Quinten Johnson signing NIL deal, more evidence he's returning?
Stealing this directly from a reddit post so I'll just link to that, but the tweet is the actual content:
https://www.reddit.com/r/MichiganWolverines/comments/1bckm15/quinten_johnson_back_confirmed/
https://twitter.com/randywiseat/status/1767358717169692979?t=MXQxCTUmMIi9C8nTaIYmFA
Same conclusion as the reddit poster, this seems like an NIL deal. It would be odd if he weren't coming back and they were making a deal with an iffy late-round pick or UDFA.
March 11th, 2024 at 10:06 PM ^
Yes, this appears to be more evidence.
March 11th, 2024 at 11:14 PM ^
Damn Pete, how did you figure that out?
The NIL part must have given it away!
March 12th, 2024 at 12:01 AM ^
Elementary, my dear Mickson, elementary 🕵️♂️
Hai, Sensei.
March 11th, 2024 at 10:08 PM ^
He's back (link)
March 11th, 2024 at 10:13 PM ^
IT’S HAPPENING DOT GIF
March 11th, 2024 at 10:19 PM ^
This gif always takes me back to the Great Happeninging of late 2014. Good times.
March 11th, 2024 at 10:15 PM ^
Giggidy
March 11th, 2024 at 10:20 PM ^
Johnson coming back would certainly alleviate some of the stress of Sabb leaving. Johnson is playable safety who made some plays for us into the post season. Also, can never have too many veteran leaders on a team
March 11th, 2024 at 11:01 PM ^
Lose the "t"
March 11th, 2024 at 10:22 PM ^
Glad he's coming back, but hard to get too excited about (yet another) pro sport... where only the teams who buy the best rosters have a chance to win (with hilarious exceptions like Texas A&M under Fisher). Watching this last team, even before winning the championship, still felt "normal" since (most of) those kids came to Michigan before NIL.
March 11th, 2024 at 10:42 PM ^
So you preferred a sport where all transactions were under the table, only some teams were punished for those transgressions, and players, the real reason the sport is so popular, were artificially underpaid through anti competitive, monopolistic, self-regulation? You, my friend, would have loved the communist block.
March 11th, 2024 at 10:51 PM ^
We're BACK!!!!@!!!
March 12th, 2024 at 12:06 AM ^
Those are not the only options.
Off-topic, Jadyn Davis teammate and top prospect David Sanders is apparently nostalgic (excepting South Carolina) for the old days. Look at his top choices:
https://247sports.com/player/david-sanders-jr-46118364/
He must think it's still 2018. David, we have money available, too! :)
March 11th, 2024 at 10:52 PM ^
Sounds like crg hates freedom and probably rainbows too.
March 12th, 2024 at 12:09 AM ^
So you enjoy what's happening to college sports?
March 12th, 2024 at 12:09 AM ^
Just being honest.
I feels ya
Username - check!
This kid probably didn't get much of anything out of NIL prior to this season, and he was here well before NIL started. He'd have an uphill battle making an NFL roster and would probably be a UDFA. Now he actually gets a chance to make a decent bit of money from playing football. This is the scenario that leads you to complain about NIL?
And there is at least a chance that he could improve, have a good year, and raise his chances of getting a shot at the NFL.
March 12th, 2024 at 12:03 AM ^
The hit on Egbuka was one of the best plays of the season. Would love to have this guy back.
March 12th, 2024 at 12:24 AM ^
Yep and the Milroe strip was one of the biggest plays of the season.
March 12th, 2024 at 12:22 AM ^
He was a clutch player later in season.
Do you all understand how freakish this defense will be? This season has gone from "yeah yeah man they can be pretty good with a top defense" to "don't waste it. This could be the 2nd or 3rd best michigan defense of all time so figure this offense out because you cannot waste this!" real fast lol.
I'm happy it looks like Johnson is coming back but it doesn't move the needle for my expectations for this defense. He was becoming a bigger contributor near the end, but I'd be much more excited if we had been able to keep Sabb.
I think the key thing to remember is that last year's defense was historically great, for anyone, ever. So even IF we field another elite defense there will still be drop off.
I'd be really excited if we were getting back another DL for the rotation - as Brian and Seth have said numerous times, this was a big factor to their success, being fresh all the time.
Don't get me wrong, I think this could still be a top 5 defense but when you were the 2nd greatest defense of "all-time" anything less is gonna be a sizable step back.
If this move allows Rod Moore to move to nickel and that makes us better this could be big. This could be either because Rod Moore is more impactful than McBurrows or because it allows McBurrows to play CB.
Either way it gives us more flexibility and options which is a good thing. Welcome back, Quinten!
March 12th, 2024 at 10:36 AM ^
I don't doubt Moore can be more impactful than McBurrows at Nickel, but can McBurrows play CB though? That's what my concern is. He was seemingly prepping to play Nickel, which is a very different role than outside CB. Personally, I was hoping DJ Waller would be able to fill the outside CB role, he's got some great size and seems like he has the inside track to the spot.
Hopefully, he can move outside without any issues, but like you said either way it gives us some flexibility.
March 12th, 2024 at 12:12 PM ^
I'm guessing McBurrows is like Sainristil, his preferred position is nickel, but he can get by at CB from time to time. You'd rather have Waller step up as the starter. If you are trying to get your best 5 players on the field, McBurrows at CB might be the answer, at least situationally.
March 12th, 2024 at 12:43 PM ^
But the options weren't Sabb or QJ. It actually seemed like the options were portal, play someone with no experience, or pray Moore and Paige could play every snap of the season. Then QJ appeared from nowhere. It's a good thing. The guy had game-changing plays against Ohio State and Alabama last year.
So I actually agree with you. This '23 defense was historically good. I'd have them at #1, eclipsing the '97 defense and probably a top 10 of all time in CFB. We won't have the depth we had last year and lose some unique and key pieces (MS being one of the biggest).
Totally agree on the drop off...but I think my headline message is this adds a key person and this can be a top 5 defense in college football for the 2024 season and if you can field a top 5 offense or defense in major college football you have to find a way to make the other side of the ball serviceable enough to make a run.