Draft: Further Evidence of Harbaugh’s Greatness
While watching the draft I couldn’t help but notice how many players from our rival teams/big ten were taken before our first player was taken. If you didn’t watch/track the draft very closely here is a quick rundown of the number of players taken before Glasgow was selected at #95.
OSU – 10 players (5,2,3)
ND – 6 players (2,2,2)
MSU – 3 players (2,0,1)
PSU – 3 players (0,2,1)
Other big ten – 7 (0,4,3)
PS: Connor Cook is still waiting by the phone.
It’s pretty incredible to see these numbers considering we were only really outplayed by one team all season. I can’t see this happening again for a very long time.
PPS: Connor Cook, still not drafted...
Edited:
OK, Cook has now been drafted.
I understand Lewis/Butt could have gone early and been drafted prior to Glasgow. My point in writing this wasn't to analyze it from a micro level. It's to show from a marcro level just how far behind our roster was from a talent level and still basically only lost one game all season. Really the Utah, MSU, IU, Minney games were coin flips.
This draft is a huge pivot point for our program. OSU just had their 11th (!!!) player taken in the first 3.5 rounds. MSU just lost the best QB they've ever had. Meanwhile our roster is as strong as ever. That's my whole point, guess I should have taken more time to explain this when I wrote it last night.
and I imagine people who are complaining are probably salty that no Michigan player was picked earlier and so many Buckeyes were picked early.
The reality of the situation is that Ohio State's number of drafted players indicates what is already pretty obvious: Urban Meyer has done a great job assembling one of the elite teams in college football and the number of drafted players reflects well on both their recruiting and their coaching. It also means that there's a decent chance they will be worse next year because even a great recruiting team like OSU is unlikely to replace 1st round picks one to one reliably. I wouldn't make too much of it since they will be able to replace a lot - if perhaps not all - of them, so they should still be very very good, just perhaps not *as* good.
With Michigan, I think it's fair to point out that Jim Harbaugh's first roster did not quite have the quality that we expect going forward. That is of course a statement about the previous staff who either didn't recruit the right guys or didn't coach them up well enough but then that might also be a natural consequence of being on our 4th coaching staff since 2007 and going through two big conceptual departures in that time frame.
It is fair to say that Jim Harbaugh and his staff did a lot with a roster expected by many to be just a 7-5 type team and the draft illustrates that.
We don't have to point out everything that might have happened, could have happened, will happen. Harbaugh will be judged not only by UM fans but fans of the game, no matter where they reside. We'll will have plenty headed to the NFL starting next season, with a few going there this year. Jim H. has never needed a push from anyone to get jumpstarted. It'll happen. Let it unfold.
April 30th, 2016 at 12:33 PM ^
Lewis, Peppers, Butt and Chesson at minimum have a damn decent shot at being 1st rd picks.
If anyone thinks i'm crazy for saying chesson has a chance, he has NFL speed and look at how he improved as the year went on and he absolutely abused Hargreaves in the bowl game, the 11th pick in the draft.
April 30th, 2016 at 12:17 PM ^
Bright side is that uofm is in good hands if it is starting to tear apart teams with this many draft picks on a big bowl stage. Chesson may actually be a 1-3 rounder indeed. All depends on his qb this year.
The Florida D was legit. As we have seen ourselves, when your O keeps going 3 and out, your D is going to suffer. Even if it has 3 1st rounders.
Also, that entire FL team checked out before the citrus bowl. They were definitely not in mid-season form.
Finally, give credit to Drevno and company. They got everyone healthy and put together a very good, hard to stop offensive plan for the bowl game. It bodes well for the future.
We marched up and down the field on them all day. It's not like they were shutting us down for awhile before getting tired late. We punted once all game.
I really didn't see much from their D to be impressed by, but if they are legit, that's more credit to our staff for humiliating them so badly.
April 30th, 2016 at 12:52 PM ^
I love Harbaugh, but these sort of threads, in which we go to just about any lengths to tout our coach, are embarassing.
Also probably better than the RCMB thread about how Connor Cook is getting screwed by the media, who have concocted this whole "Cook is a bad leader" story. He's really the best guy ever.
April 30th, 2016 at 12:32 PM ^
ITs a fucking fan site... I don't know what else you would expect to find. Maybe you are one of those miserable cunts who just can't enjoy anything, but you should keep that problem to your self...
love,
jdon
Great response internet tough guy.
I think you know exactly how I feel... and that was my objective.
Goal = accomplished.
love you,
jdon
I think reaching like this, doing the mental gymnastics required to say that this is "Evidence of Harbaugh's greatness" actually doesn him a disservice.
I'm on board with this thread. It shows the coaching job done by Harbaugh and crew. And it leaves me salivating at what will happen once we have the same talent level as OSU on the field.
Using this stat to negative recruit Michigan would be like when Meyer first got to OSU and made a big deal about their APR vs ours. Everyone knew those numbers were going to change fast under Hoke, just as the draft numbers are going to move quickly (starting next year) under Harbaugh.
The lack of Michigan players going in this year's draft tells you one thing: JH did a great job last year, and when the talent inevitably starts flooding to AA, we are going to have a monster team.
It also tells you something about Harbaugh that goes counter to the current narrative: He's a actually a great guy to be around, and players that could have gone Pro wanted to come back and play for him.
They were not just using Harbaugh to get to the NFL and then bailing just as soon as that could happen.
Harbaugh may be a jerk to people outside the program (who deserve it), but he's cool to his own guys.
Great for recruiting: Harbaugh can get you to the NFL at a high level AND you'll have a great time while that is happening.
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April 30th, 2016 at 12:16 PM ^
All I know is that Willie Henry is going to make one team, their fansbase, coach and GM, very happy.
Still wish it was ours.
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Good Times with the Family Buffet at BIG BOY pic.twitter.com/A9l7enpIsu
— Coach Harbaugh (@CoachJim4UM) April 30, 2016
Where is he? They closed all the Big Boys in my area. I want to go to one.
I knew a guy that cooked for them and he said he didn't ever eat there. EVERYTHING is microwaved.
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Taking the family to Saturday Mass & Big Boy buffet afterwards.