Predicting Michigan football's two deep on offense

Trent Knoop | Aug 24, 2024

Michigan running back Donovan Edwards runs against Washington during the second half of U-M's 34-13 win in the College Football Playoff national championship game in Houston on Monday, Jan. 8, 2024. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

Michigan will officially open its season one week from today. The Wolverines have one more week to prepare and get ready for Fresno State -- a team that has won nine or more games the past three seasons. The maize and blue will obviously look different this season after losing most of their offense. Michigan has just one returning starter for the 2024 season -- tight end Colston Loveland. With the season almost underway, here's my best prediction of what the Michigan offense two deep will look like.

Quarterback:

Starter: Alex Orji

Backup: Davis Warren OR Jack Tuttle

It appears to be a two-man race between Alex Orji and Davis Warren. There are some rumblings out there the Wolverines could experiment with a two-quarterback system to make Texas prepare for two different quarterbacks. While I'm personally not a fan of the idea, it's totally possible fans see two or more quarterbacks against Fresno State. But I do look for Orji to get the start and the first crack to retain the job. His dual-threat ability would make the Michigan offense very interesting in 2024.

Running back:

Starter: Donovan Edwards

Backup: Kalel Mullings

While sophomore Ben Hall is an interesting candidate to see carries this season -- same with freshman Jordan Marshall -- this position is pretty cut and dry. Donovan Edwards will play a key role in the offense and Kalel Mullings is the new 1B for the rushing attack. Mullings led all Michigan ball carriers last year with 6.17 YPC. Edwards and Mullings will make up the new Michigan thunder and lightning.

Wide receivers:

Starters: Tyler Morris, Semaj Morgan, Fred Moore

Backups: Amorion Walker, C.J. Charleston, Kendrick Bell

Losing Roman Wilson and Cornelius Johnson will allow junior Tyler Morris and sophomore Semaj Morgan to lead the way. Plenty of unknowns after those two though. Fred Moore has had a nice spring and held his own in fall camp. He's likely to start across from Morris. Behind those three, Michigan brought back Amorion Walker and got Youngstown State veteran C.J. Charleston from the portal. Kendrick Bell, brother of Ronnie Bell, is an athletic freak who could see some time this season.

Tight end/H-back:

Starters: Colston Loveland, Max Bredeson

Backups: Marlin Klein, Jalen Hoffman

Like the running back position, this is a virtual lock. Colston Loveland might be the best college football tight end in 2024. Max Bredeson was named a captain and is one of the most underrated players on this Michigan offense. Marlin Klein, who might be more athletic than Loveland, will start alongside Loveland when the Wolverines go with two tight ends. Walk on Jalen Hoffman has been talked about behind Bredeson.

Offensive line:

Starters (L-R): Myles Hinton, Josh Priebe, Greg Crippen, Gio El-Hadi, Andrew Gentry

Backups: Tristan Bounds, Nathan Efobi, Raheem Anderson, Dominick Giudice, Jeffrey Persi

The LT, LG, and RG spots are locked and loaded. There is a competition at both C and RT. I look for Greg Crippen and Andrew Gentry to get the nod here. Crippen has been the backup for the past two seasons and Gentry was a top recruit coming out of Virginia. Both Jeff Persi and Dominick Giudice have been stellar this fall and will be valuable backups.

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