Joshua Uche (image via Maize and Blue News)
Name: Joshua Uche
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 215 lbs.
High school: Miami (FL) Columbus
Position: Linebacker
Class: Freshman
Jersey number: #10
Last year: Uche was a senior in high school (LINK). He had 50 tackles, 14 sacks, 3 pass breakups, and 2 forced fumbles.
Final TTB Rating: 82
Uche was committed to Miami at one point, and Don Brown was recruiting him to Boston College. By the time January rolled around, Uche was no longer committed to Miami and Don Brown was recruiting him to Michigan. Brown likes guys who can wreak havoc with their speed, and Uche is a guy who can do that, whether it’s from linebacker or defensive end.
Uche’s biggest asset is his ability to come off the edge and get to the quarterback, and he has that extra closing burst to make plays once he gets into the backfield. Michigan intends to start him off at SAM linebacker, where he would be backing up Jabrill Peppers. The two players are rather dissimilar, since Peppers is a converted corner/safety and Uche is viewed by some as a weakside end prospect. I think Uche will play a role this season because of his pass rushing abilities, but he might be limited by his size and some weaknesses in pass coverage. I imagine he might be used in some situations as a defensive end, somewhat like we saw Jake Ryan used at times during his Michigan career. I think Uche will have a good career, but defensive line and SAM linebacker are tough places to break through this season.
Prediction: Backup SAM linebacker
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Like Bredeson, this is a really tough player to rank. If you tell me he will red-shirt behind Peppers this year – I will believe you. If you tell me he gets meaningful downs against OSU this year in pass-rush situations – I will believe you.
The biggest unknown (for me) heading into the season is how the edge players (SAM and WDE) will be deployed by Brown. You have Peppers – a 200 lb DB and Charlton – a 290 lb DL as the presumed starters. Then you have guys like Winovich and Furbush who are a more typical 240-250 range. And Uche – who was recruited to be a prototypical Don Brown edge rushing specialist at 215 pounds. Quite an array of player types.
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Gun to my head I say Uche red-shirts. High upside and low weight indicate he’s probably worth investing the extra scholarship for.
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yes and this team has seriously lacked natural edge rushers in recent years so, like many of the “problems” were starting to see / anticipate / question, its welcomed and its a good problem to have.
hopefully uche proves too dangerous off the edge in passing situations and forces the coaches to find a role for him. if he redshirts, thats ok as its expected of many frosh. and if he plays, even in limited role or small # of snaps, thats great bc he earned it and forced the coaches hand.
and hopefully theyve added another 2-3 players of similar talent and projected usage / impact by the time hes a 3rd, 4th or 5th year player so theyre not worrying about past redshirt opportunities – he impacted the game and earned his PT even if its just 5% of total D snaps or whatever it might be and theyre already working in several adequate replacements by the time said player matriculates.
id predict uche earns some snaps as a situational rusher and edge player and also gets some mop up time (and maybe even ST duties though im hopeful they continue using mostly 2 deep types on ST, aside from the handfuls they wont risk injury to) – maybe he finishes with something like 13 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, etc and gets his feet wet for a larger role moving forward
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I’m liking Uche to play this year, I think a better fit for the SAM linebacker position in Don Brown’s defense is Khaleke Hudson. However due to our alarming safety depth, especially going into 2018 and beyond, Hudson is probably a better fit there. I would have no problem if we didn’t redshirt any linebacker from this 2016 class. Bush will definitely play, Mbem-bosse I think can back up McCray. With Johnson being unable to enroll (and probably not on the team) I really see no reason not to throw Uche out there as well. Last year we had linebackers, except nobody was good! This year I’d say start with Gedeon, McCray, Peppers (play I expect to be much improved) and just be quick to sub out players if someone is not getting the job done.
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Good discussion. I am guessing that Uche plays, considering that UM needs to build LB depth quickly. He appears to have a bit of a Jake Ryan skill set, where he could be an excellent blitzer and a situational WDE. Does a nice job of reading his keys quickly and getting to the ball – may be particularly valuable against spread attacks. And it does not hurt Uche’s prospects for early playing time that he was Don Brown’s primary recruiting target in the last class too.
Incidentally, Webb and Lorenz were both very impressed with Brown’s recruiting job on Uche. Sounds like Brown is establishing himself as a real asset on the recruiting trail. Nice bonus, considering that he is considered a top notch defensive mind.
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The he-should-play-to-prep-for-2017 argument keeps popping up, but I don’t think it applies here.
I think if you’re the sure-fire starter (as Wilson was a few years ago) that makes sense — you need to squeeze every once of development out of a projected starter you can. If it’s one guy, you can get a significant number of snaps. If it’s 2 or 3, it stops being valuable enough to justify ‘burning’ the 5th year option.
To me, Gary and Bush are the only freshman DE or LB that look like a leading contender to start in 2017. It’s not like DB where literally everyone is getting replaced. You probably want some insurance for Bush to replace Gedeon, so another ILB or 2 will play as well. But OLB has returning players there if you start lumping in the hybrid DBs.
I don’t think Uche is worth playing just for development reasons. He’s nothing like Peppers and won’t be his replacement. Furbush is supposed to be the backup and would seem to be in-line to be the top guy as a conventional SAM. Uche should still have plenty of time to develop behind Furbush, Winovich, etc. even if Peppers goes pro early. There’s a host of other young DEs and LBs that need development too. That’s where you want to see Mone, Marshall, Jones, Winovich, Furbush, Wangler looking like they are ready for a bigger role next year. They can handle the garbage time snaps we’re all hoping we see a lot of this season.
If Uche is to play this season, he needs to be able to immediately make an impact as a pass-rusher. I don’t care to argue if that means WDE or SAM or something else – since I would guess it would be in obvious passing downs either way.
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In other words, Uche should be better than the other edge-rushing options (Jones, Johnson, Johnson, Winovich, Furbush, Marshall, Kemp).
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