Michigan Football kicks off fall camp

Chris Breiler | Jul 31, 2024

Dec 3, 2022; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; A Michigan Wolverines player holds their helmet following their 43-22 victory against Purdue in the Big Ten Championship at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports / Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

Football is officially back in Ann Arbor, as the Michigan Wolverines reported for the first day of fall camp this morning. There may be plenty of new faces, but Team 145 is entering the new season with the same expectation for success: win the big games, beat their rivals, beat Ohio State, win the Big Ten, go to the College Football Playoff and win it.

Rise and shine. Football is back!#GoBlue pic.twitter.com/v5Kk72hNpL

— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) July 31, 2024

In order to reach those goals, the Wolverines will need leaders to emerge at several key position battles in the coming weeks. Here's a look at the top battles to keep your eye on during fall camp.

Quarterback

Jan 8, 2024; Houston, TX, USA; Michigan Wolverines quarterback Jack Tuttle (13) against the Washington Huskies during the 2024 College Football Playoff national championship game at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Offensive coordinator Kirk Campbell indicated that the quarterbacks will begin fall camp the same way that they began spring ball. The pecking order for reps will begin with the oldest to the youngest, and they'll sort evaluate the QB's from there.

"We're just gonna start with the oldest down to the youngest. Simple as that," Campbell said. "Starting out that way, and that's a fluid operation that will change daily. We'll make sure everybody gets the opportunity to run with the ones and we'll evaluate it, a day-by-day process."

That means the depth chart heading into spring ball looks like this:

1. Jack Tuttle - Gr. Student
2. Davis Warren - Senior
3. Alex Orji - Junior
4. Jayden Denegal - Junior
5. Jadyn Davis - Freshman

Although it sounds like all five guys will have a legitimate shot to win the starting job, the general belief is that the battle comes down to Tuttle and Orji. Entering his seventh season, Tuttle has the most experience of any quarterback on the roster, and he might also be the most polished passer in the group. Orji, who's appeared in 9 games at quarterback during his first two seasons, has proven he can hurt a defense with his legs. The biggest question with the junior QB is whether or not he can inflict that same level of damage with his arm.

Michigan would obviously like a guy to separate himself as soon as possible, but the coaching staff has no intention of rushing the decision.

"If you make the decision too early, you could put yourself in a situation that halfway through the season, you're trying to fix that thing and go in a different direction. You want to make sure that you take your time, you do a thorough process, evaluate each practice, evaluate each meeting, evaluate how they interact with the players, and then make the best decision for the team."

Offensive Line

Jan 8, 2024; Houston, TX, USA; Michigan Wolverines offensive lineman Myles Hinton (78) celebrates after defeating the Washington Huskies during the 2024 College Football Playoff national championship game at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Michigan will feature an entirely new starting unit on the offensive line this fall, and there are a couple of critical position battles to keep your eye on. At the center position, Greg Crippen and Raheem Anderson will battle it out for the starting job. Crippen has appeared in 15 games on the offensive line through his first three seasons, while Anderson has appeared in 6. The odds seem to favor Crippen at this point, but there's no doubt that this is a battle to keep your eye on during fall camp.

Another critical battle playing out on the offensive line is at the right tackle position. Jeffrey Persi (graduate student) and Andrew Gentry (junior) are the two leading candidates to earn the starting spot.

The other positions up front seem to be solidified. Myles Hinton is expected to start at left tackle, Josh Priebe (Northwestern transfer) at guard, and Giovanni El-Hadi at the other guard spot. Although the starting group will begin to take shape in the coming weeks, offensive coordinator Kirk Campbell says depth will be critical as well.

"The depth on the offensive line is something we were cognizant of building in the spring and in the summer," Campbell said. "One guy has got to step up there. Last year we were probably nine deep, 10 deep. If we can get to eight deep, I think we're probably around seven right now. If we can get to eight or nine deep, we'll feel really good about that. Injuries are gonna happen. You look back to the last couple of years, Trevor Keegan missed a bunch of games, Karsen [Barnhart] did, Jeff Persi had to start a game against Rutgers. If we can continue to develop that and find another guy, we'll be really confident. Coming out of spring, we did develop it and Coach [Grant] Newsome has done a great job with developing some of the younger guys but we'll need guys to step up, that's just the reality of it."

Cornerback

Michigan defensive back Will Johnson celebrates after intercepting a pass vs. Ohio State during the first quarter at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Michigan defense features the best cornerback in the country with Will Johnson entering his junior season. But who is going to start in that corner spot on the opposite side? That's one of the bigger questions heading into fall camp, but there does appear to be a leading candidate for the starting role. Speaking with reporters at Big Ten Media Days last week, head coach Sherrone Moore indicated that sophomore Jyaire Hill is leading the race as of now.

"Feel great about the depth," Moore said "Obviously, you've got Will Johnson who is the best corner in college football. Opposite of him it could be a number of guys. The guy right now looks like Jyaire Hill but Aamir Hall, Ricky Johnson has come in, Myles Pollard is making a push to get better. We're excited about all those corners, we've got a lot of depth there."

It's worth nothing that Aamir Hall, the FCS All-American transfer out of Albany, is also expected to be a leading candidate for that starting spot. Hall wasn't on campus during spring ball, so fall camp with provide him with his first opportunity to make his case. The battle between Hill and Hall will garner a lot of attention in the coming weeks.

Nickel

Apr 1, 2023; Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Michigan Wolverines defensive back Zeke Berry (10) celebrates an interception during the Spring Game at Michigan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports / Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

It's never easy to replace a guy like Mike Sainristil, but there's definitely a guy who's emerged as a favorite to start at nickel for the Wolverines this fall. Zeke Berry is entering his junior season in 2024, and the former 4-star prospect has been running with the first unit defensively.

"I think that Zeke [Berry], come out of the spring was slotted with the first group but I think it’s fluid," said DC Wink Martindale. "As Sherrone always says with the depth chart we’ll see as we go, as we progress. (Ja’Den McBurrows] and you get some other guys that we’ll look at there and we’re just a long way away from talking about any of those things of exactly where it’s at."

While it's obviously pretty early in the evaluation process, Martindale laid out a specific set of characteristics he's looking for in a starting nickel.

"Well, I look, first of all, at someone who can communicate because when you’re the nickel, you do a lot of communicating with the safeties, the corners, the linebackers," Martindale said. "Someone that knows the system. But the No. 1 trait is how well do you tackle? The coverages and everything else we’ll work through, with what they do and who you have there. I think an example, like when I was at Baltimore when Marlon Humphrey was coming to play nickel — and I’ll tell you right now, I think he was the best nickel in football because he could tackle and he communicates. So it all depends on who comes out on top from training camp, so it still is a competition, which they all are."

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