The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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Butt has great potential, and he'll be back to full strength next year. He suffered a torn ACL in February, and though he returned this season, he still wasn't 100 percent. Hill's time- table is sketchy, but he's expected to return, and freshman Ian Bunting was on the cusp of playing this year before getting redshirted. Best Bet: Butt has a breakout sea- son and becomes a bigger part of the passing game, while Bunting also gets significant playing time. Those two should catch the majority of the passes, while Hill could also contrib- ute there if he returns to health. OFFENSIVE LINE Redshirt junior center Jack Miller emerged as a solid lineman, earning the Hugh R. Rader Award as U-M's best. The bad news — nobody up front earned All-Big Ten honors this year. The good news (potentially) — they're all back in 2015 and started to make progress last season playing together. Miller will have to hold off redshirt freshman Pat Kugler to keep his job, and Kugler should be healthier next season. He came back from a shoul- der injury that limited his time in the weight room. Redshirt junior guard Graham Glasgow and sophomore Kyle Kalis weren't consistent at the guard spots, and they'll be pushed by sophomore Kyle Bosch (back in Janu- ary after a personal leave), redshirt sophomore Erik Magnuson, redshirt freshman David Dawson and others. Freshman left tackle Mason Cole needs to get bigger and stronger, but he started every game this year and has a bright future. Redshirt sopho- more Ben Braden was inconsistent at right tackle, but he's also got the experience. Redshirt freshman Logan Tuley-Tillman could push both, while Magnuson could also play tackle. Best Bet: This year's line gets first crack, but anything's possible here under a new coach. This group got better, but it's not great. Bosch, if in the right frame of mind, could be a good bet to supplant one of the guards. He did start games as a fresh- man. The Defense DEFENSIVE LINE Michigan loses its sacks leader in Brennen Beyer and had already lost its best pass rusher in Frank Clark, dismissed from the team prior to the Maryland game for a violation of team rules. Sophomore Taco Charl- ton slid over to back up junior Ma- rio Ojemudia (3.5 sacks, 7.5 TFLs) at the rush end position, and those two will battle for playing time there (though Charlton could also see time at strongside end). Redshirt sopho- more Chris Wormley has seen time inside, but he could also play strong- side end. Redshirt freshman Henry Poggi, too, came on at the end of the year. The inside should boast great strength and depth. Redshirt junior Ryan Glasgow, true freshman Bryan Mone and junior Ondre Pipkins at one tackle, with redshirt sophomores Willie Henry, Matt Godin and Worm- ley at the other could develop into a very strong rotation (and has al-