ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Preseason camp came to a close this week with the election of team captains, traditionally the final step before Michigan shifts into regular-season mode.
Donovan Edwards, Max Bredeson, Makari Paige and Rod Moore were the four seniors picked by their teammates to lead the program into its new era. They’re trying to take their cues from previous captains who led Michigan to three consecutive Big Ten championships and the 2023 College Football Playoff championship.
“Those guys laid the foundation for us, and we’re just continuing to add to the blueprint they gave us,” Edwards said.
Here are four things we learned about the Wolverines during camp.
Clarity at quarterback?
Big Ten Network made its annual stop in Ann Arbor this week and shed some light on the state of Michigan’s quarterback competition.
“We can tell you it’s not going to be Jack Tuttle, at least initially,” BTN’s Dave Revsine reported. “He’s working his way back from an injury. It’s a two-man race.”
That leaves Alex Orji and Davis Warren as the two players still standing. For anyone wondering why Michigan hasn’t named Orji the starter, it’s worth referring back to something offensive coordinator Kirk Campbell said at the beginning of camp.
“You don’t want to rush the decision,” Campbell said. “You want to make sure you prepare those guys. If you make the decision too early, you could put yourself in a situation that halfway through the season you’re trying to fix that thing and go in a different direction.”
Going back to the spring, the sense around the program was that the best version of Michigan’s offense was one with Orji at quarterback. People who observed the Wolverines in preseason camp have said the same thing. But Michigan wants to be deliberate with the decision and let all the quarterbacks have an opportunity to state their cases.
At the beginning of camp, Campbell said Tuttle would have a chance to be the starter after being injured in the spring. It may be that Tuttle, a seventh-year player who has battled injuries throughout his career, fits best in the role of the veteran backup/mentor/coach on the field. That makes the quarterback competition a choice between Warren’s command of the passing game and Orji’s all-around playmaking ability.
Players say they haven’t noticed a big difference in the passing game regardless of who’s at quarterback, and if they’re being honest about that, Orji’s ability as a runner would seem to be the factor that separates him.
“They’re both making extraordinary plays, putting the football where it needs to be to the receivers,” Edwards said. “They’re commanding the offense really well. Ultimately, it’s the coaches’ decision of who’s going to be the starting quarterback. Whoever the starting quarterback is, we’re going to ride with them.”
Fine-tuning the details as the season approaches!#GoBlue pic.twitter.com/FRQ5kOu8BG
— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) August 23, 2024
Offense is catching up
Word in the spring was that Michigan’s defense was significantly ahead of the offense. That wasn’t a shock: The Wolverines return quite a few contributors on defense, including two potential top-five picks in Will Johnson and Mason Graham, and have to replace 10 starters on offense.
The gap seems to have closed a bit in camp. The Wolverines do quite a bit of good-on-good competition in the preseason, and competing against the No. 1 defense has forced the offense to raise its game.
“The offense has looked really, really good the past four practices,” Edwards said. “I know for a fact that’s the best defense in America. Being able to go against them every single practice, that’s helping us.”
Perhaps the most encouraging sign is that Michigan’s offensive line has been able to hold its own against Graham, Kenneth Grant, Josaiah Stewart, Derrick Moore and the rest of Michigan’s defensive front. It’s too soon to declare that an offensive line with five new starters is going to pick up seamlessly from the group that played so many snaps together the past few years, but if the offensive line can be a strength and not a weakness, that will go a long way in helping Michigan maintain its identity as a rugged running team.
“Mason and KG, it’s tough to put into words what it’s like going against those guys,” guard Josh Priebe said. “It’s definitely a great challenge for us. Executing against those guys gives our offensive line and myself a new level of confidence.”
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Returning DBs have the edge
Michigan added four defensive backs from the transfer portal over the summer, despite having strong in-house candidates for open jobs at cornerback, safety and nickel. The Wolverines were looking for competition, not necessarily transfers who would claim starting jobs right away. As camp neared its conclusion, the advantage seemed to go to the returning players.
“It’s a different platform when you’re here at Michigan, the way we practice, our process here,” defensive backs coach LaMar Morgan said. “This is blue-collar, tough, a lot of reps. For a kid that’s coming in here that’s not used to that, even though you’re an older player, sometimes then ends up being an adjustment.”
If that holds, Jyaire Hill would be the favorite to start at cornerback, with Albany transfer Aamir Hall and UNLV transfer Ricky Johnson adding depth. The Wolverines like what they’ve seen from Zeke Berry at nickel, and they have two veteran safeties in Paige and Quinten Johnson who can take on some of the responsibilities Michigan entrusted to Moore, a defensive captain who went down in the spring with a torn ACL.
Tennessee transfer Wesley Walker, the most experienced of Michigan’s portal additions, should contribute right away, but Michigan isn’t asking him to take over Moore’s role as the quarterback of the defense. The Wolverines have two experienced safeties in Paige and Johnson who can share those responsibilities.
“I think that’s probably on Makari’s plate or Q’s plate, just because they’ve been here longer,” Morgan said. “Wes has played a lot of snaps, too. One of the things that we try to do is bring guys in as transfers who have played a lot of college snaps. Does that mean they’re better than what we have? I’m not sure. The games will tell that.”
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Preseason rhythm hasn’t changed
This felt a lot like a Jim Harbaugh training camp, at least from the outside. Players stayed in a hotel, practices were closed and the Wolverines kept the intensity high, even with the prospect of a longer season because of the expanded CFP.
“Of all the places I’ve been, I think this is the smoothest flow of practice,” said Walker, who played at Tennessee and Georgia Tech and spent the spring at Louisville. “It’s not a bunch of rah-rah stuff. It’s strictly ball and getting better.”
Camp took on some added urgency this year because the Wolverines play Texas in Week 2 and USC in Week 4. It’s not as though anybody took it easy last year, but opening with East Carolina, UNLV and Bowling Green allowed the Wolverines to ease into the season. This year, the Wolverines open with Fresno State, a team that’s won 29 games over the past three seasons, before the Longhorns come to Ann Arbor for one of the marquee games of the early season slate. There’s no grace period for the beginning of the Sherrone Moore era.
Moore has made it clear that he doesn’t feel a need to put his stamp on the program by making a bunch of changes for the sake of being different. And why would he? He knows as well as anyone what has worked for Michigan the past three years. This preseason lined up with previous ones almost beat for beat, including the quarterback competition that’s stretching into the first official game week.
Eventually, the Wolverines will have to go off-script. There will be a time when what’s worked in the past isn’t working anymore, and Michigan will have to adjust. But the overall philosophy of how to prepare a team for the grind of the Big Ten hasn’t changed, even if a lot of things are going to look different this season.
“It hasn’t been easy by any means, but I think the players have made it easy because the culture is there,” Moore said. “It’s just my job to make sure everything is aligned and in the right place.”
(Photo of, from left, Alex Orji, Jayden Denegal, Jack Tuttle and Davis Warren: Junfu Han / USA Today)
