) for two years running now. The 2021 team struck me in the offseason as simply having too much talent to fail to be pretty good, even coming off the disastrous 2020 season. I didn’t think they’d win the Big 10 Championship and go to the playoffs though, at least not before the season started..
Once the year started and I saw Michigan’s new approach and watched Ohio State play Oregon, I was pretty bullish on the Wolverines winning the Big 10.
For 2022 they lost running back Hassan Haskins, two linemen (one to the NFL), and five key players from the defense. Three of those defenders were NFL guys, Edges Aidan Hutchinson (#2 overall pick) and David Ojabo and nickel Daxton Hill (1st round pick), the other two included seniors at linebacker and safety.
That’s kind of a lot, but here’s what I saw when studying their roster:
A new identity and defensive scheme which was modern and flexible (the 2-4-5)
An overall level of athleticism and skill across the defense which made them very hard to attack.
High talent levels on offense and the chance to upgrade at quarterback with J.J. McCarthy and build out a pro-spread pass game (didn’t really do this).
Jim Harbaugh settling back into his comfort zone building a team around power.
Here’s something you’d never guess from observing Michigan from afar in the Jim Harbaugh era and noting their repeated recruiting and on-field losses to Ohio State (until recently). Michigan under Jim Harbaugh has recruited quite a bit of talent, won a lot of games, and sent a ton of players on to the NFL.
Those NFL draft pick numbers are competitive with a lot of the SEC teams contending for titles every year. One of the prevailing narratives has been, “Michigan can’t compete with Ohio State’s talent” but that’s never been the issue. It’s been about overall strategy and quarterback play.
This is the first year since Harbaugh arrived that Michigan has had a particularly impressive quarterback and really played the sort of ball that defined his Stanford teams back in the day.
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