The 2024 Michigan football season is around the corner, and the Wolverines are gearing up for their national and Big Ten title defenses. With a new head coach, all new defensive coaching staff and 18 new starters, however it won't be an easy task.
So whowillbe leading the charge for the Wolverines this fall? As we do every summer, we break it down with our countdown of Michigan's 25 most important players. Combining staff votes and a fan ballot, we look at players whose position, proven roles, potential talent and lack of depth behind them make them most important to the Wolverines' success or failure this fall. We look back at their 2023 seasons, preview the 2024 season for each player and debate their spot in the ranking.
Previously:No. 25 Max Bredeson,No. 24 Fredrick Moore,No. 23 Dominic Zvada,No. 22 Rayshaun Benny, No. 21 Zeke Berry
No. 20 — Andrew Gentry
Basics
Position: Offensive line
Height: 6-foot-7
Weight: 327 pounds
Age: 22
Hometown:Littleton, Colorado
High School:Columbine
Recruiting: No.88 in the 2020 247Sports Composite, No. 8 offensive tackle
2023 recap
Playing behind one of the most experienced offensive lines in college football history, with more than 150 combined career starts on the linebefore last season began, Gentry spent the season as a backup lineman. He played in all 15 of the Wolverines' games, but only 51 of his 140 overall snaps came on offense. He played the fourth-most snaps at right guard (23), and the fifth-most snaps at left tackle (18), while also repping in at left guard and right tackle. Interestingly, he was the only Michigan lineman to log snaps at four different offensive line positions last fall.
2024 outlook
Though Michigan clearly likes Gentry's versatility, the redshirt sophomore (older because of a two-year mission trip after high school) has his eyes set on the Wolverines' starting job opening at right tackle. The former top-100 recruit has spent the last two years rebuilding his strength and conditioning after two years away from football, and now is in a battle with Jeffrey Persi, Evan Link and others for the coveted role. Michigan seems to have a few starting offensive linemen set in Myles Hinton, Giovanni El-Hadi, Greg Crippen and Josh Priebe, but Gentry has as much of a case to be that fifth starter as anyone.
If he doesn't win the job, it's likely that Gentry will be the first lineman in off the bench at multiple spots along the offensive line, similar to the role Karsen Barnhart played last season.
Why No. 20?
The Wolverines have plenty of size (Gentry, Persi and Link average 6-foot-7 and 321 pounds) and recruiting talent at the position, but are looking for a run-blocking force who also has the reach or foot quickness to hold up well in pass-protection. And at their ceilings, it's hard to imagine any right-tackle candidate can do that better than Gentry.
The former top-100 recruit way back in the class of 2020 wasknown out of high schoolfor his "broad shouldered frame" that carried 310 pounds with ease, how "impressively agile" he was and as a "top-notch run blocker." A two-year missionary trip put his football career on pause, and he has spent the last two years getting back into the swing of things on the football field. Now, with Michigan losing three offensive tackles to the NFL, Gentry has his moment to strike.
If he wins the job, he likely climbs a few spots on this list. But even before formally winning the job, most voters felt that Gentry's high ceiling, experience and size make him a player who could really help Michigan out with a strong breakout season.
From the fans
Fans were high on Gentry, voting him17th on their ballot.Roughly 15 percent of voters put Gentry in their top 10 and nearly a third put him in their top 15. He was also the top vote-getter at the No. 15 and No. 18 spots.
Quote
Michigan offensive line coach Grant Newsome: "He's done really, really well this spring. He's been a Swiss Army Knife for us in years past where he's backed up multiple spots. It's been awesome to see him be able to compete and I think the other thing for him now going into this third year in the program but taking that mission he was out of football for two years. It's been awesome to see that he's kind of got his strength back and I think he's able to compete at a high level. He's been playing well and we're excited to see how he and some of the other guys I mentioned before battle it out."
