Michigan Football: Unproven youth faces rapid reality check

Training camp is halfway through completion and issues have forced Michigan football to dive into the depth chart sooner then it had anticipated.

With two weeks before the season opener, a rash of bad misfortunes has hit Michigan football. Ambry Thomas is still suffering from colitis and Andrew Stueber is out indefinitely according to multiple reports. That leaves redshirt freshmen or true freshmen to burden the load at critical starting spots on both sides of the ball.

Ready or not Vincent Gray and Jalen Mayfield are going to be called upon to fill the shoes of Thomas and Stueber respectively. Neither has seen action for a significant amount of time and that is worrisome, to say the least. On the other hand, though, their position coaches spoke highly of their development in the spring, which is worth noting.

Mayfield is clearly in a better spot with four returning linemen blocking with him. He also has experience lined up next to him at tight end in certain running formations. Those advantages alone should make his transition go a lot smoother than that of Vincent Gray’s.

Gray has definitely got his work cut out for him. He will surely see the second-best receiver on every opponent until Thomas returns or he exceeds the coaches expectations.

In week one Gray will face a heavy passing attack that is a perfect way to test him out of the gates. After that most of the schools that Michigan football will matchup against are more running oriented, but no doubt about it, other quarterbacks will test him.

Expect the coaches to ease Gray into the fire as well. It would be wise to lean on veterans like Brad Hawkins and Jalen Kelly-Powell too. They’ve both seen enough time where they can take the immense pressure off of Gray to perform with confidence that will be asked from him.

After that, Jalen Perry and Gemon Green seem like the other two logical guys to find the field early and often throughout the year.

Other freshmen including Dax Hill, Mike Sainristil, and Zach Charbonnet are already known commodities that will be primary contributors at lesser concerned roles. Charbonnet and Sainristil won’t have to be the top man at their position from the get-go, but that doesn’t mean they will.

Hill is sort of in Gray’s area, where he must be ready to go from the start, but because he is such an elite prospect, that can take some of the tension away from his game.