mike danna
transfers in
fire up chips [CMUChippewas.com]

Hello: Mike Danna, Grad Transfer DE Comment Count

Brian February 19th, 2019 at 3:17 PM

Michigan did indeed pick up a transfer on the DL like Amauri Pesek-Hickson foretold:

Danna is coming off a 9.5 sack, 15 TFL junior season and while four of those sacks and 5 of those TFLs were against Maine his season-long numbers were dominant enough to land him on the PFF All America team:

EDGE DEFENDER – MIKE DANNA, CENTRAL MICHIGAN

Danna may not be as flashy as others on this list, or even in his conference, but he constantly changed games for the Chippewas this season. He recorded 54 total QB pressures and 53 total tackles while missing only four attempts this year.

PFF put him 69th on their list of the top college football players in America as he checked in with a 91.3 grade. As a sophomore he had an 85 by their system, which wasn't far off Chase Winovich's performance that year (89.5) He's listed at 6'2", 253; he'll no doubt slot into Winovich's vacated WDE spot. The one caveat about those PFF numbers is that sometimes it's tough to grade football players in a vacuum. His outing against MSU was only okay:

"It's worth noting that while he posted 3 hurries against MSU last year, his pass rush grade of 58.4 in that game was his lowest of the season."

Danna wasn't high on NFL radars, either. The Jaaron Simmons thing could happen here. But Danna is definitely worth the swing.

Of note: CMU's coaches got fired after the season so this isn't quite a heartless up-transfer, and Danna is transferring away from new CMU head coach Jim McElwain. If this was all a long con to grab a WDE rental, well played.

Comments

Maize and Blue…

February 20th, 2019 at 9:51 AM ^

Questionable claim.  Two DBs are early entrants into the draft.  He was pretty much so a one game phenom with 40% of his sacks, a third of his TFL, and 20% of his solo tackles against FCS Maine. 1.5 sacks against D1 teams with winning records and no sacks against the three P5 teams (Kansas, Sparty, and Kentucky) he played.  Did have 6 solos (one less than what he had against Maine) and 9 assist against the P5 teams.

His Maine game reminds me of Hudson against Minny last year.  Had high expectations for Hudson this past season that just didn't materialize.  That was after a season of playing high level competition.  Can Danna step up to much better competition?  We will find out.

Joined: 03/15/2009

MGoPoints: 6750

JamieH

February 20th, 2019 at 6:56 PM ^

Sure, but remember, better teams could probably double-team him and still handle everyone else on CMU easily.  I have no idea if this happened or not, but if I were a P5 team playing CMU, that is what I would have done.   

So, was he shut down because he wasn't good enough, or did the better teams just game-plan around him and neutralize him because there was no one else to worry about?

Joined: 09/05/2009

MGoPoints: 28331

Frank Chuck

February 19th, 2019 at 5:05 PM ^

Watt was 6'6" and he switched position from TE (at CMU) to DE (at Wisconsin).

I hope someone here goes back and watches the CMU/MSU game. It could simply be a case of MSU giving Danna extra attention and doubling him on/off to prevent him from being a problem. Odds are MSU could do this because CMU didn't have someone else its front 7 to punish MSU's offense.

Joined: 05/01/2015

MGoPoints: 15858

bronxblue

February 19th, 2019 at 4:43 PM ^

Welcome aboard.  I too get a little nervous about a guy who struggled a bit against the better competition coming up to a major program for a year, but depth is depth.  He is DE-shaped and looks the part at least, so there won't be any position change issues at least.

Joined: 11/22/2008

MGoPoints: 171777

Mgoeffoff

February 19th, 2019 at 5:21 PM ^

Nice pickup, especially with Villain not yet certain.  Anyone hear any news on the interior d-line fella as I think we need more help in the middle?

Joined: 01/08/2019

MGoPoints: 1023

uminks

February 19th, 2019 at 6:43 PM ^

Welcome Mike! I'm sure you will  help out  DE rotation next season. Being with other skilled players on the line, you probably will not be doubled team all the time. Now, I hope we can get a grad transfer DT to help out!

Joined: 11/10/2009

MGoPoints: 32047

SoccerDancer

February 19th, 2019 at 10:57 PM ^

As for the MSU thing I would definitely subscribe to the school of thought that if he was CMU's best player, chances are strong MSU gave him at least cursory additional attention.

Likely same comment though for most teams. If he was their strongest player, most teams are going to understand that, and make at least modest modifications to deal with him. MSU being in probably the strongest position to make  sure he didn't cause them any major troubles.

Joined: 04/08/2013

MGoPoints: 368