Puppy Power: 2009 Wolverines, The Youngest in Michigan History?

Last year, only one thing stood out more to Michigan fans than a 3-9 record. That one thing was the amount of youth starting.

When time came for the starting offense to go out on the field vs Utah, Michigan fans saw something unexpected.

At running back stood freshman running back Sam McGuffie while fellow freshman Mike Shaw got his load of touches and was the first to score for Michigan in 2008.

Out at wide receiver were freshmen Martavious Odums and Darryl Stonum whom of which were accompanied by junior Greg Matthews.

At quarterback in the first half was red-shirt walk-on sophomore Nick Sheridan. In the second half stood red-shirt freshman Steve Threet.

I won't even get started on the offensive line that returned only one player from the 2007 team. Of course that player was sophomore Steve Schilling.

Defense saw it's share of young guys too.

Mike Martin, the freshman defensive tackle, saw considerable play time and showed plenty of promise.

By year's end Michigan was starting two red-shirt sophomores with Jonas Mouton and Obi Ezeh. On the outside was sophomore Donovan Warren starting at corner.

Behind senior corner Morgan Trent, freshman Boubacar Cissoko saw the field often and even managed to get reps at kick returner.

In all, there were over 20 guys red-shirt sophomores and below who either started or received considerable playing time.

That seems like a lot for Michigan, right? But will that even come close to what may be seen at Michigan this year?

Answer is...probably not.

Looking over the depth chart this is what it may look like come this fall(bold indicates projected starters):

Quarterbacks- (Wait and see...Tate off to strong start, though)

Tate Forcier (Fr.)

Denard Robinson (FR)

*Jason Forcier (RS SR-fifth year/ will play if appeal to NCAA is accepted)

Nick Sheridan (RS JR-walk-on)

David Cone (RS JR)

Nadar Furrha (Fr-walk-on)

Running Backs: (Probably the deepest unit in the Big 10, and one of the most talented)

1A) Brandon Minor (Sr)

1B) Carlos Brown (Sr)

Mike Shaw (So)

Vincent Smith (Fr)

Mike Cox (RS Fr)

Teric Jones (Fr)

Fitzgerald Toussaint (Fr- If he qualifies)

Fullbacks/ Maxbacks: (Very talented and athletic unit)

Mark Moundros (RS Jr)

Kevin Grady (RS Sr)

Outside Wide Receivers: (Need more bodies, need consistency)

Greg Matthews (Sr)

Darryl Stonum (So)

Junior Hemmingway (RS So)

LeTerryal Savoy (RS Sr)

James Rogers (Jr)

Je'Ron Stokes (Fr)

Cameron Gordon (Fr)

Slot Receivers: (Lots of talent, little depth)

Martavious Odums (So)

Roy Roundtree (RS Fr)

Jeremy Gallon (Fr- If he qualifies)

Terrance Robinson (RS Fr)

Justin Feagin (So)

Tight Ends: (Very deep and VERY talented)

Kevin Koger (So)

Martell Webb (Jr)

Brandon Moore (RS Fr)

Offensive Line: (Probably the deepest and most talented in conference, all could start)

LT Mark Huyge (RS So)

LG Stephen Schilling (Jr)

C David Molk (RS So)

RG Ricky Barnum (RS Fr)

RT Tim McAvoy (RS Sr)

David Moosman (RS Sr)

Bryant Nowicki (RS Jr)

Patrick Omameh (RS Fr)

Dan O'Neil (RS Fr)

Mark Ortmann (RS Sr)

Kurt Wermers (RS Fr)

Zac Ciullo (RS So)

Perry Dorrestein (RS Jr)

John Ferrara (RS Jr)

Rocko Khoury (RS Fr)

Elliot Mealer (RS Fr)

Michael Schofield (Fr)

Taylor Lewan (Fr)

Quinton Washington (Fr)

Defensive Tackle: (uh-oh)

Mike Martin (So)

William Campbell (Fr)

Vince Helmuth (Jr)

Renaldo Sagesse (Jr)

* Just for giggles: UM has a walk-on defensive lineman that is 5'7" and 249 lbs on the spring roster (laugh away).

Defensive Ends: (Another Uh-oh...excluding Graham)

Brandon Graham (Sr)

Ryan Van Bergen (RS Jr)

Greg Banks (RS Jr)

Steve Watson (RS So)

Craig Roh (Fr)

Tim North (RS Sr)

Anthony LaLota (Fr)

Linebackers: (...Not too good!)

WLB Jonas Mouton (RS Jr)

MLB Obi Ezeh (RS Jr)

MLB J.B. Fitzgerald (So)

SLB Brandon Herron (RS So)

Marell Evans (Jr)

Stevie Brown (Sr)

Kenny Demens (So)

Brandon Hawthorne (Fr)

Brandon Smith (RS Fr)

Isaiah Bell (Fr- May play at safety due to depth)

Cornerbacks: (very talented, but not very deep...Not deep at all)

Donovan Warren (Jr)

Boubacar Cissoko (So)

Justin Turner (Fr)

JT Floyd (RS Fr)

Adrian Witty (Fr)

Safeties: (Hope for the best)

Michael Williams (RS So)

Vlad Emilien (Fr)

Troy Woolfolk (Jr)

Mike Jones (Fr)

Thomas Gordon (Fr)

Special Teams:

P Zoltan Mesko (RS Sr- Top 5 punters in the nation)

PK Jason Olesnavage (RS Sr)

KOS Brendon Gibbons (Fr)

KR Terrance Robinson (RS Fr)

KR Greg Matthews (Sr)

PR Martavious Odums (So)

What to expect...

Expect a young Michigan team, a very young Michigan team. Early feeling is that at least 14 players, sophomore or freshman, will start game one this year. This could still change, with the possibilities of even more sophomores or freshman winning starting spots come fall.

Looking at the current depth chart offensively, there are 31 underclassmen as opposed to 17 upperclassmen. On defense the underclassmen out number the upperclassmen 19 to 10.

This may very well be the youngest team Michigan has had since the NCAA started allowing freshman to play back in the 1970's.

Good news you can get from this is that Rich is definately building towards the future.

Bad news...freshman will be on the field and there will be mistakes. Will they be as bad as last year? Most likely not.

Whatever becomes of the roster come fall don't expect a repeat of last year, even with the youth and lack of depth at each position. They can't get any worse, right?