Five biggest questions for Michigan football following the spring game

The reigning national champion Michigan Wolverines returned to the Big House on Saturday afternoon. Some questions were answered during the annual spring game, while others remain unanswered heading into the summer.

Let’s dive into the five most pressing remaining questions.

Who is the quarterback?

We’ll start with the most obvious. Michigan is in the midst of a five-way position battle at quarterback between Jack Tuttle, Alex Orji, Davis Warren, Jadyn Davis and Jayden Denegal. Tuttle was unavailable for the spring game, but the other four participated. Orji looked effective as a runner, but didn’t have many opportunities to showcase his arm. Warren had the best day of the bunch, uncorking the biggest passing highlight of the game on a touchdown pass to Kendrick Bell.

Davis looked calm and mature in the pocket, but appears a year or two away. Denegal had his moments, but struggled with his accuracy.

At this point, it appears Orji is still the leader in the clubhouse, but Tuttle and Warren will have their say in fall camp. The transfer portal is still an option — despite what Kirk Campbell said after the game — but there aren’t many options that appear better at this point.

Will Michigan need to hit the transfer portal for wide receiver depth?

Speaking of the portal, Michigan may need to dip into it to find a wide receiver or two. Tyler Morris and Semaj Morgan seem entrenched as starters, with Fred Moore displaying some highlight reels in the spring game as well. After that, it’s Peyton O’Leary and two true freshmen who won’t be on campus until the summer.

Sherrone Moore may opt to go after a bigger-bodied receiver to start from day one. Alternatively, Michigan could roll with what it has in Morris, Morgan and Moore while searching for some depth. In any case, the receiver room seems far from set with how few bodies are in it currently.

Is there enough depth along the defensive line?

What made the 2023 Michigan defense special was its ability to bring guys such as Kenneth Grant, Josaiah Stewart and Derrick Moore off the bench. The defensive line was able to rotate nine guys easily and effectively. With four of those nine out the door (Jenkins, Harrell, McGregor, Goode), the other five are ready to go, but who is able to provide depth?

Enow Etta has moved inside and seems like a promising piece. On the edge, T.J. Guy had a stellar performance in the spring game as well. Both will be vital pieces to the Michigan defense, but can they be trusted to be relied on in big moments as the reserves often were a season ago?

Can the secondary withstand Rod Moore’s injury?

Moore’s ACL injury put a damper on spring ball this year. The vocal leader of the defense, Moore’s absence will be felt both on the field and off it.

So who is going to step up? The coaching staff has been consistently heaping praise on Zeke Berry. The young defensive back has the ability to play almost anywhere in the secondary. Makari Paige, an excellent returning starter, will be asked to step up his leadership, as his reputation is more of a soft-spoken player than a vocal leader.

While the secondary still has an All-American candidate in Will Johnson, losing Mike Sainristil and Josh Wallace to the NFL to go along with Moore’s injury will present the Michigan defense with new challenges.

Who will win the special teams position battles?

Tommy Doman has the punter spot locked up. Adam Samaha should have the kicker spot all to his own as well, but his spring game performance didn’t inspire much confidence, so it wouldn’t surprise to see a portal addition there.

But the more interesting battles are at kick returner and punt returner. One of the consequences of lacking wide receiver depth is it also restricts your options at returner. Semaj Morgan mentioned in an interview that he, Tyler Morris and Will Johnson have been practicing punt returning. While all three are talented, most fans want nothing to do with them returning punts given how important they are at their primary positions, especially in Johnson’s case.

Who Michigan will have returning punts and kicks is anyone’s guess. They didn’t really show much of anything in the spring game, so these battles will definitely be settled in the summer.