Michigan Guys in SI's Top 100 CFB Players for 2018
Here's the source (link). Please note that they're not releasing all of it at once, so this is just 100-51.
Here are the Michigan guys:
56. Chase Winovich, LB
It’s not a huge stretch to suggest the Wolverines could field the No. 1 defense in the country this season, and Winovich is a major reason why. He is a 6'3", 253-pound wrecking ball off the edge who is poised to spend his fifth year in Ann Arbor tormenting Big Ten offenses while functioning as one half of a frightening defensive end duo that also includes projected first-round draft pick Rashan Gary. —CJ
62. Khaleke Hudson, LB
Ace defensive coordinator Don Brown has groomed Hudson, a former three-star safety/athlete recruit out of McKeesport Area (Pa.) High School, into a big-time playmaker at the Wolverines’ hybrid Viper position. On Nov. 4 Hudson set a single-game Big Ten record with eight tackles for loss in a 33–10 win over Minnesota, and the only player in the conference to beat Hudson’s 18 TFL last season was teammate Chase Winovich (18.5). — CJ
78. Lavert Hill, DB
An unspecified injury sidelined Hill for much of Michigan’s spring, but it’s not expected to set him back this season as he looks to build on a second-team All-Big Ten campaign. At full strength, Hill is an elite cover man capable of spooking opposing quarterbacks out of making contested throws in his vicinity. He and fellow junior David Long have a strong case as the conference’s premier cornerback duo. — CJ
80. Shea Patterson, QB
It wasn’t that long ago that Patterson felt like a long shot to gain immediate eligibility at Michigan. Now he’s being touted as the potential savior for a bumbling offense that finished 101st nationally in yards per play last season. As long as there are no lingering effects from the season-ending knee injury he suffered at Ole Miss last October, Patterson could provide the offensive spark the Wolverines need to rise to the top of a daunting Big Ten East division. — CJ
Some observations about the rest of the list:
- That's no typo; they list Winovich as a LB but call him a DE in the description.
- Patterson (80) ranked below the guy who replaces him at Ole Miss (76).
- No Ohio State guys ranked in the bottom 50 of this list; we'll see about the top 50.
- Only other B1G contributors are Michigan State (LJ Scott) and Wisco (2 OL and a LB)
- ND has one DT listed, Jerry Tillery
- Note: that's 5 guys so far from the 2018 schedule
- Georgia, 'Bama, and Clemson each have 4 guys listed
Great players make great teams. Devin Bush and Rashan Gary will be our top 50 guys. I believe that David Long is being massively under appreciated. Skill combos of Gentry and McKeon, Evans and Higdon, DPJ and Black will not on this top 100, but I want them on my team. (I know, I know, no O lineman crack the top 100 list.) Why not win big this year? I continue to think that we will.
I thought Long and maaaaaaaybe Higdon had a shot at making it to this half of the list, but there you have it.
Long might be in the top 50 if they are going off of last year’s numbers.
For some reason Higdon gets no love. A couple of weeks ago on The First Team (this is a radio show on siriuxXM channel 84) hosted by Taylor Zarzour and Greg McElroy, they were talking about Michigan and their lack of elite RBs. I’m not saying Higdon is elite, but they made it sound like Higdon is average. They didn’t even mention Evans.
They were both high on Michigan, but the lack of respect for the run game was bothersome to me.
I listened to that show that morning, and I believe Greg mentioned that they "have good RBs, not great" which I think is pretty accurate.
You might be right, but If I remember correctly, they kept saying the lack of playmakers at RB might hurt Michigan. I would say Higdon and Evans both have playmaking ability. Definitely not elite, but I just thought they are better than what they were given credit for. Maybe I just let my maize and blue fandom get in the way.
Considering the shit show of an O line they ran behind I'd say both Higdon and Evans did well.
I looked it up: Higdon was top 60 in rushing yards (not great), but top 20 in yards per carry. If you remove QBs, that ranking goes up. These aren't sterling numbers, but I could see him being just around the 100 mark. There are, what, 8 position groups in CFB? So you're taking 12.5, on average, per group. I thought Higdon could've slipped in, depending on the number of returning players from last year.
I like Higdon and think he'll have a really good season this year, but he did pick up about 2/3 of his yards last year against IU, Minny, and Rutgers. His biggest hurdle has been consistently generating big plays, and so it'll be interesting if he can do so this year behind, one hopes, a better offensive line with a better passing game.
That's a great observation; I didn't realize that. In this case, it does seem to be more of a 'good not great' situation.
Uhh....wow.
What does their race have to do with it? I'm so confused.
I think what he means is a White guy will say something nice about your mom so you won’t be intimidated while a Black Guy might say something mean about your mom which will scare you into a poor performance.
This is an interesting take that should go over well...
As long as there's no fucking Dutch guys in the line we'll be just fine.
Those assholes ruin EVERYTHING.
Note: I would post the GIF from Austin Powers here about the Dutch but this new and improved website wants me to download it first to my work computer instead of just copying and pasting like we used to with old, crappy website. And I really dont want to do that so you'll just have to imagine it right here. Picture Mike Meyers, dressed up all in gold and sitting in a gold chair saying "there's only two things I cant stand in the world......"
That was actually Michael Caine, in a suit, standing up...but go on.
This seriously may be the stupidest take I have ever seen on this board. And that says a lot. I lived through the RichRod years, the Hoke years, the Dave Branden years and all of the various coaching searches, and I can say without hesitation that I can't remember a less good post than this.
Not because I am overly PC or offended - but because this is just a stupid take. OL is perhaps the most race-diverse position in football. If you want to say that there tend to be a lot more star WR, CB and RB that are African American (purely by numbers), then fine. But OL? Some of the best OL in CFB and the NFL are white. And Samoan. And black. And a host of other origins. Oh, and Taylor Lewan was totally a guy who backed down from a fight and talking shit.
Ya but Taylor was deceptive. He had that cute little finger mustache. He would flash that around during a game that would break a defenders concentration.
Going to have to bookmark this so I can come back and downvote once they fix that bug.
Lmao..did you really just type that. Bookmarking to come back and downvote later.. some self-reflection about the importance of an internet sports blog post might be in order. Find something better to do with your time.
1962 called, they want their comment back. You're one weird dude, Ohio. Username checks out, I think.
Yeesh
Did you eat a lot of paint chips when you were a kid?
I had to re-read that a couple of times. I thought to myself, surely he is trying to say all american candidates right? No way did he mean to type african american...and then I read the rest of the comment.
Just...wow man.
"Rrrrriiiiiggggghhhhhtttttttttt" - Dr. Evil
Wtf.
We are all dumber for having read your comment. Please don't do that again.
Racy McRacistface
Holy shit, that’s a dumb comment. I wanted to post some kind of snark in reply, but I don’t think your racist views need to be lightened up with humor. They just need to be banished.
I'm going to assume...you know what, this was just a dumb statement and we should all just move on from it.
I agree. White guys like Joe Thomas, Zack Martin, Jake Long, Taylor Lewan, Travis Frederick, Lane Johnson, David Bakhtiari, Quenton Nelson can't block to save their lives.
In all seriousness, I'm about 90% sure this guy is trolling.
Certainly as adults we should think before we type on message boards, but I think this guy's thinker is broken. Unless he is a troll which is more than likely.
Bolivia is too good for you. Maybe they have a state or province that is equivalent to Ohio, though...
It's not really a secret we have a lot of talent. But everything is going to come down to if we can block anyone.
I don't get the LJ Scott love. He's solid, but top 100 player?
When he's good (not fumbling), he's pretty unstoppable. Next year, it's his backfield, too. I can see it.
I mean, it's been his backfield for two years now and yet he keeps losing it to fumbles, a series for being an idiot with his driver's license, and generally not being as good as people think he is.
Gary will be in the top 5-10 and Bush probably top 15-20 I believe.
Tarik Black will be on the post season list.
Edit-Aubrey Solomon might be too. I think he is going to have a huge jump after getting good minutes last year as a true Frosh.
I'm way long Higdon. I've seen Shea get some very light Heisman consideration, I think Higdon is much likelier. Huge second half last year, we got pretty good at running the ball, Harbaugh is run first, Shea opens up the run, he is putting in the work this offseason.
All the doom and gloomers about recruit need to consider the anxt we felt when Weber went OSU because Harbaugh wanted Higdon. I'll take Higdon all day and not think twice.
That leaves the following for the top 50:
Gary>Winovich
Bush>Hudson
Long>Hill