TTB: Ex-Wolverine Updates
Always fun to see what former players and commits are doing.
https://touch-the-banner.com/2021-ex-wolverine-updates-week-6/
Quick reactions:
- Charbonnet had a nice game. Not He-is-man worthy, but a nice game.
- Dang, Presbyterian is trying to break Ren Hefley's arm, or he has a bionic arm already installed. 50/80 passing???
- Glad to see Dylan McCaffrey back out there, but ouch, tough game.
- Okay, Xavier Worthy is pretty good and had a decent game.
- Happy for Hoke
October 11th, 2021 at 9:48 AM ^
It's good to see ex-Wolverines doing well — except when it's against Michigan.
October 11th, 2021 at 9:56 AM ^
Miss Otis Reese!
October 11th, 2021 at 10:01 AM ^
Yeah, but that defense is horrible.
October 11th, 2021 at 5:02 PM ^
Isn’t Otis Reese at Georgia?
October 11th, 2021 at 5:23 PM ^
He originally signed with and attended UGA, but transferred last season to Ole Miss.
October 11th, 2021 at 9:59 AM ^
Ouch, Arizona is struggling. Who will win first, the Lions, or Arizona?
October 11th, 2021 at 11:12 AM ^
They inherited a really bad team.
October 11th, 2021 at 11:12 AM ^
They inherited a really bad team.
October 11th, 2021 at 11:32 AM ^
Hey Magnus...noticing your coaches did not list Chris Partridge.
October 11th, 2021 at 10:02 AM ^
So is Milton officially benched, or is he still injured?
October 11th, 2021 at 10:23 AM ^
He's been benched.
October 11th, 2021 at 11:31 AM ^
Careful, he's about to transfer out and then come back and hang 50 on the Vols!
October 11th, 2021 at 1:08 PM ^
I have nothing against Milton but I would have been shocked if this had gone differently. Unless he was injured last year in a way that prevented him from showing his stuff, he is just not a great QB, and he wasn't a true dual-threat like Denard where you live with his bad throwing because he's running for 10 yards a pop.
October 11th, 2021 at 7:32 PM ^
Denard was not a bad thrower
October 11th, 2021 at 10:05 AM ^
So, of the guys that transferred away it looks like only Luiji and Charbonnet are pretty big pieces of their teams? That QB room that we thought had so much promise a couple of years ago has STRUGGLED. How much is that Michigan's fault, and how much is just guys not having it for this level?
October 11th, 2021 at 10:15 AM ^
How much is that Michigan's fault, and how much is just guys not having it for this level?
None of the former QBs went to good teams, so their performances are tainted by that a bit. On top of that, both Peters and Milton have been injured already this season. And, probably most importantly, they just haven't turned out to be as good as the hype coming into the program.
This isn't the first time in Michigan football history that QBs who came into the program with high expectations didn't meet those expectations, going all the way back to more than a couple under Schembechler.
October 11th, 2021 at 10:20 AM ^
So I think Peters was Cade 1.0 before he got headhunted by Wisco. McCaffery was all hype...who knows if his injury in his Freshman year did a number on his arm? Tennessee is putting up major points on teams w/out Milton in there.
To be clear. I liked all three of those guys, and I still hope they all have success. None of them lived up to their recruiting billing though. Makes going to get Shea more understandable. Also makes some of the struggles more understandable. Still on the coaches to get guys that are going to produce...but if everyone is pretty high on the kid and then he just doesn't have that IT for big college football...no way to know that until they're here.
October 11th, 2021 at 10:42 AM ^
True, but this may be the first time in Michigan history that every single QB recruited by 1 head coach have struggled this much.
October 11th, 2021 at 12:50 PM ^
Justin Feagin met all of my expectations.
October 11th, 2021 at 10:31 AM ^
I have not watched much of Northern Colorado this season, but that has been a bad program and it seems like the McCaffreys are not helping it much so far this season. I said as much last off-season that I did not think McCaffrey was a good fit for Michigan's offense under Josh Gattis. I think he would have been better off running a more pro-style offense like what Harbaugh ran his first couple years in Ann Arbor. In other words, he was recruited for an offense in 2017 that doesn't exist on the team anymore, kind of like the guys who were recruited as Vipers and don't fit on the defense anymore.
Milton was a guy who should not have been playing until his fourth or fifth year, in my opinion. I'm not sure if he's fixable at this point. In fact, I don't think he is. I'm not sure if he was broken by Michigan or was just never going to be good. But inaccurate quarterbacks rarely become accurate. Add in his poor decision-making and his complete lack of footwork four years into his college career, and I think his career is pretty much over unless he drops down to the FCS or DII level and just dominates physically. (Not over as in he should quit, but over as in he's not going to reclaim a starting job, barring injury.)
October 11th, 2021 at 11:05 AM ^
Milton was a guy who should not have been playing until his fourth or fifth year, in my opinion...But inaccurate quarterbacks rarely become accurate.
Agree. The recruiting assessment of Milton was always that he was a so-called project with tremendous physical potential who needed a great deal of polishing. Offering him a scholarship was questionable in the first place, but I don't know who else Michigan was recruiting at the time. I wonder if the immediate transfer of Patterson made it more difficult to recruit higher-rated guys than Milton in the 2018 class.
October 11th, 2021 at 11:26 AM ^
I don't think a pro style offense is good for a QB who isn't accurate and still doesn't show the abilty to go through his progressions. Milton wasn't a good passer when he signed, and he hasn't improved one bit since he got in college.
October 11th, 2021 at 11:34 AM ^
Milton has always been trash. The fact he managed to be a starter at two blue bloods still amazes me.
October 11th, 2021 at 11:57 AM ^
kind of like the guys who were recruited as Vipers and don't fit on the defense anymore.
Come on, Magnus, the Michael Barrett reference was right there! You can't pass up an opportunity to extend a meme like that.
October 11th, 2021 at 12:52 PM ^
Incorrect sir. The only reason why Michael Barret isn't playing right now is he is busy helping the coaching staff prepare the defense every week while running for office in his home state of Georgia. He is not a viper, he is a man.
October 11th, 2021 at 12:51 PM ^
Time for Milton to become a tight end.
October 11th, 2021 at 1:34 PM ^
Love reading your insight Thunder but I believe Josh Allen may have something to say about that?
I think inaccuracy and to a higher degree, his inability to read a defense is why he’s failed thus far.
October 11th, 2021 at 10:23 AM ^
Xavier Worthy is a game changer. We are all going to regret him not getting into school early.
He would make a huge difference for this team right now.
October 11th, 2021 at 10:38 AM ^
I was watching the Red River game and it was actually kind of weird - it was like he and Bijan Robinson were the only two skill players on Texas' roster.
I am probably forgetting something, but I don't think they threw to any WR in the 4th quarter other than Worthy. Despite this, OU had a non-descript freshman CB trying to cover him 1 on 1 with no safety help. Whole situation was very odd to say the least.
October 11th, 2021 at 11:03 AM ^
Red River Shootout, I refuse to accept any other name.
October 11th, 2021 at 5:06 PM ^
Bob Barker and I are calling it the Red River Showcase Showdown.
October 11th, 2021 at 11:48 AM ^
Oklahoma had someone else covering Worthy at first (I believe he's a Junior) but he was getting burned badly so the Freshman. I guess you could call the Freshman nondescript but he was committed to Alabama before changing his commitment. It doesn't seem that he was processed.
October 11th, 2021 at 11:43 PM ^
The sad thing is had he just enrolled in the fall he would be starting and add a huge plus side to our offense.
October 11th, 2021 at 11:09 AM ^
No regrets.
He didn't want to be here, so we are better off without him.
"Hook 'em."
October 11th, 2021 at 7:36 PM ^
It seemed he did want to be here actually. The school had some problem with his paperwork. We're worse off without him.
October 11th, 2021 at 10:37 AM ^
I'm stunned to see that Aubrey Solomon is barely earning playing time for Tennessee as a 5th-year senior. When he transferred away, I thought his loss would hurt us as much as anything, given his talent and our shaky depth at DT. But it seems like his career has stagnated, so maybe not.
October 11th, 2021 at 11:07 AM ^
I suspect in retrospect that there were indications Solomon was going to have difficulty reaching his physical potential.
October 11th, 2021 at 11:08 AM ^
Some kids are absolute studs at the high school level, but either because of lack of work ethic or self entitlement/big man on campus reasons, believe they don't have to work for it at the college level and everyone else just passes them.
He and Patterson are great examples.
October 11th, 2021 at 11:09 AM ^
Unpopular opinion but I don't cheer for transfer players. There are exceptions like Ren Hefley and upper classmen that are buried on the debt chart. Outside of that I'm not a fan. It is interesting to see what happens to them though.
October 11th, 2021 at 11:11 AM ^
It definitely depends on the reason. I will never root for Milton or Giles to do well. But most i do cheer for.
October 11th, 2021 at 11:11 AM ^
might be interesting to know where some of our ex-wolverines are that are out of football. i would have to think that, at least with the ones who graduated, they'd be doing alright - grad school, coaching, sales jobs, who knows. go back a few years - what is denard doing these days? how about mike martin or molk, now that they are out of the league? tons of others, hopefully doing well.
October 11th, 2021 at 11:20 AM ^
For a period of time, Zoltan Mesko (the punter from a few years ago) was in the Cleveland area, with IBM, doing data analytics sales. He left IBM, but I think he's still in data analytics if I'm not mistaken.
Years ago I knew a guy who was a walk-on tight end that played for Bo Schembechler. He was in a technical sales role. His having played football at Michigan was a great ice-breaker for sales conversations.
October 11th, 2021 at 11:29 AM ^
if zolton left IBM, wouldn't it be to ascend to his true position, emperor of the universe?
and yeah, the prior michigan sports thing is helpful. i know employers picked my resume up back in the day at b-school because of it. (i was no threat to go pro).
October 11th, 2021 at 11:54 AM ^
Didn't you know that IBM stands for Intergalactic Business Machines?
October 11th, 2021 at 12:58 PM ^
i had no idea,
October 11th, 2021 at 11:12 AM ^
Every program has attrition or decommits and for the most part, we haven't been impacted by too many of these movements. However, I continue to have to close my eyes when looking at Worthy's numbers. Such a dynamic threat and still only a Freshman.
Expected more out of Eric Gray when he transferred to Oklahoma. Wondering if he has any regrets since his usage seems to be on the decline.
Erik Swenson seems to be around College Football forever since he goes back to the Brady Hoke days.
October 11th, 2021 at 11:19 AM ^
Poor Brandon Peters, He has been beaten to a pulp everywhere he goes. In his later years, he is going to be feeling a lot of that damage.
I always respected him and his father.
October 11th, 2021 at 11:25 AM ^
I can remember the "meet the recruits" thing Harbaugh held when Brandon Peters was coming in as a freshman. It was a fanfare type event in an auditorium, and while some of the players were clearly relishing the spotlight role, Brandon Peters was in the back row looking like he didn't really want to be there on that stage in the lights.
Fast forward to some comments Harbaugh has made about how he likes QBs that have a real presence in the locker room and in the huddle; who take charge; who command leadership. Cade McNamara has that "it" factor, as I understand. J.J. McCarthy also has it. I don't think Brandon Peters ever did ... at least not to the degree Harbaugh preferred. Couple that with whatever performance issues he had, and it might explain the firm handshake and transfer.
October 11th, 2021 at 11:34 AM ^
Zach Carpenter playing at IU?
October 11th, 2021 at 12:04 PM ^
Are we allowed to discuss it now? Was Xavier Worthy not accepted academically by the admissions department? This weekend was the first time I heard "we" miscalculated the scholarship numbers, and didn't have room for him. I find that hard to believe... Talent like that usually finds a spot. But i also remember him taking a trip to Bama late, and we were all fearful he would flip, but he stuck. So him not wanting to be here doesn't seem to add up either. Didnt he show up to campus in January as an early enrollee? Did he not like it then? I never really understood the situation. But figured the details weren't to be shared publicly. If that's still the case, I get it. Just curious.