Michigan Football 2012: 5 Players Under the Spotlight in Spring Practice

The Michigan Wolverines are getting ready for spring practice, which kicks off for them on March 28. Every time these practices are set to take place, we should always be looking for certain things—players who need to step up, or things for the team to do better with which they struggled last season.

The Wolverines finished with an 11-2 record last season for a reason, and a large part had to do with players playing to the best of their ability. But in college football the rosters don't stay the same, and although the Wolverines do return 14 starters, there are holes that they must fill.

Certain players need to have a great spring practice and prove they're ready to become solid starters for this year's Michigan team.

Here are five players we should keep our eye on as spring football arrives.

C Rocko Khoury

The majority of the Wolverines offensive line remains intact, but one of the key losses this season comes from center David Molk. Some lucky guy will have to fill those big shoes, and it's likely going to be senior Rocko Khoury.

The thing with Khoury is that he doesn't have much experience. You also may remember him from last year's BCS Sugar Bowl when he struggled to block the opposition and several of his snaps hit the floor.

Of course the center position will be figured out before the regular season begins, but if Khoury can't get things under control, there will be a change.

WR Roy Roundtree

Have you seen Roy Roundtree? No? Me neither.

In Roundtree's sophomore season he caught 72 passes for over 900 yards, which was an extremely successful year. Last year he only caught 19 passes for 355 yards. Now the average per catch skyrocketed last season to 18.7, but the Wolverines need him to be a lot more productive this time around.

Michigan lost three key receivers from last year, and that's not including tight end Kevin Koger. Roundtree will likely become the No. 1 target in this offense, and with his 6'1" size, he should produce a lot more than 19 catches.

He's very dangerous at picking up chunks of yards after the catch. The Wolverines would like to see more of the senior receiver this season.

DT William Campbell

Remember this guy? Yeah, he was a 5-star recruit in the 2009 class and was looked at as the next great defensive lineman. Well, he's now a senior and only has 2.5 sacks to his name. 

The good thing for him is that he will be given every opportunity to prove he wasn't a complete bust, especially with players like Mike Martin and Will Heininger no longer on the roster. Campbell is a huge guy to clog up running lanes at 6'5", 322 pounds, but has accomplished almost nothing during his career at Michigan. 

This is his last shot. If he gets the job done and actually produces, the Wolverines defense would improve greatly on last year's efforts.

TE Brandon Moore

I know we just talked about a receiver, but the tight end position remains a question mark with Kevin Koger no longer around. That's where we need to see senior tight end Brandon Moore step up to the plate and fulfill his potential.

Now Moore was only a 3-star recruit coming out of high school, but the guy is 6'5", 250 pounds, and gets downfield in a hurry. We weren't able to see much of him because he was the backup behind Koger, but he has great hands and big playmaking ability.

Sure, the Wolverines run the ball as twice as they throw; it's still nice to have weapons be able to make the plays when Denard Robinson does chuck it up there. It'd be really nice to get more of Moore this season.

DT Ondre Pipkins

Yeah, here's another defensive tackle that we should keep our eye on this spring. This time it's a true freshman in Ondre Pipkins, who should have a great chance to see quality minutes this season due to the lack of depth on the defensive line.

Pipkins is a 4-star recruit in this year's class at 6'3", 320 pounds and plays with a motor that just never shuts off. He is a very solid tackler and is extremely explosive off the snap.

With players like Quinton Washington struggling to get the job done, Pipkins could end up contributing right away for the Wolverines if he has a great spring practice.