Michigan Football: 5 Things We've Learned About The Wolverines Heading Into The Bye Week

Michigan is sitting at a pretty 8-0, but what exactly have we learned about the Wolverines through eight weeks?

Michigan is sitting at 8-0 and the Wolverines are headed into their bye week before a home tilt with Purdue next Saturday, Nov. 4. 

There are plenty of stories surrounding the Wolverines this season. Michigan is under two NCAA investigations. One of which dates back to 2020 when Jim Harbaugh and the Wolverines allegedly broke recruiting rules during the dead period, and the most recent, the Wolverines are under investigation for illegally stealing signs. 

But in this article, I'm going to strictly focus on the football side of things about Michigan. So what have we learned about the Wolverines in eight weeks?

Here they are.

1. Michigan is in the argument as being the No. 1 team in the nation

Not only are the Wolverines 8-0, ranked No. 2, but Michigan has looked as dominant as any team in the country. The Wolverines lead the entire country in scoring margin outscoring their opponents by a total of 325-47. 

The Wolverines have the top-ranked scoring defense in the nation allowing 5.9 points per game and no team has scored more than 10 points, which was Minnesota. 

While Michigan has one of the worst strengths of schedule -- ESPN says it has the 110th SOS -- the Wolverines have the No. 9 strength of record according to ESPN. Not only is the eye test apparent of how dominant the Wolverines have been, the numbers are starting to back up the Wolverines. 

2. The Wolverines could have a record number of draft picks in April

When a team is as dominant as Michigan, then that team probably has a ton of really good players, like the Wolverines do. Jim Harbaugh has been on record stating he thinks Michigan could have 20 guys drafted in April -- the record is 15 set by Georgia. 

The way things are playing out, Michigan should have at least 15 players drafted this spring. Just on the offensive line alone, Michigan could have six-to- seven guys drafted if they all choose to enter the draft, and that's not counting offensive players like J.J. McCarthy, Blake Corum, Roman Wilson, AJ Barner, Cornelius Johnson, and maybe Donovan Edwards if he would choose to declare. 

There's a plethora of players on the offense that could get drafted, and the Michigan defense is arguably the best in the country, so you can imagine how many draftees that side of the team could field. 

Obviously, a ton will be determined on which guys leave Ann Arbor and who decides to return. But the way things are shaping -- Michigan will hold another record come the end of April.

3. Michigan has the best TE duo in the nation

After Michigan lost both Erick All and Luke Schoonmaker, we knew Colston Loveland was in line for a big season, but I'm not sure how many fans knew what was in store for Indiana transfer AJ Barner. 

According to Pro Football Focus, Barner grades out as the No. 1 tight end in the entire country with an outstanding 93.0 offensive grade. Loveland is tied at 11th with a great 80.0 offensive grade. In PFF terms, an 80 or above grade is great and a 90 grade is outstanding. 

Barner is one of the best blockers in the nation and he's no slouch catching the ball either. Barner has been targeted 20 times, and caught 17 for 192 yards and a score. 

Loveland is the No. 4 receiving TE in the country grabbing 23 receptions for 364 yards and four scores. 

It always seems like Michigan has good tight ends, but I'm not sure the Wolverines have ever had a better duo at one time who is extremely versatile. 

4. J.J. McCarthy is the best QB in the Big Ten -- maybe the country

I'm not ready to stand on the hill saying McCarthy is the best in the country, he's in the argument, but there are some excellent QBs out there. But what I do know is McCarthy is the best QB in the Big Ten and I don't think it's particularly close. 

He is now the betting favorite to win the Heisman Trophy and he's doing some spectacular things and he doesn't even play in the fourth quarter. McCarthy has thrown four passes in eight games in the fourth quarter. Let me re-type that. McCarthy has thrown four passes in eight quarters during the fourth quarter -- crazy. 

According to PFF, McCarthy grades out as the No. 1 QB in the country with a 92.6 offensive grade. He's the second-most accurate QB in the country completing 78.1% of his passes and his second-best in the country with a 199.1 QB rating.

McCarthy has the third-most passing yards in the Big Ten with 1,799 and he's behind both Kyle McCord and Taulia Tagovailoa who both have played substantially more in the fourth than McCarthy. 

What J.J. has done so far this season has been a thing of beauty and how far he has come as a starting QB should be worrisome to the teams who are still on the schedule. 

5. The Michigan D-line depth is one-of-a-kind

The Wolverines currently have the No. 10 run defense allowing 85 yards per game on the ground, which is slightly inflated due to the Wolverines playing backups in almost every fourth quarter of play this season. 

We all knew the D-line was going to be one of the biggest strengths of the Michigan defense this season, but the depth the Wolverines have is unreal. 

Michigan rotates six interior linemen and four Edge rushers in every given game. The depth is unreal and the rest the players receive is paramount for later in the season. While teams like Penn State or Ohio State may be run down and here's Michigan coming into the ball game who rotates several players on the D-line and those players are well rested. 

Out of the six interior linemen, Jenkins leads them with 202 snaps on the season, and Cam Goode is sixth with 127 -- that's a nice, solid split from the other four. 

Even the Edge defenders, Jaylen Harrell has 225 snaps and Josaiah Stewart is in fourth with 152. Jesse Minter and Mike Elston do a great job of rotating these guys, and the best part is Michigan doesn't miss a beat while they rotate.