Michigan Football: 10 most important Wolverines for 2021 season

5. Zak Zinter

It’s obvious that the Michigan coaching staff loves Zak Zinter. He’s been called the best offensive player and that includes all the skill guys.

While there was some talk that he could start at center, he’s going to start at guard for the Wolverines. The offensive line went from strength in 2018 and 2019 to a weakness last season.

Ed Warinner was let go and with Sherrone Moore in charge, there are a lot of unknowns. What we do know is that Michigan wants to run the football and have a physical identity on offense. Trevor Keegan told us as much this week.

Zinter is a huge key to that. The other four guys are too but he’s the one with first-round pick potential and if he has an All-Big Ten season, it would help the O-line make that jump.

4. Mazi Smith

You have to be able to win in the trenches and if Mike Macdonald’s defense is going to succeed, Michigan football has to get a big year from nose tackle Mazi Smith.

He’s in great shape. Even with the limited highlights we’ve gotten of practice and scrimmages, Mazi looks to be in the best shape of his career. He’s also been a beast in fall camp and all offseason by all accounts.

But what happens in camp and the offseason doesn’t matter unless it translates on Saturdays. That’s been the issue with Hinton and Smith. To be fair, it takes time for defensive linemen to develop. They have had it and now it’s time to deliver.

Otherwise, the defense is going to have many of the same struggles it did a year ago. Smith needs to clog up the middle for this 3-4 scheme to work.