Michigan returning least production in B1G; 124th overall
Bill Connelly’s annual returning production ranks are out. It’s not an encouraging stat for Michigan. That said, I believe the team will be better in 2020 than it was in 2019. The OL and QB losses are the big key—will we have a QB step up? Can our new OL perform up to the 2019 level?
Northwestern is #1 in the country and OSU is #92, even with fields back.
February 8th, 2020 at 11:07 AM ^
NW - we’ll see what happens when you’re returning everyone from a shitty team
February 8th, 2020 at 11:19 AM ^
Thank you for posting this again.
6.7.0February 8th, 2020 at 1:13 PM ^
How's Keith Jackson doing these days?
February 8th, 2020 at 3:46 PM ^
I think he died again. And again.
February 8th, 2020 at 3:24 PM ^
My bad. Scanned the board and still missed that post.
February 9th, 2020 at 1:57 PM ^
Inexcusable, unforgiveable sin. You're going to Hell!
Just kidding.
Thanks for posting it. I hadn't seen it either.
February 8th, 2020 at 11:22 AM ^
Direct correlation with the post detailing the number of Wolverines invited to NFL combine?........tune in tomorrow to find out.
February 8th, 2020 at 11:26 AM ^
Direct or inverse correlation?
February 8th, 2020 at 2:20 PM ^
Solid point. I should have put more thought into my rush to snark.
February 8th, 2020 at 11:40 AM ^
Really hoping that the reports of Shea getting special treatment are true, otherwise we are in for it next year.
Never thought I’d say something like that!
February 8th, 2020 at 11:54 AM ^
In Warner I trust. The QB’s on the other hand couldn’t beat out a guy Matt Patricia yelled at.
February 8th, 2020 at 12:00 PM ^
Warner?
February 8th, 2020 at 2:45 PM ^
Sorry, Ed Warinner.
February 8th, 2020 at 11:56 AM ^
Alabama at #127, lower than Michigan. This formula is useless. You know dang well Alabama will be contending for the Top 4, regardless of this formula having them ranked at nearly the very bottom. Clemson lost 3 starting defensive linemen to the draft last season. And all 3 were taken in the 1st round--that's how good they were. But Clemson was in the National Championship game this season anyway without them.
Let's talk about coaching staffs if you want to talk about something that matters in the real world.
February 8th, 2020 at 12:07 PM ^
Those teams reload due to recruiting. Lots of coaches can develop. You need to be developing really good players in order to reload.
February 8th, 2020 at 1:35 PM ^
Michigan is a top 10-12 program, and recruits as such. They put a number of guys into the NFL thing is in B1G East the program needs to be a top 4-6 program to win the division.
February 8th, 2020 at 12:41 PM ^
Agree, I’m sure the turnover rates for Bama and OSU are always high. That’s what happens when you consistently recruit stars. There is always the ‘next’ best player at the position waiting in the wings. This is gonna hurt us more because our reload capabilities are much lower.
February 8th, 2020 at 1:28 PM ^
Exactly right which make lists like this one USELESS ! OSU in the 90s and Alabama at 127. Yet Northwestern is #1. Well guess what ? Those teams almost always have low returning rates like this one (most years) just because of the stars leaving for the draft. Take a look at their depth though. Comical
February 8th, 2020 at 11:57 AM ^
I think most of us are ready for a reset.
February 8th, 2020 at 12:05 PM ^
Yes sir.
But with the coaching Michigan has on offense we will very likely be getting more of the same.
February 8th, 2020 at 12:20 PM ^
You mean a top 15, maybe even top 10, offense over the last half of the season, which could've been even better with a QB that kept the ball when needed and hit wide open receivers?
Sounds terrible.
February 8th, 2020 at 12:50 PM ^
I appreciate your optimism and am sorry for my negativity, but other than the rain game against ND, I’m not sure there was much to be optimistic about in the last half of the season. Yards mean very little if you don’t have the payoff of points.
February 8th, 2020 at 12:59 PM ^
lol, guess you didn't watch the games. Passing game lit it up pretty good, 3 consecutive 300+ yd passing games to end the season, which had never been done in the history of UM football, 2 of which came against our 2 biggest rivals, and it could've been more had Shea been more accurate.
February 8th, 2020 at 1:15 PM ^
again, I understand our ability to get yards. Our red zone conversion percentage last year was worse than 82nd in the country. On a yards per point basis, we were 24th in the country. These are not stats that indicate an efficient team. Yards mean nothing if you’re not cashing it in. I’m not sure I’d use yardage as sign of a moral victory against OSU, are you sure you saw that game? ‘lol’. I enjoy beating sparty but let’s be honest, they were atrocious.
February 8th, 2020 at 1:32 PM ^
lmao, sure thing champ!
February 8th, 2020 at 6:33 PM ^
So you don't have interest in the playoffs.
And you don't mind that Michigan has an offense that is not competitive with Top 4 contender type teams.
February 8th, 2020 at 12:59 PM ^
Keep in mind Connelly places a bigger emphasis on offensive passing game production returning meaning (QB and WR #'s) and defensively a bigger impact according to him comes from things like passes defensed.
February 8th, 2020 at 1:03 PM ^
It's like that one dude said:. If the news is already 2 minutes old, it's already posted.
February 8th, 2020 at 1:05 PM ^
2 leading rushers and 2 leading receivers, only 1 OL back however on offense.
Whole starting D-line back, 2 LBs, 2 DBs (3 if you want to throw Dax in)
On paper, I don’t know if this team looks as good as it did last year, but we should see an on-the-field improvement. 2 really good backs, hopefully more running from the QB position and 2 reliable receivers and Eubanks. Defensively, we have 2 NFL DE’s back, Kemp who is solid, and hopefully Hinton is ready. McGrone and a healthy Ross is a real good inside LB corps. Going to need to find a SAM to take the Uche role, a viper, and hopefully Vincent Gray isn’t a liability.
DL depth, OL inexperience, and CB depth are the biggest concerns as a whole. Of course QB play also.
February 8th, 2020 at 3:56 PM ^
DL depth,
I saw the DL get run over by Ohio St. The one I saw flat on his back a couple of times is back. You sure you're happy about that?
February 8th, 2020 at 1:10 PM ^
I'm not too worried about it.
February 8th, 2020 at 1:39 PM ^
Bredeson and Ruiz are the biggest loses I think the other 3 OL could see an uptick in production certainly Mayfield 2020>Mayfield 2019. Hayes will be drafted at some point just needs to keep working in the weight room, this offseason is huge for him.
February 8th, 2020 at 2:10 PM ^
Hopefully good production in 2020 versus mediocre production in 2019
February 8th, 2020 at 3:58 PM ^
Even "good" is not going to be enough in a couple of games.
February 8th, 2020 at 2:38 PM ^
Well considering players seem to hit a ceiling rather quickly with Harbaugh maybe it's a good thing...still some upside for the youngsters
February 8th, 2020 at 3:17 PM ^
I know people are saying these stats are a good predictor of success, but I think it's dependent on the talent available and utilized.
OSU lost Haskins this year but Fields is a better fit for their system and they played much better with him despite not being "returning production"
NW will be better because they can't be much worse than last year, but they still have a lower ceiling than Michigan's floor simply based on talent and scheme
I think the OL losses are big, but the QB and WR departures are pretty minor in the grand scheme of things. I expect a better team but maybe a same record as this year just because of the schedule difficulty
February 8th, 2020 at 3:24 PM ^
He must still think Patterson is coming back.
February 8th, 2020 at 3:41 PM ^
Northwestern ranking reminds me of an Indiana team preview I read about a decade ago:
GOOD NEWS: IU returns all 11 defensive starters.
BAD NEWS: IU returns all 11 defensive starters.