School is back and Exporting Goods has what you need to win your year. We've got everything from cleats to sambas, dunks and more. Plus the hottest looks from Nike, Jordan and Adidas. Find your first day fits in store or online at dick.com. The Chicago Bear Select. Welcome to Pics for Polls, presented by the Bear Report. Your number one source for everything Chicago Bears draft news, analysis, scouting reports and more. Presented by Blue Wire Pods. And now, making their way to the podium. Andrew Freeman and Usaid Koshol. Welcome to Pics for Polls, a Chicago Bears draft podcast presented by the Bear Report and Blue Wire Pods. My name is Andrew Freeman. And as always, I'm joined with my co-host, you say Koshol. Or according to this episode on a Wednesday year, July 3rd, ripe for July 4th. So happy Independence Day to everybody as this absolutely dropping. I'm assuming by the time that Independence Day rolls around. So it should be a pretty fun time there. But you say it. How are we doing today, man? Yeah, man. I'm doing well. How are you? I'm doing good. Just enjoying this summer as much as I can. Could be a lot of craziness coming up, I'm sure. But kind of going over like this episode today, we have a really fun episode coming up as women continuing our college scouting series. Alejandra Zuniga from the Michigan Insider, which is a 24/7 sports affiliate. So our sister's site here. He's going to be joining us today to talk about the Michigan football program going into this next upcoming season. And I mean, there's certainly a lot to talk about with this, with this team, you say, because obviously Michigan coming off the national championship run and losing all the players that they had to the NFL this past year. It's a new look team and with Jim Harbaugh leaving and all that stuff. We're talking about a complete facelift with this Michigan football team. Yeah, we certainly are. And again, you know, they sent, I think it was 13 to 14 guys to the league this past year's draft. You kind of look at what's coming up here. And again, you know, they have two interior defensive tackles, Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant that are ranked, you know, incredibly highly. Actually, I think when you look at this first round and again, we did our 2025 draft preview episode a couple of weeks ago, I think two to three weeks ago here. So it's available in your RS fees if you guys want to check that out, but you talk about it. I mean, I think there's going to be a serious argument to be made that Michigan has two first round defensive tackles. They also have a first round quarterback and that of all the talent, it's likely that we see, you know, three Michigan defenders selected within the top 32 picks. Yeah, this defense for Michigan profiles to be really good and that's what he wants to get in offense is a little bit of a question mark. And that's something we're gonna be asking a hundred a lot about, but I mean, look, in our mock draft episode this past week, I, Kenneth Grant and my mock draft to the Bears, you know, being that defensive tackle prospect, you have Mason Graham, who's one of the most highly touted defensive prospects in this next year's draft. Like Will Johnson as well, it's a loaded group. And there's a lot of talent on this roster. So I'm really excited to get into it. And I'm sure you're really excited to get into it as well. So without further ado, let's transition over to our conversation that we had with Alejandro. Here is that interview right here. And we'll see you on the other side bears fans. Joining us now, the picks four polls podcast. We're continuing our summer scouting off season series focusing in on the Michigan Wolverines this time. We've got Alejandro Zuniga in the house. He covers Michigan football for the Michigan insider as part of two four seven sports check him out on Twitter at by a Zuniga. How's it going? Thanks for hopping on here. It's great. It's always always a good day when you could talk some football in the dog days of summer. Exactly. It is, you know, really interesting with what's going on at Michigan. Because if you look at all these big 10 teams, there's to me, in my opinion, at least no team that's undergone as many changes as the reigning national champion type. You know, you send 13 to 14 guys to the NFL. You have obviously the big 10 expansion going on. But then also you have a first year head coach in Sharon Moore taking over for Harbaugh, who again was there for a lot of years. But, you know, just take us inside. What's the vibe in Ann Arbor with all these changes that are kind of taking place, but also a lot of good things happening too. Yeah, it's, I think it's very much a tenuous situation, right? Which is Michigan just won a national championship. It's kind of the culmination of several years of success, right? 2023 was the end of a three year run where Michigan won three straight big 10 championships. But last year was their window. And so many players, you know, your Roman Wilson's, your Blake Corham's, your Zack's, your Trevor Keegan's who are now in the NFL. They all came back last year to win a national championship. They succeeded at that goal. But now, you know, the football world doesn't stop and everything's turning over a new leaf. There is so much uncertainty on the offensive side of the ball. There is uncertainty on the coaching perspective, right? The entire defensive staff was recreated over this offseason. And it's a first year head coach in Sharon Moore, who has never been a college head coach before, who has risen up through the ranks very quickly at Michigan. And who, you know, by, he had his trial by fire last year, right? He was an interim coach last year. But there's just a lot of uncertainty. And I think a lot of gratitude that Michigan did win a national championship, that they accomplished their goal when their window of opportunity was open. But now it's, will Michigan be able to sustain that, become a long-term dominant force in a new, big 10? Or does it go back to rebuilding for a few years? What's that going to look like? And, you know, this is the first year. We'll start to find that out. Yeah. And talking about sustaining that success, kind of looking ahead to this year, and specifically looking ahead to next year's draft. You know, Wolverines, they said we had talked about a lot of players to this past year's draft over 13 players. A lot of core pieces like you covered who were big parts of that team. But, you know, Michigan wouldn't be a national championship level team if they didn't have, you know, other pieces and other players in depth to kind of, you know, fill in for those guys. And, you know, make up for that. And, and things of that nature. So the pipeline still figures to be strong. Who are some of the top names that are on this roster going to next year that are going to be draft eligible that, you know, we should be keeping an eye out for. Yeah. I think if you want to start talking about 2025 NFL draft of Michigan, I think the way I look at it is next year's draft. Oh, so this year's draft in 24, right? Michigan had 13 players drafted. It was a program record. It was the most by any school this year. They had 18 players invited to the combine, which that was a record as well. Next year, I'd say fewer players drafted, but more star power, more players drafted in that first round, first couple rounds. And it's really, it starts on the defensive side of the ball. So I'm going to give you three names right off the bat. It's two of the best defensive tackles in college football, Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant. They are both rising juniors. They are roommates. They are two players that Jim Harbaugh once called God's gift to football because of their, I guess, their body makeup and their desire to be good at football. And then a corner back in Will Johnson, who's been a star since his freshman year. He's a guy who, you know, he was a five star prospect. He was a legacy kid. He, you know, he was a freshman all American for PFF back a couple of years ago. And he was kind of the star of the show last year in matchups against Marvin Harrison Jr. against Romo Dunes A against Ohio State and Washington respectively. Those are three guys who, when you're looking at your draft board for 25, you're probably thinking first round and for a guy like Will Johnson and maybe Mason Graham, you're thinking top 10, top 15, depending on how the season plays out. So that's where I'd start when you're looking at Michigan and NFL draft next year. Yeah, because, you know, we were doing some early research and, I mean, Andrew and I both got super excited over Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant, which I feel like is going to be a bit of a tongue twister because you have Graham and Grant to kind of get used to. But how are both of those guys similar? How are both of those guys different? And more importantly, you know, who are they as people and not necessarily football players? Because there's a lot of, I think, interactions that take place and when you're at these games and these practices and you're watching these guys from the sidelines, you certainly see this human element come out. Sure. Yeah, I mean, both of them. I think I'd call them pretty similar, honestly, in terms of people. Just again, like I mentioned, they're housemates, the roommates. They are very, very tight. They're friends, fun people to get to know. Mason Graham, he's coming out of California. You'll remember, I mean, as with anyone of about this age, like they were coming up as high school prospects when there was a pandemic going on. And in California for a guy like Mason Graham, I don't remember the specifics, but I think they like played a seven on seven season or they played in the spring instead of the fall. But like, it really impacted maybe the way that college programs were able to scout them, maybe the way that they were able to showcase their development. But he's a guy, Mason, who's got a background as a wrestler. He's a former wrestler and he played both ways in high school. He would play offensive line and defensive line. He would play every snap in a football game. And that put him on Michigan's radar. And quite honestly, like he was a late riser in the recruiting rankings, maybe in part because of the extenuating circumstances that were going on in the world. But Michigan really found a hidden gem when they pulled him. And similar story for Kenneth Grant. I mean, I'd say he's more of a raw prospect at this point. He's the guy who you were talking earlier about how important it was for Michigan to have depth on a national championship run. He was one of those pieces really where I don't think he really technically started many of any games last year. But Michigan rotated so much on the defensive line that he played starter snaps. It'll be interesting to see this year if, you know, if he has the stamina to play, you know, 60 plus snaps a game on the defensive side of the ball because it's not something he's had to do. It's not something Michigan wanted him to do last year. But he's at the talent, like he's got the talent level where you want to keep him on the field as much as possible. Yeah, that was the interesting thing about Grant is, you know, kind of in transitioning to that full-time role or more of a full-time role. I should say still getting a ton of snaps for the collegiate level. So I think with those two, it's going to be interesting to see they're kind of dynamic and how they play off each other throughout the course of the season because they both have very different kind of skill sets just off of my initial watches of both of them from last year. Now kind of finishing off on that defensive trio that you mentioned, you know, going depth a little bit more in Will Johnson, you know, what, what are some of the things that make him such a great cornerback prospect? And, you know, there's a lot of conversation about who's going to be the top cornerback in next year's draft. Obviously, you have Trevor Hunter from Colorado who's going to be in that conversation as well. You know, what is Will Johnson brings to the table that's unique and makes him, you know, that's highly sought after cornerback prospect? I think I would just say consistency. Honestly, like it's consistency and he's proven it for two plus years at this point. I mean, he's, like I mentioned before, he was a five-star prospect. I'd say when you're looking at players that you look at them in high school and you can project them to the NFL, I think that's a very unique quarterback and like the secondary is the positions where that's easiest because that seems to translate easily or more easily, I guess, or more smoothly to the college level and then on to the NFL. And Will Johnson, he's a guy who, again, he came in as a five-star. He maybe struggled a little bit in mop up duty very, very early on as a freshman, but then the back half of this freshman season, he really took over. He, you know, he had a couple interceptions in the Big Ten game against Purdue, had his first interception in a tight game at Rutgers. And so, like, you could tell, like, he was on an upward trajectory and it was what's that going to look like in 2023 when he's the star guy on the defense. And it was everything you wanted, right? You look back at some of the biggest matchups of the year, like I mentioned, he was one-on-one with Romo Dunes A. He was one-on-one with Marvin Harrison Jr. Two of the better wide receiver prospects that, you know, were playing college football last year that maybe we've seen in a few years, and he more than held his own. He had an interception early on in the game against Ohio State that changed the course of that game. He had an interception. The first play the second half in the national championship game, national championship game against Washington. That changed the game. That interception, mind you, was also forced in part because of the pressure created by Mason Graham. So, it's a good team effort there. But, you know, he's a player who, you know, he allowed a 29.1% passer rating last year as a sophomore, according to PFF. That's fifth among cornerback in college football. And that's when you're facing, you know, again, your Marvin Harrison's, your Romo Dunes A's, some of the best talents in college football. By all, everything I've heard, he looks fantastic in practice. He looks fantastic in the spring this summer. I don't think there's any question that he's going to have a very solid year. And if he stays healthy, you know, he's a top 15 pick. No questions asked. Yeah, and he's going to be one of those guys to watch, you know, because, again, the bear's just drafted from Dunes A. And so I'm sure there's a lot of, you know, tape out there of Dunes A versus seeing Will Johnson. But switching over here to the offensive side of the ball for a bit, you know, you talk about that tight end situation. Yeah. I mean, it's a really good situation. Okay. I think, you know, everybody, when they look at big 10 and they specifically look at the Midwest, everyone's always pointing to Iowa Notre Dame for the good tight ends. But Colston Loveland, to me, is a guy who had a pretty solid freshman season. Had a really good sophomore season. And now he's entering 2024 with a legit chance to possibly even be the first tight end taken off the board in next year. I mean, it's kind of like a breakout season. I mean, what's there to know about a guy that is, you know, six foot five, six foot six, just kind of towers over everybody and does a little bit of everything is sort of your modern hybrid tight end where he can be on the line of scrimmage as a locker, but then also flex out into the slot and take over games as a receiver. Yeah. I think that versatility is the number one thing to know about Colston Loveland. You mentioned his physical attributes. You know, he's a kid coming out of tiny town in Idaho called Gooding, Idaho, where he was like the co-player of the year. I want to know where the other guy ended up, but I mean, Colston Loveland, similar type of guy where you could tell his freshman season. Like he wasn't there yet, but he was going to be, right? It was, you know, he scores his first career touchdown against the receiver in Columbus. He scores just this acrobatic touchdown, you know, like Mossing, a defender, the big tight championship game the next week. And then he's off to the races, right? And he has a very productive sophomore season. He's actually Michigan's leading receiver, who's returning this year. You know, Michigan lost its top two actual wide receivers. Roman Wilson and Cornelius Johnson to the NFL. So he's like the top receiver returning and he's the guy that, you know, as Michigan has quarterback uncertainty, as Michigan has, you know, kind of a renewed wide receiver crop. Like he's the guy is probably going to be the first option on a lot of routes on a lot of plays. You mentioned he's six foot five, but he runs and he has hands more like a receiver than the tight end. And at that size and with that skill set that makes him very, very difficult to guard one on one. I'd say he still needs to improve as an inline blocker. He was not Michigan's best blocking tight end last year. Who knows if he'll be Michigan's best blocking tight end this year. He's still obviously an offensive weapon, but you want to see him improve as a blocker and know that if you ever split him out or if he's ever running routes, you know, out of, you know, out of that inline tight end position, if he's one on one with a linebacker, that's a mismatch every day. If that's one on one with a safety, most safe fees, that's a mismatch too. So that presents a lot of opportunity for Michigan's offense. He's a big target for a quarterback who's probably not going to be quite as skilled throwing the ball. His JJ McCarthy was last year and he'll, you know, presumably bring that to the NFL a year from now. Yeah, we certainly know Michigan. They're going to want to get off the bus right in the ball. Right. So improving that blocking, I think is going to be a key part of his development next year, but switching back over to the defensive side of the ball again. You know, it's what's a little bit about Josiah Stewart, who's kind of an edge rusher prospect who came over from Coastal Carolina last year. You had five and a half sacks for Michigan on their national championship run and, you know, made some highlight plays throughout the course of the season. So what does he need to do in order to take that next step forward and what do you think, you know, his draft prospects kind of look like as of now? Yeah. I think he's on an upward trajectory. And I don't think he was quite ready to go to the NFL after last year. I think he wanted to put more on tape to prove that he could do it at a high level. As you mentioned, Andrew, he came in from Coastal Carolina. He played. He was high school teammates with Mikey Stenristill, who's now in the NFL. Obviously started Michigan defense last year over, I'm saying Everett, Massachusetts, I may be getting that wrong. But the pitch to Josiah Stewart was essentially low. You had two outstanding years at Coastal. You filled the statute at Coastal. If you can prove that you can do it at the Big Ten level, then that proves that you can do it in the NFL. When you are asking questions of Josiah Stewart, it's really his size. You know, he's pretty undersized as an edge rusher, even at Coastal and certainly so in the Big Ten. But obviously it works for him. And it was the sort of thing where early in the year last year, you know, he maybe struggled a little bit with the physicality. You could tell that he struggled setting an edge a little bit on running plays. He got edged a few times. But by the end of the year, you know, he was the guy who actually pushes Alabama offensive lineman back and trips up jail in Milro on the last play of the Rose Bowl. Like he's the guy making those plays. And he's, you know, by the end of the year, he is not getting edged anymore. He's the guy that despite his size, you know, he is, you know, low man wins and he's using that leverage to get back and really disrupt plays. So he and Derek Moore on the other side, like they're both guys that you've seen take steps forward, both ended last season on upward trajectories. And while Michigan probably won't have like the feared edge rushers that were like, you know, David Ojabo and Aiden Hutchinson back in 21. It's higher up that level where you can tell that both of those guys have NFL potential and it's really putting together full seasons to make that happen. So let me just ask a follow up. You talked about Stuart's size. I mean, is there, you know, a chance where you possibly see teams looking at an edge rusher that's six foot one and saying, okay, maybe we are going to grade him lower than whatever he showed on tape because again, when you do watch him at least for me, I mean, I see a guy that certainly plays bigger than the measurables on a sheet lead on to. Yeah, I mean, obviously that's up for NFL teams to decide, right? It's what, how do you project this to the next level? How does he fit what you want to do? But I mean, results speak for themselves. And if you can, I, this is part of why I think he comes back, right, is he, was he playing at a level by the end of the 23 season, Josiah Stewart, that, you know, he was playing an NFL caliber level? Like, sure, absolutely. You know, when you're making those sorts of plays, you know, he was a game changer against Alabama. He was a game changer, you know, in, against Ohio State and Washington and some of Michigan's biggest games of the year. So when you're doing that, like, yeah, then you can probably do it on the NFL, but it's, can you show that for a year, right? Because, you know, say what you will about production, but you will always have measurables. You will always have that NFL combine. You will always have guys questioning what you are going to be able to accomplish based on your size and your weight and your frame. So if you can do it for a full season, then you can silence those doubters, right? That's something that Mikey Sainer still at the nickel position. He's a smaller nickel. He proved that last year and he got drafted. And that's, you know, you need to put together a full body of evidence, maybe to, to silence some of those doubters. And that's what 15 games in a college football season can do. I mean, yeah, he's going to be, you know, one of the guys to watch. Go ahead, Andrew. Yeah, I was just saying, you know, going back to the off, I decided the ball, you know, I talked earlier about home, Michigan's going to want to, you know, be a running football team once again next year. That's going to be no surprise. They're getting dive in Edwards back. But Blake Korm is moving on to the NFL, obviously. So you're losing one of the most productive running backs in college football over the past few years. Is this Edwards running back room right now? And because we know that, you know, a lot of draft restrictions, they do, they are pretty high on Edwards and what his potential is. So what is the running back room going to look like for Michigan next year? Yeah, another one really offensively. Every position is a question mark. Maybe outside of who's your, you know, first tight end, who's goals and level it. Every other position is a question mark because Michigan, you know, to the NFL combine last year, you know, it's a tire offensive line plus one. So it's top six offensive linemen. It's top two wide receivers. It's quarterback. It's running back, right? Like that entire offense is being redone. When you're looking at offensive skill position players, though, I mean, Donovan Edwards, again, he was a high four star, five star type kid from West Bloomfield, Michigan a few years ago. He thought that last year was going to be his year. I mean, if you talk to him and I did before last season, he was like, okay, 2023. I'm going to ball out. I'm going to be a first round NFL draft pick in the 2024 NFL draft. It didn't work out for him. Last year by all measures, including his own, he really struggled. He struggled physically a bit. He struggled with his on field production and he struggled mentally with kind of the. Balancing the his own high expectations and maybe the high expectations that other people had for him with the reality that he was a clear number two behind Blake Quorum. And, you know, he didn't score his first touchdown of the year until more than half away through the season, if I remember that correctly. So there's a lot of eyes on him this year. And by all measures, he is, you know, he's, he's in a better state mentally. And he also knows that, like, this is his team. It is his running back room. He is running back one. Even if he doesn't want to call himself that, you know, behind him, there's. Colole Mullings, who's a reported linebacker. There's Benjamin Hall, who's a promising sophomore, but if you're looking for the guy who's going to be your consistent ball carrier, it's going to be Donovan Edwards. And he's a guy like Polston Loveland, where versatility is the reason that he was so high on NFL draft boards, maybe a year ago. He, he's a solid running back. He's got the, you know, as you saw in the national championship game, he's got that top end speed. If he sees the hole, he can hit it hard and he's that big play threat. You know, we saw that in 22 against Ohio State. We saw it last year in the national championship game. But can he be a consistent ball carrier? Can he be the guy that picks up four yards when only one yards available on a consistent basis? We don't know that quite yet. We do know he can hit the whole run on the ground. He can split out wide into the slot or even out wide and be a competent wide receiver. And when you combine that with the rest of his skill set that makes him a dangerous piece. Yeah, I mean, he is, there's a lot of really good running backs in the big 10 this year. And I think that we should expect Donovan Edwards to be right there at the very top in terms of production. Again, it's like you mentioned, you know, it's all projections at this point. But how about defensive back rods to work? Because watching him last year, knowing that, you know, he went ahead and had a solid season in my eyes, but then he also injured his knee in spring practices. What's the, you know, outlook for him going into this year? Because the first step is obviously him being healthy and him being able to get onto the field. But what does he need to do to really kind of go ahead and show a lot of people that, hey, I am the top safety in the upcoming class. Yeah, so we're talking about safety, Rod Moore here. He, I don't know, quite honestly, if he's going to play this year, right? It was, I mean, Michigan's never going to give you specifics of any injury, but it's an ACL injury of some kind. It's in, you know, it's a significant injury where if he does, you know, he was ahead of schedule earlier this summer. But do you bring him back, baby, at, you know, when it's late November, and he hasn't played yet? He does. That said, he's put three solid seasons on tape. He is a player who, I believe the first start or one of his first starts of his collegiate career was November 27th, 2021, a date that Michigan fans remember well, because that's the year that's the day they beat Michigan's, or they beat Ohio State for the first time in what felt like forever. And that he started that year against, you know, Jackson Smith and Jigbug, Garrett Wilson, that old lobby, I believe, was on that team too, like that fearsome trio from Ohio State. And you've got a freshman Rod Moore starting at safety and he was fine. And he's kind of parlayed that into, you know, then he would have been deprived. One of the, if not the top safeties in college football had he stayed healthy. It's heartbreaking for him that he hasn't, that he wasn't able to do that, that he got injured very early in spring practice. But, you know, he's another one of those guys that Michigan pulled out of Ohio, he didn't have an Ohio State offer. He was a three star, if I remember that correctly, and he's absolutely outplayed his recruiting ranking. He, you know, he's the type of player who ends games, right? He ended the game against Ohio State in 2023 with that game ceiling interception. He is a veteran player with veteran savvy, who maybe didn't have the high school tape or the high school measurables that, you know, the biggest program in the state wanted Ohio State, but has outplayed any Ohio State safety since then. So, you know, take that for what you will. Obviously health is number one, I don't think we're going to see much, if anything, to move the needle on him this year, because of that injury, but, you know, he's a guy that could have gone last year. And, and hopefully it works out for him, even though he, he's been her. Going back to the offensive line, you mentioned how they've lost practically their top six guys from last year, and that's a huge blow when you Michigan as a program has kind of built their identity around that offensive line and being a more physical team up front than their opposition. So, you know, they brought in some transfers, they've had some guys developing, you know, along that offensive line as well. How is that unit shaping up so far in terms of like who the stars are going to be, and, you know, how do you see that unit kind of looking as we, you know, get into things we could call training camp and then the start of the season. Yeah, I mean it's, it offensive lines, as you will know, are so much about, you know, both experience, both individually, but as a unit. I think people look at Michigan's offensive line and say, listen, this line could be pretty good. There are a number of names there that that Michigan has seen like that that we've seen either individually getting spot spot duty at Michigan or coming from elsewhere. I think four positions like four of the five on the offensive line are pretty well set. At center, Michigan has a guy named Greg Crippen who has been very, very patient. And I know Michigan thinks highly of them. He's been kind of supplanted each of the last two years by transfer portal guys first Olu Olu Timmy, and then Drake Nugent. Two guys who, you know, Olu Olu Timmy, a couple of years ago I mean he won the Remington award he won the Outland Trophy as the best interior lineman in college football. And then he gets supplanted again last year by Drake Nugent and NFL level center. But Greg Crippen Michigan thinks very highly of him at center he'll be flanked by Gio El-Hadi on one guard spot and Josh Prive on the other. Gio El-Hadi again he's a guy who's a program veteran at Michigan. Michigan staff absolutely loves him. You know, if I had to name a guy who I think will surprise people on Michigan's offensive line maybe on Michigan's offense it would probably be Gio El-Hadi. I think he's had some starting like I think he started a game or two maybe a couple of years ago just injury duty. But every single person I've talked to thinks he's about to have a massive year he'll probably be right guard and then Josh Prive who transferred in from Northwestern will be on the left side. He's playing his last year of collegiate eligibility so he'll be, you know, vying for the draft one way or the other. And then at left tackle you have Miles Hinton. He's one of the Hinton brothers who's come through Michigan. He started at Stanford. He is a massive, massive human. He actually did start the first few games of the year at tackle for Michigan last year before losing his job later in the year. He's a guy who, again, he's massive. He has the frame to be an NFL offensive lineman. It's more about getting the footwork right, getting his balance right, that sort of thing. And, you know, maybe in year two in the system, you know, it kind of clicks for him. But we'll see. Like I said, it's an offensive line and you don't really know what an offensive line is going to look like until you see him live on a college football Saturday. But Michigan certainly with Cheryl Moore, who is an offensive line kind of guru by trade with Grant Newsome, who's the offensive line coach who obviously his background is as a lineman at Michigan. I think the coaching's there. I think the players are there. And I think they'll play at a high level again this year. Yeah, and you mentioned projections earlier, you know, a little bit of a fun fact here, but I was actually doing some research and, you know, as good as Michigan's been the bears never, the bears have only drafted for Michigan players dating back to 1987. They seem to, they've got a player from every other Michigan school, but not. You know, the University of Michigan for whatever the reason is, you know, but they always love to go to the some of the other big 10 schools but, you know, you mentioned projections earlier. And J. G McCarthy is now with the Viking so we're going to be keeping close eyes on him as guys who cover the bears. You obviously have a quarterback that you have to name and start here. I mean, I know you had a really good piece that I read yesterday on Alex or G as to whether or not he could be the guy in all the work that he's done in the Detroit metropolitan area in terms of hosting the youth camp and everything. But who do you ultimately think ends up starting for the Wolverines at quarterback because again, you know, they had J. J McCarthy who again play this high school football, not too far from me and it was, let me just say this, you know, it was really annoying having to as a defensive coach having to coach and day plan against J. J McCarthy. Yeah, J. J McCarthy at Nazareth Academy right with with Tyler Morris who's who's a wide receiver still on the team. Yeah, it's I mean that's the million dollar question and it's it's the question that I think Michigan sort of by design doesn't have an answer to right I mean college football these days. You know, if you're a backup quarterback and don't get the job, maybe you're looking at the transfer portal and exploring your options elsewhere and it's important as a team to have a solid backup quarterback. So with that said, I mean, Michigan is entering fall camp with probably a four way battle. It's Alex orgy. It's Davis Warren, who's a very compelling and interesting story. He had cancer in high school, survived cancer was a walk on at Michigan and has now been placed on scholarship and is competing for a starting quarterback job. So it's Alex orgy Davis Warren, Jack Tuttle, who played at Indiana for a few years. He was injured in the spring so he didn't get a chance to kind of compete for the job in the spring but he'll be healthy for the fall. And then Jane Denigal who came in the same class as Alex orgy. Those are kind of the four who are competing for the job. I'd say based on what we saw in the spring game, you know what we've seen from him over the last couple of years, it's probably going to be Alex orgy. The reason I say that is because he brings something to the table that he does at an elite level, right, he is an elite runner of the football. He is, you know, there's a reason Michigan has used them the last couple of years and you know your wild cap type is because you put the ball in his hands, he's tough to bring down. Is he going to be a competent level quarterback like that's that's the question, you know his junior and senior years of high school. His completion percentage is a starting quarterback hovered around 50% that doesn't project well to the college level he hasn't thrown I don't believe he has one completion in real live college football action. So it's it's a big ask to say okay you're going from never throwing the ball and maybe not throwing the ball as well as you'd want to in high school to now you're the starting quarterback at Michigan. But he is so elite as a runner that he brings something to the table that that maybe Michigan can can ride with you know some up and down passing otherwise. Probably Davis Warren. Again, that would be a great story. He's kind of like a JJ light in the sense that he's got you know very good arm strength he knows that the offense will you know he can run with the ball if he needs to. But, you know he's not JJ McCarthy. But I'd say it's probably between those two. And that quarterback it's going to be the position that I think is going to really determine Michigan season next year and then speaking of the season. You know last question for a hundred before we get you out of here. You know obviously Ohio State is going to be the big game every single year for Michigan. But when you look at the schedule next year, what's the most intriguing matchup for you for Michigan this year and something that really sticks out for you. It's not a big one season. I don't know how much you or your listeners have followed Michigan football over the last couple of years but really it's been like two game seasons for Michigan. Just because you know they're non conference schedule and worked out a certain way and the big 10 worked out a certain way where it's like it was the Ohio State game it was the Penn State game and kind of that was it during the regular season. They open their season against a solid Fresno State team. They play Oregon. They go on the road to Washington. They're on the road at Ohio State. Obviously you've got the in state rivalry with Michigan State like there is a lot of very, very good football that Michigan's going to play this year. And if I'm thinking about what Michigan's record might be you know it's maybe there's a step back in top level talent or at least an experienced talent. But it's also the schedule right you can't you don't have your two game season where you can kind of prepare just for a game or two like you did the last couple of years. So you know week two is Texas. And I think for me that's you know that that's kind of like the that's the tone setter for the season. Because you have, you know, two college football playoff teams playing at the big house, you know, it's going to be one of the biggest non conference games of the year. And if you can beat Texas that then that gives you a little bit more leeway a little bit more kind of rope over the remaining 10 games of the year where you don't have to be perfect to make a 12 team college football playoff. And then you have the schedule where you can drop that game to Oregon, you can maybe lose to Ohio State and still make the college football playoff that wasn't necessarily the case each of the last couple of years. So if you can kind of bank a win against Texas where it's at home, where you have you're going to have a rocking crowd you're going to have potentially the best defense in college football if you can scrape out a win. And it's competent enough to score, you know, maybe 20 points, we'll do it for you. That sets the tone for the season in like it just completely changes the outlook for what the year could look like and it puts you ahead of the eight ball. And for me, you know, that's the game I have circled you're always going to circle Ohio State Oregon, you know, Ohio State, I think I believe are probably the top two contenders in the big 10 this year, Michigan plays both of them. Going on the road to Washington, I personally can't wait. I'm going to try to tailgate. I'm going to try to, you know, just experience big 10 life in Seattle as best I can. But that Texas game is going to be prime time big 10 SEC matchup like we all imagined. I mean, yeah, and we had, you know, Ohio State Oregon guys on the podcast last week kind of talking to them about their respective programs and what to expect. You know, the Ohio State guy said something, he's just like, yeah, we haven't beaten Michigan in whatever three to four years at this point. So, hopefully that's something that changes because they did those. Yeah, I mean, you know, we've got a lot of time, you know, Oregon with Dan Lanning and everything that they've kind of built over there they're relatively young team young coach staff on the rise really good defense. So it's going to be some really good test from Michigan, but you know, for we get you out of here, where can people kind of follow you in the world of social media and keep up with your work, especially for our 27. There's that kind of tune into the boards and loves to have a discussion as well. Yeah, I mean, of course, all of my work, you can find it over at 24 seven. It's Michigan dot 24 seven sports.com. If you want to follow me specifically for whatever reason, I'm on Twitter at buy a suniga and often talking online on shows like this. Absolutely. Thanks so much for hopping on left to have you on again at some point, you know, during the season to just getting updated on all things Michigan. Sounds good. Appreciate it guys. All right, bears fans that was our conversation with Alejandro's and eager from Michigan insider a lot of great stuff there. You said, you know, what were one of your major takeaways from our conversation about this Michigan team. You know, a couple of different things here, but I think the biggest overall takeaway was is there's a fair argument that Michigan pretty much sent its entire offense from that national championship team to the NFL. And it's like Alejandro mentioned, you're playing with projections at this point. I would say the silver lining is this, and you talk about pretty much the top six offensive line and being invited to the 2024 combine. The major silver lining to me is the fact that they will still have a lot of experience at some key positions that have really tailored to the Michigan identity. You look at that. I mean, one of the guys in their Josh freebie is going to be a transfer, but the big thing about him is he's played big 10 football, albeit for a mid sized big 10 program in Northwestern. They have a couple guys on the roster that have been depth pieces over the last few years that are finally going to get a chance to go ahead and step up. And then you start looking at that running back to two and say, okay, you know, this very much looks like it is Donovan Edwards here to lose. A sense of everything's lined up now for him to basically have that true breakout season. So there's a lot of really interesting things going on here, especially on that Wolverine's offense, you know, Sharon Moore was on a podcast. I was listening to a couple of weeks ago, and I think that for him, he was the right place or the right choice to simply replace Harbaugh, because he talked about, you know, you just want to get to the heart of every single player. So we'll kind of go ahead and see how it pans out, but it's like Alejandro mentioned, I mean, yes, it's a lot of projections, but there's no reason to think that Michigan should not be at the very near top of the big 10 once again. Yeah, it was interesting because, you know, Alejandro alluded to this as well, you know, despite the fact that Michigan lost a ton of talent from last year's national championship winner. A lot of that was on the offensive side of the ball. You look at six guys being off in that offensive line, Gigi McCarthy, you know, most of that wide receiver room Blake quorum obviously as well. You know, the defense still has a lot of its talent coming back this year so Michigan there's still equipped to be that defensive first team, and to dominate, and really try to make things as low scoring and scrappy as possible as they try to figure out. This new look offensive they have I mean they're losing a lot on offense though I think that's one of the main things that I kind of took away here is that you're looking at a completely different offensive line that's being brought in here Blake quorum is not in that backfield anymore to be that rock for your running So, while dive and Edwards is, you know, your lead backs, so to speak, you know, I'll handle a little to this like, it might be a little bit more of a committee than we might think because they're trying to, you know, experiment with a few things and see who's going to be the most consistent in that offense and that also has to be faster into the quarterback situation as well, you know, Jason McCarthy, you know, being a strong quarterback and Michigan has not necessarily been the strongest, you know, team program in terms of, you know, developing and continually finding, you know, those high end quarterback play type of guys in college football so the offense is going to be interesting to see see this year how that works and especially with this schedule that they have now because it's a much stronger schedule you know, with the big 10 being restructured and a lot, you know, more interesting out of conference opponents I like the, I like the point he made where he mentioned how Michigan seasons the last couple years have basically been two game seasons because you can basically skip over the rest of their schedule is really about Penn State in Ohio State because they're just on another level compared to the rest of the teams that they played and they're out of conference schedule and the rest of the big 10. That's not going to be the case this year so Michigan I think it's set up to where they're truly going to be tested as a program as they kind of head into this new era that they're going into. Yeah, and you talked about all the star power right as did Alejandro I mean, you have, you know, Mason Graham Kenneth grant you've got little Johnson at that corner of acquisition. But the big thing to me is I also look at this roster and I kind of say okay there's a lot of guys that could really emerge and have breakout seasons to, you know, you're looking at on that defensive side of the ball. You have Josiah Stewart, the guys Russia who again you know, Alejandro pretty much alluded to how he was productive last year had five and a half sacks but then also being a guy that just six foot one so on the smaller side for these address officials plays as big as he is but then there's also those, you know, kind of really high reward type players guys like tight end, coast and leveling even quarterback Alex old or jewelry I believe his name is you know or Alex or Jim sorry I can't remember the name, you know he's another guy that Alejandro seemed to really say okay, watch out for him as a mobile threat as well as a player who could develop into a dual threat kind of player so you know we'll really go ahead and you'll see you know what 2024 entails for the Wolverines but it's certainly going to be another exciting one. Yeah and a lot of process to keep an eye out for the Bears or the thing is the most important thing for us in this conversation is who's going to profile to be a potential fit for the Bears. The defensive line with Graham and Grant is going to be something to watch throughout the year but also like who's going to step up and you know on the offensive side of the ball for Michigan I think it's going to be a big key as well because the Bears still have some really fun conversation that we had, that's going to wrap it up for us here today for all the listeners out there and make sure to like, rate, subscribe wherever you get your podcast from us here for the Bear Report and Pics for Polls make sure to follow us on social media at Pics for Polls on X as well. You say I work in our listeners find you and find your work. You can follow me on Twitter @usaidcoachalchric on my work on the Bear Report websites. Yeah and as for me you can find me work on the Bear Report as well and you can follow me on X at AJ Freeman 25 and for all of our listeners out there have a great 4th July stay safe and have yourself a great rest of your week.
