Michigan Football ranks last in returning production among all 2024 power conference college football teams
Every single year–now more than ever–college football programs have to reload their rosters with new faces in new places. Players from every team around the country move on to the NFL Draft, transfer, or unfortunately even sometimes give up on football entirely. Yes, each college football team ends up looking quite different than the previous […]
Every single year–now more than ever–college football programs have to reload their rosters with new faces in new places. Players from every team around the country move on to the NFL Draft, transfer, or unfortunately even sometimes give up on football entirely. Yes, each college football team ends up looking quite different than the previous season's roster did just a few short months prior.
So, how important is it really to rank highly in returning production when it comes to having immense success in today's college football? It used to be that the blue blood programs like Alabama, Georgia, or Ohio State would just replace the vast majority of their production year over year and be right back in the mix to compete for a championship. But lately things look like that trend may be changing, at least for most programs.
And for Michigan, returning production seemed to be incredibly important last season when they took one of the oldest, most experienced, and cohesive units in the game to the national championship. However, this year's Wolverines squad is a far cry from their 2023 roster as they rank last in returning production among all power conference teams in the nation. This makes sense given how many players Michigan just sent to the 2024 NFL Draft. But what will this mean for them in 2024?
Michigan Football Returning Production
Every year, ESPN's Bill Connelly (one of the best in the business) puts together his SP+ returning production rankings. If you're unfamiliar with SP+, simply put it is a composite analytics system that measures team production, success, and efficiency in a variety of ways. It's one of the best and most proven measures of team composition (and future success) out there.
And as you can see in Bill Connelly's post below, Michigan ranks 130th among all FBS college football programs in returning production (dead last among power conference teams).
To be clear, returning production isn't necessarily the "predictive" aspect of SP+ at all. It's quite literally just an expression of how much production a team brings back. However, in Michigan's case, this does speak to the fact that they're going to have to see some massive impacts made from new players if they hope to compete at the highest levels in 2024.
So who are the most important returning and new players for the Maize and Blue?
Most Important Returning Players
The absolute linchpin to the 2024 Michigan Wolverines' success will be the defensive line. They are the most proven, productive, elite group of players on the entire roster and will play a critical role every single week in stopping opposing offenses.
Mason Graham's pass rush pressure rate near 12% ranked him among the most elite interior defensive lineman in the nation and should be the leader for the Wolverines in 2024. If he can step up and finish a few more plays for sacks this year while maintaining his impossibly low missed tackle rate he could be the single reason Michigan makes it to the College Football Playoff this year.
Kenneth Grant–all 340 pounds of him–will be the other anchor on the inside of the defensive front. Derrick Moore and Josaiah Stewart will be the most critically important edge defenders. All three are coming off seasons with 5+ sacks and a collective pressure rate over 13%. This unit returns more production than any other on the team.
Most Important New Players
There are two new starters more important than any others for Michigan in 2024: the starting quarterback and linebacker Jaishawn Barham.
The starting quarterback looks like it's going to be Alex Orji. He was treated very much like the starter in the spring game. He saw all the first team snaps early, then sat out the majority of the day while the backups saw extended action. We know he brings mobility, but his success as a passer in critical moments will likely dictate the upside of this Michigan Wolverines team.
As for Jaishawn Barham, he is a two-year starting linebacker who just transferred in from Maryland. He'll be directly replacing third round pick Junior Colson who is now with coach Jim Harbaugh and the Los Angeles Chargers.. At 6'4", 230 pounds, Barham will be playing middle linebacker, but can also rush the passer and cover at edge rusher size. He should easily lead the team in tackles and possibly wear the green dot on his helmet, getting the defensive play calls sent his way every snap. His success will be huge for Michigan this fall.
Be looking for more Michigan Wolverines coverage here at A to Z Sports all year long! Follow me (@FF_TravisM) and A to Z Sports (@AtoZSportsNFL) on X for all the latest football news!
And if you want to watch some Mason Graham highlights to see how special he can be along the defensive front you can check out the video below!
