Michigan Football: These are the positions Sherrone Moore and his team should target this offseason

There are three weeks left in the college football regular season, but the Michigan Wolverines are 5-5 and they will either Northwestern Wild Cats or the State of Ohio Buckeyes enter bowl eligibility a season removed from winning the National Championship.

With Playoff hopes gone, the Wolverines should (and will) shift their focus to next year's roster, contacting high school recruits and checking in on potential additions to the transfer portal.

The first transfer portal opens at the end of the regular season, the day after the College Football Playoff field and bowl games are announced. According to the NCAAthe portal will open on Monday December 9, 2024 and close on December 28.

There will then be a second 10-day period in April, from April 16, 2025 to April 25, 2025. The transfer portal will open for 30 days when a head coach leaves his program, allowing athletes to leave and decide their future. according to NCAA guidelines.

Michigan is currently projected to lose four starters in the first round of the NFL draftand it will most likely see more than half of the starters on both sides of the ball graduate/declare, such as four starting offensive linemen, both starting running backs, depth at wide receiver, two starting edge rushers, and both starting safeties.

The Wolverines have done a good job in recent years developing athletes within the program to fill starting roles, but sometimes you have to go out to be competitive.

Here are three positions Michigan should target in the transfer portal:

Quarterback:

The Wolverines had been fortunate to have two competent starting quarterbacks during their three-year playoff run in Cade McNamara and JJ McCarthy, but in 2024 Michigan has the worst Power 5 passing game in the country. Statistically, the Wolverines are the worst Power 5 school in terms of total pass yards, yards per attempt and yards per completion.

Head coach Sherrone Moore has thrown out Davis Warren, Jack Tuttle and Alex Orji to start games, but none have been able to lead a consistent offense. Moore decided not to sign a quarterback from the transfer portal heading into the season because he believed in his guys and it may have been too expensive, but priorities change.

Michigan will return Orji, Jayden Denegal and Jadyn Davis next season (barring one of them leaves through the transfer portal), but adding another guy to the room feels inevitable. Davis is redshirting this season, so it's unclear what he can bring to the offense, and four-star QB commit Carter Smith decommitted two weeks ago. There have been rumors of a strong financial push to acquire five-star-plus-QB prospect Bryce Underwood, but nothing has come of it yet.

With names like junior Miller Moss from USC, fifth-year senior Jacolby Criswell from North Carolina, 7th-year senior Cam Rising from Utah, sophomore Conner Weigman from Texas A&M and junior Haynes King out Georgia Tech, many productive names can step in and be an immediate starter for the Wolverines next season.

Wide Receiver:

It takes two players to produce air yards, and the wide receiver group has been inefficient all season. Entering the season, Tyler Morris and Semaj Morgan combined for 38 career receptions as the top two receivers. Ten games a year, Morgan leads the receiving room with 23 catches for 134 yards, Morris has 15 receptions for 170 yards and walk-on Peyton OLeary is next with six catches for 67 yards. These numbers are not enough to inspire confidence for next season. As for other options already on the team, 2024 four-star IMarion Stewart hasn't played in a game yet this year, but he caught 38 passes for 909 yards with nine touchdowns in his high school season. Additionally, Michigan received a commitment from 2025 four-star receiver Andrew Marsh. Marsh has more than 2,400 career receiving yards from Fulshear, Texas, and he adds value as a potential punt returner. Nevertheless, the Wolverines could still use a proven target for whoever leads the offense next season.

Four-star Texas wide receiver Johntay Cook II has already entered the portal, along with Indiana wideout EJ Williams. Keep an eye on future potential names.

Defensive back:

Michigan already had to replace two starting cornerbacks from the 2023 National Championship team, and it lost starting safety Rod Moore to an ACL tear before the season started, so Moore brought in former State of Michigan safety Jaden Mangham, former Tennessee safety Wesley Walker and FCS All-American Aamir Hall, who came to Ann Arbor from Albany.

Mangham and Walker are just returning to the field after dealing with injuries for part of the season, and Hall has played the team's No. 2 cornerback for most of the year, even playing like the best in the secondary match. Illinois with Will Johnson and Jyaire Hill out with injuries.

Going into 2025, the Wolverines will lose Johnson in the first round of the NFL Draft, Quinten Johnson, Makari Paige and Keshaun Harris will graduate, defensive backs JaDen McBurrows and Rod Moore could return on a medical redshirt, but it's unclear as of now, and Hall and Mangham are also no longer eligible.

Like the wide receivers, Michigan currently has three cornerback commits for 2025, all four stars. However, there are reports that Ivan Taylor has transferred from the Wolverines to Alabama, and Michigan rarely plays true freshmen in the secondary. Therefore, the Wolverines must look to secondary help to fill the voids left by the current roster.