2021 Michigan football projections on the HG

Jake Wimberly

What’s to like:

Possible stability at the quarterback position; something that Jim Harbaugh has had a hard time finding in his time at Ann Arbor.

Cade McNamara was named the starter this spring by new quarterbacks coach Matt Weiss and the Wolverines like the QB room with five star JJ McCarthy.

The Wolverines need to get more out of the most important position in football.

Also, despite all the criticism, throw out 2020 and Michigan is still winning 9.4 games per year. The Wolverines recruit well and should stay in the BIG10 picture annually.

What’s not to like:

Defense; yes forget last year but this defense has gotten worse annually - giving up 34.5 points per game in the short season a year ago.

Michigan seems soft at times and really needs a reboot of sorts on the toughness aspect when it comes to actual football.

Also - Ohio State isn’t slowing down anytime soon. The Wolverines eight game losing streak to their biggest rival is starting to mirror the Tennessee - Alabama series and that doesn’t bode well for Jim Harbaugh.

He needs a win in the worst way against the Buckeyes in 2021.

What does the Hourglass Say?

2021 Michigan pick: 9-3; 5-3 - Third place finish in the BIG 10 East

Four-year analytic percentage on Michigan = 77 percent

2021 Michigan Analytics –

Hour Glass National Recruiting Ranking (three-year metric): 11th – Inside our Realistic College Football Championship bust line. Michigan has the talent on their roster to make the College Football Playoff, and possibly win the Championship.

National Coaching Jim Harbaugh on HG Scale: 10th (Harbaugh 2021 coaching value set at (15) – Average coaching value for 2021 set at 7.1. – Harbaugh is considered above average on our metric.

ODE Analytics – NOTE: ODE is our offensive and defensive scoring efficiency ranking for each team. We use a two-year evaluation of each program.

Michigan ranks 19th in the country in our 2021 ODE evaluation. Offensively they have a ranking of 16th in the country and defensively 24th in the country.

Quarterback Play: Michigan has the 35th best quarterback situation in the country going into the season. Their value is set at (7.6). Our national average for average quarterback play is 9.10. Michigan quarterback play is set just below average on our national scale.

Impact Ball Catcher Metric: Ranking the teams wide receiver play - and do they have quality, impact wide receivers. Michigan ranks 49th in the country.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

This is a pivotal year for Jim Harbaugh. He needs to show the program is going in the right direction , and he needs superb play at quarterback from Cade McNamara or someone else.

Michigan needs to win the games they should win, and be in the conversation late in November for the BIG 10 championship. The obvious is out there in front of everyone, as Harbaugh needs a win against Ohio State in the worst way.