Jake Ryan Named One of Five Butkus Award Finalist

Submitted by Space Coyote on

Jake Ryan has been named one of the five finalist for the Butkus Award, given to the premier College Football Linebacker.

While he struggled earlier in the year with some of his run fits, and to a certain extent, his pass drops, I think a lot of the down feeling people had about him around here was due to the fact that they nitpicked his flaws. His flaws were far from uncommon amongst college ILBs, even the best of them, and the plays he's made throughout the season have been the reason he's still considered one of the best LBs in the country.

My thoughts here

Jake Ryan is a guy that many Michigan fans were down on after some early season struggles with the transition to inside LB and how to successfully go about run fits and to a lesser extent, pass drops. But he has improved quickly over the course of the year, and now better understands how to get through the wash, how to pop a lead blocker, and how to shed them to make tackles. His downhill burst is still on display as he's wracked up TFL this season, and he has continued to be more fluid in his pass drops and understanding of the coverage schemes. Probably has more upside as a 3-4 OLB at the next level, his flexibility (similar to Green Bay's Ryan Matthews) has to make pro scouts excited about his prospects, as he's proven to be a guy you can move around, bring off the edge, bring through the interior, and leave on the field on all three downs and maintain a lot of flexibility within the defense. He's improved from a good ILB to a great one over the course of the year, and while he still gets out of position at times when instincts take him away from the play, he is as good as any LB in the B1G, and that's why he's on this list.

I really do think he deserves this recognition. I really do think he has been great throughout the 2nd half of the season, and not just for schematic reasons from opposing offenses. I know he's been mostly dismissed to the point that people (including many of the writers of this blog, so I don't get called out for not calling out people) use him as another data point to diminish the coaches (to the point that people are so down on the football team and Ryan that this news isn't even on the board until now), but I think those people are wrong, and I think moving him to ILB not only was the best move for Michigan this year, but was the best move for Ryan going forward (even if his ultimate position is OLB in the NFL).

So congrats to Jake Ryan on being named a Butkus Award finalist. Other finalists include Eric Kendricks (UCLA; the guy I think will win); Hau'oli Kikaha (Washington); Denzel Perryman (Miami), and Jaylon Smith (Notre Dame).

LINK to other B1G players named to finalists lists.

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The Baughz

November 26th, 2014 at 10:52 AM ^

I agree with Ryan being a better fit in a 3-4 scheme. I firmly believe he will be a 8-10 year pro as long as he stays healthy. I doubt he wins the award, but it is still nice to see a Michigan player receive some recognition during this crappy season.

Joined: 10/08/2010

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MGoGrendel

November 26th, 2014 at 11:39 AM ^

just making an observation.

Wasn't there a large number of neigh sayer posts about JMFR earlier in the season? Doubting him, his health, ability to play in the new scheme?

Now we bitch about the new AD, our chances of getting a top notch coach, the play of our freshman centers, etc.

The sky isn't falling in Ann Arbor.

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Danwillhor

November 26th, 2014 at 1:36 PM ^

however his draft stock will be lowered due to the THREE major knee injuries stemming back to his HS years. His HS teammate was the higher rated recruit (by a mile, went to osu) but Ryan was a steal because half his HS career was knee injury plagued and he lost scholarships due to that. His HS coaches even said that when healthy he was the best player they had. The kid can play, seems to bounce back from major injury pretty well but for how long? Can he sustain another and be anything but journeyman on the NFL? If healthy, he's going to be a steal for someone in the 4th-5th round. As for this year he did have a slow start but he is currently a top 10 CFB MLB. I think Jaylon Smith is the best LB on the country but he's just a Soph. He should win it, even over Ryan and better players but he likely won't. Finally, if an NFL HC/DC, I throw him in a 3-4 and move him around. Watch, I'd bet money (if a betting man) that the Steelers, Packers or another 3-4 disciple team grab him.

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My Name is LEGIONS

November 26th, 2014 at 10:57 AM ^

I gotta agree with Brian's first take on moving Ryan to MLB... big mistake..... he was a terror on the outside, and ordinary in the middle.....     

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Danwillhor

November 26th, 2014 at 1:46 PM ^

he never fully recovered from his last knee injury (he's lost a tiny bit of speed/burst) and lining him up outside allows teams to play away from him. At MLB he's not the same player but he's still a good one and it allows for more rotation, spying, etc. However, he took a bit to get comfortable and I still don't think he's 100% comfortable there. It was the better move for the team but this season just took a dump so......? I don't think it was a terrible move. I mean, once JP went down our press coverage went out the window. We went back to soft zone and instead of being the QB/HB hunter he was supposed to be it had to do more coverage. Read option teams exposed his inexperience early and often as he was sucked up a lot only to get a pass dumped over him, lose his coverage, etc. He was supposed to be a battlefield wrecker, making the opponent pay whether they hand off or keep it. Things just seemed to turn in us every opportunity this year and with poor coaching almost everywhere it was doomed to fail by week 2.

Joined: 12/02/2008

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Noble Blue

November 26th, 2014 at 11:01 AM ^

I think this is great news, especially considering Ryan seems to be a high character individual. Unfortunately, his nomination appears to be overshadowed by all the other craziness surrounding the program. Congrats to Mr. Ryan - it's too bad he couldn't have been a part of a team that accomplished its goals.

Joined: 11/10/2014

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Humen

November 26th, 2014 at 11:02 AM ^

"I think moving him to ILB not only was the best move for Michigan this year, but was the best move for Ryan going forward"

Based on what? He's struggled. Ryan at his best last year > Ryan at his best this year. That's how we define regression. 

This year's Butkus Award finalist list is basically a popularity contest. That said, JMFR. 

Joined: 10/04/2010

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Space Coyote

November 26th, 2014 at 11:19 AM ^

He's struggled at times, but I get the feeling you watched the first game and came to a conclusion based on that.

Jake Ryan is 2nd in the B1G in tackles (behind only Mike Hull of PSU). He's 2nd in the B1G for TFL amongst ILBs. Michigan is 5th in the B1G in sacks, only 5 behind the leader, so the pass rush hasn't really struggled. You either advocate moving Beyer(5.5), Clark (4.5), Taco (3.5), or Mario (3.5) off the field to put Ryan at DE in nickel situations, and having someone else playing LB. In base situations, you prefer Ryan flexed out and forced to play in more space against App St, Notre Dame, Miami, Utah, Rutgers, Indiana, Northwestern, Maryland, and OSU. You will probably discount stats because "stats don't tell the whole story", and you'd be correct that they don't. But then actually watch the games with a close eye, watch the things Ryan does, the way he flows to the ball, pops lead blockers, works through the trash, makes plays, finishes tackles, makes an impact all over the field. It's confirmation bias from early games that leads to your feeling.

Ryan has had a constant impact this year at ILB and still been the best LB on the team from a position to make more impact. Likewise, it has allowed Michigan to be more flexible on defense. Likewise, Ryan hasn't been Just a Guy. His best this year is absolutely better than his best last year. His impact over the entire course of the game, on every defensive snap, has been felt more consistently, though you take out some of the high-points you see at a more variable position like SAM in a 4-3 Under.

So no, your definition of regression is absolutely incorrect. Ryan isn't a worse player. He struggled a bit early with his transition and has rounded into one of the best LBs in the country and made an impact on almost every defensive snap of every game. He's not a perfect player, he wasn't at SAM either.

And what exactly is this popularity contest based off of? Michigan? I doubt it, considering Michigan's season and Michigan's overall positive trend in the media. The B1G? No, it's a very unpopular conference right now actually. It also has no SEC players (which would make a case for a popularity contest), two PAC 12 players (which are rarely popular with the media because of the East Coast bias), it has a guy from Miami (one of the least popular teams in the country). So no, all signs point to not basically a popularity contest.

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Reader71

November 26th, 2014 at 11:47 AM ^

Ryan at his best last year was not 100%, since he was coming off of ACL surgery. You might be thinking of Ryan from two years ago, and while I agree that his best on the outside is probably better than his best on the inside, his worst has gotten better/less frequent. He might make fewer highlight reel plays, but he also busts less, particularly since conference play started. We all remember Mattison talking about how Ryan wasn't there yet in 2012, how he was unorthodox, how he made plays despite not being in the right spot. Well now, he is almost always in the right spot and is still making plays, as evidenced by his TFLs.

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chomz14

November 26th, 2014 at 11:04 AM ^

One of my all time favorites. Just sucks he had to play here these past four years... Good for him tho, and look forward to seeing him next year on Sunday's.

Joined: 09/03/2009

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Mgodiscgolfer

November 26th, 2014 at 11:05 AM ^

He put Jake in the middle and bam, one of the top 5 LB's in the country. Good luck to both of them in the future. I personally will miss both of them should Greg have to move on.

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LSAClassOf2000

November 26th, 2014 at 11:20 AM ^

Jake Ryan is another player that I will miss a lot - I know we debated his role in the 4-3 Over quite a bit here, but it seems to have panned out in the 3nd half of the season and yet again, Ryan is in the discussion of top collegiate LBs. We will always have, among other Ryan moments, trying to tackle one dude with another dude...

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Bodogblog

November 26th, 2014 at 11:29 AM ^

I saw one game where that Perryman from Miami really struggled, this was early in the year.  Blocked and pushed back, and beat up to a point.  Wouldn't have thought he would end up a finalist, but what the hell do I know.

Joined: 06/08/2010

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Space Coyote

November 26th, 2014 at 11:35 AM ^

When his DL gave him no help and the Nebraska OGs were able to get to him at the 2nd level immediately without even bothering to combo to him.

He's probably the worst LB on the list, but the guy hits. He's your classic hard hitting ILB. Not great sideline to sideline speed, and needs to still improve how fast he reacts, but he hits with the best of them.

This is from 2013, he's had even more big hits this year

Joined: 06/18/2009

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mtlcarcajou

November 26th, 2014 at 11:37 AM ^

I was very perplexed by his move inside and thought it took away from his strengths in pursuit and blitzing wide. Space Coyote had defended the potential of the switch earlier IIRC, around the Utah game I think.

But the 2nd half he has been one of the few great things to watch on the team. Guys like me often criticize based on small samples of one or two games w/o the ability to see the long-term plan. JMFR is a great case-point. The lb's and d-line weren't a catastrophe this year - the D is overrated statistically but these units made their share of plays. Their slips were magnified by a secondary that can't cover very well and an offense that can't pass or score.

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bighouseinmate

November 26th, 2014 at 11:41 AM ^

The impact of Ryan at MLB this year is seen on just about every defensive play. It didn't start out that way this year, as he seemed lost at times, but over the course of the season as he grew more comfortable with the reads you could see him playing faster on the field. Teams had to dedicate blockers on him at the start of plays without using them to chip off the interior DL first. This allowed our DL to make more plays in one on one situations. Even without being in on a tackle his play is often what led or helped in making tfl and sacks. Best ILB to play at Michigan in quite some time.

Joined: 12/19/2008

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cbuswolverine

November 26th, 2014 at 12:17 PM ^

Wow.  I'm shocked that Scooby Wright isn't a finalist.  He's one of four Lombardi finalists, which includes both linebackers and defensive linemen, but not one of five finalists for a linebacker only award.  He's fourth in the nation in tackles, third in sacks, second in tackles for loss, and tied for first in forced fumbles.  

127 tackles, 12 sacks, 23 TFLs, and 5 forced fumbles.  

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Yo_Blue

November 26th, 2014 at 12:27 PM ^

Are we sure we are talking about OUR guy?  I looked at the list and it just said JAKE RYAN.  It didn't say JAKE MF RYAN.  I guess it could have been a typo...

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SFBlue

November 26th, 2014 at 2:19 PM ^

Jake Ryan was a helluva college football player. I'd put him up there with Hobson, Foote, et al. This is more of a recognition of his overall career than the year he is having, but he has been on a tear the second half of the season.

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abertain

November 26th, 2014 at 2:42 PM ^

I agree that Ryan has been very good the latter half of the year. Yes, he's struggled sometimes covering the middle of the field, but he's gotten better. Did anyone notice that on the last drive by Maryland he almost jarred the ball loose from Wes Brown? He's a great tackler and still athletic. I think moving him to MLB was the right move. He's a great player, and he's been great in both spots. The defense as a whole is somewhat of a mystery. I think they should have been a bit better than they were. However, they were good, just not great, and sometimes crappy, Gary SuperNova.

That said Ryan put together a nice year and got a heck of a lot better as the year went on. I agree that he's a top 10 CFB MLB.

Joined: 10/24/2009

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Zoltanrules

November 26th, 2014 at 4:02 PM ^

A senior that played at a high level most every game, had no off field problems, kept his mouth shut and just did what he was told. Brady messed up that call.

 

Joined: 08/23/2009

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bronxblue

November 26th, 2014 at 10:25 PM ^

I'll admit to being down on Ryan after his early-season struggles, mostly because he always struck me as an OLB in both college and the pros.  But credit to him and the coaches for his rapid improvement, and it is good to see him be recognized.  I'm not sure if he is one of the top 5 LBs in the country, but he absolutely one of the best in the conference and after this type of season it is nice to at least see a couple of kids get some recognition.

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