football

I've twice posted spreadsheets with information on UM and the NFL draft. I decided to do it at least once more this year.

In 2012 I looked at four-year intervals; this year I extended them to five years. My thinking: In any year the team could have players from five classes playing ... true freshmen up through 5th-year seniors. Here are the extremes that are captured in the most recent five-year interval:

* 2004 recruits who played a fifth year, like Morgan Trent ('09 draft)
* 2009 recruits who did not redshirt, like Denard ('13 draft)

So, part of the '04 class, part of the '09 class, and everything between them ...

In the most recent ('09 to '13) five-year interval, UM had twelve picks. That's the lowest number since '83 to '87 (also twelve). No other interval was worse in the modern era.

Taking a closer look at the high (rounds one to three) end, there were three such picks from '09 to '13. This has never happened in the modern era. In all other five-year intervals there were at least _twice_ that many. The '07 and '06 drafts (four apiece) had more high-end picks in single years.

Details: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0AkEbjH02DNzxdFlsWW4zWEZxSU9...

At least by one measure (a decent one, I think), the "program" has clearly been lacking NFL talent (especially at the upper end). It will be interesting to see what happens in '14 and beyond. Needless to say, a couple of lean recruiting years ('10 and '11) might not bring high numbers. '09 looks a little better.

Etc.:

- Data is from CBS Sportsline.
- Next to the first draftee for each year you'll see four columns: * Total number of picks for that year. * Total number of picks for that year and the five prior years. * Total number of "high" picks for that year. * Total number of "high" picks for that year and the five prior years.
- Because the draft is currently seven rounds, I ignored all picks past that round in old drafts.
- I did not account for expansion (Bucs and Seahawks in the mid-'70s, Panthers and Jags sometime after that), so the numbers from (say) the early '70s, which are already impressive, should be considered in that light. (Being drafted in the first round with fewer teams is a rarer achievement.)
- For obvious reasons, I didn't count Ryan Mallett (a "high" pick), Toney Clemons (7th-rounder), or Mike Cox (ditto) in the recent years.

I think these are dumb, but I cannot stand to see us lose, even in a poll about who has the best helmet in the B1G. Michigan is the #1 seed going against Nebraska in the second round.

http://btn.com/2013/05/18/2013-big-ten-helmet-bracket-round-2/ 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgLP7CjMNEo

No, not Florida State, Jack.  Marvin will be taking his talents to Big Rapids.  Another one for Tony & the boys.  Good Luck @ Ferris State Marvin!

No, this is not from the Onion:

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/9287952/eastern-michigan-...

Looks like he just committed to ND.

https://twitter.com/Alex_Bars70