Michigan football might 'open the offense up' despite no QB starter named

There are just 24 days to go before the season opener against Fresno State and Michigan football remains in the middle of a heated quarterback competition.

But this doesn’t mean the Wolverines have designs on running a conservative offense Aug. 31 at Michigan Stadium.

On the contrary, those who’ve been a part of U-M attacks in the past say there’s a distinct difference between previous years and early days of 2024 fall camp, where offensive coordinator Kirk Campbell is calling the shots.

“I'm excited, I feel like he's going to kind of open the offense up a little more,” junior wide receiver Tyler Morris said Wednesday. “Throwing some things and trying some things that maybe we hadn't in the past couple of years. I think he's a great coordinator, real smart and he's definitely going to give us multiple ways to attack defenses."

Tuesday marked the first day of full pads for the maize and blue — always a notable time of year when the depth chart comes into clearer focus as individuals begin to separate themselves from the competition.

There has been perhaps more competition this season than in recent years, after 13 players were selected in April's 2024 NFL draft. This created holes for those who've been buried on the depth chart for years behind current NFLers.

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That goes particularly on offense, where U-M is in the process of replacing J.J. McCarthy, a top-10 drafted QB; Blake Corum, the most decorated running back in program history; Roman Wilson and Cornelius Johnson, who combined for the best season for a pair of U-M receivers since 2015; and the entire starting offensive line.

"There's a lot of guys stepping into bigger roles," graduate student running back Kalel Mullings said. "They've all been champing at the bit, just waiting for that opportunity."

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There's also a new head coach (Sherrone Moore), offensive coordinator (Campbell), offensive line coach (Grant Newsome), running backs coach (Tony Alford) and tight ends coach (Steve Casula); the only coach remaining in the same position on offense is wide receivers coach Ron Bellamy.

With new faces come new ideas.

"I wouldn't say major changes," Morris said. "We just got a lot more (to) put in."

The question now: Which quarterback is best suited to operate what will be a new-look offense?

It's something the offensive staff should be narrowing in on as the differences between the three quarterbacks competing for the starting role — grad student Jack Tuttle; senior Davis Warren and junior Alex Orji — have been well documented from the spring.

Tuttle, now in his seventh year of college, wants to wear a headset some day and is said to be a coach on the field. Orji, who recently came in at No. 13 overall on The Athletic's college football "freak list", is (not surprisingly) the most athletic, while Warren is known as the most refined passer.

"Orji definitely presents a difficult style of football you got to play against, just with his ability to run," defensive back Quinten Johnson said. "But Davis definitely had the best passing day so far."

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Though Warren may have had the best day through the air in camp thus far, that doesn't mean Orji hasn't made significant strides in that area. Campbell said the most important piece in deciding the signal-caller is finding someone reliable who will not turn the ball over and can be trusted to make sound decisions.

In the past, Orji had primarily been asked to run — in his career he has 21 rushes for 123 yards and three TDs, compared to one pass attempt for five yards — but the expected primary receiver on the offense, Morris, said he has seen growth from Orji in the most important areas.

"I think he's just a lot more detailed," Morris said. "Every day has been growing for him. ... There's been some throws he's made that have been amazing. I think he's picked up his consistency; that was probably the biggest thing he had to work out."

In the spring, coaches and players made notes of how the defense was a few steps ahead of the offense. That wasn't a surprise, with three projected 2025 first-round picks in Will Johnson, Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant all returning to play key roles.

However, as fall approaches, the victory rate has decreased for the defense. As frustrating as that may be for those inside Schembechler Hall tasked with getting stops, they know it won't always be them getting beat deep by a connection between Warren and Amorion Walker or trying to chase down someone like Orji.

"We do a lot of O vs. D and yesterday, the first day of pads, they definitely caught a groove," Johnson said. "Day by day, who is going to win, who is not going to win? We would say they won yesterday, which is good to see for when we go put the pads on against somebody else, but as a defense, we want complete domination every day.

"I'll leave it at that."