It's official. Nico Collins no longer listed on Michigan's football roster
As originally reported by Zach Shaw this morning via tweet
https://twitter.com/_ZachShaw/status/1318197893065527299?s=20
I suppose we all knew this was coming but sad to see him "officially" gone all the same.
I wish him nothing but the best in whatever comes next for him.
October 19th, 2020 at 11:38 AM ^
I assumed he was going to go to the draft last year and was pleasantly surprised by his decision to come back.
Hopefully Nico makes the best of this offseason and kills it in the combine and draft evaluations. Good luck and Go Blue!
October 19th, 2020 at 11:39 AM ^
Can we finally be done with this saga?
October 19th, 2020 at 11:45 AM ^
I'm relatively certain officially removing him from the football roster does exactly that.
October 19th, 2020 at 12:05 PM ^
You'd think Harbaugh signing a contract with Michigan took Oakland out of play also, but we all know what happened there
October 19th, 2020 at 11:40 AM ^
Wonder if any is due to frustration from lack of use last year. Blame Shea all u want but Harbaugh is the boss.
October 19th, 2020 at 11:44 AM ^
Yeah, that's probably why he waited to be given the #1 and a pandemic threatened the season before deciding to turn pro.
October 19th, 2020 at 12:06 PM ^
Dave - that is a serious neg bang total. What was your misdeed?
October 19th, 2020 at 12:11 PM ^
dave, what have you done?
could be a clue here:
November 19th, 2018 at 11:01 AM ^
Sorry for saying sp8 blows. Can I get a few million mgopoints?
Joined: 08/08/2010
October 19th, 2020 at 4:13 PM ^
Dang - I don't even remember the comment I posted two years ago, Thanks XM.
October 19th, 2020 at 1:40 PM ^
Most came from me starting a thread about speight not being good after a couple pick 6s. But how was I supposed to know all our qbs werent good?
Also got some negs for a thread asking why Indianas Adidas basketball jerseys weren't bfing ugly like Michigan's Adidas jerseys.
Can i get some more negs for saying these adds make it a PITA to post.
October 19th, 2020 at 3:43 PM ^
Your sentiment might have been true in retrospect but the tenor of your messages blew the lid off. Tact is always appreciated by the mods. You can always finance a new account if your wish to publish again. Your current hole is a black one.
October 19th, 2020 at 12:12 PM ^
You need one helluva good posbanging, Dave.
I'll give you a head start by upvoting your "yeah".
October 19th, 2020 at 12:44 PM ^
Sadly for Dave MgrowOld countered Rob's upvote with a downvote leaving him still nearly a million points short of redemption.
October 19th, 2020 at 1:46 PM ^
Just a million?
Dave needs nearly 100 million to get himself safely above the Mendoza Line.
(let's see who on the board is a baseball fan and knows what a "Mendoza Line" is without googling it)
October 19th, 2020 at 2:18 PM ^
OHH OHH OHH!!! I DO!! I DO!!!!
October 19th, 2020 at 2:50 PM ^
Hi Arnold---I didn't know you were from Virginia.
October 19th, 2020 at 2:20 PM ^
The Mendoza Line is .200.
As in, "My high school batting average and my weight were both well below Mendoza. I'd like to have one of those numbers back."
October 19th, 2020 at 2:53 PM ^
We have a winner, born in 1863...oops 1963...oops 1960... and he likes BLUE eggs, not green.
October 19th, 2020 at 11:40 AM ^
Welp.
#BRINGBACKOPPONENTWATCH
October 19th, 2020 at 11:42 AM ^
FWIW I DM'd the author of Opponent Watch this am to remind him (not that I dont think he already knows) that the great unwashed would REALLY like to see this feature return.
I mean I think I speak for all of us here in stating that outside of Draftegeddon it's the most popular non-Brian authored front page post.
October 19th, 2020 at 12:08 PM ^
Did he really "retire" from writing Opponent Watch?
October 19th, 2020 at 12:19 PM ^
If he wasn't getting compensated he should have been. First rate stuff. I love Seth's work, and Brian is the best writer here, but the other Brian (iirc) was second from a pure entertainment aspect.
October 19th, 2020 at 12:40 PM ^
#BRINGBACKDRAFTEGEDDONBEFOREOPPONENTWATCHTOPISSEVERYONOFFEVENMORE
October 19th, 2020 at 2:19 PM ^
OppoWatch is good, but I kinda like Neck Sharpies, too!
October 19th, 2020 at 3:54 PM ^
Ok... but Neck Sharpies are still being published.
October 19th, 2020 at 11:42 AM ^
He must have withdrawn from school. McCaffrey is still listed.
October 19th, 2020 at 11:46 AM ^
It's a bummer, but basically just confirms what we already know. Will always be a Nico fan and hope he does well at the combine and in the draft!
Sucks it never really felt like Michigan got close to maximizing the potential of that '17 receivers class. Hopefully with some offensive continuity and increased production at the QB spot Michigan can get back to churning out NFL receivers and getting the most out of their talent while they're here.
Timing, injuries and continuity have really hampered the offense under Harbaugh. Some of that is fair to place on JH, but a considerable amount has been dumb luck as well.
October 19th, 2020 at 12:00 PM ^
Speaking of the 17 receiver class DPJ has been active and seeing playing time for the Browns these past several weeks. So far he has been returning punts and KO's and playing a bit as the 3rd or 4th WR when we go wide. My scouting report on him so far is:
Positives: Doesn't let the ball bounce on punts saving roll yardage, is willing to return virtually all KO's and is a very solid blocker for the run game
Negatives: Is still running tentatively on returns (coaching staff allegedly told him to let er rip) prompting some observers to remark he looks like he's running in slow motion
Overall though not bad for a rookie, 6th round WR. And the fan base is very positive to him - unlike the Peppers/Braylon experience.
October 19th, 2020 at 12:27 PM ^
He literally let a punt drop right in front of him yesterday.
October 19th, 2020 at 1:09 PM ^
Good point, but then he fielded it on one bounce. Ball didnt roll downfield and he gained 5-7 yards of field position. I probably should've worded that differently.
Not that it mattered.
October 19th, 2020 at 12:47 PM ^
Seemed like he always ran in slow motion in college. I wasn't sure if he was running gracefully or tentatively.
Really don't know how you couldn't like the kid though. Both Peppers and Braylon were more talkative than DPJ. I genuinely liked the kid's personality.
October 19th, 2020 at 2:27 PM ^
Peppers was drafted two rounds too high and Braylon couldn't catch a cold. The suspicion that Browns fans don't like Michigan players for any reason other than that the players suck is categorically false. Ask Aaron Shea.
October 19th, 2020 at 12:02 PM ^
That '17 receiver class... are we really that surprised it never panned out? This is michigan after all. These kicks in the nuts over the years have made me more and more jaded.
Either way, Nico and DPJ were the lone bright spots there, will be rooting for them on sundays.
October 19th, 2020 at 12:30 PM ^
Looking back in 2017 WR recruiting class:
Michigan missed out on KJ Hamler big time since he was drafted at 2nd round to the Broncos and was a dynamic WR with elite speed/quickness. Plus he was in their backyard at OLSM which hurts even more.
Notable WRs:
Tee Higgins: 2nd round
Jerry Jeudy: 1st round
DeVonta Smith: Projected 1st round
Henry Ruggs III: 1st round
Jalen Reagor: 1st round
Tylan Wallace: Projected 1st/2nd round
CeeDee Lamb: 1st round
Isaiah Hodgins: 6th round
Tamorrian Terry: Projected Day 2 pick
DPJ: 6th round pick
Nico Collins: Projected Day 2 pick
Laviska Shenault: 2nd round
When you look at the 2017 class as whole. It's a pretty damn good class with 6 WRs either getting drafted at 1st round or projected to get drafted at 1st round. Bama hit a HR on all 3 WRs in this class which is rare
October 19th, 2020 at 11:47 AM ^
So Dylan is still on the team?
October 19th, 2020 at 11:59 AM ^
Yes - probably until he withdraws or completes his school year.
October 19th, 2020 at 11:56 AM ^
It is weird he never announced anything. His last instagram post is from when he announced he was returning back in January, and now he's taken his account private. We only found out he was leaving from an NFL guy who reported that his name had shown up in agent signing records. And then you had the team publicly lobbying for him to come back, but it didn't seem like anyone was really talking to him directly. Just a weird situation.
October 19th, 2020 at 12:07 PM ^
I'd like to second how weird this is.
I could have understood if he chose, in January, not to come back for his senior season; he wouldn't have been a particularly high draft pick, but he would have been drafted and could have started making good money this year.
However, he chose to come back. Great! Then the pandemic hits, and on the day the B1G announces they are coming back for fall football...he bails. He is now effectively sitting on his butt, not playing football (beyond training, but that's not playing) and not making money. For what reason?
- If it was to improve his draft stock, that makes no sense. He would have been the #1 option on team that's going to have to put up some serious points to be successful. The QB who ended up winning the job, if nothing else, has a big arm. Who can go get parabolic bombs better than Nico?
- If it was because he is concerned about the virus, I understand. as that's up to him. But I've seen nothing to indicate that, and if so, why not just say it?
- If he was unhappy with U of M (as DPJ seemed to be), why wait until September to leave? I can't imagine anything changed. Plus, he would have been a senior leader on a young-ish team -- a lot of players who like their schools and their teammates crave that opportunity. Why didn't he?
I don't understand it, at all.
October 19th, 2020 at 4:14 PM ^
The optimistic answer is that he didn't want to risk myocarditis playing during COVID jeopardizing his football career long term.
The BPONE answer would be he thinks the QB situation is so bad he's better off not playing at all.
October 19th, 2020 at 12:08 PM ^
My guess is he took $$$ and decided he didn't want to attend classes anymore.
October 19th, 2020 at 12:27 PM ^
And maybe he took enough he couldn't pay it back to get good with the NCAA. I know this isn't the 80s and 90s anymore, and most of these kids come from relatively well to do backgrounds, but maybe he and/or his family didn't have the cash to pay back what he got as an advance.
Nothing wrong with what he did at all. Not his fault the Big 10 couldn't make up their mind.
Pure speculation. Maybe he broke his pinky fingernail and wanted time to rehab it before the combine. Likely we'll never know, and it's really none of our business.
October 19th, 2020 at 12:00 PM ^
Confirms what we've all known for weeks. At least now Michigan can finally put that situation behind it. He may have been Michigan's best receiver, but there is no shortage of talent in the WR room.
Kind of wish we got a reasoning from Nico on why he chose to remain opted out after coming back, staying in for the whole offseason, and then the Big Ten opting to reinstate the season. Something seemed off. Granted, he doesn't owe me or anyone else anything. I just wish we got some kind of closure as to why.
In any case, definitely rooting for him wherever he ends up.
October 19th, 2020 at 12:14 PM ^
OK. Good luck. Next.
October 19th, 2020 at 12:17 PM ^
That dead horse sailed long ago...
October 19th, 2020 at 12:23 PM ^
Well if there's one thing the MGoBoard is good at it, it's letting dead horses go unbeaten.
October 19th, 2020 at 12:42 PM ^
well, you know, a stitch in time saves a rolling stone. or something like that.
October 19th, 2020 at 12:58 PM ^
Damn straight....
October 19th, 2020 at 12:26 PM ^
Though it seemed a foregone conclusion most recently, I would have loved seeing him return and was still holding out hope until about 2 weeks ago.
Hope all is well with Nico and that his NFL dreams come true. It was truly a thrill watching Nico in Michigan's Winged Helmet the last few seasons.
Best of luck to the young man!