Michigan Football: Breaking down latest departures for Wolverines

Michigan football had a few departures announced over the last couple of days and here’s the latest on the roster heading into next season.

While much of the focus this week has been on head coach Jim Harbaugh or Michigan football‘s 2021 recruiting class, over the last two days, the Wolverines have also had some key departures.

On Friday, two of the Wolverines best players announced their intention to enter the NFL draft as Kwity Paye and Jalen Mayfield both are going pro.

This wasn’t a big surprise considering Mayfield declared for the NFL draft prior to the 2020 season and then decided to change his mind when the Big Ten played this fall.

Yet, it wasn’t a great season for either player. Mayfield dealt with injuries most of the year and didn’t get a chance to show much. However, he played really well in the previous season and was getting talked about as a first-round pick, so he’s likely going in the first few rounds.

Paye’s departure for the NFL also isn’t a surprise. He could have technically come back next season because of the eligibility rules, but he’s been a first-round pick in just about every 2021 mock draft so it makes complete sense for him to go.

Paye also saw limited action this season due to injury but he played well with 16 tackles, four tackles for loss and two sacks in just four games.

Hutchinson hurt his knee and missed the rest of the season but is expected back at this point, which will give him the chance to improve this draft stock next season.

Michigan football loses RB to transfer portal

While the losses of Paye and Mayfield were far from a shock, neither was the running back that entered the transfer portal Saturday, which is former three-star recruit Christian Turner.

At one time, leading up to the Peach Bowl in 2018 and leading up to the 2019 season, Turner received some buzz and got some playing time, but he struggled to hang onto the ball. He was going to opt out of the 2020 season and then returned but didn’t register a carry.

Turner carried the ball 66 times for 266 yards and a touchdown. He averaged 4.2 yards per attempt. But with the addition of 2021 signees Donovan Edwards and Tavierre Dunlap, plus Blake Corum, Hassan Haskins and Zach Charbonnet, the running back room is crowded.

Even if someone else leaves and there have been some rumors about Charbonnet transferring, Turner wasn’t going to be the guy, so better to go somewhere else.

As far as Paye and Mayfield, the Wolverines will be counting on young guys to step up and fill those roles, although Willie Allen, an experienced transfer from Louisiana Tech could compete for a starting job at tackle.

Hutchinson will be in the mix if he’s healthy at defensive end and if Braiden McGregor can get himself healthy too, the former top recruit is another that was expected to make a major impact in Ann Arbor.

We’ll see what happens, but as of now, none of these departures are anything that weren’t expected.