Michigan football's spring game: Top five storylines to watch as Sherrone Moore era begins

Saturday afternoon will mark the start of a new era in Ann Arbor.

That's when Michigan football will host its annual maize vs. blue spring game (noon, Fox) under first-year head coach Sherrone Moore. The Wolverines had 18 key players from last year's national championship team walk out the door and set a new NFL record for invites to last month's combine in Indianapolis — leaving holes across the roster.

The scrimmage represents the public's first look at how filling those holes is coming along with the development of the 2024 team. Here are five storylines we'll be watching:

Quarterback competition

There's no singular position on a football field as important as the signal caller, and the best one who has ever played at Michigan just walked out the door in J.J. McCarthy, a projected top-five pick when the 2024 NFL draft begins Thursday in downtown Detroit.

There are five players on the roster as options to replace him — Jack Tuttle (seventh-year), Davis Warren (senior), Alex Orji (junior), Jayden Denegal (junior), and Jadyn Davis (freshman) — and by all accounts, it has been a truly open competition.

Orji, the 6-foot-3, 235-pounder from Texas, is the most dynamic, while Tuttle is the most experienced and Davis is thought to have the highest upside. It's worth watching how trusted Orji is to make throws different types of throws after rushing the ball 21 times the past two years, while throwing it just once in nine career games.

Everybody in the competition will need to show the ability to execute, however with Orji as the presumptive favorite, the onus is on him to convince coaches there's no reason to be tempted by potential options in the transfer portal, which opened earlier this week.

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Running back burst

The Wolverines also need to replace their most decorated running back in Blake Corum, who set the single-season rushing touchdown (27) record in 2023 en route to taking the all-time program record (58).

That has left his understudy, senior Donovan Edwards, who returned after his NFL grades didn't come back the way he'd hoped, as the lead candidate to take over as the new feature back. Edwards, who had 55 touches for more than 400 yards of offense and four scores as a freshman, was dynamic as a sophomore when he averaged more than seven yards per rush attempt while gaining 991 and scoring seven touchdowns.

His 216-yard, two-touchdown performance in a win at Ohio State in 2022 led to lofty expectations last season, however he was disappointing running 113 times for 393 yards (3.4 yards per carry) and three scores through the first 14 games. He did make up for it in the national title game when he ran six times for 119 yards and two scores.

Now, Edwards needs to prove he can be the guy in the room. Behind him, Kalel Mullings is out to prove he's not just a short-yardage back after he ran 36 times for 222 yards and one score a season ago. But they'll both have to hold off sophomore Benjamin Hall, who shined in the spring game a season ago, and showed promise with his vision and between-the-tackles running.

It will be worth watching who is consistently hitting the hole and gaining positive yardage behind a new-look offensive line.

Who's No. 1?

Roman Wilson and Cornelius Johnson were proven commodities entering their senior campaigns last season.

That's not the case now for U-M, whose leading returning receiver was a true freshman last season, Semaj Morgan. The West Bloomfield product caught 22 passes for 204 yards and two touchdowns, and showed a knack for making plays in space and an ability to high-point the ball beyond his 5-foot-10, 176-pound frame.

Tyler Morris served as a backup and caught 13 passes for 197 yards; none as important as the lone touchdown in his career, a 38-yarder against Alabama in the Rose Bowl.

Beyond that, Michigan's wideouts are almost entirely unproven with sophomore Fredrick Moore (four catches for 32 yards) and Payton O'Leary (two catches, 13 yards and one touchdown), who was last year's spring game star with six catches for 126 yards.

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Defensive identity

Michigan's defense was as dominant in 2023, ranked No. 1 in the nation in both total yards and scoring.

However, not only does the unit lose three linemen, both starting linebackers and two defensive backs from that group, but the defensive coordinator, and position coaches from all three units are now gone after joining former U-M coach Jim Harbaugh with the Los Angeles Chargers.

Though nearly the entire side of the ball was overhauled, the idea is the philosophy shouldn't change too much with longtime NFL mind Wink Martindale coming in as the new coordinator. He orchestrated the multi-faceted defense in Baltimore for years, which is where the Wolverines' previous two DCs, Mike Macdonald and Jesse Minter, both learned the system under him.

The main difference, however, is Martindale blitzed on 45% of all drop backs last season with the New York Giants — the second-highest rate in the NFL — while Minter's rate of sending an extra man (22.9% of passing plays) was nearly half that. Martindale isn't afraid to show and send Cover 1 or Cover 0 blitzes in a press-man situation.

U-M's defense should be talented enough to handle it, even after Rod Moore — who Martindale compared to former All Pro Eric Weddle — will require surgery for an injury.

Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant are perhaps the best interior line duo in the country, Will Johnson is in the conversation of the nation's best cornerback, Josaiah Stewart and Derrick Moore appear poised to take the next step on the edge, Ernest Hausmann and Jaishawn Barham have drawn rave reviews in camp.

Who else emerges on a unit with so many new faces? Keep an eye out for TJ Guy and Enow Etta on the line, Jaydon Hood in the middle of the second level and defensive backs DJ Waller and Jyaire Hill in the secondary.

[ MUST LISTEN: Make "Hail Yes!" your go-to Michigan Wolverines podcast, available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) ]

Program momentum

The Wolverines became the fourth program in college football history to go 15-0 and win a national championship. Every single team in America desired what U-M got last year, however that's now over, and it's time to earn everything once more.

If the early evidence is any indication, it certainly won't come easy.

Since Michigan won the title just more than 100 days ago, it saw half of its coaching staff leave for the NFL, lost a handful of players, including Keon Sabb, to the transfer portal, saw its second best defensive back, Moore, go down with injury and has had two staffers arrested on separate incidents of allegedly driving while intoxicated.

U-M hasn't landed as much as a single verbal commitment from a high school prospect, and both of the transfers it did get in Barham and Josh Priebe were both committed before the coaching change.

The vibes should be high Saturday at Michigan Stadium, where the expectation is many former players will be on hand as a precursor to next week's draft that will be held in Campus Martius; let's see if U-M can put a product together on the field that keeps the momentum going, and gives fans belief Michigan will qualify for the expanded 12-team playoff in December.

Contact Tony Garcia: apgarcia@freepress.com. Follow him at @realtonygarcia.

Order now: Celebrate Michigan's national title with our two commemorative books: "Blue Reign" and "Maize & Grand." You can also buy commemorative wall art of the front page of the Detroit Free Press from the morning after U-M's historic championship. 

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football spring game 2024: Top 5 storylines to watch