One after one, balls would sail out of bounds. Handfuls of Michigan football personnel watching from the sidelines had to scurry out of the path of each punt heading their way.

At the Wolverines’ Spring Game in the middle of April, Michigan’s punting situation seemed almost comical.

“We didn’t have too many that landed in the white lines,” coach Rich Rodriguez said, “which is concerning.”

Rodriguez's best punter on the day might have been sophomore quarterback Tate Forcier — he attempted one punt from the crowd, which he did twice during the 2009 season. Both of his punts last season landed inside the 20-yard line, averaging 38 yards per punt. At the Spring Game, he booted one for 53 yards.

“He’s a pretty talented punter,” Rodriguez joked. “But I’d rather Tate work on some other things.”

All joking aside, the one key component missing in the spring was incoming freshman Will Hagerup. He is a three-star recruit, according to Rivals.com, and chose Michigan over seven other Big Ten schools, including Ohio State.

Hagerup stands at 6-foot-4 and that size could prove to help him get off to a good start. He shares the same physical stature as former punter Zoltan Mesko, who graduated in the spring.

Mesko, who ended his career as the Wolverines' all-time best punter, was 6-foot-5 himself, but he redshirted his freshman year, and that might not be a luxury that Hagerup will receive due to the lack of depth or experience at the position.

In Mesko’s redshirt freshman year though, he averaged over 41 yards per punt. By his fifth year, he had added just three yards onto that average. So, if Hagerup has the raw ability that Mesko did, he should start fast, just like his predecessor.

Jason Olesnavage, Michigan’s kicker last year, also graduated and those shoes might be harder to fill, just by the nature of the position. Redshirt sophomore Brendan Gibbons was the name that was mentioned most frequently in the spring surrounding the position. But he wasn’t the only one who had a crack at the job.

Wolverine soccer player and now football walk-on Justin Meram took a couple of field goal tries during the spring game. And redshirt junior Scott Schrimscher also could take the starting spot. But ultimately, expect Gibbons to eventually get the nod.

“We have a lot of question marks there,” Rodriguez said of his kickers and punters in the spring. “Obviously we have Will Hagerup coming in the fall. And he’s going to be a true freshman who’s going to try and prove himself.

“But there is some concern because we haven’t had anybody who’s really done it in a game.”

As for who will be returning punts and kickoffs for Michigan, redshirt freshman receiver Jeremy Gallon and redshirt sophomore receiver Terrence Robinson each took kicks during the spring game.

Rodriguez called Gallon the leading candidate to win the punt return job after the spring game had concluded.

“He’s a talented guy, you can move him around a little bit,” Rodriguez said. “And there’s no question he’ll be in the rotation (at receiver).”

Gallon and Robinson are both slot receivers in Rodriguez’s wide-open offense. Getting them more touches in the return game could yield bigger plays and more excitement in that facet of the game than any of the first two years under Rodriguez.

Redshirt junior receiver Kelvin Grady and sophomore receiver Je’Ron Stokes could also see time in the return game, especially on kickoffs. In the spring it seemed as if Rodriguez was still trying to mix and match guys in the return game. And in this offense, there's a strong number of speedy slot guys whose skills should translate well to kick and punt returns — but for the past two seasons that hasn’t been the case.

Any production in the return game would be a plus over what Michigan has received as of late.

Grade: C

Projected Starters:

Kicker: Brendan Gibbons
Punter: Will Hagerup
Returners: Jeremy Gallon, Terrence Robinson

Surprise Players: Justin Meram, Je’Ron Stokes