"Michigan's Michael Schofield draws praise at Senior Bowl" and wins player of the day.
I am suprised that this was not caught earlier but I saw that Michael Schofield draws praise and actually wins Resee's player of the day (at least in one of the analysts mind). Hopefully this really helps his draft stock. It would be great if both Lewan and Schofield go first round.
I know they had him practicing at guard but he pretty much dominated today on the OL/DL one on one drill at right tackle. He looked quick coming out of his stance and stout at the point of attack.
Well done Michael and I love seeing the winged helmet in the Senior Bowl highlight reels.
Question though... Where is Lewan? I haven't heard anything about him at all.
Sorry about the embed. No "old embed code" to choose from when using NFL network. I tried looking on YouTube but no luck.
January 23rd, 2014 at 1:47 AM ^
January 23rd, 2014 at 1:47 AM ^
He looked lost half the time in 2013 and drew the ire of a large number of posters. Yet another example of subpar coaching at his position; he's clearly a hardworking, talented player.
January 23rd, 2014 at 12:36 PM ^
If he looked lost 'half the time', or some reasonable facsimile thereof, it should be easy to find some film examples of how lost he was. That's not my impression from watching the games and reading the UFRs this year.
Rob
January 23rd, 2014 at 1:49 AM ^
Was watching Big Ten Finale on BTN earlier and they said Lewan isn't playing due to injury but will be ready for the combine. Also in that segment, Lisa Byington was talking with Dinardo and her sign off was, "If Gerry Dinardo is happy, I'm humpy." Then the camera stayed on them for an awkwardly long time in silence. I was cracking up.
January 23rd, 2014 at 3:01 AM ^
maybe Lisa is vying for a role in BTN's show The Journey.
January 23rd, 2014 at 1:50 AM ^
it will be first round. But i do think he will have a long NFL career. Then again what do i know.
January 23rd, 2014 at 2:47 AM ^
I was reading somewhere that Eric Fisher was projected to be the fourth OT in last years draft until Lewan and Matthews from Texas A&M both decided to stay in school.
After the Pro Bowl Fisher was still projected to be the 2nd OT (in the first round) in the draft and went #1 overall. LIke you said "what do I know." Right there with you. All we can do is speculate, and it is fun to do, especially when it comes to one of our own.
January 23rd, 2014 at 4:03 AM ^
Schofield is a RT/G and while I think he is highly underrated and a darn good player, LT are the ones that usually go in the 1st round along with can't miss guards. I don't see Schofield as a can't miss player like Lewan is but he'd be a great pick up for a team in rounds 2-4 which is probably where he will go. Any projections now though are pretty meaningless until after the Combine and the Pro Day's in February and March and NFL guys can see just how athletic all of the prospects really are.
January 23rd, 2014 at 6:52 AM ^
January 23rd, 2014 at 11:38 AM ^
...which is part of the reason why some good college tackles end up playing guard in the pros.
January 23rd, 2014 at 1:56 AM ^
January 23rd, 2014 at 1:58 AM ^
Most top prospects don't play in the Senior Bowl anyways. It's more for players looking to improve their draft stock, not players who are already projected to go in the 1st round.
January 23rd, 2014 at 2:40 AM ^
January 23rd, 2014 at 7:01 AM ^
January 23rd, 2014 at 7:32 AM ^
Lewan can't improve his draft position much. He's top 10 most likely. If someone so projected to go late first round and thinks they can move up substantially or even solidify their position they may decide to play. I agree that most 1st rounders don't.
January 23rd, 2014 at 8:47 AM ^
According to Meinke, Lewan bowed out due to injury. Didn't expand on what it was though.
http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2014/01/michael_schofield_michigan_foo.html
January 23rd, 2014 at 10:04 AM ^
Over the last 5 drafts, 162 players have been selected in the first round. 51 of those players have been seniors that played in the Senior Bowl. 80 have been underclassmen, who are obviously not eligible to participate in the Senior Bowl. That means in the last 5 years only 31 seniors who didn't play in the Senior Bowl were first round draft picks. Last year there were only 5 non Senior Bowl seniors drafted in the first round, compared to 11 guys who participated. So yes, his statement is wrong. The majority of seniors who are not projected top 10 picks or injured play in the Senior Bowl.
January 23rd, 2014 at 11:18 AM ^
Plenty of 1st round picks play in the senior bowl, but top prospects don't. If there's no way a player can improve his draft stock he doesn't play.
January 23rd, 2014 at 11:20 AM ^
January 23rd, 2014 at 11:25 AM ^
January 23rd, 2014 at 11:27 AM ^
January 23rd, 2014 at 3:41 AM ^
January 23rd, 2014 at 10:16 AM ^
Well this post made no sense after the removal of the one before it, so..............Go Blue?
January 23rd, 2014 at 8:14 AM ^
The Lolions work some trade magic, and draft Lewan with the first pick, Schofield with the second pick, Gallon with the 3rd pick, trade for Denard and David Molk and then go on to win 12 straight super bowls. Of course then I remember that if something as awesome as this happened to the Lolions, their plane would probably crash on the way to the first road game.
January 23rd, 2014 at 8:24 AM ^
12 straight Sugar Bowls, not Super Bowls.
/GoLions
January 23rd, 2014 at 11:54 AM ^
January 23rd, 2014 at 12:44 PM ^
perhaps my sarcasm wasn't obvious enough for someone as gifted as y ou
January 27th, 2014 at 3:24 PM ^
at executing sarcasm as you think.
January 23rd, 2014 at 8:20 AM ^
January 23rd, 2014 at 11:14 AM ^
January 23rd, 2014 at 8:29 AM ^
Not surprised. Much of Schofield's solid play was overshadowed by Lewan's celebrity and the problems on the interior of the line.
In my opinion Schofield is a first-rounder in his own right, but I agree with a lot of people here that he probably won't get selected that early.
January 23rd, 2014 at 11:33 AM ^
I don't know what you're basing this on. Schofield was a solid player, and he has the measurables to be an NFL pick (read: height). He was a good person, etc., all those things. But he was not an elite player. He was bullrushed regularly because he lacks elite strength, he didn't get a ton of movement in the run game, and he had problems at times with speed rushes. Gardner stepped up or ninja-moved out of a lot of those problems, limiting the occasions where we sighed in his direction.
January 23rd, 2014 at 9:01 AM ^
January 23rd, 2014 at 9:28 AM ^
The first thing that suggests to me is that there was a coaching problem. Combine that with the OC getting fired and... yeah.
January 23rd, 2014 at 9:11 AM ^
W. T. F.
January 23rd, 2014 at 10:24 AM ^
why Darrell Funk still has a job is beyond me...
January 23rd, 2014 at 9:34 AM ^
Many top prospects get some sort of "injury" that prevents them from playing in the Senior Bowls. There really isn't a lot upside for first round types in these games, as all it can do is emphasize weaknesses from things you haven't worked on consistently with different players that haven't practiced a lot together. Later round guys have a lot they can prove at these things, and that's why they play. They are still going up against the better players and college football, and this kind of showcases where they stand. That's why guys like Schofield and Denard play in these.
There is no chance Schofield is a first round guy, only the elite of elite OGs go that high, and even that's somewhat rare. Schofield is a probably round 4 at highest, but like 5-7. What this senior bowl does for him is give him the showcase that he can play OG with the best of these guys, which makes him a very versatile and pretty valuable later round pick. He won't be picked higher because he won't be seen as a guy that steps in as a starter, but as a later round guy he has value because he can come off the bench to play OG or OT, so it saves roster room. Then the hope is down the road that he continues to develop and break into a starting lineup.
Schofield wasn't overshadowed just because of Lewan, he is a very solid but unspectacular player. What he's doing at the Senior bowl is showing that he can play on the interior and play with the best of college players and be solid at the next level. That's good. That's what gets you drafted and that's what helps you stick on a roster. I think he'll do just that, but he has things to work on and weaknesses still in his game that prevent him from going in the first three rounds, IMO. That doesn't mean that this senior bowl showing is helping his case out tremendously though, I just don't think it's a case of him jumping from the 6-7 round to the first few rounds. It's a jump up 1-3 rounds, which is important too.
January 23rd, 2014 at 10:51 AM ^
I'll say again, outside of projected top 10 guys, the majority of senior first rounders play in these games.
January 23rd, 2014 at 10:05 AM ^
January 23rd, 2014 at 10:09 AM ^
"Now, he's a right tackle only, in my opinion. They tried him at guard. Right tackle only is not a good thing to be in the NFL unless you're a starter. I think he has the potential to be a starting right tackle." - Mike Maycock
Even from the supposed draft gurus like Maycock, you do like to hear these things being said about Schofield. He very quietly did good things at Michigan, very productive things on the field, and hopefully he'll get a nice opportunity to contribute at the pro level.
January 23rd, 2014 at 11:12 AM ^
January 23rd, 2014 at 10:52 AM ^
And all year I thought he should have been playing RG, to lend experience on the interior... I'd bet big money that having him at RG and Magnuson/Braden at RT and we'd have been WAY better off.....
January 23rd, 2014 at 11:03 AM ^
January 23rd, 2014 at 11:22 AM ^
All hindsight gives is that the current lineup was less than optimal, it doesn't mean that switching them wouldn't have been worse. I suspect moving Schofield inside would have had some positive results as well, but that's far from certain.
January 23rd, 2014 at 11:39 PM ^
wouldn't have been worse by much to move Schofield over. I'm trying to figure out how it could have been worse given the negatives and positives of this idea. Losing Bosch in 2018 is certain and that is a fifth year senior - big loss. Schofield played guard previously and did OK. Braden could have perhaps picked up some needed game experience at RT. The downside being Braden fails at RT catastrophically and Schofield regresses at guard? Hmm... hindsight is more certain than I think you suspect.
If I had my druthers I would have had Bryant or Braden finish out at guard when Burzynski went down. Dawson and Fox come in next year and this was Bryant's chance to earn his scholarship by at least protecting Bosch's fifth year...at the least.
Nobody is pluperfectly perfect but it is perfectly certain hindsight to say we could have played 2013 better personnel wise on the OL. Tell me something subjunctively certain ... no one can do that. Oh wait... there is that time when it would have been better not to let BWC block on extra points and instead get a fifth year. I guess that is certain.
January 23rd, 2014 at 12:05 PM ^
Another Al Borges indictment...
Michigan just upgraded their OC by a magnitude of 2-5, but Funk's continued presence on the staff makes me dubious about next year's OL in that I'll have to see it to believe it.
But Hoke springs eternal.
January 23rd, 2014 at 3:19 PM ^
If both of these guys go in the first round what does that say about the coaching at Michigan. Our line had to be the most confused of any in the country all year.
January 23rd, 2014 at 11:55 PM ^
Whoa, whoa, whoa, I really enjoyed watching Schofield play at Michigan, but you guys that are saying he's a first round pick? Sorry guys, but he won't go before the third round even with a fantastic week. I hate to be the guy that comes in here ruins the good thoughts, but nobody honestly thinks Schofield is a 1st rounder right?
Look, I hope every Michigan player gets picked in the 1st round, but reality is reality. And the reality is that Schofield isn't an elite tackle or guard, so no way he goes in the first. He'll be lucky to go in the 3rd, most likely he will end up in the 4th or 5th.