It’s a critical season for the Michigan football program and the offense especially needs to deliver. Here are the 10 players who will be most important in 2020.
In the first season under the direction of Josh Gattis as offensive coordinator, Michigan football had mixed results. At times, especially near the end of the season, the offense looked much better, but it still had dry spells at critical times.
The opening halves against Penn State and Wisconsin stick out, as well as the second half of each game against Alabama and Ohio State. Gattis oversaw a unit that averaged just over 400 yards per game last season and scored 31.7 per outing, which ranked 44th in the NCAA out of 130 teams. The Wolverines were fifth in the Big Ten in pass offense and eighth in rush offense.
So while progress was made, there needs to be improvement this season and that means a number of different players stepping up. Michigan football not only lost starting quarterback Shea Patterson, but also Donovan Peoples-Jones, four starting offensive lineman and Tarik Black to the transfer portal.
Fans may scoff at Patterson and they might even be glad that he’s gone, but he truly wasn’t as bad as people make him out to be. He wasn’t as good as his statistics made him out to be either. He ranks among the top at his position in a number of categories, but that doesn’t mean he is one of the best quarterbacks in Michigan history. It also doesn’t mean he’s easily replaceable.
Patterson tossed 45 touchdowns the past two seasons compared to 15 interceptions. He threw for 5,661 yards, averaged eight yards per attempt and went 19-7 as a starter. His position is among the most critical on the offense and including the guys replacing him under center, here are the 10 most important players on offense heading into 2020.
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