Josh Furman to Denver Broncos

Submitted by Wolverine Devotee on

Michigan graduate who transferred to Oklahoma State for his 5th year, Josh Furman, was selected by the Broncos.

Furman was the 252nd overall pick in the 7th round. 

 

TheLastHarbaugh

May 2nd, 2015 at 6:43 PM ^

Wow...

 

Edit: From a NewsOK.com article...

 He plays nearly every snap and you scratch your head. On third-and-goal he sacks the quarterback and it makes you wonder. He hauls in a game-clinching interception and you hardly believe it.

How in the world, you think, did Oklahoma State linebacker Josh Furman not play at Michigan?

“You’d have to ask him,” said OSU defensive coordinator Glenn Spencer, who knows team rules prohibit first-year players, even a fifth-year transfer senior like Furman, from talking with reporters.

“You can quote me on this — they must have an outstanding secondary out there.”

Furman over three seasons as a reserve safety and special teams contributor at Michigan: 29 tackles.

Furman through seven games at OSU: 39 tackles, five sacks, three pass breakups and one interception.

http://newsok.com/oklahoma-state-football-how-josh-furman-went-from-har…

SWPro

May 2nd, 2015 at 10:08 PM ^

Let's give some credit where its due here, the defense did improve a bit when Mattison took over and has been pretty solid.

 

There are tons of reasons why players don't see the field. Sometimes players need a certain fit to really shine and maybe that fit wasn't at Michigan.

CLord

May 2nd, 2015 at 8:59 PM ^

What a mother effing indictment for any kid to come here...  Hoke, Borges and Brandon set this program even further back than when RichRod left if we can imagine that, but it's true.  Effing Freddy Flintstone.  Enjoy that severance package on chicken wings Hoke.

1974

May 2nd, 2015 at 7:01 PM ^

Josh was too small for DA BIG TEN.

Kidding ... he wouldn't be expected to fit into just any defense at LB at 6'2" and 200 or so.

Aside, one Brandon Thorn of NFLDraft.com apparently has outdated information, unless something bad happened in Stillwater. Here's his blurb on Josh:

"Undersized linebacker with outstanding athleticism but tons of off-field trouble, including an assault charge."

Link: http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/story/25161778/grades-2015-nfl-draft…

JayMo4

May 2nd, 2015 at 6:52 PM ^

He did play at Michigan.  When he came in late last year in place of Wilson there was an obvious dropoff.  Now whether his success at Oklahoma State was due to a late breakout or  better coaching, well....

Magnus

May 2nd, 2015 at 8:31 PM ^

Well, yes, that's part of what coaches do. But one position Michigan has developed well is the linebacker position. If Furman had been playing linebacker under Mattison, he might have learned another thing or two.

Of course, we don't know whose decision it was to keep Furman at safety, whether it was Hoke or Mattison.

Richard75

May 3rd, 2015 at 9:43 AM ^

Agree. Not sure how well the LBs developed--they had all kinds of trouble with dropping into coverage, no one besides Ryan became a standout (except Furman, who did so by leaving) and Mattison was a bit all over the place with what he wanted. A couple of years after bringing in Ross and RJS, two talented but smaller guys, Mattison said on signing day that Mich needed to get bigger at LB. Ross got moved just at the point when experience should've become an asset for him.

Mich was good against the run, but that may just be more attributable to the interior DL, where they were solid last year. I don't think they ever quite got what they wanted out of the LBs.



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Magnus

May 2nd, 2015 at 6:53 PM ^

The problem was that Furman should not have been playing safety. I've been saying since his high school days that linebacker was the best fit. He goes to Okie State, plays linebacker - and does it well - and then gets drafted.
Most of the time, moving a guy from high school linebacker to safety is not going to work.

WolvinLA2

May 2nd, 2015 at 7:14 PM ^

I agree with RB, I had been pushing for him to move there. I'm sure he could have been a fine LB for us but who does he play over? He still would have been only a back up there as well since he wasn't as good as James Ross.

LSAClassOf2000

May 2nd, 2015 at 7:02 PM ^

“Because of the coaches not really knowing him, it made them kind of put Josh in that category of, ‘Oh, he’s one of those kids’ … because you do come across kids who act bad and that’s a habitual action,” said Woolfolk, who had since graduated when the incident took place. “Unfortunately for him, from having a new coach come in, they really don’t have the same loyalty to you as a person.”

If it is the case that the staff in place at the time just put Furman in a box like that, then.....I don't even know what to say about that except "UGH". 

Josh Furman could be fun to watch in the NFL, I think, if his season at Oklahoma State is any hint at things to come perhaps.

CoverZero

May 2nd, 2015 at 7:24 PM ^

Shows how shitty the past two coaching regimes were at Michigan.  Total failures at player development.

Magnum P.I.

May 2nd, 2015 at 7:44 PM ^

Except that those guys vastly, vastly underperformed at Michigan the past two years. They were drafted where they were based on their physical attributes and their talent. Devin Funchess is a freak of nature--tall, strong, and athletic. Frank Clark and Jake Ryan have an unnatural combination of size and speed. The fact that contributed so little at Michigan the past two years is just a further indictment of Hoke.

G. Gulo of the Dale

May 2nd, 2015 at 8:39 PM ^

... This isn't meant to be wholesale defense of the previous coaching staff (obviously), but it seems a little disingenuous to claim that Hoke et al. completely stunted the devolopment of Ryan, Funchess, and Clark, given that all three were Rivals three-stars coming out of high school, and when the former two were dealing with injuries as upperclassmen.  None of the three had the final season that most of us expected, but those expectations were in many ways set prior to Ryan and Funchess getting injured and after all of them had outstripped initial expectations coming out of highschool during the early Hoke years.  

Again, I'm not saying that Hoke's staff is free of blame--even in the case of the development of these players--but it just doesn't make sense to say that Hoke simply impeded their development, when, coming out of highshool, it would have been just as likely that none of them would have matured into mid-round draft selections as it would have been for all of them to do so.   

Magnus

May 2nd, 2015 at 8:40 PM ^

I didn't realize Jake Ryan underperformed so badly. He was a 3-star recruit with MAC offers who went on to become a two-time captain, First Team All-Big Ten, and second in the conference in tackles/game.

I also didn't realize Frank Clark was so bad. I believe he was a 2-star recruit at one point (eventually a 3-star) who developed into a Second Team All-Big Ten guy. He developed enough for Seattle to pick him in the second round even with multiple run-ins with the law. (NOTE: I'm not saying Clark was a great pick in the second round, but facts are facts.)

Hoke can be blamed for a lot of things, but he also deserves some credit for the things that he, his staff, and his players accomplished.

BlueinOK

May 2nd, 2015 at 8:43 PM ^

I remember when Josh Furman committed. I was so excited. He never seemed to find a position in the Michigan defense. It's great to see him get drafted. 

Lakeyale13

May 2nd, 2015 at 9:07 PM ^

Not mad at Hoke on this one. Defense isn't the reason we have been a mediocre program. Now, if this were a running back going to another program and putting up 1200 yards, or even a back up QB leaving and putting up sick numbers then I would be a lot more upset.

MadMatt

May 2nd, 2015 at 9:29 PM ^

I love Brady Home as a man and how he tried to do things the right way. I wish it had worked out differently. . . BUT, name one significant contributor on his teams who showed substantial improvement the last season he played for Hoke as compared to the first season he played for Hoke. Can you do it? (Seriously, I'd really like to know if I've overlooked anyone.) I can name several guys off the top of my head who I feel had their best season in the first season they played for him. The position coaching was so terrible even a self-appointed loud mouth like me can point it out.