Exit Dylan McCaffrey, Nico Collins
Nico Collins is out:
SI's Albert Breer reports that Michigan receiver Nico Collins has signed with NFL super-agent Drew Rosenhaus.
— Aaron McMann (@AaronMcMann) September 16, 2020
It appears Collins has played his last game in Ann Arbor. https://t.co/pRcKNkh76w
This is extremely bad news, but at least you don't have to see me tweet THROW IT TO NICO 500 times this November.
Dylan McCaffrey is out:
Confirmed with a source that Michigan quarterback Dylan McCaffrey is opting out and seeking a transfer. He'll have two years of eligibility remaining.
— Tom VanHaaren (@TomVH) September 16, 2020
Whether this is regular bad news or extremely bad news will become clear over the course of the season. Losing McCaffrey means the QB depth chart is Joe Milton, now the presumed starter, Cade McNamara, and a true freshman Michigan picked up in a late scramble after JD Johnson was forced to medically retire.
Milton is acquiring a lot of offseason hype; this could be an indicator he has improved vastly over the past couple years and McCaffrey didn't want to stick around. That's the optimistic take. The less optimistic take is that McCaffrey left for whatever reason and now Milton is being handed the job more or less by default.
There is no content after the jump.
September 16th, 2020 at 3:52 PM ^
If the season actually happens we are just going to have to treat it like an extended spring practice for 2021 because unfortunately having any expectations with this much turnover is not realistic. Figures we get football, but it will probably not be pretty.
September 16th, 2020 at 4:43 PM ^
The web administrator should auto post this below every post that gets made with "F*** Harbaugh" this year. Any expectations for something better than 4-4 are probably unrealistic.
September 16th, 2020 at 5:06 PM ^
Fuck Lansing!
September 16th, 2020 at 5:32 PM ^
Yeah, losing three potential first round picks (so far) and your backup (assuming that’s why McCaffrey is leaving) during a pandemic that can knock any number of your players out for a few weeks at a time isn’t a situation where having any sort of expectations is rational.
September 16th, 2020 at 8:46 PM ^
Stuck in Lansing? Suck in Lansing? I don't have any problem with bitching about Harbaugh. It's been "tough sledding" if I may. 4-4....at what? His winning percentage is not exactly Lloyd Carr-ish because Lloyd would beat Ohio occasionally. At the same time Jim has nothing to hang his head about. Whether or not Michigan is better off with Jim or anyone else (held to UM standards) could be debated till Covid's gone. Go Blue
September 17th, 2020 at 6:11 AM ^
Let’s be fair here. Lloyd also had the luxury of playing a few “bad” (by today’s standards) OSU teams. Lloyd coaches against four OSU teams that finished with 3 or more losses. Harbaugh has yet to go up against an OSU team that didn’t finish in the top 10.
Lloyd had some bad losses in his tenure. Harbaugh really hasn’t. They’ve just struggled with high quality opponents on the road. Lloyd also had an awful lot of 3+ loss seasons (a knock on Harbaugh) but with worse losses and the luxury of playing some human OSU teams.
Lloyd would pull an 0fer against these OSU teams as well. Comparing apples to oranges isn’t really a rational way of looking at this. Harbaugh has returned Michigan to Carr-like levels. The biggest difference is that you can’t win the B1G with 3 losses anymore (Carr had 3 losses in 4 of his 5 conference title seasons) and that OSU is on an other-worldly level right now.
September 17th, 2020 at 9:45 AM ^
This osu run is truly impressive. They've gone 8 seasons in a row with no more than 2 losses (including the now vacated 2012 season). Alabama's recent run of 2 or fewer losses goes back 9 straight seasons to 2011.
Since Carr took over in 95, Michigan has had just 4 seasons with 2 or fewer losses. The last time Michigan had a similar streak was 1970-79.
As much as it pains me to point out, msu has had 5 such seasons since Saban took over in 95, with 4 of those seasons coming under dantonio. On the other hand, since Harbaugh took over, msu has averaged 6 losses per season and dantonio was driven out under a cloud of controversy, only to be replaced by... some guy.
September 17th, 2020 at 11:05 AM ^
The fact that OSU doesn't have more National Championships than one to their name during this run is the only black mark on their record....because they really should've won more. The Buckeyes have been truly impressive the past decade.
September 16th, 2020 at 5:50 PM ^
This will be the first time with Harbaugh going into fall camp with basically a de facto QB1. Maybe they will actually know what the fuck they are doing on offense for the first half of the year since...2016? Offense was awful all of 2017 (although injuries didn't help), 2018 we basically had zero passing game and 2019 we had no identity until mid season.
You can preach competition all you want, but I doubt that guys like Mayfield, Rattler, Lawrence, Fields and other obvious starters are "fighting for their job" and sharing a ton of snaps with the 1's with the backups.
You're the man now, Joe.
September 16th, 2020 at 7:17 PM ^
Wasn’t Shea the de facto QB1 going into last season?
September 16th, 2020 at 7:44 PM ^
And Speight in 2017.
September 16th, 2020 at 8:11 PM ^
I'll give you Speight in 2017. That was more the Jedd to Pep that seemed to bog down everything, on top of losing basically all WR production from 2016.
September 16th, 2020 at 8:13 PM ^
No, he wasn't. Don't you remember all the 1A/1B talk and how they were going to play them both at the same time? Lots of talk about how Dylan was going to see "significant playing time." So maybe that was all BS and Shea was QB1 and there was zero chance of losing the job, but that wasn't how it was portrayed in camp.
September 17th, 2020 at 1:54 AM ^
Going to be like most seasons. We lose in a blow out or soul crushing fashion to OSU, we lose one other game, we win the rest. Can we play OSU first and get that crap out of the way?
September 16th, 2020 at 3:53 PM ^
Just more evidence that this is a total clusterfuck and the season will be stupid and annoying whenever it starts.
September 16th, 2020 at 7:00 PM ^
We can only hope that it’s chaos for everybody out there. Yes, Ohio State will be in a better position than anybody else in the conference because they have more talent to start with.
But a man can dream, can’t he?
September 16th, 2020 at 3:53 PM ^
Yeah...Michigan football is back ?
September 16th, 2020 at 8:07 PM ^
The Al Borges stink has not left.
Seriously, that's now Harbaughs first two QB recruits that won't finish their careers here and not because they left for the NFL (Peters and McCaffrey). Hopefully, Milton ends that curse.
September 16th, 2020 at 3:53 PM ^
Well well well...
Don't be so serious guys.
September 16th, 2020 at 4:00 PM ^
How do you get the "Add to Troll Cave" button?
September 16th, 2020 at 4:15 PM ^
Oh yeah, totally trolling and not at all just poking some fun
September 16th, 2020 at 5:20 PM ^
Tone deaf you are.
September 16th, 2020 at 5:43 PM ^
Oh you bet champ!
September 16th, 2020 at 6:01 PM ^
How'd you get almost 17K points despite being such a dickweed? Just wondering.
September 16th, 2020 at 6:19 PM ^
Idk, probably because I was clearly being tongue-in-cheek about being right about DCaff?
September 16th, 2020 at 5:16 PM ^
Don't know why you'd assume that Milton "just lights it up." It ain't like he's looked real impressive so far (neither did McCaffrey), but I guess that never stopped this fanbase from assuming a meteoric rise before.
September 16th, 2020 at 5:54 PM ^
I said "I guess there's a chance", how is that conveying that I'm assuming he will?
September 17th, 2020 at 12:32 PM ^
I don't know, seems like if he really wanted to stay he could have just had a few frat boys cough on Milton. You need committed players on a team, not guys who aren't willing to do what it takes.
/s.....unless Milton is bad, then not at all /s
September 16th, 2020 at 3:55 PM ^
So Dylan actively campaigned for the Big Ten to resume play.
But now he's opting out.
Dude.
September 16th, 2020 at 3:58 PM ^
Dude! He's transferring.
September 16th, 2020 at 4:00 PM ^
Odds on him ending up at North Colorado?
September 16th, 2020 at 4:07 PM ^
That's the fallback option, right?
I'd imagine he'll look P5 first assuming NFL aspirations.
September 16th, 2020 at 4:07 PM ^
For sure he will go play for daddy at UNC. He can be a star back in his home state and jump start his dad's college coaching career.
September 16th, 2020 at 5:09 PM ^
Just Colorado, I'd say
September 16th, 2020 at 4:01 PM ^
Gave up rather quickly, wouldn't you say?
September 16th, 2020 at 4:03 PM ^
After waiting three years? Not really.
Grad transferring backup QBs out after three seasons has been the Harbaugh model.
September 16th, 2020 at 4:58 PM ^
No, I mean he was publicly campaigning to resume the season just last week. There's still a month of practice to prove himself.
September 16th, 2020 at 5:12 PM ^
He was campaigning from at home in Colorado, while Joe worked with the receivers & DG.
I'd say he's been told he made the decision for them!
September 16th, 2020 at 5:35 PM ^
Maybe he thought he was going to be the starter at that point .
September 16th, 2020 at 4:26 PM ^
Let Michigan football play!
but not like that
September 16th, 2020 at 4:34 PM ^
Get used to a whole season of this from everyone
You will not hear an uproar louder in your life than the one that will come from OSU when they have to cancel a game due to an outbreak
September 16th, 2020 at 4:51 PM ^
I didn't really think of it that way, but you're right. OSU will be COVID free the whole season, no doubt. But they'll need all their opponents to do that as well, because if they miss a few games, they've got no chance of making the CFP.
It might be worth having a season just to watch them cry about it.
September 16th, 2020 at 8:56 PM ^
Football Gods hate Michigan and must utterly despise Harbaugh. We will be playing THEEEEEE ohio in Columbus without 3 presumed stars and a backup QB. That will be a painful game to watch and Harbaugh will be 0-6 against them.
September 17th, 2020 at 1:35 AM ^
I'm use to it. Though it is too bad we have one of the four or five elite teams in our division and conference. One year we will beat them and the tide will turn. I just hope we go to an 8 team playoff format.
September 17th, 2020 at 9:48 AM ^
Just when I thought that I was getting over my case of BPONE...
September 16th, 2020 at 4:35 PM ^
Lost his job and wants to play.
September 16th, 2020 at 5:02 PM ^
Yes, but why transfer NOW? He can’t play at all this season with anyone. I mean, at least as a back up, at worst, he’d play some rather than sit around collecting rust as a transfer. And maybe he wins the job back because of how the season goes, injury, etc. He can transfer after the season if he doesn’t like how things end up.
What is the benefit of doing this now? I don’t understand. Can someone explain?
September 16th, 2020 at 7:31 PM ^
If he is set on transferring now is the perfect time IMO. He would have to sit a season anyway why not sit this waste of a season, while getting used to a new team and offensive system. Start next year fresh with 2 years of eligibility.
September 16th, 2020 at 8:10 PM ^
He's not transferring now. He's opting out to preserve eligibility, will graduate I assume, and then will have two years of eligibility starting next year. Makes sense if he lost his job. Especially if he was getting pushed for second string.
September 16th, 2020 at 9:47 PM ^
I thought nobody loses a year of eligibility this year anyways. Pretty sure you can't just sit out a year under normal circumstances and not lose eligibility anyways. They do something special for mormon missions, but I think they need to miss two years to the mission.
My understanding of these rules may be dated.
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