The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/774666
FEBRUARY 2017 THE WOLVERINE 27 ship failure part, of course, but the re- load. U-M will have to replace seven starters on offense, 10 on defense and its kicker/punter. All of them made at least one of the All-Big Ten teams, and three were All-Americans. It's no wonder then that many pundits believe the Wolverines will take a step back next year. Senior cornerback Jourdan Lewis, one of the departing All-Americans, isn't among them, insisting head coach Jim Harbaugh wouldn't allow it. "You've got to be very mentally tough … all of this practice, all of this preparing can definitely break a lot of people," Lewis said. "But if you stay focused and do what he tells you to do, you'll be great. "[For the young guys] it's just maintaining, just going through ev- erything Coach Harbaugh wants them to do and being mentally fo- cused. They have the talent to do whatever they want to do, but if you don't have the mental capacity to be great then you won't be. But those guys do." Lewis hasn't seen Harbaugh treat the first- and second-year players dif- ferently than he has the fourth- and fifth-year seniors. That's a recipe for success, he continued. "It's just understanding that ev- erything is a business, and every- body's expected to do their job," he continued before the Orange Bowl. "When you have that and you have to be responsible for yourself and your teammates, it's amazing … you look in and you see all of this talent, you see all of those guys confident in their talent — it's unbelievable. "… They're not worried about next year — I promise you that." Neither are the seniors. They feel like they're leaving the program in good hands. "I remember watching some youth- on-youth drills and Jourdan comes over to me and says, 'These guys are going to be so good,'" graduating nose tackle Ryan Glasgow said. "I'm like, 'They are so far ahead of where we were when we were their age, it's ridiculous.' "[Freshman defensive end] Rashan [Gary] and [freshman offensive guard] big Mike [Onwenu] went against each other in a run-play deal. It was epic. … Those guys are way ahead of the game, especially where other teams across the country are." OFFENSE WILL SPORT SEVERAL NEW PIECES They got back to work almost im- mediately after the bowl game. Red- shirt junior running back Ty Isaac was MICHIGAN FOOTBALL SCHOLARSHIP ROSTER BY POSITION AND CLASS FOR 2017 POSITION SENIORS JUNIORS SOPHOMORES FRESHMEN QUARTERBACK John O'Korn* Wilton Speight* Alex Malzone* Dylan McCaffrey Brandon Peters* RUNNING BACK Ty Isaac* Karan Higdon Chris Evans Kareem Walker* Khalid Hill (FB)* Kingston Davis O'Maury Samuels Henry Poggi (FB)* Kurt Taylor Wyatt Shallman (FB)* WIDE RECEIVER Grant Perry# Eddie McDoom Donovan Peoples-Jones Drake Harris* Kekoa Crawford Tarik Black Maurice Ways* Nate Johnson Brad Hawkins TIGHT END Ian Bunting* Devin Asiasi Nick Eubanks Sean McKeon Tyrone Wheatley Jr.* Zach Gentry* OFFENSIVE LINE Mason Cole (C) J. Bushell-Beatty (T)* Ben Bredeson (G) Stephen Spanellis (T)* Pat Kugler (G/C)* Grant Newsome (T)^ Nolan Ulizio (T)* Andrew Steuber (G) Jon Runyan (G)* Ja'Raymond Hall (T) Michael Onwenu (G) Kai'Leon Herbert (T ) Joel Honigford (G/T ) Cesar Ruiz (C/G) Chuck Filiaga (T ) DEFENSIVE LINE Maurice Hurst (T/NG) Chase Winovich (E)* Rashan Gary (E/T) Ron Johnson (E)* Lawrence Marshall (E)* Shelton Johnson (E)* Luiji Vilain (E) Bryan Mone (T/NG)* Carlo Kemp (E) Corey Malone-Hatcher (E) Michael Dwumfour (T) James Hudson (E) Donovan Jeter (T) Kwity Paye (E) Deron Irving-Bey (E) Philip Paea (T ) LINEBACKER Mike McCray* Noah Furbush* Devin Bush Joshua Ross Jared Wangler* Devin Gil Ben Mason Elysee Mbem-Bosse Jordan Anthony Josh Uche Drew Singleton Reuben Jones* CORNERBACK Brandon Watson* Keith Washington* Benjamin St. Juste David Long Ambry Thomas Lavert Hill SAFETY Tyree Kinnel Josh Metellus J'Marick Woods Khaleke Hudson Jaylen Kelly-Powell KICKERS Quinn Nordin (K/P)* Returning starters in bold; * redshirt; ^ started the first five games before a season-ending injury; # Perry is suspended indefinitely at this time; senior commits are in italics