ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Kyle Whittingham isn’t a big depth-chart guy. Which is more proof that he’ll fit right in at Michigan.“I hate depth charts,” Whittingham said during preseason camp. “It’s a pain in the rear.”No. 16 Michigan will not release a two-deep before the Wolverines open their season Saturday against Western Michigan (7:30 p.m., NBC), but Whittingham’s first game-week news conference Monday confirmed a few themes that emerged during camp. Jobs that were up for grabs at linebacker, offensive line, wide receiver and backup quarterback appear to have answers, at least for Week 1.Here are five thoughts on Michigan’s projected two-deep now that game week has arrived.Carr is QB2Whittingham avoided definitive statements at most positions, but he made an exception in naming freshman Tommy Carr as Michigan’s backup quarterback behind starter Bryce Underwood.The outcome wasn’t a surprise based on the totality of the competition, but it’s still worth acknowledging how far Carr has come. The grandson of former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr and the brother of Notre Dame QB CJ Carr was a three-star recruit who flipped from Miami (Ohio) to Michigan shortly before signing day. The notion that he would be one play away from starting at Michigan as a freshman wasn’t much of a consideration at the time.Carr beat out Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi, a fifth-year player who threw for 38 touchdowns and nearly 7,000 yards across four seasons at Colorado State. Fowler-Nicolosi has more experience and the bigger arm, but Carr took hold of the backup job in the spring and didn’t let it go after Fowler-Nicolosi joined the competition in preseason camp.“Tommy, having all those reps he got in the spring, being comfortable in the offense, is a step ahead in that aspect,” quarterbacks coach Koy Detmer Jr. said last week.Midway through camp, coaches indicated Fowler-Nicolosi had made up enough ground to pull even in the competition. It bodes well for Carr’s future that he held off a challenge from a more experienced player.“Tommy, he has some savviness about him where he’s just out there playing ball,” Detmer said.Channing Goodwin will probably be the third receiver for Michigan behind Andrew Marsh and JJ Buchanan. (Michael Hirschuber / Getty Images)Goodwin emerges as WR3Andrew Marsh and JJ Buchanan are going to be on the field for about 90 percent of Michigan’s snaps, Whittingham said. There’s a gap between Michigan’s top two wide receivers and everyone else, but Channing Goodwin has emerged from the crowd as a third option.“Channing is a guy that really came into his own this fall and is going to be a factor for us,” Whittingham said.Goodwin had a strong preseason camp last year and won a starting job before struggling with drops and injuries. He missed all of the spring while recovering from shoulder surgery and needed to impress Michigan’s new coaching staff in camp.Michigan remade its receiving corps in the offseason with the arrivals of Buchanan, Texas transfer Jaime Ffrench and freshmen Salesi Moa and Travis Johnson. Goodwin will have to back up what he did in camp on game day, but Michigan’s missing piece might have been on the roster all along.“I was always confident and had faith that I was going to be fine once I got back and fully healed up,” Goodwin said.Starting O-line is decidedTackle Andrew Babalola is dealing with an injury that sidelined him in camp and won’t play Saturday, Whittingham said. That means Michigan will have to wait at least another week for the debut of the five-star prospect who missed all of last season with a knee injury.Even if Babalola had been fully healthy, unseating Blake Frazier as the starting left tackle wouldn’t have been easy. There isn’t much drama at tackle with Frazier and Andrew Sprague, or at center with Jake Guarnera. Guard is more interesting, with three players — Evan Link, Nathan Efobi and Brady Norton — battling for two spots.Whittingham said he knows who the starters are but declined to name them. The best guess is Link at left guard and Efobi, who started five games last season, at right guard. That would leave Norton as a swing player who can play guard or tackle, though it won’t be a surprise to see some mixing and matching Saturday.“We feel good about (the guards),” Whittingham said. “We feel good about the whole front, for that matter. We’ve made a lot of progress.”Linebacking corps takes shapeMidway through camp, defensive coordinator Jay Hill was looking for players to seize starting jobs at linebacker. Troy Bowles, Nathaniel Staehling and Chase Taylor answered the call, with Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng not far behind.Staehling was a productive player at North Dakota State, and his performance in camp wasn’t exactly a surprise. Michigan needed to see him up close after he missed spring practice while recovering from shoulder surgery.“As soon as I had that first practice, I was like, ‘Oh, it’s just football,’” said Staehling, who had 75 tackles and three interceptions last year for the Bison. “I’m stout. I can handle myself.”At 241 pounds, Staehling has the size and strength to hold up in the Big Ten. Bowles is a bit rangier and showed his athleticism in a limited role last year. The two second-year players, Taylor and Owusu-Boateng, are battling for the remaining snaps, with Taylor getting the first mention from Whittingham on Monday.“Chase Taylor is functioning like a big-time linebacker,” Whittingham said.Marshall is in the DE rotationWhittingham shed some light on the lack of spring buzz surrounding Nate Marshall, a top-50 prospect in the Class of 2025. Without delving into specifics, Whittingham said he wasn’t happy with some of Marshall’s off-field decisions in the spring. Since then, Whittingham said, Marshall has grown in numerous areas and positioned himself to be a major contributor.“His maturity level, his decision-making, how he carries himself, his work habits, his ability to stay in control and not be a loose cannon (have improved),” Whittingham said. “He’s a very emotional guy, but (he needed to) really harness that and become a really good teammate. He’s to be commended because the first few months were kind of rocky with Nate.”Utah transfer John Henry Daley is healthy, Whittingham said, and should lock down one defensive end spot. Cam Brandt and Dominic Nichols project as the next two players in the rotation, though Marshall could be a wild card. Michigan has other defensive ends battling for snaps in Benny Patterson, Lugard Edokpayi and freshmen Carter Meadows and Tariq Boney.“It’s going to be hard getting all those guys reps,” Whittingham said. “We’ve got so many guys that are really good players.