5 areas where Michigan Football could improve in 2022

Special Teams

Michigan’s special teams unit has long been a massive strength under head coach Jim Harbaugh.

That should be the case yet again as the Wolverines return Lou Groza Award-winning kicker Jake Moody and Ray Guy Award semifinalist punter Brad Robbins.

Both are absolute studs and should put the Wolverines at the top of special teams’ unit rankings across the country.

With last year being such a great year for these two, how can the Wolverines truly improve that much on special teams?

It actually has to do with the other side of special teams: returning.

The one area this unit struggled with a bit was actually in the return game, more specifically with returning punts.

The Wolverines had a solid kick return unit, averaging 21.9 yards per kick return (50th nationally) with a long of 81 yards and a touchdown.

Obviously, there is room for improvement there as the Wolverines should aim to be closer to the top-30 range with the amount of skill position talent on the roster.

On punt returns, the Wolverines averaged 10.2 yards per return (41st nationally) on 34 returns with zero punts returned for a touchdown.

With senior Ronnie Bell back in the fold, maybe he once again returns punts at a high level, although that seems unlikely given his injury a season ago.

Maybe it is AJ Henning returning punts again, and he improves in his second year of manning that post, or it could be any number of speedy candidates on the roster.

Either way, the Wolverines need more explosion and consistency from the punt return team, and I think they get it this season, although I am not sure who is the one to deliver that spark.