Position switches, weight changes and more takeaways from Michigan football's roster update

Michigan Wolverines football updated its roster at the start of fall camp. Here, we provide takeaways on position switches, weight changes, jersey numbers and more.

RELATED

• Michigan roster on MGoBlue.com

• Michigan football offensive depth chart heading into fall camp

• Michigan football defensive depth chart heading into fall camp

Gabe Newburg missing

Michigan defensive end Gabe Newburg has retired from football after three seasons and is not listed on the roster. He didn’t see game action last season and appeared in just four career games, all of which came in 2020. He totaled three tackles.

Michigan football position switches

Michigan used to refer to EDGE players as either defensive ends or outside linebackers, but now they’re using the term ‘EDGE.’ There are 10 scholarship players with that specification.

One who’s new is graduate Julius Welschof, who, in his fifth year, is now an EDGE after spending his previous four seasons as a defensive lineman (that’s what the Wolverines call their defensive tackles). Sophomore Tyler McLaurin also made the switch to EDGE, after playing inside linebacker last season.

Michigan sophomore walk-on Jesse Madden, the grandson of the late John Madden, moved from quarterback to defensive back.

Michigan football number changes

Michigan revealed in the spring that junior Eamonn Dennis switched from defensive back to wide receiver. Now, though, he has a new jersey number — 80. He sported No. 37 last season and No. 13 in 2020.

Senior cornerback Jalen Perry will wear No. 31 after spending his first three seasons at Michigan donning No. 16.

Sophomore wide receiver Cristian Dixon changed from No. 10 to No. 85. Wideout Daylen Baldwin was No. 85 last year before departing the program for the NFL.

Finally, Michigan has two who will wear No. 0 — freshman wideout Darrius Clemons and senior defensive back/wide receiver Mike Sainristil. ‘DB’ was also listed before ‘WR’ under his position. Those two things could indicate that Sainristil will spend most of his time on defense, where he began playing in the spring (nickelback).

Michigan football height, weight changes

Michigan’s offseason strength and conditioning program is no joke. Many Wolverines gained or lost a significant amount of weight since last season. Keep in mind U-M did not update weights for returning players during its spring roster release, so the original numbers are actually from this time last year.

Eighteen Michigan players are 10 or more pounds heavier or lighter than last season, highlighted by a team-high 29-pound gain from sophomore offensive lineman Tristan Bounds.

Two projected starters on the defensive front-seven — senior EDGE Mike Morris and senior defensive tackle Mazi Smith — gained 11-plus pounds. Smith is up to 337 pounds and is the second-heaviest Wolverine behind freshman defensive tackle Kenneth Grant (356 pounds). Meanwhile, junior linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green (232 pounds) and sophomore safety Rod Moore (185) are up 12 pounds, and junior defensive tackle Kris Jenkins (285) and sophomore linebacker Junior Colson (235) are up 10.

On the offensive side of the ball, two Michigan weapons gained 10 pounds — junior running back Blake Corum (210 pounds) and senior tight end Erick All (255). On the offensive line, senior left guard Trevor Keegan shedded a whopping 19 pounds and is now at 305.

Here are all the notable weight differences:

Michigan players with 10-plus pound difference

• Sophomore OL Tristan Bounds up from 282 to 311

• Graduate EDGE Julius Welschof went from 6-6, 288 to 6-7, 266

• Senior OL Trevor Keegan down from 324 to 305

• Sophomore OL Raheem Anderson up from 302 to 320

• Sophomore DT Dominick Giudice up from 275 to 290

• Graduate TE Carter Selzer up from 242 to 257

• Sophomore DT Ike Iwunnah up from 306 to 321

• Senior EDGE Mike Morris up from 278 to 292

• Sophomore S Rod Moore up from 173 to 185

• Junior LB Nikhai Hill-Green up from 220 to 232

• Graduate QB Alan Bowman up from 205 to 217

• Senior DT Mazi Smith up from 326 to 337

• Sophomore K/P Tommy Doman up from 190 to 202 and lost an inch (6-5 to 6-4)

• Sophomore OL Greg Crippen up from 290 to 301

• Junior RB Blake Corum up from 200 to 210

• Sophomore LB Junior Colson up from 225 to 235

• Senior TE Erick All up from 245 to 255

• Junior DT Kris Jenkins up from 275 to 285

Michigan players with six-to-nine pound difference

• Senior LS William Wagner up from 247 to 258

• Freshman WR Darrius Clemons up from 205 to 214

• Sophomore CB Ja’Den McBurrows up from 197 to 206

• Junior WR Eamonn Dennis up from 175 to 184

• Junior S Makari Paige up from 192 to 200

• Sophomore DT George Rooks up from 270 to 278

• Junior OL Reece Atteberry up from 307 to 315

• Graduate EDGE Taylor Upshaw down from 262 to 255

• Sophomore TE Louis Hansen down from 252 to 245

• Senior QB Cade McNamara down from 212 to 206

• Graduate LB Michael Barrett up from 227 to 233

• Sophomore EDGE Tyler McLaurin down from 237 to 231

Height changes

• Sophomore DT Rayshaun Benny was 6-5, 292 last season; now, he’s at the same weight but is 6-4

• Sophomore DE Kechaun Bennett was 6-5, 241 last season; now, he’s the same weight but is listed at 6-4.

• Graduate TE Luke Schoonmaker was 6-6 his first two seasons, 6-5 as a junior and senior and 6-6 on this year’s roster.

• Graduate EDGE Julius Welschof gained an inch (6-6 to 6-7).

Newcomer heights, weights, jersey numbers

A pair of Michigan freshmen made some big gains this summer. EDGE Derrick Moore was listed at 6-4, 250 when he entered the program before the spring but is now at 6-3, 279 pounds. Defensive tackle Mason Graham was listed at 6-3, 292 in the spring and is now up to 317 pounds.

Graduate defensive tackle Cam Goode, a UCF transfer, is listed at 6-2, 323 pounds. He was marked down at the same height but 315 pounds at UCF in 2021. He’ll wear No. 99.

Here are heights, weights and jersey numbers for the Michigan scholarship freshmen:

• No. 0, WR Darrius Clemons — 6-3, 214 (he was listed at 205 pounds in the spring)

• No. 2, DB Will Johnson — 6-2, 194

• No. 3, DB Keon Sabb — 6-1, 208

• No. 4, EDGE Micah Pollard — 6-2, 202

• No. 4, WR Amorion Walker — 6-3, 180

• No. 8, EDGE Derrick Moore — 6-3, 279 (he was listed at 6-4, 250 pounds in the spring)

• No. 9, DB Damani Dent — 5-11, 196

• No. 10, DB Zeke Berry — 5-11, 197

• No. 10, QB Alex Orji — 6-3, 235

• No. 12, DB Kody Jones — 5-11, 193 (he was listed at 175 pounds in the spring)

• No. 13, WR Tyler Morris — 5-11, 185

• No. 15, LB Deuce Spurlock — 6-1, 231

• No. 16, QB Jayden Denegal — 6-5, 238

• No. 17, TE Marlin Klein — 6-6, 245

• No. 18, TE Colston Loveland — 6-5, 237

• No. 23, RB CJ Stokes — 5-10, 196

• No. 24, DB Myles Pollard — 6-1, 191

• No. 28, LB Jimmy Rolder — 6-2, 228

• No. 55, DT Mason Graham — 6-3, 317

• No. 60, OL Connor Jones — 6-6, 298

• No. 71, OL Alessandro Lorenzetti — 6-5, 289

• No. 75, OL Andrew Gentry — 6-7, 312

• No. 78, DT Kenneth Grant — 6-3, 356