Michigan Football: Best and worst-case scenarios for 2021 season

There are plenty of unknowns when it comes to Michigan football and the 2021 season, so here’s a look at what the best and worst-case scenarios could be.

Looking ahead to the 2021 Michigan football season, it’s really hard to know what to expect. The Wolverines have six new assistant coaches and a lot of turnover from last year’s roster.

Some of that had to do with the NFL draft and others left via the transfer portal. Zach Charbonnet and Xavier Worthy are probably the two most notable losses, although Worthy wasn’t technically a transfer since he never enrolled at Michigan.

While Michigan had a bunch of players picked in the draft, looking to next year, there isn’t a ton. Aidan Hutchinson is going to be a first-round pick, most likely.

Daxton Hill had a really strong spring by all accounts, and he would likely be an early-round pick too if he declared. After that, it’s hard to make a case for anyone in the third round or higher.

Ronnie Bell would get drafted. I have no doubt about that, but he seems like a fourth or fifth-round pick to me. The same could be said for Hassan Haskins, who is probably due for a breakout season if Josh Gattis is smart enough to feed him the ball.

Chris Hinton has potential and he’s a guy who would probably get picked if he has a solid season but going into 2021, there aren’t a ton of sure-fire draft picks.

The schedule is also a beast.

Michigan has to play road games against Penn State, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Maryland, and Nebraska. Also, three of the first four Big Ten games are on the road and none of them are easy.

Then, Ohio State, Washington, Indiana, and Northwestern, all top-25 caliber teams come to Ann Arbor, so the reality is that there are few guaranteed wins on the schedule.

So what’s the best and worst-case scenarios for 2021? Let’s start with the worst.