23 WRs drafted, not a one from U-M

Submitted by uofmfan_13 on April 25th, 2020 at 3:15 PM

Not intending to pile on any player. But really looking forward competent WR and passing game development in 2020 for Michigan. I trust Gary is but we have got to see further improvement and player development. That Michigan doesn't have a single young WR among the top 23 picked is atrocious. 

Wisconsin, Minnesota, SMU, heck, LIBERTY UNIV with WRs picked before Michigan. 

HenneGivenSunday

April 25th, 2020 at 3:20 PM ^

Well, I mean.. yeah.  DPJ’s draft position was always a big question mark coming in.  Assign blame for that however you want, but it’s important to remember that this is maybe the deepest WR draft in recent memory and teams fall in love with their guy.  This could turn out to be a great thing for DPJ in terms of motivation.

ldevon1

April 25th, 2020 at 3:24 PM ^

Motivation? Hell if he doesn't get drafted I think he has a 18% chance of making a roster. At least from memory of watching Hard Knocks they said something like that. He got very bad advice at this point, or something is wrong with him that we don't know about. Quintez Cephus ran a 4.7 40 and didn't look very good on the football field, and the home team took him over DPJ. That says a lot.

HenneGivenSunday

April 25th, 2020 at 3:28 PM ^

Oh, yeah IF he doesn’t get drafted he’s in for a very steep hill to climb.  I assume he’ll still get drafted.  If he doesn’t, well.. then yeah he got some bad advice or had an inflated opinion of himself.  
 

This has been a weird draft.  Eno Benjamin is still on the board as is James Proche and they were both very productive and have clear positions, while K. Hudson is already off the board.  

UMxWolverines

April 25th, 2020 at 6:51 PM ^

Most on here said Michigan was a QB away from doing big things after 2017 and once Shea transferred here the hype was unreal.

Then some of us saw him in the 2018 ND game and said that he doesn't look like anything special and were negged like crazy for it, except that's pretty much exactly how he turned out. 

maize-blue

April 25th, 2020 at 3:24 PM ^

According to Mel the Hair, DPJ is the 6th best player available at this time. He'll get selected but late, late. Could be used as a big slot. Probably was used wrong at Michigan.

bronxblue

April 25th, 2020 at 3:47 PM ^

Yeah, this sentiment drives me crazy.  He was the #1 WR out of high school and the staff put him all over the field.  He was clearly the first or second option on a lot of plays, and yet in his three years at UM he never cracked 100 yards receiving and had exactly one game with more than 1 TD.  At some point, shitty QB play or not, you have to be better.  And the fact guys like Collins and Bell were also on this offense and thrived says something about DPJ.

I want him to succeed in the NFL.  But even after the combine the official draft grade for him was ST/late round selection.  He's a great athlete but clearly there are limitations to his game that are beyond "usage" because teams are pretty good at extrapolating based on stuff they've seen.

Hail-Storm

April 27th, 2020 at 9:34 AM ^

Receiver is apparently a highly nuanced position.  It seems like it is an easy position to evaluate, be fast, be big, and jump high = great. As I look at Michigan's most successful receivers, this is not apparently the case.  Gallon was small and, although quick, wasn't a 4.3 burner, yet was highly successful probably because he was super smart and had great chemistry with Gardner. They knew when to sit in a zon, or run a route wide or long to get open, or come back for a back shoulder toss. 

Junior Hemingway was not super athletic, or big comparared to our current reciever core, but was one of the best in memory in getting 50/50 toss up balls.  Somehow he came up with so many when Denard would toss one up. He also got an amazing amount of yards after conctact, with some weird shifty runs.

Manningham is not a big guy, and is fast, but another not blazing fast guy, yet his routes constantly allowed him to blow past secondary in both college and in NFL. 

I am no expert, but  have no idea how coaches find these guys that just get open.  I am still surprised that the kid from Iowa (from this DPJ recruiting class) didn't do well, because all the sites said he had that route running smarts.  Black seemed to have it as a freshman, but dropped off.  Bell has the knack for getting open, and it is fun to see him play. Just a weird position that seems like athletic talent should be the end all, but is far from the truth.

robpollard

April 25th, 2020 at 3:27 PM ^

It's amazing. WRs from Rhode Island are getting drafted before DPJ.

I'd love to hear an actual scout break this down -- his film (e.g., getting off the line, hands, running routes, making tough catches) must not all be what they want to see, as his combine measurables were good.

Meanwhile the Lions need a WR and pass on DPJ to take...a RB from New Mexico. Just great.

TheLastHarbaugh

April 25th, 2020 at 3:42 PM ^

He was the third best receiver on an anemic Michigan offense. 

He is fast but rarely had big plays in the passing game.

He has an elite vertical jump but rarely beat guys on jump balls.

He is quick but almost never got separation.

He has size and shift but always seemed to fall down or get tackled by the first defender.

It's honestly not surprising.

OwenGoBlue

April 25th, 2020 at 3:49 PM ^

DPJ is the only one in the draft and he just hasn't played really good football yet. 

Looks bad for Michigan and they'll certainly get negative recruited on this.

Quailman

April 25th, 2020 at 3:51 PM ^

1. What a shit title. It implies that UM had multiple draftable WR that havent been picked, rather than just one guy.

Which, 2. makes your first sentence bs, since clearly you are reference a particular player. 

Bones032

April 25th, 2020 at 3:56 PM ^

The Dolphins just took a long snapper over DPJ. After all the years of teams going crazy for guys that test well at the combine, I just don't understand what's going on with this.

buddha

April 25th, 2020 at 4:27 PM ^

Whether it’s the fault of the player or the staff is almost kinda moot. In the bigger picture though this is a major indictment of the program. If I were a parent of a blue-chip recruit, I’d have to ask myself why I’d send my son to UM. It just seems like the top talent that comes here don’t get much better.