3 spring Michigan positioning struggles, told through WrestleMania battles

The Michigan Wolverines are getting closer to the spring game, and as fans, we’re getting closer to finding answers to some positional problems.

Will Sherrone Moore, the head coach, continue look to the doorway after April 20? Is there an unexpected climber within the roster? Which freshman have made the greatest strides? Could Henry “Downhill” Donohue wake up, glance in the mirror, exclaim, “Hell yeah, it’s Henry time!” and run for 150 yards?

After the spring game, coaches will no longer be able to hide behind exaggeration — consider all of the claims made about Amorion Walker before Peyton O’Leary sent him to the torture chamber last season — and the starting lineup for Team 145 will begin to take shape.

Let’s look at three important positional fights for the Wolverines, but we’ll approach it a little differently. In anticipation of WrestleMania this weekend, let’s take a look at these battles through a WWE lens. How would these three positional battles look on a WrestleMania card?

LT and RT

Tag team Championship Match: Myles Hinton/Connor Jones vs. Jeff Persi/Andrew Gentry

The interior of Michigan’s offensive line appears set, with Giovanni El-Hadi, Greg Crippen, and Josh Priebe in the center, but the battle on the edges is a toss-up, with four credible contenders in the running.

Jon Jansen has hinted on multiple occasions on the In the Trenches podcast that Myles Hinton and Connor Jones are leading the way at left and right tackle, respectively. However, fans recall some of Hinton’s problems at right tackle last season, while Jones has appeared in only two games along the offensive line.

Jeff Persi will compete for one of the starting positions and has starting experience at left tackle (Rutgers 2022), while Andrew Gentry is a huge wild card at 6-foot-7 and has appeared in nine games along the offensive line as a guard and tackle.

This match would be similar to having solid, yet unproven champions who have been anointed by the authority going up against a wily vet and dynamic big man who could use some refinement on the mic.

CB-2

InterContinental Championship Ladder Match: Keshaun Harris vs. Brandyn Hillman vs. Jyaire Hill vs. D.J. Waller vs. Zeke Berry

For those unfamiliar or with girlfriends, the InterContinental (I.C.) Championship belt is sometimes used to crown a rising star in the corporation. A wrestler who isn’t the main event but is a great worker and is moving up the established hierarchy.

With Rod Moore’s departure, defensive coordinator Wink Martindale will have to shuffle the deck at two positions. The general consensus entering the spring was that Moore would move to nickel, akin to Dax Hill in 2021, leaving Quentin Johnson and Makari Paige to hold the safety positions while Martindale looked for a boundary corner.

For the purpose of argument, let us assume Ja’Den McBurrows has taken over the nickel position and the outside struggle is still going on. With so many names in the mix, it only seems sense to hold a ladder match to crown the emerging star next to Will Johnson.

Keshaun Harris appears to be the frontrunner, the cunning veteran who possesses all of the necessary characteristics but has yet to bring them all together. Brandyn Hillman, Jyaire Hill, and D.J. Waller are all interesting young players with unique skills, but are any of them ready for a role like this as true sophomores? Finally, Zeke Berry, who is better suited to a nickel or safety position, is a talented athlete who should not be overlooked.

Harris feels like the guy to climb the ladder, but there is always the possibility McBurrows kicks outside and a different battle takes place for nickel.

“BY GOD IS THAT JA’DEN’S MUSIC?!”

QB-1

Fatal Fourway for the Universal Championship: Jack Tuttle vs. Alex Orji vs. Jayden Denegal vs. Jadyn Davis

What other war could this be? It’s a cop-out to have a multi-man main event for a title, but so what? There are four leading contenders, and each has an equal chance of starting in the autumn.

This is the single most critical struggle for any college football team with national title aspirations — and with this outstanding defense, this team does — and winning this job quickly elevates you to the team’s face. As with the Universal Championship, someone becomes the company’s face.

Jack Tuttle is the journeyman who was given a shot once, but the circumstances did not go well for him. Alex Orji is the uber-athlete who can achieve things no other contestant can, but he struggles with the basics. Jayden Denegal is a well-rounded option who may simply be lacking the “it” factor, whereas Jadyn Davis have “it,” but it remains to be seen whether starting as a freshman will be too much for him.

Is it time for Tuttle to finish his story, or is Davis — like a fast-rising NXT product — simply undeniable? On April 20, we’ll find out who sits at the head of the table.