Most Underrated UM Player of All Time?
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Boy, the Stadium didn't change a bit between 1932 and 1989.
Finally...
I saw the thread title and thought Stevie Breaston.
I'd also add David Harris. He was amazing and IMO, underappreciated.
as I read down the posts but then came to yours. He just put people down all over the field his jr and sr years, as I recall. Crazy good. It felt like he never missed a tackle and just thumped people.
dependable and consistent.
Glad you brought this up, though your reasoning is suspect.
It's possible that he was "dependable and consistent," but John Kolesar made some of the most incredible, most-clutch catches in Michigan history. I could list three and people could chime in with five more (the three: OSU clincher in '85, OSU winner in '88, and amazing Hall of Fame Bowl winner).
Michigan has a history of great receivers, and many of them are associated with one huge TD catch that won a game at some point. Mario Manningham against Penn State, David Terrell against Wisconsin, Braylon against MSU (ok, so it was three huge TD catches plus the key bomb catch to set up the field goal that set up the onside kick...), Desmond Howard against Notre Dame, Mercury Hayes against Virginia, Roy Roundtree against Notre Dame, etc.
Kolesar has a handful of huge TDs like that.
Kolesar is one of my all-time favorites, and I was going to bring him up if nobody else did. One thing that you did not mention though; is that winning catch against OSU in 88 was set up by his 60 yard kickoff return two plays earlier, and that he accounted for all of the 101 yards on that game winning drive.
People talk about players winning a game single-handedly, but he actually went out and did it, and against his biggest rival.
And like you wrote, he made big play after big play in the clutch to win big games for Michigan, we should have a John Kolesar tribute at the Big House some time to honor the contributions he made to the team.
wanted to see if anyone else picked him.
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I love Jerry, but he was not the starting center on the 1933 NC team. He was the back-up center. He only started on the 1934 team that went 1-7.
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Too soon.
Guy was mercilously mocked but had a great career.
Posted at the same time!
This would probably have to be my choice as well. Not a great QB but he was good and definitely didn't get enough credit.
I don't get Steve Breaston. Do people really think he wasn't good? I can't remember any criticism of him.
Breaston was a great returner. And everyone remembers him as a great returner. I don't get the underrated notion either. Its not like he was also secretely an excellent receiver or anything on top of that.
Breaston had Rose Bowl MVP locked up. Over 350? yards in that game through all facets.
The commentator that got in trouble before Breaston's senior year bowl game for saying something like, "Besides a few kick returns, the guy is pretty much worthless"?
Guy was mercilously mocked but had a great career.
John Navarre.
Probably took the most heat ever and this was pre-social media days.
He had a really solid career.
If he played in this era with how bad the conference is overall, he would have dominated even more.
More or less what I was thinking. He's #2 all-time for passing at Michigan, and at or near the top of just about ever passing record Michigan has. Yet with all the great QBs that are mentioned playing at Michigan, he is never brought up. Was he the best? No. But he was pretty damn good, and definitely underappreciated.
I thought John Navarre was pretty much the greatest thing ever. When I heard later that he'd had major shit flung his way in his earlier playing days, I believe I cried.
Are we talking underrated as a Wolverine, or underrated in his post Wolverine days? Because if we're talking as a Wolverine, y'all are remembering a very diffferent Breaston than I do. I remember him as an outstanding return man, which is pretty much exactly what he was.
If I had to throw out a suggestion, I might go Navarre. Extremely solid, never talked about.
I think someone may have referred to him as this, but maybe it was actually original to us...anyway my dad and I called him "The Moose" because of how he ran. But I'll always remember his Transcontinental against Minnesota and the performance in the 100th Game. A very underrated player who took a ton of shit.
But if anything, I'd say he was overrated here. We hadn't had anyone like him for quite awhile. I recall him being a fan favorite who drew lots of comparisons to AC. He was a very good slot receiver, but was never able to replace Braylon as a downfield threat.
Maurice Williams, everyone remembers Hutch, and Backus but Williams often gets overlooked amongst one of Michigan's best OL units ever.
I'll allow it because you didn't mention him in the first post.
For Aaron Shea ? His block against Penn St. where he wiped out three guys was one of the best blocks I have ever seen.
For the double post, my computer is shitting itself.
Senior John Navarre
Kelly Baraka
For how much shit was talked about him, he was a very solid QB and the last Michigan one to win the B1G
Your overall point stands, but for accuracy purposes, Henne won the Big Ten in 2004.
For all of his contributions to M basketball's resurgance, I always felt like people thought he was sort of a sideshow to Novak's leadership and Morris' skill. The team wouldn't have achieved without him.
Ugh if Henson hadn't decided to go play baseball in 2001 that squad could of been special, Navarre filled in admirably and had a very good career. I think he was the first QB I watched every game for.
Actually that team had relatively mediocre talent, couldn't run the ball, and wasn't super-talented on defense. We all remember that Marquise Walker was the star receiver, and he had over 80 catches. Do you know who the next two leading receivers were?
You guessed it: BJ Askew with 24 catches... and Bill Seymour with 23.
That's it.
It is true that Henson would have made a huge difference; despite all of these weaknesses and a quarterback who was forced to play one year too soon, Michigan's losses were flukey and close. The Washington loss that nobody remembers (it happened on September 8, 2001) turned on a blocked field goal returned for a TD, followed immediately by a pick-six that bounced off the hands of a Michigan player (Askew, I think) that wasn't Navarre's fault. Still only lost by 5. The MSU loss was the clock game. The OSU game was a dreadful performance that Michigan still nearly won.
But it is all irrelevant. For one, Michigan always lost at least one game it shouldn't have under Lloyd after the '97 season. For two, even if all three of those games are flipped, Michigan was severely outgunned against Tennessee (which was loaded) and would have been embarrassed by any other seriously contending team it had played that year whether Henson was QBing or not.
Given the situation, I have come to the conclusion that the 2001 Michigan team actually did about as well as it could have given the roster.
The problem with Navarre as a QB is not that he wasn't a great player; it's that he was a fine QB to play Lloyd's preferred defense-first running-game oriented conservative game, but the team could never execute it. Washington, already referenced, was a special teams failure; so were Iowa and especially Oregon in 2003. Navarre was seriously hamstrung by failures in other parts of the team that forced him to play a pass-heavy game that was neither a strength of the offensive coaches nor something well-suited to Navarre.
we need a back like him real soon.
I'll get you three...