myles sims

On the other hand we never got a picture of Sims. [Patrick Barron]

The dreaded #46 strikes again. After just one year on campus, Michigan's last precious 4-star underclassman cornerback is apparently leaving the program.

"Spider" ominously was not among the players practicing at last week's spring game. A week earlier he appeared in the open practice as rail thin as he was when he stepped on campus last year, and wearing the same high number Kareem Walker sported before his departure. That, along with a healthy Sims getting little mention as his wave of cornerbacks solidified into a depth chart, presaged a departure from the second-highest-rated member of Michigan's 2018 class.

Sims arrived last spring as the only four-star among a class of five spindly defensive backs over 6'2". The Georgia prospect was considered an especially nice get for Michigan after UGA quite blatantly bought off their top Georgia prospect Otis Reese. After a year behind David Long, Lavert Hill, and Brandon Watson, Sims was widely expected to compete for a big role in the cornerback rotation, with only Ambry Thomas more likely to secure a job. The departures of Watson (graduated) and Long (early NFL) opened up a quasi starting position with Ambry moving up to full-time starter, and the medical retirement this spring of 2017 long & lean archetype Benjamin St-Juste meant someone from Sims's class was going to get on the field a lot this year.

That guy appears to be Vincent Gray, the class afterthought offered after Michigan whiffed on several of their top targets. Preferred walk-on Hunter Reynolds, a redshirt sophomore, and Sims's classmate Gemon Green were the other two corners making moves in spring. Early enrollee Jalen Perry, recently converted safety Jaylen Kelly-Powell, and incoming prospect DJ Turner are also in the mix.

Entering the transfer portal doesn't mean Sims is 100% out of it, but the expectation is he's gone.

[Bryan Fuller]

So how is it replacing David Long?

“David Long, tough player to replace.”

Don said coming in that he was sort of worried about where the secondary would be but then Ambry [Thomas] came along—

“Ambry’s come along, Vincent Gray’s come along, Jaylen Kelly-Powell’s come along. You can’t count out Gemon Green. So, we’ve got some—guys have been working extremely hard and doing really well and then, you know, we’ve got DJ coming in this summer, so it’ll be interesting.”

MGoLOLThoughtIWasTheOnlyOneWhoWouldAskAboutGrayAndI’dSlowPlayItAllCoolButLookTheThirdQuestionIs What’s different about Vincent this year from last year?

“He’s just comfortable. He’s very comfortable. He’s a very naturally talented, gifted guy. So he knows the system now and now he’s just going out there and playing, he’s not thinking. It’s really a beautiful thing.”

Does the new offense give more of a challenge for your guys?

“Yeah, it’s great for us, really. The RPO deal, we love it. You’ve just got to be very disciplined on the backend. The linebackers got to be disciplined. I think it’s gonna help us tremendously going forward for sure.”

Has anything surprised you about the group so far?

“Well, I guess you could say I’m pleasantly happy that Vincent has come along, that Jaylen Kelly-Powell has come along, and that Ambry is just—the sky’s limit with that guy. He’s really had a great spring, so happy for those guys and certainly happy for us as a defense that they’re playing well.”

Where has Ambry made the most improvement from this time last year?

“Well, I think in his technique, in places at the line of scrimmage, and the fact that he knows that he has an opportunity to start, he’s really embraced that role and he’s becoming a leader. He’s becoming a leader in our room. He’s been great all around.”

Does it sometimes hold someone back when they know it’s going to be tough to break into that group? Like last year Ambry clearly wasn’t going to be a starter.

“Right. Well now, see, that’s the great thing about it: they see that there’s light, they see that there’s a opportunity, they see that there’s competition for the other spots that are open so I think it’s helped everybody along the way get better. Definitely.”

[After THE JUMP: on Lavert, who's at nickel, the act of enrolling early, and the Ohio State game]

Let's get excited about nothing!

It's part of the tradition around here to pore over the new rosters when they come out, but the rosters have been so devoid of new information lately that I didn't even bother until today, when we're starved for content and Brian used up all the football bits between open practice and UV. The new rosters don't have any updated weights (or heights) so we can't even obsess over who's a faster/more agile version of himself versus who packed on a bunch of muscle without losing any of that speed or agility (there is no other kind of weight change).

What we're left with: Who's here, who's not here, and what numbers are they wearing. I mean it's this or you can hear Jay Harbaugh talk about the running backs he doesn't have. Right.

Early Enrollee Numbers

QB Cade McNamara: #12. This number has been cursed ever since people starting buying it thinking it was Tom Brady's number in college (he wore #10). Brandon Williams and I are going to turn 40 this year, and he's the last guy to don #12 as a freshman and wear it at Michigan until his eligibility ran out. Josh Ross is working on it. Matt Gutierrez transferred after Henne Pipp'd him. David the Notorious C.O.N.E. left early. JT Floyd switched to 8. Roy Roundtree switched to 21. Devin Gardner was already disqualified for wearing 7 but still took 98. Allen Gant grad transferred. Alex Malzone didn't happen. It even clipped Chris friggin' Evans! Verdict: What are you doing Cade? Do you even read MGoBlog?

RB Zach Charbonnet: #24. The Butch Woolfolk number. Gil Chapman, Mad Magicians quarterback (and OSU transfer) Howard Yerges, and MGoBlog-aware person Jerome Jackson also wore it. Verdict: Make it yours!

Slot Mike Sainristil: #19. Of the few slots to remind us of, Kelvin Grady was both the most underrated, and the least likely. Obviously Ron Bellamy is the first and only receiver to come to mind—it's more of a kicker digit here. But I like it for Sweetness—figures an exciting slot bug from the Boston area would be the guy pulling Dark Tower references. Verdict: Sweetness.

TE Erick All: #83. We just sent Gentry to the NFL. Bennie Joppru is the other TE modern Michigan fans might associate with it, but for a long time in the middle 20th century this was THE number for Michigan ends, the way Louis was the name for French kings, or how a Pope who ascends to the holy see right before a massive plague wipes out a significant portion of Europe always takes the name Urban. Verdict: Probably not a '50s reference, so he'd better be Ent-like.

DT Mazi Smith: #58. We've already got a #58 DT in Paea so somebody is changing numbers if they haven't already. The precedent here is tiny 1970s middle guard Jim Humphries of the late 1970s, and tiny nose tackle of the late '90s Rob Renes, who like Mazi is from Western Michigan and probably the inspiration. Verdict: Renes reference; good sign.

DE David Ojabo: #71. The only starting DE (well, DT but that was a DE back then) I can name who wore #71 was John Hennessee of the middle 1970s. Usually it's the guys opposite an Ojabo wearing #71. I like it. I like it when guys take walk-on-ish numbers and become The Guy you think of for that number at that position. Often, however, they're just doing so while waiting for the low number they wanted. Verdict: Hope Ojabo keeps 71 because from the open practice he looks like an early contributor and a possible long-term anchor.

DE Gabe Newburg: #99. The contrast with Ojabo is almost as sharp as that in this photo of them that I got off Rivals:

image

Newburg chose the number that your videogame will automatically assign to whatever freshman DE you brought in. It's the most  "Oh, okay, you're a DE we want to bulk up to a DT" number. Matt Godin. Adam Patterson. Jake Frysinger. Damon Denson before his move to OL. Back in Bo's day it was the number for DEs who got called "OLB" on the roster because that sounds cooler: Dominic Tedesco, Carlos Bostic, Bob Thompson, Randy Stark. Pierre Woods was a throwback to that. Verdict: Generic Defensive End Number 1, the Penn State of number choices.

CB Jalen Perry: #3. He's nowhere as tall as Marlin Jackson so I'm going to choose to believe this is a reference to Todd Howard. But if it's not Todd, he could be referencing Marion "The Body" Body. Tripp Welborne and Shonte Peoples aren't bad references if you're expanding to free safety. I'm just glad this didn't go to a Viper, because #3 was popular with the Rich Rod-era spurs. Verdict: Probably just wanted the low number.

[After THE JUMP: new positions for fullbacks and walk-ons, other number changes, departures, more walk-ons]