Wilson, McGregor, Barner declare Senior Bowl
Title says all. Most likely those three are gone for the NFL. Henderson received invite and then entered portal last minute and went to Michigan last year but at this moment expect those three to graduate and go pro.
Awaiting decisions from JJ, Don, Paige, Nugent, Trente, Harrell, Stewart, Colson, and Moore.
January 10th, 2024 at 8:18 AM ^
Wouldve liked to have seen Braiden come back.
January 10th, 2024 at 8:34 AM ^
I thought he would come back.
January 10th, 2024 at 8:37 AM ^
he implied pretty heavily in the preseason that this would be his last year but maybe NIL will keep him around like Zinter, Keegan, and Corum
January 10th, 2024 at 9:20 AM ^
I have to believe what happened to Zinter is going to impact a lot of those decisions this year.
January 10th, 2024 at 9:52 AM ^
And the fact he can say "mission accomplished" to winning it all.
January 10th, 2024 at 11:06 AM ^
This. It's not pro sports where you run back the same guys to go for the three-peat. Emotionally this is the summit for a ton of those guys who have been on a 3 year run really. It's like the old Bad Boys who had to go through their lumps with the Celtics (Georgia, TCU) before finally breaking through.
Lots of guys who could have gone LAST year came back for one last hurrah don't forget that.
January 10th, 2024 at 12:08 PM ^
He said two weeks ago (along with Nugent) that he was most likely leaving unless NIL changed something, and even then, he was probably going to the NFL.
No surprises so far, everyone has been open about it.
January 10th, 2024 at 12:11 PM ^
FYI - we had some good discussion on this in this thread yesterday...
January 10th, 2024 at 10:35 AM ^
He'll probably get drafted in the middle rounds just based on measurables, but he also has solid tape against high-level offensive tackles. Given how much work he's put in to get here, I can't blame him for going after a magical season.
January 10th, 2024 at 8:20 AM ^
Bon Voyage!
Thanks for the incredible memories.
January 10th, 2024 at 8:23 AM ^
Thanks for the memories and good luck!
January 10th, 2024 at 8:24 AM ^
I feel like I read this somewhere recently.
https://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/michigan-players-going-senior-bowl
January 10th, 2024 at 8:57 AM ^
And the title does not in fact say all
January 10th, 2024 at 9:13 AM ^
My bad, the sheer amount of threads and celebrating I missed it.
January 10th, 2024 at 9:52 AM ^
National Championship afterglow. One million threads. I'm sure lots of people missed it so this is new to them.
January 10th, 2024 at 8:24 AM ^
The only downside to winning it all (BY NO MEANS A COMPLAINT) is that a lot of 50/50 decisions get pushed more towards "Go" because you did the thing. Only ones from that list I think comeback are Paige, Trente, Harrell, and maybe Stewart.
January 10th, 2024 at 9:08 AM ^
There's merit to that but unlike an Alabama or Georgia squad, I feel like some of these kids feel like they have ownership of this program, and if there's a realistic case to be made of improving your draft stock with another college year, that may be important to them too. We shall see.
Would obviously take any of them back, but keeping one of Stewart/Harrell, one of Paige/Moore, and Trente and Colson back would be really helpful for the team. I feel like we're deep at safety but one experience starter would be great to keep. Same with edge rusher. The O-Line feels like we're deep and a destination for portal talent. RB and TE we're deep as well. Linebacker...not sure.
January 10th, 2024 at 9:18 AM ^
I would be surprised if JJ goes. He didn’t do himself any favors with his okay performances in both CFP games.
Second round pick at this point.
January 10th, 2024 at 10:40 AM ^
The NFL has been perfectly comfortable drafting talented QBs early despite some ugly performances in small games, so I can't imagine his OK performances in the biggest games will actually hurt his evaluation. Obviously I'd prefer that he return, but let's not ignore NFL GMs' collective track record.
January 10th, 2024 at 11:10 AM ^
small games? It was the NC.
January 10th, 2024 at 11:44 AM ^
I suspect you misread my comment.
January 10th, 2024 at 11:17 AM ^
JJ didn’t hurt himself if you can get past the 1st Bama play.
He is 20 years old. Has a rocket arm with good touch. Has high completion percentage. Super good natural instincts in the pocket which is required in the NFL. Has wheels to move the chains a couple times a game which the NFL covets. Has great character and work ethic that is huge plus for a franchise.
His decision considerations IMO include how many QBs are coming out now compared to how much he can improve his draft status. Does he want to come back after achieving all of his dreams? How much NIL can he have to protect what would be a nice contract. Does he love college so much another year would be fun? He knows his o line will be good and he will have some talented young WRs. We also have another top ranked defense. What does Harbaugh do?
Kids gonna be a winner in the NFL.
January 10th, 2024 at 9:49 AM ^
JJ McCarthy is one of my favorite players ever at Michigan, but at this point I would have serious reservations about drafting him early in the NFL draft. I think the question is whether JJ is the QB who played the first half of the season, and the back half were some outliers against good defenses, or whether that was him regressing to the mean. Through MSU he was a first round pick. Cumulatively in the games after that he is a second day pick.
January 10th, 2024 at 10:28 AM ^
He has the best arm talent, "head" talent (reading defenses, quick decision making), and he is a top 2 athlete at the position in this year's draft. I think he is the clear cut #1 QB if he goes but people's perception of him is pretty unrealistic. Put him on LSU, OSU, FSU, Oregon, Texas, and I think he is a Heisman winner. NFL GM's and coaches know what type of offense Michigan runs and why we don't pass as much in certain games, so they will look past a kid getting 8 pass attempts a game because he is gonna be cut loose in the NFL.
January 10th, 2024 at 10:36 AM ^
"I think he is the clear cut #1 QB if he goes"
"but people's perception of him is pretty unrealistic."
Uhhh...
January 10th, 2024 at 10:37 AM ^
Not to be rude, but there is a zero percent chance JJ is even close to the #1 QB. He's between 4-6 on almost every board I've seen.
January 10th, 2024 at 11:01 AM ^
Everybody wants to use a "counter-argument" to the Penn State game as a strawman to say that McCarthy did not struggle down the stretch but that is ridiculous. First of all, if you have 100% confidence in your QB you simply don't play a full half of football without throwing the ball. But even leaving that aside, his performance down the stretch was not even close to the #1 in the draft. Maryland was a shit show, he was decent against OSU (with one genuinely great pass), he had some good throws against Bama and some really bad throws, and he really did not have much to do against Washington (what he did was OK, but not great).
As far as an "athlete," he is unquestionably a good scrambler and he can run with the ball, but rarely did he ever do it. And there is no way that keepers were "off" against Washington. There were at least two and maybe three times that he gets 20 yards if he pulled it but he never did. At some point you have to.... run with the football to be a good running QB.
I think JJ is an awesome college player, but there is no chance you watch his last five games and come to the conclusion that he is the #1 QB in this draft. No chance.
January 10th, 2024 at 11:12 AM ^
He was hurt and our OT were not pass blocking. Why would you hold that against JJ?
January 10th, 2024 at 11:39 AM ^
Look, there is a big difference between playing it relatively safe because the tackles are struggling and not throwing it at all. The coaches did not trust McCarthy with that moment. None of this is to say that McCarthy is not a great talent with a bright future, but the end of the season revealed some current limitations. It may be that his best move is to go to the draft and learn what he needs to there, but he is simply not a Day One NFL starter right now. NFL QBs get almost instant pressure from the edges on basically every play. And they still throw, a lot.
January 10th, 2024 at 11:12 AM ^
JJ would benefit TREMENDOUSLY from a situation like Mahomes (sat a full year) or Love (sat 3 years) where he gets to learn the position from a veteran QB while also getting reps against NFL defensive players in practice and tutelage from a bonafide NFL QB Coach.
He has the physical and emotional talent (by all accounts) but lacks the passing reps against legitimate defenses.
January 10th, 2024 at 11:12 AM ^
Holy Kool Aid.
Better athlete that Jayden Daniels and/or Caleb Williams? Let us know which one. He ain't.
Clear #1? Wow.
Throw Bo Nix in there as a comparable and someone JJ is not cleary ahead of athletically - he had more yards rushing than JJ this year. Drake Maye is ahead of both those guys - he had twice the running yardage of either Bo or JJ.
This is like MSU fanbase saying their Wikileaks character was better than Aidan in 2021 based on stats and every NFL GM is deluded by the helmet as was every mock. JJ isn't in most first round draft boards forget being QB1.
January 10th, 2024 at 11:21 AM ^
Put him on LSU, OSU, FSU, Oregon, Texas, and I think he is a Heisman winner.
We can play this game both ways.
Put Penix, Nix, Daniels, Williams, Maye as QB of Michigan's offense and they are winning by 24+ by Q3 vs killing every drive for 2 quarters. Can you imagine facing the running threat of Daniels to a very tired defense by end of Q1? Would have opened up the games vs Bama and OSU as well.
Love that kid's leadership and DNA but some of you guys need to go watch other games more often. Put Michigan's defense with LSU or USC's offense and you'd have a juggernaut. And yes I know JH and Moore would not call the offense the same as LSU or USC's OC would.
January 10th, 2024 at 12:46 PM ^
"Best arm talent" - nope, great arm but this QB class is full of legit NFL arms
"Best head talent" (lol) - nope, at least not from a reading the game perspective, now demeanor and leadership, sure
"Top 2 athlete" - in a draft class with Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels? C'mon now.
January 10th, 2024 at 8:25 AM ^
I was selfishly hoping now that he's back from that horrible injury that McGregor would want one more year with Herbert to build up lower body strength.
January 10th, 2024 at 10:42 AM ^
Yeah I get that. I suspect that that injury is also what's driving the go decision too, or at least in part. Knows how things can turn on a dime, so likely in the get the dream while I have the opportunity.
January 10th, 2024 at 1:50 PM ^
Easier to get stronger when you have no class, NCAA, etc. NFL S&C coaches know what they're doing as well and have a ton of resources and time (fewer players). Plus he's a guy who might get quite a bit more salary than NIL.
January 10th, 2024 at 2:08 PM ^
All good points, I want to emphasize "selfishly"
January 10th, 2024 at 8:27 AM ^
Correct me if I'm wrong but I didn't they change the rules or something so that you can do the senior bowl and workouts but still retain eligability? Like as long as don't declare for draft and hire agent or something? I fully expect Wilson to go, possibly Barner, but McGregor I think could use another year. He was put so far behind with that huge knee injury after high school. But hell, won the Natty so...
January 10th, 2024 at 8:29 AM ^
You’re correct. So these guys aren’t necessarily gone until they declare for the draft
January 10th, 2024 at 8:31 AM ^
As a pass rusher he was looking really good in these two playoff games. Definitely showed he is draft worthy.
I was hoping to get 2 of Harrell, McGregor, or Stewart back.
January 10th, 2024 at 8:31 AM ^
If all of the guys who could come back did come back, we'd have to be favorites to win the NC again next year. That said, if you're capable of getting drafted and playing in the NFL going out with a national championship has got to be pretty great. JJ's comments after the game made it sound like he was gone. USA Today has him going 13th to the Raiders. I can't see him staying.
Without McCarthy, or potentially Harbaugh, and our grueling schedule next year I can't see many guys staying.
January 10th, 2024 at 8:48 AM ^
This is why winning the CFP was so important because it allows everyone to go out on top and nobody has to say “We’ll get it next year”.
While Mich can’t necessarily restock the shelves like UGA, Bama, or even OSU, there is talent there and the experience of the past three years should do nothing but help. Legacies have been cemented, draft stocks are high on a lot of eligible players, and it’s time youth is served.
Best of luck to them all!
January 10th, 2024 at 9:26 AM ^
Yeah, USAToday is off. JJ is a fringe first rounder at this point. Physically small, inconsistent passer…Michigan fans see him as this great prospect and he just isn’t. He’s a flawed player that needs more time to develop as a passer.
If he leaves now…I don’t know. He should have told them earlier so they could have gone after a qualify starting QB. Now they are stuck with a freshman and little else.
January 10th, 2024 at 9:49 AM ^
"He should have told them earlier ..."
Maybe he wasn't sure earlier. Maybe he's still not sure. At any rate, I think most of the responsibility here would be with "management" (coaching staff). They're responsible for assessing risk, etc.
January 10th, 2024 at 9:56 AM ^
Agreed. I amend that statement to say what you did. Coaches need to be thinking about the future as much as the present.
January 10th, 2024 at 12:36 PM ^
And just because you, I, we don't know, what makes you think the coaches don't know.
I am sure they do.
His mother told someone I know three weeks ago that he was going pro after this year.
That said, a draft grade, change of heart, etc., could impact a decision, so I took that comment with a grain of salt - as you should also take this comment... :)
January 10th, 2024 at 9:55 AM ^
I have heard multiple scouts, reporters, et cetera say that some teams highly value JJ.
Also, I am sure that the staff and JJ had conversations about his future.
January 10th, 2024 at 10:03 AM ^
He isn’t going before Williams, Maye, Penix, Nix, and Daniels.
JJ was a great game manager on a great team. He was not an elite QB in terms of winning games with his arm which is what the NFL wants to see.
It is possible that he gets drafted middle of the first round because he is a talented winner of a QB. But it’s also possible he slips out of the first altogether.
Having said that, I think there is a chance the Lions draft him. Great OL, great RBs and TE. He could do well early in a place like Detroit.
January 10th, 2024 at 10:11 AM ^
Penix is an inconsistent and fundamentally flawed but exciting player the nfl is not high on JJ goes over him and scheme web Nix.