Fall Roster Overanalysis 2022 Comment Count

Seth August 4th, 2022 at 12:00 PM

Previously: Spring. Fall 2021.

See, people asking about HTTV? If we had it done on time you'd have all this incorrect roster data on it! Good news is the phonebooks are here.

======THINGS THAT QUALIFY AS NEWS========

Since time immemorial this is the time we discover graduated guys who slipped out after finishing their careers in spring. This time only DE Gabe Newburg was missing. He was +3/-3 in our charting in four appearances in 2020, and didn't play last year, which was his fourth season.

That means they're two over their 85-man scholarship limit heading into fall camp, which is usual, though with instant transfers it's more relevant now that guys have to sit out 2021 if they leave this close to the season, unless they get a waiver. The portal deadline for Fall 2022 sports was May 1.

======THE ALL WEIGHT GAIN OR LOSS IS GOOD SECTION========

Where all weight gained is musculature, and all weight lost was esters of fatty acids. Weights when they were recruits are from 24/7 and noted in gray italics. If I thought it was interesting I highlighted it.

QUARTERBACK
Player GS/GP 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 18 to 19 19 to 20 20 to 21 21 to 22
Alan Bowman 16/22 210 210 215 205 217 +0 +5 -10 +12
Cade McNamara 15/19 206 205 205 212 206 -1 +0 +7 -6
Davis Warren 0/0 - 185 180 195 195 - -5 +15 +0
J.J. McCarthy 0/11 - - 190 197 196 - - +7 -1
Alex Orji 0/0 - - - 226 235 - - - +9
Jayden Denegal 0/0 - - - 215 238 - - - +23
RUNNING BACK
Player GS/GP 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 18 to 19 19 to 20 20 to 21 21 to 22
Leon Franklin 0/9 195 193 205 206 200 -2 +12 +1 -6
Blake Corum 1/18 - 180 200 200 210 - +20 +0 +10
Donovan Edwards 0/12 - - 190 202 204 - - +12 +2
Tavierre Dunlap 0/2 - - 196 222 217 - - +26 -5
CJ Stokes 0/0 - - - 190 196 - - - +6
WIDE RECEIVER
Player GS/GP 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 18 to 19 19 to 20 20 to 21 21 to 22
Ronnie Bell 17/33 182 184 190 192 190 +2 +6 +2 -2
Cornelius Johnson 17/32 195 209 205 211 208 +14 -4 +6 -3
Roman Wilson 5/19 - 175 180 180 185 - +5 +0 +5
AJ Henning 1/20 - 183 185 185 185 - +2 +0 +0
Eamonn Dennis 0/3 - 173 180 175 184 - +7 -5 +9
Andrel Anthony 0/11 - - 175 185 190 - - +10 +5
Cristian Dixon 0/1 - - 187 197 195 - - +10 -2
Darrius Clemons 0/0 - - - 205 214 - - - +9
Tyler Morris 0/0 - - - 175 185 - - - +10
Amorion Walker 0/0 - - - 175 180 - - - +5
TIGHT END
Player GS/GP 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 18 to 19 19 to 20 20 to 21 21 to 22
Joel Honigford 5/31 295 284 305 257 260 -11 +21 -48 +3
Luke Schoonmaker 10/31 231 242 252 250 250 +11 +10 -2 +0
Carter Selzer 0/17 234 248 240 242 257 +14 -8 +2 +15
Erick All 10/30 225 229 242 245 255 +4 +13 +3 +10
Matthew Hibner 0/8 - 230 233 244 245 - +3 +11 +1
Louis Hansen 0/1 - - 232 252 245 - - +20 -7
Max Bredeson 0/1 - - n/a 222 232 - - - +10
Colston Loveland 0/0 - - - 230 237 - - - +7
Marlin Klein 0/0 - - - 215 245 - - - +30
OFFENSIVE LINE
Player GS/GP 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 18 to 19 19 to 20 20 to 21 21 to 22
Olu Oluwatimi 35/36 295 305 310 310 307 +10 +5 +0 -3
Ryan Hayes 18/27 271 299 302 307 305 +28 +3 +5 -2
Trente Jones 2/14 282 294 305 307 311 +12 +11 +2 +4
Trevor Keegan 11/18 310 316 327 324 305 +6 +11 -3 -19
Karsen Barnhart 6/18 282 301 301 307 308 +19 +0 +6 +1
Zak Zinter 16/19 - 300 334 320 315 - +34 -14 -5
Reece Atteberry 0/9 - 280 304 307 315 - +24 +3 +8
Jeffrey Persi 0/2 - 265 302 305 309 - +37 +3 +4
Greg Crippen 0/6 - - 285 290 301 - - +5 +11
Raheem Anderson 0/1 - - 298 302 320 - - +4 +18
Giovanni El-Hadi 0/1 - - 285 318 317 - - +33 -1
Tristan Bounds 0/1 - - 285 282 311 - - -3 +29
Andrew Gentry 0/0 - 310 ?? ?? 312 - n/a n/a +2
Alessandro Lorenzetti 0/0 - - - 285 289 - - - +4
Connor Jones 0/0 - - - 285 298 - - - +13
DEFENSIVE TACKLE
Player GS/GP 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 18 to 19 19 to 20 20 to 21 21 to 22
Cam Goode 6/33 331 295 295 315 323 -36 +0 +20 +8
Mazi Smith 14/21 290 305 305 326 337 +15 +0 +21 +11
Kris Jenkins 4/15 - 239 265 265 285 - +26 +0 +20
Rayshaun Benny 0/3 - - 275 292 292 - - +17 +0
George Rooks 0/3 - - 260 270 278 - - +10 +8
Dominick Giudice 0/2 - - 250 275 290 - - +25 +15
Ikechukwu Iwunnah 0/0 - - 275 306 321 - - +31 +15
Kenneth Grant 0/0 - - - 335 356 - - - +21
Mason Graham 0/0 - - - 295 317 - - - +22
OUTSIDE LINEBACKER
Player GS/GP 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 18 to 19 19 to 20 20 to 21 21 to 22
Taylor Upshaw 2/24 246 240 256 262 255 -6 +16 +6 -7
Julius Welschof 1/21 253 278 286 288 266 +25 +8 +2 -22
Michael Morris 4/15 255 262 276 278 292 +7 +14 +2 +14
Jaylen Harrell 3/18 - 235 235 242 246 - +0 +7 +4
Braiden McGregor 0/9 - 248 260 265 261 - +12 +5 -4
TJ Guy 0/2 - - 240 251 246 - - +11 -5
Tyler McLaurin 0/1 - - 210 237 231 - - +27 -6
Kechaun Bennett 0/1 - - 220 241 241 - - +21 +0
Derrick Moore 0/0 - - - 250 279 - - - +29
Micah Pollard 0/0 - - - 200 202 - - - +2
INSIDE LINEBACKER
Player GS/GP 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 18 to 19 19 to 20 20 to 21 21 to 22
Michael Barrett 7/33 224 227 227 227 233 +3 +0 +0 +6
Joey Velazquez 0/6 205 213 224 228 225 +8 +11 +4 -3
Nikhai Hill-Green 6/17 - 230 225 220 232 - -5 -5 +12
Kalel Mullings 0/19 - 220 233 236 232 - +13 +3 -4
Junior Colson 7/14 - - 228 225 235 - - -3 +10
Jaydon Hood 0/1 - - 212 212 217 - - +0 +5
Jimmy Rolder 0/0 - - - 220 228 - - - +8
Deuce Spurlock 0/0 - - - 200 231 - - - +31
DEFENSIVE BACK
Player GS/GP 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 18 to 19 19 to 20 20 to 21 21 to 22
Gemon Green 12/29 174 180 181 181 186 +6 +1 +0 +5
German Green 0/21 175 180 181 190 187 +5 +1 +9 -3
DJ Turner 8/22 165 180 182 181 180 +15 +2 -1 -1
Caden Kolesar 0/22 195 196 196 196 195 +1 +0 +0 -1
Quinten Johnson 0/15 190 198 200 200 202 +8 +2 +0 +2
Keshaun Harris 0/12 176 176 183 186 190 +0 +7 +3 +4
Jalen Perry 0/11 188 190 185 187 190 +2 -5 +2 +3
Mike Sainristil 9/33 175 183 183 185 182 +8 +0 +2 -3
RJ Moten 5/15 - 200 213 221 223 - +13 +8 +2
Makari Paige 0/15 - 182 192 192 200 - +10 +0 +8
Rod Moore 4/11 - - 180 173 185 - - -7 +12
Ja'Den McBurrows 0/4 - - 165 197 206 - - +32 +9
Keon Sabb 0/0 - - - 200 208 - - - +8
Zeke Berry 0/0 - - - 195 197 - - - +2
Damani Dent 0/0 - - - 190 196 - - - +6
Will Johnson 0/0 - - - 190 194 - - - +4
Kody Jones 0/0 - - - 175 193 - - - +18
Myles Pollard 0/0 - - - 185 191 - - - +6
SPECIALISTS
Player GS/GP 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 18 to 19 19 to 20 20 to 21 21 to 22
Jake Moody 0/46 177 198 200 211 210 +21 +2 +11 -1
Brad Robbins 0/31 206 199 195 203 205 -7 -4 +8 +2
Tommy Doman 0/0 - - 170 190 202 - - +20 +12
[After THE JUMP: We discuss the weights. Then things get progressively nerdier. But stick around if you want me to sell you on a walk-on who's going to get drafted some day.]

---------------------

I guess we'll go by position

QUARTERBACK

Not much to see here except the freshmen came in a lot bigger than expected. In Orji's case it just makes a stronger case that the dude is tank. In Denegal's case—I know I know THE ONE RULE OF WEIGHT GAIN 2000—his recruiting profile consistently mentioned he was carrying extra weight his junior year and that led to his slip down the rankings as his mobility suffered. On the other hand, he's the youngest guy in the class, so he'd be expected to have the most dramatic growth.

RUNNING BACK

Corum is 10 pounds heavier. He's a workout freak so it's not unexpected that he'd come back beefier, but I hope they're not trying to turn him into Mike Hart without the "but fast." Tavierre Dunlap is the guy I thought they wanted to take on a Haskins role but he lost weight. Since he took on a lot last year that might be a good thing.

I am doing a horrible job of following the rule.

RECEIVER

The older guys didn't change much so the freshmen are the most interesting. Darrius Clemons, at 214, is already the size he's expected to play at; indeed he's the heaviest WR on the roster already! Tyler Morris also put on 10 pounds; he's still small but it's an encouraging sign for a guy who was injured at the end of his junior season (played in spring 2021) and didn't play in Michigan's spring practices. It means he's been able to do more than rehab it. Eamonn Dennis got a little bigger since he's not a corner anymore.

TIGHT END

image

This is going to ouch more. [Patrick Barron]

Erick All up to 255 says the man is serious about the fullbackian role he played last year. I hope he's in the Mackie discussion if the result is anything like it. Honigford is going to remain a TE-sized guy; I was kind of hoping they would try to get him a little back to OL weight given his role is to be a blocker, but I'm sure they know what's best. Carter Selzer returning a lot huger is sign he's not bowing to the youth movement behind him. And Marlin Klein coming in 30 pounds heavier than advertised is fascinating, since he was supposed to be the super fast guy who needs a lot development.

OFFENSIVE LINE

There are always big swings here, especially among the players now one year removed from their first go at the training table. The one elder of particular interest is Trevor Keegan, who was a pretty good masher last year but took off 19 pounds, coming in less than he weighed as a recruit. This is bad news for our narratives about big hefty Michigan linemen.

The RS freshmen got bigger except Gio El-Hadi, for some reason, though he was already sized right to play. Greg Crippen is now over 300, Raheem Anderson is now the heaviest lineman, and Tristan Bounds added almost 30 pounds to a frame expected to take that and more, a good sign for him. True freshman Connor Jones came in close to 300 himself.

DEFENSIVE TACKLE

image

You used to be this tall and now you're THIS tall! [Barron]

The first guy I wanted to see was Kris Jenkins, who is now listed at 285, which is still small for a DT but a long way from 239 (when he was running track still in high school). I think he was playing at 275 last year and they didn't note it, so it probably wasn't as big of an offseason as 20 pounds seems. Getting him to DT size was always the key, so giddyup!

I found it interesting that Cam Goode is now back up in the 320s. He had to lose a lot of weight between Virginia Tech and UCF, and was more of a compact bowling ball than a nose when they were done with him. Mazi Smith is now up 47 from the recruit, which is fine since they need him to take on doubles. I also found it interesting that Rayshaun Benny and George Rooks are still close to what they were listed at last year. I generally want to wait three years before gauging a DT, but, uh, did you notice Mason Graham is already 317 and being called a nose, and Kenneth Grant came in at 356? Even the RS freshmen are growing; Iwunnah is up 46 pounds since his recruiting profile, and Dom Giudice is at 290 now, IE close to playing weight if not already there.

OUTSIDE LINEBACKER

Okay, explain to me why you're adding weight to Mike Morris, who's now close to 300 pounds as an "outside linebacker," but we have to take 22 pounds off of Julius Welschof in the move to edge? Actually I get it; Juice was too slow last year to control an edge, and Morris plays DT and DE, and isn't sized any differently than Chris Wormley played with the Ravens. Down the depth chart, true freshman Derrick Moore paid off my scouting report of a guy who should play more like a 280-pound heavy Gary than a 250-pound Winovich.

INSIDE LINEBACKER

The starters are each up 10 and 12 pounds respectively and both in that 230s range you want to see them, though getting shoved out of the way wasn't the problem for either of them. Deuce Spurlock also came in a lot heavier than the very outdated weight listed in his recruiting profile, but we knew he gained most of that weight a year ago.

DEFENSIVE BACK

image

McBurrows was rumored to be close to the field before his injury. [Barron]

Most of the roster is pretty old here, and not-big guys don't have big changes. Rod Moore is up to 185, which is more in line with a starting safety. Kody Jones looked a lot bigger than his listed 175 in spring and that showed. I'm intrigued by Ja'Den McBurrows, who showed up way closer to nickel-sized than the 165 he was given as a recruit, but I didn't expect he would go up 9 pounds while injured this offseason. He's a guy who fascinates me this year.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Tommy Doman is up 12 pounds, meaning 1.2 seconds added to his hangtime. That ball ain't never coming back.

======POSITION DESIGNATIONS========

They saved us the embarrassment of calling 292-pound Mike Morris a "linebacker" by naming that position "EDGE" on the roster, versus "DL" for the tackles. Kalel Mullings was only listed at linebacker. Mike Sainristil remained a WR/DB from spring. OL/LS James Kavouklis is the only other multi-position player.

======THE ALL HEIGHT GAIN OR LOSS IS GOOD SECTION========

There were a few more than normal this year, and not just from the recruiting sites underestimating how much Michigan was going to lie on their rosters.

The gentleman taller: Cam Goode (6'2") has been listed all sorts of things, most recently 6'0" on UCF's roster. Way to grow a pair!

Up an inch: Whoever's in charge of RB height added an inch to Donovan Edwards (now 6'1"), Leon Franklin (5'9") and Kalel Mullings (6'2") for some reason. TEs Erick All (6'5") and Luke Schoonmaker (6'6") are up an inch from last year. At OL they credited Jeff Persi with all of 6'8"(!). Julius Welschof (6'7"), Braiden McGregor (6'6"), Nikhai Hill-Green (6'2"), Makari Paige (6'4") and walk-ons LS Will Wagner (6'2"), WR Matt Harrison (6'3"), and QB Peyton Smith (6'4"), and OLB Nolan Knight (6'4") were each an inch shorter last season. QBs Alex Orji (6'3") and Jayden Denegal (6'4") came in higher than 24/7 had them on their recruiting profiles.

Down an inch: Guys on the roster who were listed an inch higher last year include QB Alan Bowman (6'3"), TE Louis Hansen (6'5"), DL Rayshaun Benny (6'4"), DT Dominick Giudice (6'4"), EDGEs Kechaun Bennett (6'4"), and TJ Guy (6'4"), and K/P Tommy Doman (6'4"). Among walk-ons, Rhett Andersen (5'11"), DB Jesse Madden (6'1"), LB Trevor Andrews (6'1"), OL Peter Simmons (6'2"), LB Alexander Lidback (6'2"), WR Peyton O'Leary (6'3"), TE Noah Howes (6'4") were knocked down a peg. Most of the recruits measured lower than their profiles. These include RB CJ Stokes (5'10"), WRs Tyler Morris (5'11") and Amorion Walker (6'3"), all three OL Andrew Gentry (6'7"), Connor Jones (6'6"), and Alessandro Lorenzetti (6'5"), DT Kenneth Grant (6'3"), EDGEs Derrick Moore (6'3"), Micah Pollard (6'2"), and Joey Klunder (6'3"), LB Deuce Spurlock (6'1"), and DBs Zeke Berry (5'11"), Damani Dent (5'11"), and surprisingly Will Johnson (6'2"). That's a surprise because he had verified measurements over 6'3" in his profile.

(Yes, that was a Cursive reference above. Favorite song of my favorite album.)

FRESHMAN NUMBERS

We finally have those who weren't here in spring.

  • #23 CJ Stokes. Wore it in high school, Chris Perry nods in approval, which trips Carlos Brown.
  • #17 Marlin Klein. Wore it in high school. Devin Funchess is like "Sure you don't want to turn that TE number into a receiver number?" Fred Petoskey is like "Why not both?" Oh, Fred.
  • #71 Alessandro Lorenzetti. Braden, Ortmann, Stueber, but most importantly Kurt Anderson.
  • #75 Andrew Gentry. Big number for big tackles under Bo: Bubba Paris, Greg Skrepenak, Thomas Guynes, Jerry Quaerna. More recently David Baas, Runyan Jr. Back in the day Bill Kolesar wore it too.
  • #78 Kenneth Grant. The correct # for humongo tackles because Gabe Watson is the type specimen.
  • #99 Cam Goode. Godin is the only previous #99 DT but whatever, it's a one-year DT.
  • #4 Micah Pollard. Low numbers on edge players are cool; this one deserves better than fellow Floridian Reuben Jones gave it.
  • #28 Jimmy Rolder. Wore #8 in HS. I'm going to show my age here: you all remember Anthony Jordan? No, not Jordan Anthony. Anthony Jordan. Linebacker from New Jersey in the Drew Henson/David Terrell/Marquise Walker/Seth Fisher class.
  • #15 Deuce Spurlock. James Ross-like: I like.
  • #10 Zeke Berry. This is a good cut (also his HS number). Derek Howard played "Wolf" which was the mid-'70s version of the nickel.
  • #9 Damani Dent. Surprisingly not a lot of history for #9 at DB. Guessing there will be now.

NUMBER CHANGES

  • Mike Sainristil #0 (from #5): Makes me wonder what they'll do if they want him to play offense with Clemons.
  • Eamonn Dennis #80 (from #37): Changed to (slot) receiver, dons receiver #.
  • Cristian Dixon #85 (from #10): Seems not good to be changing your number for a true freshman.
  • Jalen Perry #31 (from #16): Also seems not good.
  • Keshaun Harris #36 (from #18): His old number was taken by a(nother) walk-on so it was probably his choice.
  • Plus three walk-ons changed numbers: LB Trevor Andrews (42->57) WR Joe Taylor (38->39), and TE Josh Beetham (37->40).

MEET THE WALK-ONS

Welcome to the rosters. And a little about them each:

  • QB Brandon Mann (6'3/225), from Franklin. Mann was the QB at (Detroit) Country Day. He was a 3-star (#156 QB) to 24/7 and led DCD to the D-4 state championship last year. He also plays baseball.
  • QB Declan Byle (6'2/169), was the QB for (Detroit) Catholic Central. He was a 2-star (#234 QB) to 24/7 who had an offer from Yale and trains with Tom House.
  • RB Nico Andrighetto (5'9/187), is the latest back from the family Harbaugh knows from Palo Alto (brother Lucas graduated).
  • WR Logan Forbes is 6'2/192 is from Clarkston, MI, but played in Connecticut for St. Thomas More, for whom he had a TD against IMG last year. They also played St. Frances.
  • WR Zach Peterson (6'1/186) is a grad transfer from Furman. He only had a few hundred yards over an injury-filled career there. He's originally from Georgia.
  • OL Dan Taraboi is a 6'7/313 kid from the northern suburbs of Milwaukee.
  • EDGE Chibi Anwunah (6'5/242) is intriguing. He's a former cross-country runner from Nigeria who played his high school ball at a tiny school in Canton that needed to combine with another school to field a team. The guy is huge (his coach said 6'7"/220) and nearly gave up football because his recruitment wasn't going well and he was pretty good at basketball. Link highly recommended; this could be a steal.
  • EDGE Joey Klunder (6'3/253) is a consensus 3-star who played with Will Johnson at GPS and had some service academy interest when he announced, pretty early, that he would rather go to Michigan as a PWO.
  • EDGE Charlie Lovell (6'3/235) is from Pinkney, a shot at a Giudice to bulk up and see what you've got.
  • CB Shomari Stone Jr. (5'8/175), is yes, the son of THAT Shomari Stone, the excellent CNBC correspondent who used to interview Charles Woodson on his couch for student television.
  • CB/WR Bryce Wilcox (5'11/185) is Sainristilian athlete from Trinity Christian in Georgia. He got invited to the national 7v7 combine twice and had a huge pick six in the state championship against a team that dresses like us.
  • CB/S Joshua Nichols (5'10/190) is from Renaissance, the magnet school in Detroit, and part of the Detroit 7v7 crowd.
  • CB Jahre Fish (5'10/185) is a transfer who rode pine at New Mexico State. His sister ran track at Michigan, and he went to St. Frances (Biff Poggi's school) in DC.
  • LS Evan Boutorwick (6'3/231) is a 5-star long-snapper, #10 overall, according to Rubio Longsnapping.
  • OL/LS James Kavouklis (6'1/272) is the kid brother of former Elon long-snapper Nick Kaouklis, who passed away a day before his graduation in 2019. James is not ranked on Rubio.

Comments

WestQuad

August 4th, 2022 at 12:43 PM ^

It amazes me that guys can function being over 350 pounds.  Back in [89] we were the first O-line to average over 300 pounds.   If they're super-muscled that's one thing, but carrying around that much fat will kill you.  I worry about some of these guys having heart attacks, if not now then a few years after playing.   Football should have a body fat % requirment like wrestling does, but instead it is a maximum.  

That said I'm glad we have some beef on the D-line.

ex dx dy

August 4th, 2022 at 12:55 PM ^

I feel like "foreign-born athlete with almost no football experience" is an automatic take for Harbaugh, and honestly, I can't argue with the results.

Fun fact about Anwunah's tiny HS: they are absurdly good at Science Olympiad. Top 5 in the state when I was in HS, looks like top-15 now.

Quailman

August 4th, 2022 at 1:12 PM ^

""Mike Sainristil #0 (from #5): Makes me wonder what they'll do if they want him to play offense with Clemons."

I imagine they just won't have Sainristil and Clemons in any packages together or on the offensive side of the ball at the same time. They have plenty of wideout shaped options to not NEED those two in particular to be on offense at the same time. 

I think it's likely that if/when Sainristil is on offense, its to utilize his blocking more than receiving and Clemons wouldnt be on the field in those situations. But it also might be likely that MS is mainly a defensive player with some spot duty on O. 

Rabbit21

August 4th, 2022 at 1:13 PM ^

  • #23 CJ Stokes. Wore it in high school, Chris Perry nods in approval, which trips Carlos Brown.

Hahahahahahaha!

Love the callback on the Carlos Brown comment.  

Denegal's weight gain is concerning and makes me wonder if this will end up being a wasted scholarship.  If you know that weight gain was a problem and you gain it all back...

Joby

August 4th, 2022 at 1:58 PM ^

Thanks for the always-fun roster post.

 

I haven’t seen Shomari Sr. in person in many years (since our East Quad days), but he was an OLB-sized dude— maybe 6’2”, 230. Unless mom is petite, Shomari Jr. might be a late bloomer and grow into a different role.

AZBlue

August 4th, 2022 at 2:10 PM ^

Can someone please refresh my memory regarding Barrett not being a good fit in this defense?

I am certain that it was a talking point last year and I thought that had to do with his size.  Given this roster he sits well within the range of the other LBs.  Is this something to do with the ILB vs. OLB/Edge distinction or more about how he plays the position (speed vs. instinct/hitting)??

East Quad

August 4th, 2022 at 2:26 PM ^

Michael Barrett can do everything.

But really, he was recruited by Don Brown to take the hybrid spacebacker position,  When Don left, he seemed to be too slow to be a safety and too light to be a linebacker in the more 5-2-like McDonald/Ravens defense.

But, he filled in pretty well situationally last year.

Carpetbagger

August 5th, 2022 at 10:20 AM ^

Exactly right IMHO. He's a great program guy and he can do anything you ask him to, for a short time or as a change of pace.

At this point I hope he gets a cup of coffee in the NFL and then transitions to some sort of coach. He obviously knows what he is doing, God just didn't give him the perfect toolset to do it with.

Then again, he probably has 5 degrees from Michigan by this time too.

schreibee

August 4th, 2022 at 4:18 PM ^

Piggybacking on my Denegal rant, and with the news that Gabe Newburg has left the team without ever contributing - which is what I predicted when he signed  - I got to thinking of players who you felt certain the day they signed would never be more than roster depth.

Thinking of Kurt Taylor - who may have been signed just because Harbaugh liked his Dad's saying "Hard work is undefeated" possibly?

Sammy Faustin was another. 

Stephen Spanellis may actually have outperformed my expectations, but that could just be a critique of the state of the OL at that time?

It's also nice when thinking of this to remember players who FAR outperformed your expectations - I probably had Wino on my list of guys I predicted would never contribute when he signed!

1974

August 4th, 2022 at 7:27 PM ^

Carpetbagger

August 5th, 2022 at 10:24 AM ^

Some guys I think just get signed as positive culture guys. Early in Harbaugh's tenure he seemed to sign low 3* and 2* guys for this. But this isn't Stanford, you can get better guys for culture than that. 2* culture guys end up at the bottom of the depth chart fast and that's not good for the player or the team.

MadGatter

August 5th, 2022 at 10:44 AM ^

Im pretty sure that Connor Jones in 2022 was exactly that. Just a good culture kid that was a willing recruiter. I don't see him ever seeing the field especially if he can only play tackle.

Also 2021 Dominic Guidice. Maybe they took him for Dtackle depth but another dude that its hard to imagine he ever sees the field.

There's one of those guys in every Michigan class I think