The Wolverines will be hoping for another successful transfer portal haul, as a number of important players are anticipated to leave after this season.
With the introduction of the transfer portal, recruiting in college athletics underwent a significant transformation. A bad year for recruiting used to have the potential to seriously affect a team’s success. With the ease with which players can now transfer to another program without serving a year-long ban, teams can lessen the impact of missed opportunities in the recruiting process and more readily fill holes with seasoned players.
With players like LaDarius Henderson, Ernest Hausmann, Myles Hinton, Drake Nugent, Josaiah Stewart, AJ Barner, and James Turner, to mention a few, who came in and had an instant impact, Michigan played outstanding hockey last winter.
The Wolverines are anticipated to have multiple positions to reload at in 2024. Let’s examine the top positional needs that Michigan can address through the portal.
Quarterback
Currently, it is unknown if J.J. McCarthy will be back for the upcoming season. With his talent and experience, the junior signal-caller is ready to start in the league. His choice might be influenced by the outcome of Michigan’s run for the National Championship and Jim Harbaugh’s tenure as head coach in Ann Arbor. Considering the uncertainty surrounding McCarthy’s game plan, it might not be a bad idea to select a quarterback with starting experience through the portal.
McCarthy should ideally stay in Ann Arbor for another year so that Jadyn Davis, the incoming freshman, can be guided and get some experience before having to be counted on to be the go-to guy. There are many talented quarterbacks in the portal searching for a job if McCarthy decides to leave. This includes former five-star Dante Moore, who was a top target for the Wolverines coming out of high school
The Wolverines should try to sign another quarterback with the leadership and experience of Jack Tuttle, even if Moore and other highly-touted quarterbacks choose to transfer.
Line of Offense
Along the offensive line, the Wolverines have a wealth of talent and experience. The Wolverines will lose Drke Trevor Keegan, Nugent, Zak Zinter, and LaDarius Henderson after this season. Michigan’s roster includes a few more reliable players, but none of them has much starting experience.
Adding star centers to the portal has proven to be a great success for Michigan. Nugent is presently a finalist for the Rimington Trophy, which Olu Oluwatimi won while he was a student at Michigan.
After this season, the Wolverines might need to use the portal once more to see if they can locate additional offensive line talent.
wide receiver
Michigan has improved their offensive balance from previous year to this one. Sherrone Moore used their seasoned wide receivers and let McCarthy sling the ball.
Roman Wilson and Cornelius Johnson, Michigan’s two best receivers, will be gone at the end of the season. Even though Semaj Morgan, a rookie, is progressing quickly and is used frequently, there is a noticeable decline in skill and experience after that. While Morgan tries to fill the void left by Wilson, the Wolverines might want to add at least one veteran outside receiver to give Michigan’s recruits and young wideouts more time to develop.
Defensive Line
Great challenges accompany exceptional talent. The Wolverines produce defensive line talent every year that goes on to become NFL playmakers. Unfortunately for Michigan, this means that the team frequently looks to bring in experienced players from other programs or develop guys quickly. As we approach the upcoming season, things will remain as they are.
After this season, Kris Jenkins and Cam Goode are leaving for the NFL. Thankfully, Joey Slackman, who came through the portal from the University of Pennsylvania, is already being considered by the Wolverines as a potential early recruit. There are many skilled defensive linemen that come through the portal every day, so the Wolverines shouldn’t stop there.
Top talent hoping to gain national recognition should find Ann Arbor to be a popular landing place given Michigan’s outstanding play in the trenches this season.
Secondary
The moment that all Michigan supporters have been waiting for is almost here: Mike Sainristil will be leaving Ann Arbor at the end of this season. Given the uncertainty surrounding the secondary’s returners, the Wolverines would be well-served by adding a seasoned playmaker.
Michigan is aiming for Upton Stout of Western Kentucky in an effort to get ahead of Sainristil’s departure as well. Getting him would strengthen the defense as the Wolverines aim to maintain their dominance in the upcoming campaign.
Maybe the Wolverines can repeat their incredible performance from the previous year, when they completely outperformed the transfer portal pickups.
