Drake Johnson out for season with torn ACL

Submitted by Generic MGoBlogger on

Per The University of Michigan Football Twitters

RB Drake Johnson will miss the remainder of the 2013 season with a torn ACL.

— Michigan Football (@umichfootball) September 2, 2013

It's a good thing we have solid RB depth, but you never like for these injuries to happen.

Wee-Bey Brice

September 2nd, 2013 at 11:38 AM ^

I knew Drake wasn't going to get up when I saw him go down, didn't need a replay to figure that out. I even cringed when it happened.

I really hope the injuries (at least the major ones) stop here. Think its safe to say that we have learned our lesson. Whatever that is.. 

BlueinTC

September 2nd, 2013 at 11:43 AM ^

making fun of Iowa these last couple years.  Hoping for a recovery that brings him back sronger next year.  He should be able to get a medical red shirt, though.

Come On Down

September 2nd, 2013 at 11:51 AM ^

He redshirted last year and a 6th year is only granted on rare occasions. Here's an explanation from collegeathletictrainer.org:

 

A similar request is to waive the five-year period of eligibility and extend a sixth year. This requires two out of five years of circumstances beyond the control of the student-athlete. An incapacitating medical circumstance would be one example of a qualifying condition. A voluntary redshirt year would not.

 

Full article can be found here: http://www.collegeathletictrainer.org/newsletter/article.php?article=2

jmblue

September 2nd, 2013 at 1:27 PM ^

This is the flip side of the redshirt debate.  We didn't burn his redshirt last year, but it's probably going to end up meaning he'll only get to play three seasons.  Tailback is one position where you may as well just play them right off the bat, given how physically punishing it is.

 

 

 

MGoClimb

September 2nd, 2013 at 11:48 AM ^

Even with all of the hype surrounding our freshman RBs, I really wanted to see what Drake could do this season.  The coaching staff seemed really high on him.  Best of luck to him with the recovery.

Jon06

September 2nd, 2013 at 11:53 AM ^

I really feel for this kid, who had to wait a long time for his Michigan offer and then really exceeded expectations to get where he was on a stacked depth chart. Hopefully he's able to come back and reclaim his spot.

I don't think he gets the medical RS since his first RS wasn't injury related.

LSAClassOf2000

September 2nd, 2013 at 11:54 AM ^

Here's the MLive article - (LINK). Here's what Brady Hoke said:

"You just hate it for Drake, but he's as tough as anyone on this football team, and he will make it back from this," Michigan coach Brady Hoke said in a statement. "He worked so hard through his redshirt season and had a really good camp in backing up Fitz (Toussaint), not to mention he was a really valuable special teams player for us."

It is sad news, and hopefully Drake Johnson has a full and speedy recovery. 

UofM626

September 2nd, 2013 at 11:58 AM ^

Man this is a bummer. Anyone here if he is expected to return to 100%



And what about Funchess? He got finger up when we were up like 49-6



Why is he even in the game at that time?

Danwillhor

September 2nd, 2013 at 2:55 PM ^

Well, imo. Players are bigger and faster than ever before and it grows seemingly by the decade. Yet, the human ACL/MCL/PCL/Achilles is not getting any more elastic our thicker or larger. They are having a harder time being the weight and cuts of very fast large people, imo. The new turfs may also play a role. As for Drake, he only ran it a few times but he really did seem like a big, surprisingly fast HB. I thought the praise was just coach speak but I came out off week 1 thinking he was our true backup. Rawls, Hayes and the true freshman will have to step up. Hope Drake has a speedy recovery.

Jehu the Damaja

September 2nd, 2013 at 12:07 PM ^

This is a bummer for sure. He has some good speed for his size, and I was really hoping he would get some more touches this year to show what he can do. Best of luck in recovery to the young man, and now we need one of our many RB's to step it up when Fitz needs a break.



Rawls looked much better than last year, he had some shiftiness that I hadn't noticed out of him. Although it was against the scrubs, so ya know...sample size and all that. This is when Green/Smith get to show us what they've got.

Aspyr

September 2nd, 2013 at 12:07 PM ^

He showed very good speed on his 2 (?) runs especially the one to the outside and added speed to special teams. He seems to be a dedicated and hard worker so I would be suprised not to see him back to 100% by Spring or Fall camp. Best of luck to him.

Hopefully, there will be better news for Reynolds because we certainly don't have the depth at WR like we do at RB.