A vastly underrated and important position for Michigan Football in 2022

We all know about the offense, with the fun decision of choosing between Cade McNamara or J.J. McCarthy to start, all of Michigan’s WR depth and talent, and the offensive line.

We also know that Michigan football’s defense has the potential to be good as well. Probably not as good in sack production and pressure rate as last year, but the backend has the potential to be really good, with guys like DJ Turner, McBurrows, and Will Johnson manning the secondary.

Also the line backing corps, which could have two all-Big Ten guys in Junior Colson and Nikhai Hill-Green, so that looks set as well.

If there’s one area though that could make or break Michigan’s year, and depending on if it’s as good as last year or not, or close to it, could lead Michigan football to a playoff spot, it’s definitely special teams.

There were a lot of positive developments last year for Michigan on the road to the playoff, and even some nice surprises, and one of those was definitely special teams.

I think because we got so focused on what Hutchinson, Cade, McCarthy, and David Ojabo were doing last year that we didn’t really pay attention to special teams as much as we could have.

Arguably the biggest and most important player to return was starting place kicker Jake Moody.

Why special teams is so important this year

Ronnie Bell was bound to return because I didn’t foresee a scenario where he would’ve just left after having his senior season ruined due to injury.

DJ Turner had a nice end to last year but he needs to be more consistent, and if that happens, he’s a Day 2 draft pick.

Ryan Hayes could’ve left, but I think with one more good season this year, he’d solidify himself as a first-round draft pick.

All the names I just mentioned are guys that were almost surely going to come back, but the one guy that I wasn’t so sure about was Jake Moody.

It’s a great thing that he did too, because I honestly don’t know who would’ve started in place of him this year if he had left.

I mean it’s not every day that you get a Lou Groza award winner to come back for another season, as Jake was already a senior last year, but that’s exactly what he decided to do anyway.

I can think of a few different times where he single-handedly had a hand in Michigan winning games last year, and without his heroics, Michigan wouldn’t have been anywhere near a playoff bid.

I think we seem to forget that prior to last season, Michigan’s kicking game was very shaky, and that’s being nice. From Ryan Tice, to Will Hart, to Kenny Allen, to Quinn Nordin (shudder), none of those guys were ever super consistent, and Nordin was definitely the worst one of the bunch.

We got so frustrated with special teams in year’s prior, with Harbaugh rotating kickers in and out of the lineup. Remember that little experiment?!

Final Thoughts

Although there are a lot of question marks on this year’s roster, special teams is definitely not one of them. It is a luxury to have a guy as good as Jake Moody come back again, and we can’t take it for granted as fans.

Moody could’ve declared for the draft last year, and we couldn’t blame him, as he probably would’ve been selected somewhere in the draft, because believe it or not, there was a run on kickers and punters in the draft.

If Michigan is good again this year like we think they will be, special teams will definitely be one of the main reasons why.

I guarantee there will be some games this year where Michigan will struggle to move the football (potentially the game against Iowa anybody?), and some field goals will be needed to stay ahead and win.

It was a huge win when Jake Moody decided to return, and as long as he is consistent again this year, Michigan should be a playoff contender. Go Blue!