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No. 1 Michigan               2006 record- 11-2, 7-1 Big Ten

Projected Finish in 2007- 12-0, 8-0 Big Ten

After waiting a decade for a shot at another national championship, this may well be one of Lloyd Carr's best chances at reaching the title game with all but one of Michigan's toughest games being at Michigan Stadium.  Despite having a favorable home schedule in 2007, the Wolverines do have a couple tough stretches that they will have to endure if they hope to have a shot at traveling to New Orleans at season's end.  The Wolverines will face Oregon, Notre Dame and Penn State in back-to-back-to-back games in September and will travel to Michigan State and Wisconsin before hosting Ohio State to cap off the season in November.  

The offense will be among the best in the country with quarterback Chad Henne, running back Mike Hart and left tackle Jake Long all deciding to return for the senior season in hopes of winning a Big Ten title and getting a shot at the national title as well.  Receivers Mario Manningham and Adrian Arrington give Chad Henne one of the most dynamic receiving combos in the country and with a legitimate 1500 yard running back that has hands of glue when carrying the ball to add to the mix, the offense seems to be unstoppable on paper.  

The questions will fall on the defense as defensive coordinator will have to replace one first round and four second round picks as well as a sixth round pick on a defense that ranked second in the Big Ten last season in total defense while ranking first in rush defense, allowing a downright impressive 43.4 yards per game.  Those statistics were slashed in the last two games of the season last year, however, and now English will introduce seven new starters on a defense that will include a steady mix of veterans and young players.  English has emphasized playing with speed and playing physical in his short tenure at coordinator and if the defense can rise to the challenge this season and give the offense a chance to win the game, the Wolverines could very well find themselves as one of two teams to play for all the marbles come January.  

Quarterback

Not often will you find a four-year starter at quarterback, but Chad Henne is just that for the Wolverines and will should set a multitude of passing records this fall with the potential for another great season.  Henne needs just 1478 yards and three touchdown passes to overtake first place in each category in the UM record books.  More importantly, though, Henne wants to tally a win against Ohio State and a bowl opponent, which he has not managed to post as of yet in his career.  Henne has steadily improved in his three years at Michigan and has continued to carry a remarkable 2.5:1 ratio of touchdowns to interceptions along with a 60 percent completion percentage that has improved more and more since 2004.  Highly touted and talented freshman backup Ryan Mallett will be waiting in the wings and hopes to learn a lot from a senior quarterback that has, arguably, seen it all.  Although Henne has played consistently well throughout his career, UM fans will only remember what he did in the last two games and this is his last chance to engrave himself among the best ever to quarterback in Ann Arbor as well as establishing himself as one of the elite quarterbacks in the country in 2007.  

Running Back

As is the case with Henne, Mike Hart has the chance to leave his legacy in the record books as well as he needs just 794 yards to take over first place on the all-time rushing list at Michigan and has a legitimate shot at finishing in the top three in rushing touchdowns for a career as well.  After missing a significant amount of playing time during his sophomore year because of injury, Hart rushed for 1562 yards and 14 touchdowns last season while averaging nearly five yards a carry.  Sophomore Brandon Minor will serve as Hart's backup with a knee injury likely to sideline junior Kevin Grady for most, if not all, of the 2007 season.  Minor was the second leading rusher last season with 238 yards and two touchdowns as a true freshman.  Sophomore Carlos Brown returns to the offensive side of the ball after making a very brief switch to defensive back and offers more speed to the backfield.  Brown suffered a broken hand earlier this fall, but is expected to be ready within the first couple weeks of the season.  All in all, the backfield looks to have the makings of a good one once again with, arguably, one of the nation's top five running backs leading the way.    

Wide Receivers

Juniors Mario Manningham and Adrian Arrington will lead a talented group of wideouts in 2007.  Manningham collected 703 receiving yards and nine touchdowns despite missing four games last season while Arrington picked up the slack gathering 544 yards receiving and eight touchdowns.  The void left by the ever-elusive Steve Breaston is expected to be filled by sophomore Greg Mathews who caught just seven passes last season, but was extremely impressive in summer workouts and in practice so far this fall.  Freshmen Toney Clemons and Junior Hemingway will also see action this season as part of one of the most talented group of receivers in the country.  The existence of a successful rushing attack will benefit the passing game even more and will allow the receivers to stretch the field a bit more in the passing game.  Expect the Wolverines to line up in more three and four receiver sets this season without the existence of an experienced fullback.  

Tight End

Redshirt Junior Mike Massey will get the starting nod after spending much of his first three years sidelined with injuries.  Massey caught just eight passes a year ago while playing second fiddle to Carson Butler, who also returns.  Butler, who was involved in an off-the-field incident this past offseason but was denied of any wrongdoing, is still being punished by coach Lloyd Carr, but will undoubtedly see more and more action as the season progress.  Butler started to emerge last season as a weapon at tight end as he caught 19 passes for 166 yards and one touchdown in 12 games.  

Offensive Line

Left tackle and 2006 consensus All-American Jake Long anchors a talented offensive line that includes two seniors, one junior, one sophomore and one redshirt freshman.  Adam Kraus will join the 2006 Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year, Long, as a two-year starter on the offensive line.  Should the line endure any type of injury, Kraus has experience at every position along the line and offers much flexibility for Mike DeBord's offense.  Junior right guard Alex Mitchell will miss the first game or so due to injury but will return after starting much of last season at the position while sopohomore Justin Boren makes the move to center after playing much of last season on the right side of the line as a true freshman.  Redshirt freshman Stephen Schilling will start at right tackle after missing his freshman season due to illness.  Michigan ranked second in the conference in rush offense per game last season with 175.5 yards per contest.  Should the line stay healthy, the Wolverines can be expected to produce much of the same again this season with much of the same personnel.  

Defensive Line

With the loss of LaMarr Woodley, Alan Branch and Rondell Biggs from last year's defensive front, Michigan lost 30.5 tackles for loss and 20 sacks worth of talent on the defense.  Replacing those three players and joining returner Terrance Taylor along the line will be redshirt junior Tim Jamison and sophomore Brandon Graham on the edges and redshirt junior Will Johnson as the other defensive tackle.  Jamison has been hampered by injury for most of his career so far, but has continued to receive high praise from the coaches as being an extremely athletic and strong defensive end that has the talent to have a huge year.  Jamison did record 4.5 sacks last season as a backup for the defense and could likely see those numbers inflate dramatically with more snaps to his credit in 2007.  Taylor is expected to hold up the middle of the line after starting alongside Branch last season and Johnson got some quality playing time last year as a backup.  Brandon Graham might create the most hype on the defensive front however, as the sophomore played as a true freshman and has now moved to the perimeter where he can use his strength and athleticism to his advantage in getting to the quarterback.  Expect the defensive line to play fast and aggressive like last year and while they will likely allow more rushing yards, they will be near the top of the conference in sacks once again this season.  

Linebackers

With David Harris and Prescott Burgess now playing on Sundays, senior Shawn Crable will have to step up and lead the way at the linebacker position.  Crable totaled 12 tackles for loss and six sacks as a rush specialist last season for the Wolverines, lining up as both a linebacker and standing defensive lineman with his impressive 6'5, 245 pound frame.  Senior Chris Graham and redshirt junior John Thompson will start at the other two linebacking spots.  The two combined for just 28 tackles last season but have played sparingly over the last couple seasons gaining game experience that will serve them well this season.  Redshirt freshmen Obi Ezeh and Jonas Mouton will see plenty of action this fall as well, filling in for Graham and Thompson in certain situations and will gain plenty of experience in their first game action.  Although very young, the linebacking unit has very good athleticism and speed and should progress as the year goes on.  They will be the key, though, as they will need to play well in order for the rest of the defense to be successful.  

Defensive Backs

Michigan enters its first season in a long while without an established shutdown corner.  With Leon Hall holding that position a year ago, junior Morgan Trent will have to play much better this season as the No. 1 corner on the defense.  Sophomore Johnny Sears will start at the other corner spot, but junior Brandon Harrison as well as true freshmen Donovan Warren and Troy Woolfolk are hot in pursuit and will intensify the competition for the remaining corner spot.  Although Sears will start, expect the other three to receive plenty of action at the position as well.  Warren, especially, is expected to be a star in the secondary at some point, and might be called upon as early as this season to step up and take on an important role on the defense.  Senior Jamar Adams returns at one of the safety positions with sophomore Stevie Brown expected to start at the other.  Adams was the third leading tackler on the defense last season with 47 tackles in addition to breaking up six passes.  Although the defense ranked just seventh in the conference last season allowing almost 225 yards per game (mainly due to the inability of offenses to run the football), the return of Vance Bedford as the defensive backs coach should help improve the play of the secondary this season.  Bedford was the defensive backs coach back in 1997, the year that Michigan won its last national championship and the year that Charles Woodson won the Heisman Trophy.  

Special Teams

Two of the biggest voids on the team will come courtesy of the special teams as the absence of star returnman Steve Breaston for the first time in four years has left question marks as to who will take on the role of returner for the Wolverines in 2007.  Johnny Sears is expected to be the first option to return punts with the backup being Greg Mathews.  Sears has not returned a punt as of yet, but Mathews did return two punts last year for a total of just 14 yards.  Sears, Carlos Brown and Brandon Minor are all expected to compete for the two kick returning jobs.  Brown is expected to be a key in the return game due to his speed and athleticism, but might have to wait a week or two because of the injury to his hand.  Sears returned five kicks last season for a 17.8 average while Minor returned just one kick in 2006.  The loss of kicker Garrett Rivas to graduation has the Wolverines searching for a placekicker.  Senior Jason Gingell has been named the starting placekicker, for now, but competition from redshirt freshman Bryan Wright could end with Wright being the kicker at some point in the year.  Wright has a strong leg and holds the Ohio high chool state record with a 57-yarder to his credit as a senior.  Sophomore Zoltan Mesko will handle the punting after getting the majority of time at the position last year and averaging 41.6 yards per kick while hitting 17 of his 50 punts inside the opponents 20-yard line.  The coaches have maintained that Mesko has as strong a leg as they have seen and the Wolverines may need that leg this season to help keep their defense out of trouble in the battle for field position.                  
 

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