Michigan Football: 3 potential concerns for Wolverines in 2022
Looking ahead to the 2022 Michigan football season, here are three potential areas of concern for the Wolverines heading into fall camp.
With Big Ten Media Days coming up this week, you can feel the excitement growing for the 2022 Michigan football season.
The Wolverines will be looking to defend their Big Ten championship and hopefully make another run at qualifying for the College Football Playoff.
Of course, there were heavy losses after last year’s run. Aidan Hutchinson, the Heisman runner-up, will be nearly impossible to replace. Others such as David Ojabo, Daxton Hill, and Hassan Haskins won’t be easy either, not only for their impact on the field but off it.
Yet, it seems like Michigan football has figured out the culture thing. That seemed pretty evident by the player-run practices on tour around the state of Michigan this week. The guys seem locked in and ready to go.
However, every team has concerns, at least in the preseason, and we outline three potential areas of concern for Michigan football heading into 2022.
Short yardage/red zone
You don’t have to know the analytics to know that Hassan Haskins was essential to what Michigan football achieved last season and one of the biggest reasons was his ability to consistently convert in short-yardage situations.
Michigan used to really struggle, especially in big games, with the third and shorts but last season, as we saw in the Ohio State game, U-M had all the confidence in the world handing it to Haskins and letting him bulldoze (or hurdle) his way past the first down marker.
When Michigan came out on the opening drive against the Buckeyes and converted on a couple of third-and-shorts, you knew it was going to be a good day.
But Michigan doesn’t have Haskins anymore and while Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards might be the best running back duo in college football, it’s hard to see either or anyone being as effective in short-yardage as Haskins.
Jim Harbaugh has always had a fascination too with the power back. He had Ben Mason and Khalid Hill and we’ll see who develops next year.
With the talent of the offensive line and the running backs, I’m not overly concerned, but it’s one of those little things that could cost you in a big moment if you aren’t proficient at it.