The 2024 Michigan Wolverines will be an experimental group. The Wolverines lost a few dozen seniors in addition to a legendary head coach. Now, Sherrone Moore is left rebuilding a blue blood program with a host of new starters. 

That doesn't mean this season will be a bad one. It's one for growth and for re-laying the foundation of a team coming off a National Championship campaign. The Big Ten is expanded, so several unique matchups will prove to be measuring-stick opportunities. 

Let's dive into Michigan's roster strengths and weaknesses entering the 2024 college football season. 

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Strength: Defensive Tackle

The part of the Michigan Wolverines roster that will smack opponents in the mouth first is the defensive tackle duo of Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant. Graham has been projected to be selected as early as the first overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Grant was named one of the freakiest athletes in college football.

Even the backup duo of Trey Pierce and Ike Iwunnah are highly intriguing, given their athletic profiles. Graham and Grant are the stars based on production, though. They combined for 6.5 sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss despite being in deep rotations last year.

Without a doubt, this the positional group that will carry the front of Michigan's defense. They'll have plenty of help on the back end, which we'll touch on shortly.

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Weakness: Passing Game

The top question everyone has on offense is how the passing game will operate. J.J. McCarthy and Roman Wilson are gone, leaving the unit to rely on either Alex Orji or Jack Tuttle to carry the torch at quarterback. The expectation is for the offense to start Orji and just be heavily run-oriented.

Orji is certainly physically gifted. The redshirt sophomore is 6-foot-3, 235 pounds, and essentially acts as a hammer when moving downhill. Hitting him would suck. But can he throw well enough to force defenses to not load the box with 10 defenders?

With only one career pass attempt and 21 rushes across nine games, Orji has as much to prove as anyone in college football. He has a freak receiving threat at tight end in Colston Loveland, but one of Tyler Morris, Fredrick Moore, and Semaj Morgan will be looked to as a primary creator at receiver. 

The lack of proven threats at wide receiver is incredibly concerning.

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Strength: Running Game

The good news is that the combination of Orji and Donovan might be the perfect yin-yang to carry the offense against most opponents. Sure, not being able to throw effectively will hurt against Texas and Ohio State, but not as much against lower-tier foes. Michigan certainly has the offensive line power and pedigree to expect big ground game results.

Grinding out low-scoring, boring games will be the unit's recipe. Edwards is looking for a bounce-back year after falling out of the team's priority last season. He averaged just 4.2 yards per carry in 2023 with 497 yards, and his disappearance was one of the strangest developments of the season.

We should see that change a bit as the offense evolves. If not, look for Kalel Mullings and Benjamin Hall to step up. Again, the talent at running back is not lacking, so it's up to this group to just execute as expected.

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Weakness: Proven Defensive Depth

Michigan brought in five key defensive transfers this offseason in order to bolster their depth. Linebacker Jaishawn Barham is the only projected starter of those additions, but four defensive backs who are either juniors or seniors were also notable. This group of transfers will see the field throughout the season.

Unfortunately, the Wolverines don't really have another choice. Their reliance on super seniors in 2023 worked but also left a ton of inexperienced backups for this season. The risk here is obvious for a coaching staff looking to settle in. Either the staff will seamlessly integrate these young bucks, or the Wolverines will heavily rely on its starting cast to drag them through knuckle fights.

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Strength: Secondary

While other concerns exist on the defense, the team's starting secondary is stacked once again. Will Johnson is the best defensive player in the country, and Graham might be No. 2. The Wolverines also brought Makari Paige back, and they're flanked by a haul of juniors and seniors ready for action. 

There's playmaking, competitiveness, size, and length across the corner and safety positions. Again, we'll see four newcomers at some point in the season, but this is the best positional group for Michigan from top to bottom entering 2024.