2014 Michigan Football Spring Recap

What are the team’s strengths and what question marks remain?

The obvious question mark coming out of spring is the offense. I try not to put too much stock into the spring game, but it’s obvious what the fans saw last Saturday.

The biggest question mark would be, can the offensive line have a better performance than last year? I think they can and I think Doug Nussmeier will be able to cater to each position group’s strengths in the offense.

I think the team’s overall strength will be the defense. I was very impressed with the performance of the defensive line and the defensive backs. It appeared they were flying to the ball and were more aggressive than a year ago.

Name a few breakout players to keep an eye on in 2014

Michigan WR FReddy Canteen

On the offensive side of the ball, I’d look out for true freshman WR Freddy Canteen this year. He has received high praise from the coaches and players and he proved it with the biggest play of the spring game coming on a bomb down the left side, taken for 44 yards by Canteen.

On defense, sophomore DB Jourdan Lewis is a guy who could make some noise on the defensive side. That defense is very deep and stocked full with talent and I believe Lewis will highlight that unit. The interception to begin the scrimmage was a nice little teaser of what more could come this year.

What can we expect from Michigan in 2014?

The offense will be highlighted with guys like Devin Gardner, Jake Butt (when he returns healthy from injury,) Devin Funchess, Derrick Green, De’Veon Smith and Freddy Canteen. The talent is there to be a successful team, it just needs to come together and gel. Especially on the offensive line.

On defense, with Jake Ryan switching to more of a middle linebacker position, it will be interesting to see how the linebackers fare this year on defense. The middle linebacker position is a place of comfortability and it’s natural for Ryan. I really think he will excel there and the defense will improve overall with his presence.

Can Michigan compete for a conference championship? Absolutely. Will they? I don’t think so. As a team, I don’t believe Michigan is ready to make the jump to being a solid team that will compete for the Big Ten Title this season.

I feel there are still some more growing pains to go through until they’re ready, and it will be very difficult to get through the Ohio State’s and Michigan State’s of the conference, especially since Michigan will be playing them both away this season.

For now, I see them winning 8 or 9 games this year.

Joshua Henschke of Maize N Brew provided the information for our 2014 Michigan football spring recap.  For more Michigan football information, commentary and analysis, you can follow Joshua on Twitter @JoshuaHenschke and Maize N Brew @maizenbrew.