The Michigan Insider

In this episode, we preview Michigan's Week Two matchup against Army.

First, we break down why there is fear over the Wolverines' matchup with a service academy, what makes Army's triple-option, possession-based football so tricky to face and how possible the Black Knights are at pulling off the upset. We then break down how Michigan can counter what Army does offensively, how the Wolverines' coaching staff is more equipped than most to handle Army's offense as well as which defensive players might give Michigan some trouble.

We then spend the second half of our show playing over-under, looking at how Michigan's running backs, receivers, tight ends, quarterbacks, offensive linemen, linebackers, defensive linemen, kickers and overall defense will do. We also offer our formal score prediction for the matchup and our rationale for why the game might not be as scary as some fans think.

In this episode, we go in-depth with our thoughts on the Michigan football team’s season-opening win over Middle Tennessee, looking at two standout players, four lasting observations and answering seven listener questions.

In delivering our game balls, we break down the play of Michigan’s top offensive and defensive player, while also looking at three other candidates who stood out.

When looking at our observations, we first take a peek at Michigan’s secondary and running backs corps, and how they may not be the issue areas many thought before the season. We also dissect how concerning some of the Wolverines’ offensive miscues are in the long run, some potential red flags from the offensive line and more.

We close the show answering questions about mesh points, surprising impact players, Lavert Hill returning punts, Michigan’s injuries, power-run games and players we didn’t see a lot from.

In our first game preview episode of the season, we take a look at the Michigan football team's matchup against Middle Tennessee.

Given that the Wolverines are heavily favored to beat the Blue Raiders, our five things to watch for are Michigan-specific. First, we discuss how the offense could look and what our approach would be to unveiling the Wolverines' new offense. We also take a look at new starters, and which ones we're the most intrigued to see what they can do.

We then look at Michigan's new defense, and how the Wolverines will be challenged by the Blue Raiders' offense. We look at the pass rush and secondary, and what counts as a victory on Saturday beyond a win. Our final thing to watch includes a look at how we would handle Michigan's freshmen and reserve players and when we would let them take the game over.

Finally, we close with an over-under game about Saturday's matchup and make our predictions for the game.

In our third annual all-prediction special, Lorenz and Shaw make 40 predictions for the 2019 season about Michigan, its schedule and the 2019 season nationally.First, we look at the Wolverines’ season, predicting who we think will be the team’s leading rusher, leading receiver, leading tackle-for-loss man, who scores the most total touchdown. We also make our predictions for the breakout player, team MVP and top freshmen on both offense and defense. We call our shot on first-team All-Big Ten players, what Michigan's biggest strength and weaknesses will be this season and whether the Wolverines will average 40 points per game and allow 20 points or less per game.Then, we go game-by-game, predicting how well Michigan will do in its 12 regular-season games and where the Wolverines might slip up. We also pick division winners of every Power-Five conference, each conference champion, our Heisman winner and who we expect to play in the College Football Playoff and win the national title.

Opening the Michigan football team's first game week of the season, we look at Jim Harbaugh's Monday press conference as well as some of our biggest takeaways from fall camp.

We begin by looking at redshirt sophomore right tackle Andrew Stueber's season-ending ACL injury, what it means for the Wolverines' offensive line and where Michigan goes from there. We also discuss Harbaugh announcing that Michigan doesn't have a No. 1 running back, his glowing comments about a number of true freshmen and other key notes.

The second half of our show is devoted to fall camp takeaways, including our thoughts on the 2019 class, the Wolverines' linebackers, Michigan's new-look offense and more.

Continuing our fall camp coverage, we open our show with listener questions about the team, then break down our top five freshmen through three weeks of fall camp.

Our questions begin around the team, as we address inquiries on Zach Charbonnet, running back depth, potential additions to the running backs room, receiver depth down the road, defensive backfield depth now, Michigan's new captains and even top tailgating spots in Ann Arbor on game days.

Then, we close the show, looking at the five best freshmen on the team. Some of our ranking has to do with previously held beliefs, but much of it surrounds fall camp risers and newcomers immediately competing for jobs on both offense and defense.

Steve Lorenz of 247Sports breaks down some fall camp standouts for Michigan and touches on the Andrew Stueber injury along with a few recruiting notes and a quick thought on the James Hudson/Jim Harbaugh situation.

After waiting to hear from Michigan assistants about the first week of fall camp, Lorenz and Shaw do a quasi-preview of the Wolverines' month by breaking down eight questions related to Michigan.

First, they look at the Wolverines' potentially precarious running backs situation, respond to Josh Gattis' comments and what to make of Michigan's running backs depth. Then, they proceed to the Wolverines' next-most discussed potential weakness, exploring why Michigan's defensive line might be halfway to the level it wants to be at this season.

With those questions handled, the two look at potential bounce-back seasons for a couple of seniors who had down junior years, look at which freshmen could burn their redshirts and how Michigan might approach having so much depth at the skill positions.

Following those three questions, the duo break down the Wolverines' cornerback depth (or lack thereof), the last time Michigan's offensive line was this good and what to make of a few special teams battles brewing.

Reviewing Michigan's appearance at Big Ten Media Days in Chicago, we try to group a number of going-ons into five major categories.

First, we look at the national media's ability to blow Jim Harbaugh's comments out of proportion. Though we also discuss some of Harbaugh's shortcomings when tiptoeing a little too close to James Hudson's transfer case, we look into Harbaugh's platform, and what to make of the media storm surrounding his comments on Hudson and Urban Meyer.

Next, we focus on the team, and how Michigan handled the new component of being the top dog at Big Ten Media Days. We look a little into the Wolverines' seeming reserved confidence, and opine on the media's choice to pick Michigan as the Big Ten favorites.

Our next two takeaways draw upon two impressions the team offered while attending the event. First, we review Michigan's exceptional depth, which we argue is the Wolverines' best since in at least 15 years. Then, we look at how Michigan has taken increased pride in its offseason development program, and what it means for the team.

Finally, we look at the Michigan-Ohio State dynamic, how it might change or stay the same after hearing from Ryan Day, what both players' takes on the rivalry are and what it means for the Wolverines to "embrace the suck."

In a solo episode from Zach Shaw, he previews his coverage at Big Ten Media Days, outlining 10 things that he's watching at the annual event in Chicago.

First, he looks at five non-Michigan things that he's watching, previewing what he is expecting to see from new Ohio State head coach Ryan Day and his thoughts on the rivalry and taking over a storied program. He also previews one of Jim Delany's final appearances as Big Ten commissioner, briefly looking back at Delany's tenure and what to make of it. 

He also previews a likely major discussion point, at how the Big Ten approaches its lack of recent playoff success, and what realignment or playoff expansion could do. Shaw also discusses what appears to be a culture change among Big Ten coaches, and previews what the impression of the apparently league favorite Wolverines might be among players, coaches and other media members.

Then, Shaw switches to Michigan-centric topics, looking at what Jim Harbaugh might have to say, some of the position battles and players to keep an eye on and other stories he'll be looking for while in Chicago.