Michigan football: 4 things to watch for against Middle Tennessee

The new guys

2019 marks the second year of the NCAA’s new redshirt policy, in which freshmen can play in up to four games in their redshirt year and still maintain their full eligibility.

Harbaugh will play freshmen against Middle Tennessee. There are impact players in the group. The stakes are low. The question is how many newcomers, and in what roles?

Safety Dax Hill appears to have at least a spot as a special-teams gunner locked down, but per safeties coach, Chris Partridge is fourth or fifth on the depth chart right now. That won’t change against Middle Tennessee, but that’s not a reflection on Hill — no matter how talented the five-star Hill is, it’s a process to get on the field regularly. With a strong performance against Middle Tennessee, maybe that process speeds up some.

Charbonnet, the borderline five-star tailback, has asserted himself among the three-man committee in the backfield. He’ll get touches from the jump, and he has the potential to turn the committee into a near one-man show eventually.

Others, including Erick All, Chris Hinton, Giles Jackson, Cornelius Johnson, Caden Kolesar, David Ojabo, Mike Sainristil, Mazi Smith and D.J. Turner, will contribute early as well, per Harbaugh. While their roles will be limited, they’ll get opportunities to expand them — prime among them being Saturday’s glorified scrimmage.