Michigan Offers Grad Transfer UMass CB Josh Wallace
Michigan is apparently still shopping for corners in the transfer portal.
Josh is a 6-0, 190 lb. two-time team captain playing under Don Brown at UMass with 1 year of eligibility remaining. Also holds offers from Penn State, Indiana, Michigan State, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma and Oregon State.
Great good stuff.
And good great stuff.
Aren't you at least a little curious to learn more about him?
Wallace is coming from UMass, which disappointed as a team with a 1-11 record in 2022. He ranked sixth on the squad with 41 tackles, adding 3 for loss, 2 interceptions and 8 pass breakups.
Per PFF, he allowed 22 receptions for 381 yards and 2 touchdowns on 40 targets. His 71.2 PFF coverage grade ranked 117th among all cornerbacks nationally.
He was named second-team All-Independent by Pro Football Network in both 2022 and 2020.
Hard to believe Brown went 1-11. Maybe isn't head coach material.
It’s not that hard to believe. It’s UMass. They were absolutely horrendous when he took over and it’s certainly one of the worst jobs in the country.
You could be a phenomenal head coach and it would be miracle work to make UMass respectable.
Them and UConn were both excellent D1AA schools, i am sure the reason for D1A is the money. But i imagine for students it was more fun to watch an amazing FCS team. They're both basketball schools tho, so i figure the calculus is "use football to pad some money and let bball be the cultural and financial focus of our AD." Makes sense, i guess i talked myself into their strategy haha. But kind of a bummer for a football first guy like myself.
Is UMass even a basketball school? That seems pretty… generous. I’d also hesitate to say UConn was an excellent 1AA program, they only made the playoffs once.
But yeah, I’d say the move was both for financial reasons as well as publicity. FBS schools are generally more well-known than FCS or lower schools and receive more college applicants as a result of that publicity. I’d also imagine donations and advertising goes up along with the added publicity as well. There’s a certain prestige that comes with being an FBS program.
This probably shows that the coaching staff is not sold on what they have at the 2nd corner spot after spring practice.
I'm not sure that's true. I believe these grad transfers are being completely funded with NIL and don't take a scholarship. So, it's a great way to add depth and competition no matter what we have.
We have a lot of inexperienced talent, but this would add some experience to the mix.
Will they please shift some of this money to basketball.
I heard that he can play the 4!
Josh Wallace was the starting PG for DeMatha in high school so maybe he can play for Juwan too?
But why would this kid come here if he wasn't being told he would start?
Also, I think there's a good chance Walker ends up on offense.
The coaches would be crazy to tell him he's going to start...that's a definite way you run guys off the team and ruin the locker room
I know I’m not sold after watching the Spring game
It may well point to that, but just as easily it could be a chance to shore up depth. What we have is youth and talent to throw at that second spot, which is likely to give you at least one viable candidate. But what happens if Will Johnson gets hurt for a game (god forbid knock wood) or if your guy who emerges is good against most teams but gets dunked on early in the season? It’s wise to add experienced depth from veteran players when you really want 4 guys to cover those corner spots
Eh, he doesn’t profile as a guy who would come in and be a significant upgrade over what you’d likely get from McBurrows/Walker. But he is an experienced player that brings leadership qualities to a young CB corps. That has significant value in itself. Helps the young guys grow and brings added depth and stability in case of an injury to someone else while maintaining the possibility of winning the starting job himself.
If the coaching staff is really worried about the CB2 spot at this point, I don’t think it’s out of the question that they look into moving Sainristil outside and sliding one of the safeties to nickel. It’s not Mikey’s ideal position but he has the coverage skills and we have the safety depth to accommodate. It’s not necessarily about putting each guy in their own “best fit” position, but which positions give us the best overall secondary.
You’re in a great spot with Mikey in the slot! If you move him:
a.) You don’t know how well he’ll perform on the outside.
b.) even if he plays great, you still potentially will have a hole at nickel(yes Rod Moore could come down but he’s a strength as a safety right now).
He’s good where he is, just have to hope you get the other guys opposite of Will Johnson prepared during the Summer.
A. Almost like the coaches could give him a handful of reps on the outside in practice and see how he does. I’m not saying just throw him out there in a game and hope for the best. They have time to figure this out.
B. That’s why I said it’s not about each player in their individual best spot, it’s about which positions give us the best overall secondary. If that means Mikey outside, and Sabb/Moore at nickel then so be it. If it means Mikey stays at nickel and we run with what we have outside, I have no issue with that.
All I am saying is that it’s an option that would be considered if the coaches were honestly worried about CB2.
It's hard to tell. I think right now McBurrows would probably win the job, but the staff has also shown if they can upgrade a spot with a transfer, they will do so. I think this team has national championship potential and you need to upgrade any potential spots of weakness whenever you can
Yup, very rare you have a "perfect" team, even national championship teams generally have a hole or relative weakness somewhere. UM's only perceived weakness/uncertainty going into this year is the second boundary corner. Thankfully Will Johnson is elite enough to stay on an island against almost any WR we face this year (MHJ will always be a problem), and adding depth to the CB room can only help.
Hopefully Walker (Maybe freshman Hill) levels up throughout the year and becomes elite as the coaches see something there, but if not, McBurrows seems to offer a nice floor for the second outside CB on the roster. Would expect a lot of help on that side from Moore over the top against elite passing teams either way. At some point, however, would be ideal to trust them in man coverage.
Or they may only jump at certain players in the portal that they think are a fit. He's been in the portal for only about 48 hours and has picked up some significant offers. I usually follow the offers, and I think he might be a player worth evaluating based on the teams reportedly looking at him already (PSU, Oklahoma, MSU, Virginia Tech, and Indiana).
One other think to keep in mind is I think Wallace only has one more year of eligibility so he may not have a long-term impact on the roster or recruiting. If Michigan has a spot for one more player on a potential Championship team, why not take a swing on grad transfer who is two-time captain and 4-year starter if you have the space at position with little experienced depth if you think he fits?
Even the down voters have to admit that CB is the most uncertain if not the weakest position group going into the season.
Adding experienced depth and leadership is a smart move.
Should also mention he played with Olu in high school (DeMatha Catholic).
If it's DeMatha, he is going to have teammates everywhere. The funnier connection is he was the starting PG for Hunter Dickinson while at DeMatha.
Sounds like a Dude!
Is he a dude?
Two-time captain suggests he might be a dude. He's definitely a guy. If he's a dude, that would be spectacular.
"Not a dude, but a guy. But not just a guy. A guy who could be a dude."
D.B.
Putting a mature player in the locker room is always a good idea, and maybe Jim is doing Don a solid by giving his boy a little visibility for his last year. In other portal news, WFU* Gary Barta is putting himself in the portal at Iowa. One can only hope no one picks him up.
* WFU => Wild Fuck Up
I wish Olu Oluwatimi could have stayed forever.
And I feel similarly about Mike Sainristil.
I'm not sure how this helps Don Brown, but we can hope that he is still on good terms on Harbaugh and willing to give Michigan a good recommendation. I think Partridge offered, and I think he is still on pretty good terms with Don Brown.
As for Barta, I think "retiring" was a way for Iowa to let Barta save face on his way out.
Depth is always an issue in November, we are light on CB depth. This would obviously help