What 3 Harbaugh era players would you add to the 2023 roster?
What 3 Harbaugh era players would you add to the 2023 roster?
HUTCHINSON- Complete player against the pass and run. DISRUPTIVE
JOURDAN LEWIS- We would have that other CB spot secure. Great leader.
PEPPERS- Sideline to sideline athlete. One of the best punt returners in UM history.
I feel as though we are still owed a season where Nico Collins gets 150 targets
That was my first thought- Nico Collins
I'd also add Jourdan Lewis and coin flip on Devin Bush/Mo Hurst. I'd lean toward Mo Hurst....so disruptive.
Later in the season, might think about trading ANY ONE of these for Jake Money Moody
Always and forever Mo Hurst Jr. Most disruptive tackle we've had since Mark Messner. Followed by Peppers and Moody.
Messner counts - the Harbs as player era.
I mean, I think you nailed it.
You took the best player of his era. The most talented skill player of his era (who was super flexible and upgrades Henning as a PR). And the best player at a position of need.
I feel like the question should almost be...OTHER than those 3, who would you take?
EDIT: And without thinking about it my answer to that would be somewhere in the neighborhood of...
- Jake Moody
- The 2nd best CB of his era (Lavert Hill...although David Long and Ambry Thomas were both great when healthy)
- A WR (Collins, DPJ, Cresson, Darboh) or an EDGE pass rusher (Ojabo, Uche, Paye, maybe Winovich)
Sidenote...
Has anyone ever made a Top 50 list of Harbaugh era players? That would be a fun summer exercise for a blog/recruiting site.
If it hasn't been done maybe I'll take a stab at it one of these days and try to move guys up/down based on feedback from the board.
That sounds like a job for Mangus/Thunder... I mean he's got nothing else to do, right?
Hutchinson
Hurst
Peppers
Hutch on the edge and Hurst in the middle would make an unstoppable pass rush and disrupt any running game.
Loved Cresson, he was so pillowy and fresh, knew how to handle the jam, slippery as butter, and flakes off so many blockers making a mess of the defenses table-spread
BENCH MASON
Khalid Hill
Sionne Houma
Line up in wing T and pound the rock.
A great fullback would be a very interesting add to the offense.
I sense a theme
So can I say Uche if he came back for his final year and didn't tear his Achilles?
I fell like him, Hutch and Lewis/Long/Hill would be optimal. Bush sounds pretty good too but I'll hope for the best with a Colson/Partridge fusion.
Colsons play vs perception is very elevated. Bush absolutely has to be one. Hutch the other. And Long (over Lewis). People forget how good Long was because teams just wouldn't throw to his side of field for that same reason. They didn't respect Lewis nearly as much.
I think I agree with Lewis, Hutchinson, and Peppers. Think those are the best players at positions of need. Lewis would give us an elite CB duo, Hutchinson obviously gives us an elite DE, and Peppers gives a strengthened LB core plus returning abilities and some gadget versatility. Would also be tempted to say Moody instead of Peppers just because I’m not sure what our kicking will look like this year
Who is Peppers replacing though? Barrett or Mikey? Feel like their coverage ability might outweigh whatever Peppers brings in sideline to sideline and tackling. I remember thinking Peppers was rough in coverage and I can't imagine you'd want him out there covering OSU guys in Day's offense.
Maybe he was better in coverage than I remember.
What makes Peppers a must/have on the list is setting the edge/TFLs against all types of running game and as a PR. As for the other two, give me Bush and Hutch.
Barrett and Mikey do that well enough (especially toward the end of last season) to more that offset Peppers coverage issues, IMO.
Edit: Someone else mentioned below Peppers as a punt returner. Forgot about that, it was a huge hidden yards advantage with him doing that.
Did On3 just straight up rip your content?! I’ve noticed this happen before but not this blatantly
https://www.on3.com/teams/michigan-wolverines/news/michigan-football-three-harbaugh-era-players-that-we-wish-could-plug-into-2023-roster/
Nope, I saw the article this morning so I brought it to the board.
I like your list
I would probably take Jake Butt or Devin Bush instead of Peppers
Peppers, Nico and Lewis
It wouldn't seem as awesome to consider as the other choices but the most important roster addition might be Jake Rudock.
There will be no disrespect given here sir, his name is Rudddddock.
Ruddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddock.
Ruddddockkkk
A 2nd CB and a backup QB are about the only things I really worry about for this year. Though to be fair most teams don't have a truly viable backup QB anymore.
Someone negged my comment about Rudock. Can't think what could have inspired him. (or her)
No question about Hutchinson on any team. Given the roster makeup, Lewis is also a no brainer. Devin Bush would be the third for me, a total game changer and great leader. With those three the defense and offense would both be stacked.
Other position to take would be WR, so maybe Collins, but I just don't think he's overall as much of an every down impact guy as Bush or Peppers
-Jourdan Lewis, Ambry Thomas, or David Long
-Dax Hill
-Aidan Hutchinson
I was commenting on an Aaron Scott article and cited our training and putting DBs in the league. An Ohio Fan replied what DBs have we put in the first round in the last 3 years. I said Dax is a nickel and went 1st round and Turner just went 2nd round. Besides Rod Moore, Paige, Sainristil and #2 will all play on Sundays.
He never responded back😂
I think Nico Collins is #1. I’m much more worried about the receiver position than everybody else is.
Hutch and Jourdan Lewis would round us out as well.
on a side note, it’s great to not have defensive tackle be one of the positions in need
Why worry about wr. Same two guys been playing are back. Wilson can fly and CJ was good. You have others rising.
We lost our far and away #1 receiver last year, Ronnie Bell. Wilson and CJ are good players, but they underachieved a smidge last year.
CJ: 500 yards. 6 TDs. (160 and 2 TDs in just the OSU game, which was sick)
Wilson: 375 yards. 4 TDs. (100 yards and TD in TCU game)
They each offer big play ability which is huge, but take away those two big games and that's not a lot of week to week production. Who is going to catch balls over the middle for us next year? Loveland hasn't proven that yet but is an option. Edwards? Morris / Clemons?
Outside of CB, I think WR is the biggest question on the team for next year.
Peppers was amazing, but his ranking on the "best punt returners" list depends on how big that list is. In the modern era, I would put at least AC, Desmond Howard, and Steve Breaston ahead of him, and maybe Woodson. I'm sure I'm forgetting some other great ones.
Not Tony Gant, though, as much as I cheered for him at the time. :-)
Derrick Alexander had five punt and kickoff return for TDs. Dude was special.
Good call.
Peppers gets props from me for simply catching the ball every time. One of my biggest gripes since he left has been guys giving up field position by not even fair-catching punts.
Aiden Hutchinson: with Kenkins and Graham in the middle our DLine is arguable best in country with dilute run stoppers and best rash rusher in Hutch. Plus one of the most influential and important players in Michigan’s modern football history.
Jourdan Lewis: Lewis gives secondary experience and speed, as well as arguably the best man coverage corner from UM in last decade
Nico Collins: Nico will be the big body, one on one matchup nightmare paired with Loveland to open things up in the middle and underneath for Edwards, Wilson, CJ, and others.
Kenkins appears when Kenneth Grant and Kris Jenkins do the Fusion Dance.
Kenkins is what my wife calls my spicy alter ego.
"rash rusher"....this is not the Northwestern thread, friend
Hutchinson, Bush, Long.
I'll say I'm quite surprised at the lack of people mentioning Bush.. And we need a corner more than Peppers.
Next two would be Ojabo and Peppers.
Interesting nobody on offense. Collins was next.
To be fair, Peppers could play corner too, and did periodically. He'd be a good guy to bring back because he could flex between safety and corner, and do both well. I still took Jourdan Lewis over Peppers because I think we need a true corner more than anything else right now, but Peppers isn't a bad choice.
I'll still stick with Peppers, Bush, and Hutch for the following reasons:
- No one is going to be running the football on us. Adding their speed to the existing middle of the DL in a Ravens defense will turn that spigot off.
- Passing will be a problem, too. Again, the key would be adding that much speed (plus physicalness) to a Ravens defense is going to be a QB killing machine.
- Since we'll then be seeing a lot of punting, putting Peppers back there to field them would result in a significant bump in Expected Points per Punt over average.
Our offense shouldn't need any help this year.
Jourdan Lewis
Devin Bush
Maurice Hurst
This is my list.
NFL level talent at every defensive level (line, LB and secondary).
Though could also go with Ruiz or freshman Tarik Black
Hutch
Jourdan Lewis
O-JA-BO