Five Things To Watch for Michigan Football Next Season

After winning the Big Ten and making the College Football Playoff for the second consecutive year, Michigan is poised to once again be one of the best teams in the country in 2023. The question the 2023 team will have to answer is can they return to the Playoff for the third straight year, and once they get there can they win a Playoff game for the first time in Harbaugh’s tenure and play for a National Title in 2023? Here are five things to watch for Michigan Football in 2023.

Michigan OL Trente Jones (53) – Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images

1. How do they Replace Key Departed Starters?

One thing to watch for Michigan Football in 2023 is how they replace the Key Departures off their 2022 team. From the defensive side, starters Mazi Smith, Mike Morris, DJ Turner, and Gemon Green all headed to the NFL Draft. From the offensive side, they lose their leader at WR in Ronnie Bell, their Center in Olu Oluwatimi, starting TE Luke Schoonmaker, and their placekicker Jake Moody, all of whom were drafted. At every one of those positions, though, the Wolverines have capable players ready to step up and make their own names for themselves.

On defense, star Sophomore Mason Graham looks ready to take over for Mazi Smith on the DL. Braiden McGregor steps into a starting role in his Senior Season, replacing Mike Morris. Transfer CB Josh Wallace from UMASS will compete for the CB2 spot opposite Will Johnson along with returning CBs Ja’den McBurrows, Amorion Walker, and possibly Freshman Jyaire Hill as well.

On offense, Cornelius Johnson and Roman Wilson return at WR. Incoming Stanford transfer Drake Nugent looks like a plug-and-play Center coming off one of the Pac-12’s best offensive lineman seasons in 2022. Star Sophomore TE Colston Loveland will step up and be the starting TE, and placekicker James Turner transfers in from Louisville to replace the ever-reliable Jake Moody.

Despite losing so much talent at key spots from 2022’s roster, on paper, Michigan has answers to all of the questions about departing players next season.

2. Is the Defense Better This Season?

The Second thing I’m watching for Michigan Football in 2022 is can the defense be even better than it was last year?

Mazi Smith and Mike Morris are no doubt key losses from this front seven. However, with who they have coming back, as well as transfer Edge-Rusher Josaiah Stewart coming in from Coastal Carolina, I believe their front seven can be even better in 2023. Sophomore Mason Graham and Senior Kris Jenkins look like Stars. Sophomore Kenneth Grant looks like a future star. Edge’s Braiden McGregor and Derrick Moore have shown flashes of being stars. Jaylen Harrell returns for his Junior season and could take the next step forward as well.

At LB, Junior Colson is a star. Nebraska transfer LB Ernest Hausmann and Senior Mike Barrett fill out the starting LB spots, as the Wolverines are deeper and more athletic at that than they were at that position from a year ago.

The Secondary also looks like one of the Big Ten’s best with star Sophomore Will Johnson as the lockdown CB1. Safeties Rod Moore and Mike Sanristail will likely be drafted with good 2023 seasons. Makari Paige is another talented Safety for the Wolverines on the back end with some starting experience and enters his Junior season. The only real question mark of the defense was the CB2 spot and they just brought in Transfer CB Josh Wallace to add some experience to that position. Michigan’s defense could challenge for the best in the country as long as they stay relatively healthy.

3. Does Anything Change on Offense with Sherrone Moore Being the Sole Play Caller?

The Third thing I’m watching for Michigan Football in 2023 is, does anything change with the offense in 2023?

Matt Weiss’ abrupt departure following an offseason scandal leaves Sherrone Moore as the sole Offensive Coordinator for 2023. The not-so-secret play-calling operation has some rough patches as Sherrone Moore was reportedly responsible for 1st and 2nd downs last season, with Matt Weiss being the 3rd down and red zone guy. While the offense was very good last year, it did have some red zone struggles at times in 2022. The Wolverines finished 10th in the nation in red zone scoring overall but only scored 15 red zone TDs while they kicked 18 red zone FGs.

I do think the clunky nature of dividing the play-calling duties into two separate portions doesn’t allow a single play-caller to get into a rhythm as much as you’d like, and I’m very curious to see what things look like for Michigan’s offense with just one play caller, Sherrone Moore, in 2023.

Michigan QB JJ McCarthy (9) – Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

4. Can JJ McCarthy Take the Next Step?

The Fourth thing I’ll be watching for Michigan next season is if JJ McCarthy can take the next step.

As a first-year starter, talented Michigan signal caller JJ McCarthy won the Big Ten and took the team to the Playoff and a perfect 13-0 before falling to TCU in the Playoff. While he certainly had a great debut season as the starting QB, the key to Michigan’s 2023 season, in my opinion, is whether JJ McCarthy can take the next step and become an All-American type QB for the Wolverines. If he does, it likely means Michigan wins a Playoff game and are possibly even the National Title favorite. If he doesn’t, the ceiling might be capped at 12-13 wins again in 2023 as the program searches for the first National Title since 1997.

5. Does Returning Experience Translate to a Playoff Win?

The Fifth and final thing I’ll be watching for Michigan Football in 2023 is if returning experience translates to a College Football Playoff Win.

According to Athlon Sports, they return 84% of their returning offensive production and 78% of their defensive production. Sports Illustrated also ranked them 5th overall in the country in returning production, and they have the most returning production in the Big Ten entering 2023. With so much returning production, Michigan is poised to once again me amongst College Football’s best teams in 2023. With that much production returning, can they take the next step as a program and win a playoff game to compete for the National title?

At least on paper, the Wolverines have as good a shot as anybody to play for a National title in 2023 with as much returning talent coming back from a team that won the Big Ten made the Playoffs last year. Thus far however, winning a Playoff game has been a stiff challenge for Jim Harbaugh’s last two teams, after they fell to a loaded Georgia squad in 2021 and then the surprise team of the year TCU in 2022.

These are the top five things I’m watching for Michigan Football in 2023.

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