CSD Mag Teaser: Michigan to take a step back in 2017?

Michigan returns only five starters from last year’s top ten team that earned a New Year’s Six bowl bid. Five starters. That’s the lowest in the country. Now, Jim Harbaugh has recruited at an extremely high level over the past couple of years, but to replace the type of talent that the Wolverines lost to the draft last year is just not possible. Jake Butt, Jourdan Lewis, Taco Charlton, and Jabrill Peppers all are gone along with the entire secondary, the entire receiving core, and the entire special teams unit. I just don’t have the confidence in a team full of freshman, even if they are blue chips. Wilton Speight will have almost no familiar targets, and the running back situation is iffy, I see Michigan taking a small step back in 2017, probably finishing around the 8 or 9 win mark, but don’t worry Michigan fans, a young team winning 8 or 9 games means a national title contender in a year or two.