zach charbonnet
transfers
[Bryan Fuller]

Exit Zach Charbonnet Comment Count

Brian January 18th, 2021 at 5:34 PM

This is a bummer man:

Michigan sophomore running back Zach Charbonnet entered the transfer portal on Monday, 247Sports has learned.

Charbonnet was largely sidelined this season with just 19 carries as Hassan Haskins took over as the top back. Haskins is back. Michigan also has Blake Corum returning and brings in Donovan Edwards and Tavierre Dunlap, so they're likely to be fine at the spot.

Charbonnet brought the biggest upside of anyone in the backfield and was a killer pass-blocker, so his loss is a loss. Michigan's streak of highly rated running back busts continues unabated. Please direct complaints to Steve Lorenz, who did not follow my directive to have Charbonnet's ranking top out at #51.

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Comments

Gulogulo37

January 18th, 2021 at 7:13 PM ^

Oh thanks for pointing that out devoid of context. He was our 2nd leading rusher. No one got many carries because there were so few games and the offensive line sucked and the play calling was a disaster again. And he was the leading rusher in yards and carries in 2019. How long do we have to keep losing talented players for people to realize this is a problem. The RB room will be fine. That's not the main point. The LB room probably won't be fine but McGrone really wanted out despite not showing much. DPJ wanted out. McCaffrey wanted out and the QBs weren't fine.

Joined: 03/16/2010

MGoPoints: 28319

MgoBirch

January 21st, 2021 at 10:16 AM ^

Agreed. I was talking about this with someone yesterday. They are not concerned about the sheer amount of good players we've had transfer this past year. I don't know another program that believes itself to be consistently in the top 25, let alone the top 10, that had this much unnatural attrition over that same time frame. There is definitely something wrong, there has been something wrong for a while, but it's definitely getting worse. Why is no one able to get information out of these players to find out what's going on so it can get fixed? This is why in today's college football the Schembechler submarine stuff doesn't work, because if there's a problem it doesn't get found and fixed.

Joined: 10/03/2014

MGoPoints: 74

MgoBirch

January 21st, 2021 at 10:19 AM ^

Thank you, and yes.

This problem pre-dates both of the last OCs, and has been an obvious problem basically since Jedd Fisch left. Since then we've seen 3 coordinators be "the problem" to the fans instead of being like: well, they were all successful in greater measure at their previous destinations,... hmmm.... what else is wrong?

It's like a perfectly fine part being replaced three times in a car within a year. Sooner or later you look somewhere further down or up the line from that part to find the real actual problem.

 

Joined: 10/03/2014

MGoPoints: 74

Cali Wolverine

January 19th, 2021 at 10:06 AM ^

Wonderful.  Another top talent wasted at Michigan.  At least Michigan Football has made me stop following football recruiting because the greater the talent the bigger the disappointment.  Watching DPJ and Rashan Gary makes me more depressed than proud.
 

Sad that the two Michigan Quarterbacks that clinched playoff victories over the weekend both played for Lloyd Carr.  Think about that.  The two best Michigan Quarterbacks in the NFL played for Carr (4 coaches ago).  I think the only other QB hanging around is Jake Rudock. 

Joined: 01/13/2013

MGoPoints: 21755

rc15

January 19th, 2021 at 9:40 AM ^

So you want us to run the ball more? Give less carries to Corum and Haskins even though they were playing better than him?

This is the exact situation you want as a team... We have two good returning options and a borderline 5-star freshman. You can't keep 4-5 good players at a position group anymore, they'll transfer. AND YOU WANT THEM TO. You don't want them sticking around for no playing time and taking up a scholarship.

Hopefully Edwards passes Corum and Haskins and one of them transfers, and we bring in another 5* recruit as depth. Every playing time transfer opens up another scholarship you can use to fix a different position group that's in more need.

Joined: 01/23/2015

MGoPoints: 12103

MGoStrength

January 18th, 2021 at 6:00 PM ^

There haven't many years with both effective QB play and effective o-line play together.  The reason Higdon was successful in 2018 is the o-line was good and Patterson was efficient and didn't turn the ball over too much.  Unfortunately Patterson regressed quite a bit, particularly in the first half of 2019 and 2020 was a shit show for both the QB and the o-line.

Joined: 07/29/2010

MGoPoints: 20002

rice4114

January 18th, 2021 at 7:38 PM ^

The answer isnt your most experienced and highly rated offensive players being mediocre or worse. Bama doesnt fail with their 2 and 3 year players and cover it up with 18 year olds. Its a continuous cycle. Much like us but in the other direction.  What I dont get is the excuses for these coaches. How can you defend these results? Gattis just needs another year or for Harbaugh to get out of his way? Come on.

Joined: 08/26/2010

MGoPoints: 47300

MGoStrength

January 19th, 2021 at 7:28 AM ^

Let’s say Charbonnet was our 1000 yard rusher and workhorse, do you think Corum, Edwards and Dunlap want to come and sit for 3 years until they can be the 1000 yard rusher? There is always gonna be attrition when someone isn’t getting carries. 

Or you asking a UM specific question, which would most certainly have to account for many things such as position coaching changes, the uncertainty with the HC, the general lack of direction of the program, etc.  Or are you asking a more general question of would a highly rated guy be willing to sign and/or wait their turn?  The former is hard to say.  Only Charbonnet can say that.  The latter, is clearly yes, some guys are willing to commit to a school and stick around even if they aren't the #1 guy for several years.  Dobbins waited behind Weber.  Evan Pryor is the #6 back in the 2021 class and #81 overall and is still committing to OSU even though they also signed Treveyeon Henderson, who is the #1 back and the #24 overall player in the class.  LSU also signed two of the top 10 backs in this year's class.  Clemson signed a top 3 back in each of the last two classes.  PSU signed Ford & Cain in the same class.  So, yes I do think guys are willing to sign and stick around.  The later you go in your career while still #2, the more likely you are to leave.  Haskins also RSed his freshman year giving him the same eligibility as Charbonnet, which makes it worse because Charbonnet has no path to #1 unless Haskins gets injured.  But, it probably helps if you're a playoff or NC contender and have more stability in your program.  Kids are more likely to stick around at OSU, Clemson, or Bama than UM.

Joined: 07/29/2010

MGoPoints: 20002

RandallFlagg

January 18th, 2021 at 6:37 PM ^

Or perhaps ZC isn’t as good as MGoBlog wants him to be. I don’t know.  The coaches see these kids in practice every day. They compete against each other every day.  Maybe getting passed over by Corum is the reason he’s transferring.   
 

If there’s a positive here, we might get our wish of only one RB running the ball if that’s all there is left on the roster. 

Joined: 10/31/2020

MGoPoints: 4230

rice4114

January 18th, 2021 at 7:47 PM ^

1 game worth of carries for a season (shortened yes but it wasnt a 3 game season) from your returning rusher is on the coaches. This mishandling is on them. Our other backs may be good but you dont trash your 1 or 1a running back. 19 carries? From a staff that won 2 games and went 0-3 at home. Come on guys are you really trusting the coaches on this one?

Joined: 08/26/2010

MGoPoints: 47300

MgoBirch

January 21st, 2021 at 10:32 AM ^

Well, I'm not trusting the coaches on this one. I just wont subscribe to trashing Gattis on this. He is not the first OC we've seen come on to this staff or the last staff who is a departure from the normal old-school pro style offenses and then they come in and it's the exact same offense. We see the speed in space concepts on roughly 20% of plays. The rest is clustered up offensive lineman that sees the defense already close to the positions they need to be in to make plays instead of spreading them out to give players a chance in case there's a bust somewhere on the line (which this year, there almost always was).

Keep in mind we have an offensive line coach with a track record of excellent lines everywhere he has been, literally everywhere, not a single o-line that performed below its expectations, and this was a significant weak point this year. There is something broken here that many of us are missing, including me. I don't claim to know what it is, but I can logically look at some of the worst plays and at least point out what is not the problem in some cases.

Joined: 10/03/2014

MGoPoints: 74

MGoStrength

January 18th, 2021 at 5:56 PM ^

I was afraid this was coming.  But, the reality is that Haskins was more productive last year.  With Corum behind Charbonnet and Edwards coming up, retaining Charbonnet was a luxury.  I don't blame him for looking for greener pastures.  One day I really hope our most highly rated recruits will start producing at a higher level, until that day we'll just have to grateful for the Haskins, Bell's, Hursts, Winovich's, & Runyan's of the world and hope for more production out of Edwards, Worthy, McCarthy, Colson, & McGregor.

Joined: 07/29/2010

MGoPoints: 20002

MGoStrength

January 19th, 2021 at 7:36 AM ^

Forgot about him.  Still, depth is good.

Very much so, although we thought the same thing in 2019(?), then Evans got suspended and Turner & Charbonnet both got banged up.  Sometimes you need a reliable 4th guy, although that's probably not the norm and a luxury.  I'm sure we'll be fine with Haskins, Corum, & Edwards with Dunlap and walk-ons to provided depth if need be.  All else being equal however, I'd prefer to have Charbonnet versus the field if Haskins gets banged up in an important game, but hopefully he had a positive experience and has good things to say about UM and he finds success elsewhere.

Joined: 07/29/2010

MGoPoints: 20002