Posts by: Thunder

2020 Season Countdown: #108 Jerome Nichols

Name: Jerome Nichols
Height: 6’1″
Weight: 215 lbs.
High school: Detroit (MI) Renaissance
Position: Linebacker
Class: Freshman
Jersey number: N/A
Last year: Nichols was a senior in high school.

Nichols committed to Michigan as a preferred walk-on. He’s a two-year captain at Renaissance, and his Hudl video shows he claims a 3.5 GPA and a 1200 on the SAT. Nichols had some FCS offers but chose to go the Michigan route.

I don’t think Nichols is going to get on the field as a freshman, which is why he’s all the way down here at #108. But he’s a physical linebacker type that I think should be on the radar for future years. I do not believe he has the speed to become an awe-inspiring walk-on-to-NFL story like Jordan Glasgow, but this is a guy I could see playing special teams in the next few years.

Prediction: Redshirt

Hit the jump for his highlights.

2020 Season Countdown: #109 Edward Warinner

NOTE: Yesterday I introduced and explained the countdown, so check that out if you’re unsure what this is going to be (LINK).

Name: Ed Warinner
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 225 lbs.
High school: Powell (OH) Olentangy Liberty
Class: Redshirt freshman
Jersey number: N/A
Last year: I did not rank Warinner. He redshirted at Michigan State.
TTB Rating: N/A

Warinner pulled one of those rare, seemingly unprecedented moves and transferred sides of the in-state rivalry, from Michigan State to Michigan. He is, of course, the son of Michigan offensive line coach Ed Warinner, and the father-son situation seems to make it very likely that the elder Warinner will stay in Ann Arbor for the remainder of the younger Warinner’s career.

Warinner the linebacker was not recruited by Michigan out of high school, and I do not disagree with that choice by the Wolverines. I do not find Warinner to be a highly athletic player. But I don’t blame him for wanting to take advantage of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play big-time football with his dad on the staff. And as a walk-on, if it doesn’t work out where he works his way up to being a scholarship-level player, his father is a well compensated school employee who can afford the tuition.

As a non-graduate transfer, Warinner will have to sit out the 2020 season . . . unless the NCAA makes one-time transfer exceptions. I don’t have a bead on whether that will happen or not. If he has to sit out, obviously his importance will not be that great. If he’s deemed eligible, I still don’t think he would have an impact and would be somewhere in the lower 25% of this list.

Prediction: Redshirt (again)

Hit the jump for his high school highlights.

The 2020 Countdown is Coming!

If you’re a regular here at Touch the Banner, you probably know what begins in the month of May. Every year since 2009, I have counted down from the least important player on that year’s roster to the most important player, including starters, scholarship players, preferred walk-ons, special teams players, student body walk-ons, and everyone in between. That’s right, this is the eleventh (12th!) annual season countdown.

In case you want a look back at last year’s countdown, here it is (LINK).

YEARLY DISCLAIMER: The countdown is by the player’s importance to the team, not his overall talent. A talented player at a deep position won’t necessarily be missed a lot if he gets injured, but an injury to a moderately talented player at a thin position could be devastating. For example, I had Donovan Jeter ranked at #1B in 2019 because of the dearth of defensive tackle talent; and while Jeter turned out not to be a key player when healthy, the position itself was so lacking that Michigan struggled up front, which affected the usage of the defensive ends and Josh Uche, not to mention perhaps also creating the Jordan Glasgow-as-DT meme to bash defensive coordinator Don Brown. Joshua Ross is a better player than Jeter, but Ross wasn’t missed as much because there was depth at inside linebacker.

I know times are tough, but now is a good time to suggest a Paypal donation if you appreciate the content here at TTB:

Be ready for the countdown to begin tomorrow, May 4.

Senior Highlights: S Makari Paige

Myles Rowser, Ex-Wolverine

Two commitments into the 2022 class, 50% of them have already dipped.

Belleville Detroit King Bradenton (FL) IMG Academy safety Myles Rowser decommitted from Michigan recently. His social media account originally showed less, uh, Michigan flavor, and then word came out that he had officially decommitted. He originally committed to the Wolverines on the day of the national championship game back in January (LINK).

I tend not to get too worked up about players so far ahead of their signing – whether positive or negative – so almost two years in advance of National Signing Day, I don’t have much of an emotional reaction to this story.

Rowser is a solid prospect and his older brother is Michigan freshman cornerback Andre Seldon, Jr. That means there’s still a good chance that he ends up back in Michigan’s class. But for now, Essexville (MI) Garber defensive lineman Alex Van Sumeren (the younger brother of Ben) is the only committed player in the 2022 class.