For starters, the program did lose seven starters to the NFL Draft, including the 1st overall pick in the draft, Left Tackle Jake Long (Dolphins). The offense alone lost four significantly valuable starters at basically every position. Most notable was the loss of quarterback, Chad Henne (Dolphins) who is Michigan's all-time career leader in passing yards who would normally need to be protected by, umm, oh yea, #1 draft pick, Jake Long. Long needs to open up holes for, ummmm, o yea, Mike Hart (Colts), also known as Michigan's all time-time career leader in rushing yards. Let's not forget that there's a position that needs to catch the ball. We had someone there too. What was his name again? Man, oh yea, Manningham (Giants). With losses that hold that much substance, its any wonder why the 2008 Wolverines looked like a freshman high school team at times with only a few true freshman starting on the offensive side of the ball.
However, now that Rich Rodriguez entering his second season, and the first official off season with the program, he has the opportunity to redeem himself and be in a position to bring in his own recruiting class. A chance to prove hiring him was not the biggest mistake in the program's history unlike scheduling to play the mighty Appalachian State Mountaineers on opening day of 2007, a game Michigan just knew it would lose. While his spread offense looked like poetry in motion at WVA it looked nothing short of pathetic at Michigan. There were signs of explosiveness but they were few and far in between as well as extremely inconsistent. A fresh start next year and pride on the line for this historic program, look for Michigan to bounce back to its notoriously competitive self and show why their program reached the heights that it has over the past century.
