Posts under: Blog

Christian Turner, Ex-Wolverine

Redshirt sophomore running back Christian Turner announced on Saturday that he was entering the NCAA transfer portal.

Turner came to Michigan from Buford (GA) Buford in 2018. He was a 3-star, the #22 running back, and #508 overall. He notched 20 carries for 95 yards and 1 catch for 16 yards as a freshman; then he had 44 carries for 171 yards and 1 touchdown, plus 4 catches for 13 yards, in 2019. He initially opted out of the 2020 season due to COVID concerns but then re-joined the team, though he was relegated to special teams.

I gave Turner a TTB Rating out of high school (LINK), but every class since then has included a better prospect. And it doesn’t help that Turner’s classmate, Hassan Haskins, has outplayed his ranking and taken over the primary role at Michigan.

Michigan couldn’t find room for Turner to play in a deep backfield in 2020, and that’s unlikely to change in 2021. Turner will get more of an opportunity to touch the ball somewhere else. Usually, players transfer somewhere closer to home, so I would expect him to resurface somewhere down south, perhaps in the ACC or the Sun Belt.

Here’s the 2021 scholarship count with Turner removed (LINK), as well as Jalen Mayfield (NFL) and Zach Carpenter (transfer).

Goodbye Again, Jalen Mayfield

HIGH SCHOOL
Mayfield, from Grand Rapids (MI) Catholic Central, was recruited to Minnesota by then-Gophers offensive line coach Ed Warinner, but he flipped to Michigan when the Wolverines came through with an offer. He ended up playing in the Army All-American Bowl and finished the 2018 recruiting cycle as a 4-star, the #16 offensive tackle, and #268 overall. I initially gave him a TTB Rating of 84 (LINK) before bumping him up to an 87 at the end of the cycle (LINK).

Hit the jump for more.

Davonte Miles, Wolverine

Head on over to https://touchthebanner.blogspot.com/2020/12/davonte-miles-wolverine.html to discuss this post and others.

River Rouge (MI) River Rouge defensive tackle Davonte Miles committed to Michigan on Friday. He picked the Wolverines over offers from Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan State, and Pitt, among others.

Miles is listed at 6’5″ and 275 lbs.

RANKINGS
ESPN: N/A
Rivals: 3-star SDE, 5.5 grade,
247 Sports: 3-star, 86 grade, #45 DT

Hit the jump for more.

Transfer Portal Recruiting Update: December 18, 2020

This probably won’t be as regular of a thing as a normal high school recruiting update, but I think it might be helpful and informative to occasionally take a look at the transfer portal and any rumblings that might be emanating from said portal.

We are on the cusp of “free agency” in college football, where basically any player can transfer once and be eligible for his new team next fall. With Michigan having a lot of roster holes – and there will be more holes coming soon – I will discuss here some potentially viable options, or at least options that Michigan fans might find interesting.

Hit the jump for the rest of the post.

Addressing Michigan’s Coaching Situation

Following a 2-4 season and five straight losses to Ohio State – plus an embarrassing loss to Michigan State in 2020 – questions about Jim Harbaugh’s status as head coach have been non-stop. I have a hard time calling for coaches’ jobs, because as a (lower level) coach myself, I know some of the struggles with coaching.

Of course, college coaches have a different situation than high school coaches, because they have more power and more control over which coaches and players enter their program. But there are similarities in that your team’s success is subject to injuries, off-the-field behavior of young people, administrative limits, etc.

So here I would like to address which coaches I would prioritize bringing back, from highest priority to lowest:

Sherrone Moore (Tight Ends): Moore is Michigan’s top recruiter, especially in-state. According to 247 Sports, he’s the #6 recruiter in the country and #2 in the Big Ten (behind Ohio State’s Brian Hartline). I have not been extremely impressed with the performance of Michigan’s tight ends over the past couple seasons, but I think that’s more of an issue with the structure of the offense than the individual players. Regardless, tight end is a position where you can hide a mediocre X’s and O’s/technique coach if the guy coaching them can recruit his butt off. And Moore can. He’s listed as the primary recruiter for QB J.J. McCarthy, OT Giovanni El-Hadi, C Raheem Anderson II, TE Louis Hansen, LB Tyler McLaurin, and WR Andrel Anthony, and he’s the secondary recruiter for RB Donovan Edwards.

Hit the jump for more.