j'marick woods induces perd hapley

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Exit J'Marick Woods. Ol' Woods hit the portal:

Per the portal, Woods — who is in his third year at Michigan — intends to pursue a graduate transfer.

— Nick Baumgardner (@nickbaumgardner) October 21, 2019

Getting guys through in three years is something they've done before thanks to summer school and early enrollment—Woods did enroll early—and it's good to send guys off with their degree. Woods was inevitably going to get passed by Dax Hill, and has. That meant he was blocked from starting as a senior, and naturally this leads to a departure.

Michigan's safety depth next year will consist of Sammy Faustin, German Green, Quinten Johnson coming off ACL surgery, and true freshman. A little ominous, that.

We can't send Woods through the portal without one last look back at the most remarkable part of his Michigan tenure:

"He's kind of earning his nickname -- we call him 'Woods' -- and he definitely brings the wood, as a physical player."

The worst nickname in the history of the world.

[After the JUMP: a Todd comparison I like but you'll probably hate!]

Previously: Podcast 11.0A, Podcast 11.0B, Podcast 11.0C. The Story. Quarterback. Running Back. Wide Receiver. Tight End. Offensive Tackle. Interior OL. Defensive End. Defensive Tackle. Linebacker. Cornerback.

Depth Chart

Yeah I'm done with the safety distinction. In a world where jet sweeps force Michigan safeties to swap on any motion across the formation, there is no real difference between the two safety spots. If you've got a free safety who can't cover slots, he'll be over the slot. Safety is safety.

Michigan has a senior and a hyper-recruit to plug into two spots here, but Dax Hill's remained stubbornly down the depth chart despite being able to run through cows. This could be good news about Brad Hawkins. It's definitely bad news for cows.

SAFETIES: METALLURGY-BASED NAMES NEVER FAIL

RATING: 3.5

does not get torched, does not miss assignments [Bryan Fuller]

JOSH METELLUS is good and shut up about it. A dropped interception a couple years ago and a few slants early in 2018 set up a rabbling industry that is only now subsiding, if it actually is. This is undeserved. You're allowed to feel like you died when he did the thing with the ball and not catching it. If you take those feelings and use them to predict the future you are going to be wrong.

Metellus was both boring and interesting. He was boring in the good ways. I think he had one (1) major issue with his assignments last year, that when everyone expected him to be the 1 in cover 1 against MSU. He was not. Brian Lewerke's injury bailed him out then. Metellus required no other bailing out all season. The above link is the only –2 I clipped for him. That's boring. That's so beautifully boring.

[After the JUMP: and interesting!]

[Bryan Fuller]

Previously: Podcast 10.0A. Podcast 10.0B. Podcast 10.0C. The Story. Quarterback. Running Back. Wide Receiver. Tight End And Friends. Offensive Tackle. Interior Offensive Line. Defensive Tackle. Defensive End. Linebacker. Cornerback.

Depth Chart

When the land around you is flat as a pancake any bump on the horizon becomes Mount Something and some goof will stick a ski lift on it. This was the Michigan safety corps' 2017. Surrounded by Rashan Gary and Chase Winovich and Devin Bush and Mo Hurst, their lack of super powers stuck out. A missed tackle here, a dropped interception there, and portions of the fanbase saw Mount Oh My God The Safeties on the horizon.

This is all a matter of perspective. Relative to the rest of the defense, yeah. Relative to Michigan safety play in the not-at-all distant past, no. They'll be fine. They will aspire to boring and let the rest of the defense turn into werewolves. This is fine. All I ever wanted was a boring safety.

FREE SAFETY

RATING: 3.5.

awwwww cumong [Patrick Barron]

The thing people are mad at TYREE KINNEL about isn't the thing they should be mad about, insofar as they should be mad. Many words have been spilled over the offseason about the Dreaded Slot Fade, and Kinnel more than anyone else was the victim of these. And, yes, that one time Lavert Hill got one he showed how it should be done. I still offer up (minor) coverage positives for this kind of business, though:

He's very close and gets a rake in but it's for naught; it required a perfect throw (note how Hill and WR slow up on his PBU, none of that here) and fairly difficult catch. I shrug at that. Sometimes the offense wins. It felt like Kinnel got the business end of that business far too often for the quality of coverage he was providing. The picture above? Catch. QED.

This was a larger trend. Kinnel's coverage was solid, as befits a player who came in as a CB/S hybrid. He was barely more targeted than the cornerbacks and while his results weren't quite as good he still made it tough for most of his opposition:

S #23 rotating down on motion

He wasn't the kind of safety you could put on DJ Moore and expect good things to happen but he had a hand in the secondary's massive coverage positives week-in and week-out; he was also a major contributor to Michigan's low number of long (30+) passes allowed, 12. A QB rating allowed slightly below the 50th percentile doesn't reflect Kinnel's play since it doesn't grade on a curve for tough coverage beaten and doesn't take Michigan's lack of big ol' busts into account. He was a solid B in coverage.

[After THE JUMP: grumbles accepted]