November 19th, 2020 at 11:43 AM ^
"Pro Football Focus has him graded at 89.4 so far this year, which is the second-best among all rookies at any position behind Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson. And then his 88.8. percent pass block win rate via NFL Next Gen Stats is the best among any guard in the league."
“Mike’s a hardworking kid,” Bill Belichick said recently. “He takes coaching well. Whatever you ask him to do, he tries very hard to do it and is a real smart kid that can correct mistakes and pick things up the second time around. … Just he’s a good football player and he’s shown the versatility to play two different spots, guard and tackle – which, in this league, as a rookie, different sides of the line, it’s really been impressive.”
November 19th, 2020 at 11:44 AM ^
Do tell (or at least include a link, yo).
EDIT: Never mind. Just saw your 11:43 post in front of my 11:44 post.
November 19th, 2020 at 11:55 AM ^
Yes, inadvertently the title was posted before the body of the post. I corrected the omission in the comment as soon as I realized my error.
November 19th, 2020 at 11:57 AM ^
Good for big Mike. Those 6th round picks out of Michigan seem to work well for the Patriots
November 19th, 2020 at 12:12 PM ^
Will always root for this guy!
November 19th, 2020 at 12:20 PM ^
I always thought Mike was underrated at Michigan. Good for him!
November 19th, 2020 at 12:32 PM ^
He was this good in college too, but apparently no teams noticed. This isn't a Duncan Robinson situation; Onwenu was a PFF beast in college. How he slipped to the 6th round I will never know
November 19th, 2020 at 12:43 PM ^
His weight perhaps? Or maybe he just got lost in the shuffle playing next to Ruiz.
November 19th, 2020 at 12:59 PM ^
Possibly his weight, but I don't think he could get lost given how well he performed analytically. I think there was also a stat where he didn't give up a QB pressure the whole year or something wild
November 19th, 2020 at 2:07 PM ^
I think this is a classic case of missing talent in pursuit of an archetype. Onwenu probably didn't meeting the measurables most teams prioritize in OL these days.
Beyond the weight stuff, which is fine because he's made of metal, Big Mike is only 6' 3" and doesn't have great arm length.
November 19th, 2020 at 3:30 PM ^
I don't recall arm length being an issue for him. Have any data?
November 19th, 2020 at 5:06 PM ^
I can't find any official sounding number with a quick google. Don't think he has dinosaur arms or anything just mean that he doesn't have the height/length teams covet in general.
It's obviously not an issue for him when it comes to actually playing football.
November 19th, 2020 at 12:34 PM ^
But....But.....players aren't developed at Michigan!
November 19th, 2020 at 12:41 PM ^
That's only for 5 stars. Mike was a 4 star so he's good.
November 19th, 2020 at 1:10 PM ^
You're stretching pretty hard to pat Michigan on the back for anything if you're gloating about turning a high 4* recruit who was the #1 player in Michigan into a 6th round draft pick.
We did it, everybody! Michigan is back!
November 19th, 2020 at 1:22 PM ^
13 players from last year's UM Roster are on NFL Active Rosters. Never let facts get in the way of a good twitter post!
November 19th, 2020 at 2:10 PM ^
People are really escalating "some players I had high expectations for didn't do what I wanted them to" to "Michigan doesn't develop guys."
More than fair to question development at certain spots (ex: QB) but they're getting a ton of guys ready for the league.
November 19th, 2020 at 2:22 PM ^
For those keeping score at home, these are the 12 players from Michigan’s 2020 team now active in the NFL: Ben Bredeson (Baltimore), Donovan Peoples-Jones (Cleveland), Sean McKeon (Dallas), Jon Runyan, Jr. (Green Bay), Jordan Glasgow (Indianapolis), Mike Danna and Lavert Hill (Kansas City), Josh Metellus (Minnesota), Michael Onwenu and Josh Uche (New England), Cesar Ruiz (New Orleans), Khaleke Hudson (Washington) LINK
November 19th, 2020 at 9:57 PM ^
The elephant in the room is the lack of proper utilization of all that talent. The primary issue at Michigan is not recruiting.
November 20th, 2020 at 3:10 PM ^
In 5 years, here are the offensive players drafted under Harbaugh:
Cesar Ruiz - 1st round 24th overall
Graham Glasgow - 3rd round 95th overall
Mason Cole - 3rd round 97th
Amara Darboh - 3rd round 106th overall
Jehu Chesson - 4th round 139th overall
Zach Gentry - 5th round 141st overall
Ben Bredeson - 4th round 143rd overall
Jake Butt - 5th round 145th overall
Mike Onwenu - 5th round 182nd overall
Donovan Peoples Jones - 6th round 187th overall
Jon Runyan Jr - 6th round 192nd overall
Lets compare Michigan's peer program in division, Penn State, in that same 5 year time span.
Saquon Barkley 1st round 2nd overall
Mike Gesicki 2nd round 42nd overall
KJ Hamler 2nd round 46th overall
Christian Hackenberg 2nd round 51st overall
Miles Sanders 2nd round 53rd overall
Chris Godwin 3rd round 84th overall
Connor McGovern 3rd round 90th overall
Desean Hamilton 4th round 113th overall
Trace McSorely 6th round 197th overall
Michigan has produced 2 more draft picks from offensive players than Penn State but the position at which they get drafted is pretty clear. Michigan's 2nd best offensive pro prospect under Harbaugh was deemed a worse prospect than the top 7 pro prospects for Penn State in that time span.
Harbaugh has just not developed offensive skill talent at all and you're fooling yourself if you think otherwise.
November 19th, 2020 at 12:52 PM ^
Good for him. It's so hard to make it in the pros. Talent helps, obviously, but many with talent don't make it, many who work hard don't make it, while some with more modest skills excel.
November 19th, 2020 at 12:54 PM ^
It figures that Onwenu spent his entire pre-NFL football career under the nose of the Detroit Lions, but their only OL pick prior to Onwenu's selection was some guy from Kentucky who's listed as a center on the Lions depth chart.
Onwenu was still on the board when the Lions used their late 5th round pick, but they opted instead to draft RB Jason Huntley out of New Mexico State.
Who the Lions then waived in September.
IOW, they completely threw away a draft pick when they could have selected a local guy who is showing immediate potential as a versatile OL for one of the best coaches in NFL history. This is why the Lions have sucked for the vast majority of the last 60 years—with rare exceptions, their front office has been incompetent at identifying top talent, even when that top talent has played for several years just a few miles away in Ann Arbor in front of 100,000+ people, frequently on national TV.
November 19th, 2020 at 1:00 PM ^
BS Don, total BS. Nobody anywhere in SE MI could possibly have suspected that either LaMarr Woodley or David Harris would be better pro players than Drew Stanton.
November 19th, 2020 at 1:07 PM ^
Or that Devin Bush Jr would be a bigger impact player than T.J. Hockenson.
November 19th, 2020 at 1:21 PM ^
I really don't like Lewan but he's certainly a better football player than Eric Ebron.
November 19th, 2020 at 1:37 PM ^
Lest anyone think otherwise, the Lions refusal to draft notable UM players goes back several decades.
In the 1978 draft, the Lions held the 11th pick in the first round. One of the players available was All-Big Ten conference OL Mike Kenn, who'd started 31 games for Michigan teams that went a combined 28-6-2, with two victories over OSU and appearances in an Orange Bowl and two Rose Bowls.
So the Lions instead drafted CB Luther Bradley, who played just four seasons with the Lions and spent the balance of his pro career in the USFL.
As for Kenn, he was drafted two spots later by the Falcons, where he played his entire 17-year career. He was a five-time Pro Bowler and a five-time All-Pro selection, and during his prime was regarded by such people as Bill Walsh as one of the premier OTs in the league.
November 19th, 2020 at 3:04 PM ^
When you compare what Woodley and Harris have done in their careers to what Stanton did, that draft choice by the Lions has to be one of the worst in the NFL in the last two decades.
I should mention that I'm glad that all these UM players haven't been drafted by the Lions, which is basically a career dead-end, similar to getting drafted by the Jets.
November 19th, 2020 at 2:07 PM ^
Always loved the dude. He seemed like a talented, badass dude who was overshadowed by other talented guys on the o line. Glad he’s having so much success!
November 19th, 2020 at 11:32 PM ^
Agree, after seeing him pancake guys in the HS Army All-Star game, I adopted him as the guy on the OL I preferred to watch. And Mike did his workman-like job for four years, while most of the hype was for Bredeson, despite Mike's better UFR numbers. But man, watching Mike as a Patriot the other night pushing around the Raven's DL was a real treat!