Fact or Fiction: Michigan’s losses will be too much to overcome
National recruiting director Mike Farrell and national recruiting analyst Adam Gorney tackle three topics daily and determine whether they believe the statements or not.
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1. Michigan’s losses will be too much to overcome.
Farrell’s take: FICTION. The losses are big — Jalen Mayfield, Ambry Thomas, Nico Collins and others are big blows to Michigan for 2020, but there’s plenty of talent left. The offensive line should still be strong, led by Ryan Hayes and Zach Carpenter, and there is a ton of four-star talent on the OL roster. The defense will be strong with Dax Hill and Cam McGrone ready to step up and be stars. Collins is the biggest loss but Ronnie Bell is a good one and the Wolverines have an exciting freshman in AJ Henning.
Gorney’s take: FACT. Michigan is not going to tank or have a losing season, but the Wolverines have too much of a rebuild in 2020. Joe Milton at quarterback is talented yet unproven and I’m not sure he will have enough weapons in the passing game. Running back Zach Charbonnet is great, but an entirely new offensive line is coming in. The defense has some proven playmakers and some young upstarts, but there are still some significant question marks.
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2. The Pac-12 will move quickly to play now that the Big Ten backtracked.
Farrell’s take: FACT. Well, look at this huh? The Big Ten reverses field and will play in October and suddenly the Pac-12 is on fire wanting to play. It has more hurdles at a local level with COVID-19, but trust me those will be pushed aside and within a week we will hear about Pac-12 football being back in October or November.
Gorney’s take: FACT. There are bigger complications in the Pac-12 than the Big Ten because of schools located in bigger cities – UCLA and USC in Los Angeles, Arizona State in the Phoenix are, Cal and Stanford in the Bay Area and Washington in Seattle to name a few – so COVID-19 concerns could be a little more complicated.
There are also massive wildfires across the West and I can speak personally to the fact of how bad the air quality is in Southern California right now. Those will be difficult to overcome, but the Pac-12 wants to play and will need to do it quickly so it can be a part of the College Football Playoff discussion. California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s comments on Wednesday can further push the envelope to get started. The conference will move quickly and figure out a way to play, especially with rapid testing now available.
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3. Sage Ryan will end up at LSU.
Farrell’s take: FACT. Alabama and Clemson are the other finalists for the Louisiana defensive back, but this is all LSU. LSU lost a few big in-state defensive backs over the years such as Landon Collins, but Ryan won’t be one of them.
Gorney’s take: FACT. Ryan is saying all the right things about not having a favorite among his top three of LSU, Alabama and Clemson, but LSU has a big lead here and it might be impossible for any school to beat it heading into a decision. There are some top names that escape the state of Louisiana but not many, and especially not many elite defensive backs since LSU is one of the top-producing schools at those positions.