tyler mclaurin

Previously: Podcast 15.0A, 15.0B, 15.0C. The Story. Quarterback. Running Back. Wide Receiver. Tight End. Interior OL. Offensive Tackle.

EDGE: BETWEEN TWO AND SIX

To the surprise of only Jim Harbaugh, Michigan did not, in fact, just replace the greatest defensive end pairing in school history. While team sacks (37) in 2022 marginally increased from 2021 (34), Jesse Minter’s zone blitzes, contributions from the back seven, and atrocious competition (CSU and Indiana gave up 7 sacks each) had far more to do with that than the edges. Michigan used a rotation of six guys and four starters with disparate skillsets who played between 200 and 500 snaps for new DL coach Mike Elston. Mike Morris was a Guy until his ankle got crumpled in the last quarter before the Illinois-OSU-B10-CFP gauntlet; everybody else was definitively Not Hutchinson or Ojabo.

Morris was one of only two Michigan players with more than four sacks last season and got drafted. The other was 4+ sack man was late transfer Eyabi Okie, who was optioned to AAA Charlotte in the offseason. The guy who stepped on Morris's ankle was another playing time transfer. The other half of last year's edges will be joined by an undersized Looney Toon from the portal, age up a year, and probably comprise a four-man rotation whose performance falls somewhere between last year's six and the two from before them.

Depending whom you ask Michigan has between zero and five distinct positions at edge. For the sake of preview formatting we're going to separate them into "OPEN" (aka SAM Edge aka Weakside), which includes pass-rushier side of their 4-down fronts and the LB/DE hybrid role in their 3-down fronts, and "HEAVY" (aka Anchor, aka SDE, aka Closed), which is the guy usually lining up over the TE's side. Don't get too hung up on the differences; they talk about more positions so they can name more starters, but in practice they might play two Open edges or two Heavies, or two opens and a heavy for a passing down, or what have you.

OPEN EDGE: I HAVE TO TRUST YOU

RATING: 3.

15 yards for attempt to meme. [Bryan Fuller]

Ask Michigan who's their best defensive end and they'll unanimously tell you it's JAYLEN HARRELL [recruiting profile]. He led all Michigan edges in snaps by over a hundred last year. Talk from the program this offseason has been boringly positive team leader stuff with a side of "he's rounding out his game." Jim Harbaugh says he's "really becoming a complete player" after characterizing him as a run-stopper. Jesse Minter, who has Rod Moore, Kris Jenkins, Will Johnson, and two 6th year seniors on his roster, called Harrell the "most consistent" player on it.

…how he plays down after down, play after play," Minter said. "Versus the run and the pass. Very technical. I was actually meeting with him earlier today, he is one of the most self-made players in our program. He was a MIKE linebacker in high school. Moved him to the edge and the work ethic, the way he trains, the way he goes about his business, the way he studies other players, off the charts. Unbelievable. He became a force for us last year. It doesn't always show up in stats but his consistency, his ability to set the edge, his ability to be really disciplined in moments like that."

Draft people think Harrell's a 6th rounder and about the 13th edge defender. Dane Brugler has Harrell his sixth-best draft-eligible underclassman, behind four five-stars and one spot ahead of another. This may be the biggest lie of the offseason, because in almost no sense of the word is Harrell an "underclassman." He sat out 2020 but has been a platoon starter since 2021, even getting more snaps than Ojabo against Georgia.

[After THE JUMP: Clearly the charting is wrong.]

Previously: Last year’s summary. The 2021 profiles: P Tommy Doman Jr. S Rod Moore. CB Ja’Den McBurrows. LB Jaydon Hood. LB Junior Colson. LB Tyler McLaurin. DE Kechaun Bennett. DE TJ Guy. DE/DT Dominick Giudice. DT George Rooks. DT Rayshaun Benny. NG Ikechukwu Iwunnah. C Greg Crippen. C/G Raheem Anderson. T Giovanni El-Hadi. T Tristan Bounds. TE Louis Hansen. WR Cristian Dixon. WR Xavier Worthy. WR Andrel Anthony Jr. RB Tavierre Dunlap. RB Donovan Edwards. QB JJ McCarthy.

I guess I’ll keep this now-three-year-old tradition alive as well, since I have stray remaining thoughts after this exercise. Now that I’ve watched all the tape, read every take, and scraped the internet for information in a year that had less of it than ever, I’ve got a few takeaways about the class.

It is another B+ class

I may just be more of a homer than Brian—which comes from inexperience at this—but I rated this class slightly higher than Brian put the 2020 class, despite 247 ranking them on average about 100 spots lower. Mathlete converts our “General Excitement Level” ratings into a 10-point scale that you can effectively halve to get a 5* scale we’re used to. Here are the two classes against each other, and the MGoBlog take versus the industry (247 Composite also converted to 5* scale).

I think in a few cases this was mostly the program itself relying on their evaluations more than they have in the past. They had huge Signing Day victories in December (Donovan Edwards and to a lesser degree keeping Hood & McBurrows) and February (the three DTs). I don’t think losing Xavier Worthy changed things; picking up Daylen Baldwin makes that sort of a Josh Christopher-for-Chaundee Brown situation. Grading by position group:

• QB: A+. Got the cornerstone
• RB: A+. Got their Dude of the Year plus a really underrated proto-Haskins.
• WR: B-. I really like Anthony. Was an A- with Worthy in it. Could go up to a B+ if you include Baldwin.
• TE: B. Love Hansen, wanted at least one more.
• OL: B+. Were handed an excellent situation and came in under the expectation, but El-Hadi is the surest thing, Bounds is the highest of upsides, and two real centers is nothing to sneer at.
• DT: B. Reverse of OL: Situation was dire when they needed a big haul, Nua & friends rescued the class late. Benny the only impact guy.
• DE: B-. Trusted Don Brown.
• LB: A-. Love Colson, like McLaurin more than I thought I would, Hood fits the doom squirrel mode.
• S: C. Moore is pretty good considering they didn’t have a coach, last year had three 4*s. Wanted more.
• CB: D. Nothing against McBurrows. Needed a lot more.
• SP: A. Can Tommy redshirt in Australia?

The end of 2019 and terrible 2020 season were big hurdles to overcome, and keeping this class together while the fans fell into the BPONE took a lot of doing. That alone was one of the greatest upset victories yet for a Harbaugh tenure that hasn’t had many of them. I mean, Harbaugh went through Early Signing Day without a contract! Starting with Gio El-Hadi and J.J. McCarthy and then adding Junior Colson is a big part of the reason there was a class to worry about losing last winter. Only one of these guys did I conclude was a flier, which is not how we felt this class would turn out at the end.

The big miss is at cornerback. While I like the guy they got a lot more than the scouting services did, they needed two more guys who could come in and compete immediately. This was circumstances—they were fighting uphill for most of their top prospects even before you factored in the ease with which opponents could sell instability. Michigan also addressed some of the issues they could affect. Mike Zordich wasn’t able to close on guys like Tyreek Chappell, Ceyair Wright, Prophet Brown, Ishmael Ibrahim, and Omarion Cooper, and was replaced with Mo Linguist and then Steve Clinkscale when it was already too late. They lost Cass Tech’s Kalen King (and his LB brother) to Penn State because Tim Banks has very strong relationships [with the bagmen] in Detroit that Harbaugh angered. Banks is still going to hurt us in Knoxville, but Michigan emphatically mended Detroit connections, and then hired Bellamy, Hart and Clinkscale.

That happened in time to rescue Rayshaun Benny from a life in East Lansing. It will make a big difference in the future.

[After THE JUMP: Superlatives, those who got away.]

Previously: Last year’s profiles. P Tommy Doman Jr. S Rod Moore. CB Ja’Den McBurrows. LB Jaydon Hood. LB Junior Colson.

The third LB recruit in this class was the first to join, and at the time was the only top-400 commit in the class. Michigan’s added a couple of whiz-bang athletes since. But if we’ve learned one thing from watching various Northwestern teams linebacker spreads to death, you should never underestimate what a big, agile body with a big brain can do at the most cerebral position on defense.

[After THE JUMP: But can he chase a jackrabbit Maryland halfback around the field?]