When will we know the status of Victor Oluwatimi and Chip Trayanum?

Responding to this so it's at the top.

But apparently Oluwatimi has told the coaches he's coming, he just doesn't want to announce it until after UVA's bowl game.

They play SMU in the Fenway Bowl on Dec. 29.

Do you know that the staff didn't even reach out?  Honest question.  I have no insight, but maybe they did reach out and were told not interested.  

How upset were you when Michigan finished signing day way better than expected and you didn’t have anything to bitch about? Must have been a really tough day for you. 

Maybe because the Florida DE would not be good enough to play at Michigan or a good fit for us? He was a rotation player at Florida with 6 starts over 3 years. I don't think he would be more than a rotation player here as well.

If we are going to pursue a DE, I would much rather Michigan get in the Jared Verse sweepstakes or wait to see if anything better ends up in the portal.

I agree with the sentiment on what areas would be ideal for incoming transfers, but

Are you talking about the Florida kid that saw his productivity go down this year and is obviously not seeing a future at UF?  The kid who put up HALF of his stats against FAU and USF? 

Yes - he was ranked top 100 out of HS but his stats for this year are roughly EQ to Donovan Jeter (or Upshaw and Morris' combined numbers).  Perhaps he is an upgrade for MSU (who loses a lot of the little DE talent that had this year iirc) but I do not see anything earth shattering there......

Why would you think that the staff can't recruit a center and a DE at the same time. Weirder still,  why would you think that they shouldn't make it a priority to get a replacement for the departing Center. Michigan is an OL dependent team and Center is the key. They have a couple guys with good potential but they are young and very inexperienced. An experienced talented center had to have been a priority.

So you don't want a Rimington finalist as Center next year? 

In 2021 Khris Bogle had 1.5 sacks. 

Go on...

Not acceptable. Call those guys and tell them Wolverine91 needs an answer now!

I hear ya and think the transfer C is more important. But isn't Trayanum supposed to be more of a Haskins style bruiser? That is, keeping a thunder back to go with Corum's lightning and Edward's all around game.

Agreed. Both guys seems like "takes if you can get them" types for different reasons, but neither seems mission-critical in my mind. 

Center is a position where we have been stacking talent the last few years, and despite Carpenter leaving, last year, we still have several options. And with all of that, in the offseason Vastardis was fighting for job with Zinter. So we have lots of options there. That said, if there's a Rimington finalist who wants to come play for you, you take him. If not, you work with the pieces you have and continue on. Do we have someone who can play at that level at center on the roster already? Maybe, but he'd be a sure thing, so why not. 

Running back is a different story. I think we are stacked as you said, and the reason a kid like this would be a take is that he'd add some experienced depth beyond your two main guys (Corum/Edwards) because there's not much in -game experience past that should we experience injuries and he adds a different style of running to the equation that gives you good short yardage options. Could other guys on the roster currently do some of that too? Maybe but less likely. 

With all of the extra hurdles Michigan has for portal transfers in general, if there's guys we can get that add experience and depth at key positions, you have to give them serious consideration. Neither of these guys will make or break an offense next year that is loaded with talent. 

It's not crucial, but it's probably helpful. I think the thought would be yes, we have Corum and Edwards, but behind them it's Tavierre Dunlap, who I'd say is still a relative unknown, and then...

So adding a known quantity can only be a good thing, particularly if Dunlap doesn't pan out, or isn't ready yet. First, my understanding is that this ASU RB is much more in the Haskins mold (thunderback), whereas Edwards is similar to Corum (lightning), so it fits a position that would really only be potentially filled by Dunlap (again, an unknown). Second, both Corum and Edwards were hurt at times this year; Corum obviously missed a couple games, and I believe Edwards did too (there were two straight games against MSU and Indiana where he didn't record a carry). So again, if Dunlap isn't ready, and Corum or Edwards goes down, now your RB room is suddenly pretty thin.

I've heard it's because Mike Hart would prefer to have five RB's on scholarship.

Trayanum is a quasi fullback, he's 2 inches shorter than Haskins and 15 lbs heavier. He's built like Sione Houma. Haskins leaving vacates 260 carries, of which Trayanum will probably get 50 or less, mostly on short yardage I'd assume. 

Yes. You are missing something. A Haskins type back is needed. Especially in the Big Ten. 

The more good backs you have the better off you are. Running backs take a beating and are always one play, one injury away from being sidelined. The NFL also puts value on backs that aren’t overused on their college teams so it does protect the players as well.

Need a lot of depth at RB. Also, who knows how long those guys will be at UM, Chip is young. 

You don't think getting this years runner up for the Rimington Award is important for next years success when we're losing Vastardis after the season is over?

Oluwatimi seems like a pretty big get, Rimington runner ups don't walk into your program all that often.

I appreciate and understand your answer way better TK, thank you

Harrell is gonna be really good. Every time he was on the field he jumped out.  Then later I'd see he only had a handful of snaps, and I wouldn't believe it, because of the impression he made