How Michigan 'answered a lot of questions' during turbulent offseason

Michigan will be looking to repeat this fall in the expanded playoff. They’ll be trying to do so after losing their head coach and key pieces who did it last year. However, with what they did this offseason, On3’s Andy Staples and Jesse Simonton feel much better about the Wolverines chances of going back-to-back.

During his show with Simonton on Tuesday, Staples ranked Michigan at No. 6 in the nation in his Top-25. He did so because of what the maize & blue did retain, even though they did lose more than a fair share from their title team and have questions at quarterback coming in.

“They lost a lot – a lot. But I don’t think they drop off all that much,” said Staples. “I think that they have the best two defensive tackles in the country in Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant. They have maybe the best cornerback in the country in Will Johnson. Sherrone Moore being elevated to head coach means all the development you’ve been doing on your offensive line continues.”

“I’m really not worried about them at all in the trenches. I’m not worried about them at all on defense,” Staples said. “It’s just a matter of what does the offense look like, we assume, with Alex Orji running it?”

Simonton agreed based on what the Wolverines were able to retain from 2023 for 2024. While they lost 13 players to the NFL Draft and 22 to the transfer portal, they didn’t lose as many key players as you’d think with a coaching change after winning a title. That level of retainment is why Simonton expects Michigan to be much of the same, even if they’re not of the same caliber.

“Michigan has answered a lot of questions this offseason to me. I labeled them – even before some of their additions in this last week in the secondary when they’ve gotten three guys in like 24 hours. I labeled them as one of the transfer portal winners just because they were able to hold on to the bones of their roster,” said Simonton. “All these rumors running rampant that Graham and Grant were going to end up at Texas and that Will Johnson was going to come to the SEC. None of it happened. They kept all these guys there. They return a first-rounder at tight end, they’re going to run the ball, they’re going to be physical.”

Still, while they kept some core pieces, their losses to the pros and portal could limit their ceiling for Staples. Last season’s team would’ve been able to better handle this version of the College Football Playoff to him. So, even though Michigan can still be great in their own right this year, they may not have the total depth compared to last year to win it all consecutively.

“I think they’re going to be fine. I do think, if there was a four-team playoff again, they might be capable of winning the national title. The fact that you’ve got to win three or four games in a row against that level of competition is going to make it very hard for this particular team,” Staples explained. “Like, just like that Michigan team last year? That Michigan team last year would have been great in a 12-team playoff because it would just grind people down. Like, by the time they played another team that had played two or three straight games against elite talent? That team would have wanted no part of Michigan firing off at them.”

Overall, though, Michigan projects to be in the running, both in the Big Ten and overall, again. They may not have what they once had but still have enough to compete with the best come kickoff.

“You see that schedule? I think they’re going to be good. Now, can they contend for a national championship? I don’t think they have the top-end depth and talent that Ohio State, Georgia, and some of these others that we’ve discussed. But I think Michigan is going to be pretty darn good,” said Staples. “The fact that some other folks have them third or fourth, fifth, sixth in the Big Ten? I just don’t see that. I think the regression monster isn’t going to come quite as hard as some folks anticipated.”