Posts under: Blog

2019 Season Countdown: #2 Ben Bredeson

Name: Ben Bredeson
Height: 6’5″
Weight: 325 lbs.
High school: Hartland (WI) Arrowhead
Position: Offensive guard
Class: Senior
Jersey number: #74
Last year: I ranked Bredeson #8 and said he would be the starting left guard (LINK). He started all thirteen games.
TTB Rating: 88

Bredeson has progressed steadily as a player throughout his career. We probably didn’t want him to start as a freshman in 2016, but injuries made it necessary. Then he was a definite starter in 2017 but still made mistakes of inexperience. Last year he became a very solid lineman. Bredeson makes very few mistakes, and he’s a wall. He’s not exactly a bulldozer of a lineman, but he’s not going to get embarrassed, either.

This year I think his leadership and talent make him the top offensive lineman and the most important guy on offense who’s not a quarterback. Michigan has decent options on the interior offensive line, but if the Wolverines want to win the Big Ten – or more – then they need Bredeson to play and play well. The Wolverines don’t have enough to coast through with some big injuries, but if guys like Bredeson, Ruiz, Shea Patterson, and others can stay healthy, they have a chance. And if Michigan does make some noise by winning the conference or going to the College Football Playoff, I think it will be because their left guard – and a couple others – stayed healthy and led them there.

Prediction: Starting left guard

2019 Season Predictions

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Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit’s time! Fighting in the maize and blue corner, it’s . . . the 2019 season predictions. You can check out my 2018 season predictions and how they fared here (LINK).

LEADING RUSHER
I am not confident in this pick whatsoever, but I’m sticking with what I predicted a couple weeks ago: Tru Wilson edges out Zach Charbonnet. Charbonnet is the most talented back to land at Michigan in years, if not decades, so I’m very willing to be wrong on this one. In fact, I want to be wrong. Please prove me wrong by rushing for 850 yards, Zach Charbonnet…
Prediction: Tru Wilson, 700 yards

Hit the jump for the rest of the prognostications.

2019 Season Countdown: #3 Aidan Hutchinson

Name: Aidan Hutchinson
Height: 6’6″
Weight: 278 lbs.
High school: Dearborn (MI) Divine Child
Position: Defensive end
Class: Sophomore
Jersey number: #97
Last year: I ranked Hutchinson #66 and said he would be a backup defensive end (LINK). He made 15 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.
TTB Rating: 88

Hutchinson flew under the radar a little bit in 2018, which is understandable when you have a dynamic player like Chase Winovich at one defensive end and the former #1 player overall at the other defensive end spot. You could be an excellent player and still not receive much attention. Hutchinson wasn’t excellent, but he still showed flashes. You could tell the game was moving a little too quickly for him, and sometimes his reads just couldn’t keep up. He finished the season with 15 total tackles, but his playing time and production dwindled when the going got tough late in the year.

This year Hutchinson makes a jump all the way from #66 up to #3, which is a huge leap. That is the result of two major factors:

1. I think he’s going to be very good.
2. Michigan needs him on the field.

I said during the 2018 recruiting cycle that I thought Hutchinson was the best player in the State of Michigan, and nothing I’ve seen so far has caused me to stray from that evaluation. The physical skills are there. It’s the mental side of things that was a bit of an issue. Now he has a year under his belt, he’s getting more reps in practice, and he’s also 278 lbs. of muscle.

As for needing him on the field, Michigan is a little depleted on the defensive line. Winovich and Gary both moved on to the NFL, and there’s a lot of talent at defensive end but not much experience. Kwity Paye at weakside end is a junior, and fifth year senior Mike Danna played quite a bit at Central Michigan, but behind them are all players who haven’t seen the field. On top of that inexperience, Michigan needs the defensive line to come up big because of a lack of talent and depth at the cornerback positions. If they can’t put pressure on quarterbacks, teams could quite possibly pick apart Ambry Thomas, Vincent Gray, Jaylen Kelly-Powell, and others on the back end.

Prediction: Starting Anchor; 50 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, 5 sacks

2019 Season Countdown: #4 Lavert Hill

Name: Lavert Hill
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 182 lbs.
High school: Detroit (MI) King
Position: Cornerback
Class: Senior
Jersey number: #24
Last year: I ranked Hill #11 and said he would be the starting cornerback with 30 tackles and 2 interceptions (LINK). He made 14 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 interception (returned 21 yards for a TD), and 5 pass breakups.
TTB Rating: 84

Hill has somehow managed to become a shutdown corner at the University of Michigan with very little fanfare. He was Second Team All-Big Ten in 2017, First Team All-Big in 2018, and still not many in the media seem to be making a big deal of him. Perhaps it’s because other teams don’t target him much, so his numbers are modest: 41 tackles, 6 tackles for loss, and 3 interceptions over the course of three seasons.

Those modest numbers might also be because other teams haven’t had time to target him very much. Michigan has had a very good pass rush in recent years, whether it’s been organic with excellent defensive ends or established through the blitz. Either way, this should be an interesting year, because Michigan lost a lot on the defensive line and an excellent middle linebacker blitzer in Devin Bush, Jr. The defensive backfield might have to cover a little bit longer, so will that affect their targets? Will their counting stats go up? Only time will tell. I do not have a great deal of faith in Michigan’s defensive line as a whole for 2019, so I think Hill will get a few more targets, make a few more targets, and get his hands on the ball a little more.

Aside from his excellent play, his importance cannot be overstated. He might even deserve to be #1 in the countdown with how the roster is currently constructed. Michigan needs him to play and play well in 2019 while Ambry Thomas comes back from colitis. Thomas is back practicing, but it’s hard to say how rusty or out of shape he will be after some missed time. The Wolverines were already questionable with Vincent Gray stepping in at corner for Thomas, but if Hill and Thomas were both to miss time . . . yikes. Hill has struggled with nagging injuries in the past, so hopefully he stays as close to 100% as possible this season.

Prediction: Starting cornerback; 25 tackles, 2 interceptions

2019 Season Countdown: #5 Cesar Ruiz

Name: Cesar Ruiz
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 319 lbs.
High school: Bradenton (FL) IMG Academy
Position: Center
Class: Junior
Jersey number: #51
Last year: I ranked Ruiz #5 and said he would be the starting center (LINK). He started all thirteen games.
TTB Rating: 99

Ruiz has had a solid career so far. Sometimes expectations for highly regarded recruits can get out of hand, especially for linemen. For whatever reason, I don’t think that has been the case with Ruiz – for good reason. Many centers start off their careers as redshirts, backups, or contributors at offensive guard – check. (Ruiz started five games at guard as a freshman.) Then in their next year, they play but don’t necessarily stand out – check. (Ruiz had a decent year in 2018, but he was Third Team All-Big Ten). He was Offensive Line Player of the Week against Nebraska, a pretty bad squad.

This year is when Ruiz should hit his stride. He’s no longer adjusting to play center in college – he’s already done it. Despite a new offense, the schemes up front won’t be any more difficult; if anything, they should be a little simpler. Ruiz is quick and powerful, and he has great size. There has been a little discussion about his potential to leave for the NFL after this season, and we’ll see whether that comes to fruition or not. He might not be First Team all-conference in 2019 (Tyler Biadasz from Wisconsin already won that honor, so I expect him to win it again), but I think Ruiz will be just as good. As the commander of the offensive line, he’s a very important piece, but he does have a solid backup in redshirt junior Stephen Spanellis and a freshman who has turned some heads in Zach Carpenter.

Prediction: Starting center