James Hudson declares for NFL Draft
Former Michigan football player James Hudson III announced that he's skipping 2021 to enter in the NFL draft. He was a member of Michigan's 2017 class, so he just completed his redshirt junior year.
This is a pretty surprising move, in my opinion. He redshirted in 2017, played sparingly in 2018, sat out the 2019 season after transferring (but played in the bowl game), and then started in a shortened 2020 season. So he basically had significant playing time in just about 11 games, and in his final game, he was ejected for targeting. I feel like he needs a fifth year and I haven't seen much draft buzz about him, but...
...we'll see how this goes.
Personally, I think WAY too many guys are declaring early this year.
January 4th, 2021 at 6:49 PM ^
it's a weird year. I wouldn't take anything from this year as evidence of any trends.
January 4th, 2021 at 6:49 PM ^
Good luck to James. Try and get the $
Also on the Cincy front, Freeman is interviewing with LSU for DC.
January 4th, 2021 at 7:07 PM ^
I also heard that. I wondered if we even made a damn phone call.
January 4th, 2021 at 7:20 PM ^
The only phone calls Harbaugh is making is to NFL GMs
January 4th, 2021 at 7:54 PM ^
I've heard Freeman would tell Harbaugh the same thing Vrabel told Harbaugh back in 2015.
January 4th, 2021 at 7:07 PM ^
He probably realizes Ed won’t last but another couple of years and then he can take over.
January 4th, 2021 at 9:40 PM ^
If true, what is going on with Fickel? That move seems dubious.
January 4th, 2021 at 6:51 PM ^
I'll assume I won't be the only one asking where he transferred.
January 4th, 2021 at 6:53 PM ^
Cincinnati
January 4th, 2021 at 6:54 PM ^
He was at Cincinnati
January 4th, 2021 at 7:47 PM ^
He transferred to Cincinnati
January 4th, 2021 at 11:29 PM ^
Dayton?
January 4th, 2021 at 6:51 PM ^
Not an automatic, we all have our unique situation, but in this bizarre year; keep the job you got.
January 4th, 2021 at 6:58 PM ^
Don't care.
January 4th, 2021 at 7:08 PM ^
I thought only Harbaugh had players leaving for the draft before they were ready. People must really hate playing for Fickell!
Good luck James. Hope you get paid.
January 4th, 2021 at 7:49 PM ^
He has been in college for 4 years. Not exactly like he’s leaving early. His case at Michigan is about total coaching malpractice by the staff. Shocking why we have no DTs when him and Solomon get screwed over.
January 4th, 2021 at 8:03 PM ^
He has been in college for 4 years. Not exactly like he’s leaving early.
He has eligibility left. He's not getting draft buzz. So in my book that would count as leaving early.
His case at Michigan is about total coaching malpractice by the staff. Shocking why we have no DTs when him and Solomon get screwed over.
So he went to Cincinnati to play...OT?
January 4th, 2021 at 8:04 PM ^
Well he was an offensive lineman... so doesn’t really impact our DT situation
January 4th, 2021 at 8:40 PM ^
JonnyHintz,Hudson was recruited as a D lineman and was switched by this dumbass coaching staff. My point is that, either this staff screwed up and made him a OL when he should have been a DT or the staff effed it by scouting him wrong and we now have the gapping hole that is the interior of the DL.
January 4th, 2021 at 8:52 PM ^
I don't recall that he was recruited specifically to play DT. You may be (probably are) correct. The problem is that we were extremely thin at the OT position because Drevno couldn't recruit for shit, Hoke left the OT kitchen bare, and Hudson did have some upside at OT. Plus, at that point, we were doing pretty well with DTs.
But he did end up playing OT at Cincinnati, so that begs the question why he wasn't playing DT there.
January 4th, 2021 at 8:54 PM ^
Well, apparently he got all conference honors as an OT, so maybe the coaches weren't as dumb as you are zealously trying to argue.
January 4th, 2021 at 8:57 PM ^
From my commitment post (LINK):
He’s also kind of a powerful finesse player, meaning he’s strong enough to toss people around but instead uses angles, leverage, and his own body weight to drag guys to the ground. That’s a bit concerning for me on defense, where the wild and crazy guys typically live.
I’ve said this before, but mainly for that last reason, I envision Hudson as an offensive tackle or offensive guard at the next level. He’s not the most aggressive player, but he has the agility and strength to pull as a guard or be a blind-side tackle.
I always thought he would be a better offensive lineman. He was 1st Team All-ACC in his only year as a starter. Michigan's "dumbass" coaching staff put him at a position where he became an all-conference player.
Maybe the coaches were right, and maybe you're wrong. You should consider that possibility.
January 4th, 2021 at 9:55 PM ^
High 96 you are grossly miss informed on this situation.
January 4th, 2021 at 9:23 PM ^
You mean Tony "Fuck Michigan" Solomon?
They got "screwed" because they were lazy dumbass'?
Those two are the poster children for how terrible a recruiter Chris Partridge was.
19 of the 32 players that have left UofM before their 5th year since 2017 were recruited by that clown.
January 5th, 2021 at 8:30 AM ^
Yeesh
January 4th, 2021 at 7:09 PM ^
His record hardly screams first few rounds. Seems as if building his resume and aiming for a better draft slot and contract would have been a good idea. But I don’t know his personal circumstances, obviously.
January 4th, 2021 at 7:10 PM ^
He was very ambitious and the parents annoyed our coaches by it too. Too bad we didn't have the smarts to leave him at DT, where he wanted to play all along.
January 4th, 2021 at 7:44 PM ^
Didn’t he go to Cincinnati though and play left tackle?
January 4th, 2021 at 8:49 PM ^
You still buying this bullshit that it’s the kid’s fault or his parents’ fault after the Harbaugh dumpster fire? Come on. Harbaugh really sucks to play for and kids don’t like it, look at the recruiting the last few years. Not elite
January 4th, 2021 at 9:04 PM ^
LOL. Harbaugh said Hudson should be able to play immediately at Cincinnati. He was a proponent of the immediate eligibility for one-time transfers, which is now in place.
Dumpster fire? Harbaugh is more pro-player than virtually any other high-profile coach.
January 4th, 2021 at 9:15 PM ^
Exactly. Thanks for bringing that up. Harbaugh has always supported the one-time transfer and did the same for Hudson. Fickell was the one that was spinning some story about how Michigan wasn't "doing enough" to ensure that Hudson could play right away. As if it's Michigan's job to make sure that Hudson got immediate eligibility there.
January 4th, 2021 at 9:22 PM ^
The word was that Hudson left Michigan for playing time reasons, and when he applied for an exception, he told the NCAA it was because of personal issues. When the NCAA contacted Michigan, Harbaugh was like, "Well...that's not what he told us. He said he was frustrated with his playing time situation" (Note: That is not a direct quote.)
And because Harbaugh wouldn't fib to the NCAA, Hudson didn't get an exemption, and Fickell made a big stink about it.
January 4th, 2021 at 9:30 PM ^
Exactly how I remember it. Fickell initially implied that Michigan was blocking the waiver. Harbaugh came out and point blank said they weren't blocking it. Then Fickell complained that Michigan could "do more" to help Hudson get immediate eligibility. And the freep ran with it the whole time...
January 4th, 2021 at 7:28 PM ^
Well we weren't the only place who couldn't develop this nutcase.
January 4th, 2021 at 7:52 PM ^
In the bowl game they said he was an all-conference tackle for Cincinnati.
January 4th, 2021 at 8:21 PM ^
l laughed when his replacement had a false start, stalling out a drive late in the game.
January 4th, 2021 at 9:04 PM ^
Huh? He was 1st team all-conference at Cincinnati.
January 4th, 2021 at 8:12 PM ^
I'm guessing lots of guys did not enjoy 2020 in CFB and are ready for a change with no guarantee 2021 will be any different.
January 4th, 2021 at 8:53 PM ^
It's been a long time since I've enjoyed college football.
January 5th, 2021 at 9:01 AM ^
I enjoyed Hoke's first year, 2015, 2016 and 2018 up until the OSU game. But, since Carr retired I can only say I really enjoyed maybe 4 years of the last 13. The rest of the seasons had some wins for sure, but by and large the teams were hard to watch against anyone with a pulse.
January 4th, 2021 at 8:45 PM ^
His bowl game performance was terrible. Good luck man
January 4th, 2021 at 8:52 PM ^
It seems like a lot of guys are seeing that even with the extra year of eligibility, coaches are going to focus on the younger guys with higher ceilings, and Hudson probably figures he might as well take a crack at the NFL. He made the all conference team in the AAC, so that's a positive for him. Wish him luck.
January 4th, 2021 at 9:26 PM ^
I don't think Hudson was in any danger of getting supplanted at left tackle.
January 4th, 2021 at 9:46 PM ^
You're right about Hudson. More generally, though, I think we're going to see a lot of guys make a run at the NFL despite not necessarily having great prospects because they can feel pressure down the depth chart.
January 4th, 2021 at 9:58 PM ^
James Hudson got an invite to the Senior Bowl so they thought he was worth looking at for the draft.
January 4th, 2021 at 11:13 PM ^
Sometimes people just want to move on with their life... who knows what his family's financial situation is as well.
Lots of reasons that might not be related to football.
I say that about any Michigan players that move on as well
January 5th, 2021 at 12:13 PM ^
0 chance he's drafted