Michigan Football: 3 positions to monitor during spring ball

The second year of the Sherrone Moore era is on tap. Expectations are playoffs or bust for a team that has its quarterback of the future in Bryce Underwood. Besides that, there are still some things to figure out on the depth chart. These are three positions that will be the conversation of the spring to find out if Michigan football has to go fishing in the portal or stick with what it had.

1. Tight End

With Colston Loveland departing, there is a gaping hole for Michigan football to fill at tight end. Marlin Klein and Hogan Hansen are the two who popped up the most last season with Loveland missing time. Next in line was Zack Marshall. Brady Prieskorn redshirted and Eli Owens is the one newcomer in the room for 2025.

Michigan football did have its eye on the portal, but nothing transpired. Spending some of that NIL money to reel in a player of Loveland's caliber would make the offense even more dangerous. No disrespect to Davis Warren, but the wideouts ought to be better than expected with a legit gunslinger throwing to them this year.

2. Guard

It's not a forgone conclusion yet, but four of the five starting spots on the offensive line could be set. Evan Link, Greg Crippen, Giovanni El-Hadi and Andrew Sprague should be locks. That's how the lineup was in the ReliaQuest bowl anyways. Since then several lineman have decided to transfer out and Josh Priebe is moving on leaving the position wide open. This battle may go all the way until the New Mexico game.

There are some options on the roster, but the staff could choose to go the portal route after the spring game. Ty Haywood and Andrew Babalola should certainly get reps at tackle or guard during the spring to see if they can help immediatley or not.

This unit is also Coach Moore's bread and butter, so I would expect him to have his hand with who Grant Newsome chooses to be the fifth starter.

3. Defensive Tackle

When you lose two first-round picks there is going to be a drop-off. Rayshaun Benny has a chance to be the next top draft pick entering his fourth year. Behind him are names who haven't taken lift off yet. Enow Etta has not lived up to his recruiting hype yet. Damon Payne did very little at Alabama. Tre Williams and Payne will be in the rotation for Michigan football, along with Ike Iwunnah, who has a motor on him.

Heading into the 2024 season Michigan football was considered to have one of the nation's best defensive lines. By the time that the Ohio State game rolled around line coach Lou Esposito really had this group humming. His backups terrorized Jalen Milroe and Alabama's offensive line. Now they'll get to start under his tutelage.