Posts under: Blog

2019 Season Countdown: #53 Michael Barrett

Name: Michael Barrett
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 224 lbs.
High school: Valdosta (GA) Lowndes
Position: Viper
Class: Redshirt freshman
Jersey number: #6
Last year: I ranked Barrett #67 and said he would be a backup slot receiver (LINK). He played in two games on special teams and redshirted.
TTB Rating: 82

Coming into the 2018 season, it was anyone’s guess where Barrett would play in college. There was talk that he could be a Wildcat quarterback. There was talk that he would be a running back or a slot receiver or a linebacker. Personally, I pegged him as a slot receiver with the caveat that…I had no idea.

Well, it seems he has settled in at linebacker. The coaching staff has been grooming to take over – or at least be an option – at the Viper position once Khaleke Hudson and Jordan Glasgow graduate. Hudson is the starter and Glasgow can play all three linebacker positions, but Michigan will need to start over in 2020. Whether it’s Barrett, a position-switcher (J’Marick Woods, Brad Hawkins), or a 2019 freshman (Daxton Hill, Joey Velazquez, Quinten Johnson), there will be an opening. Barrett had an interception and a decent return in April’s spring game, and I expect him to get some snaps in 2019 while the coaching staff feels out whether he can take over full-time or not.

Prediction: Backup Viper

Ex-Wolverine Updates: Decommits, Summer 2019

DECOMMITS

Tim Baldwin, RB (undecided): Ashburn (VA) Broad Run’s Tim Baldwin is still undecided on where he will play college football, and he has no 247 Sports crystal ball picks in, either.

Kalil Branham, WR (Kentucky): Columbus (OH) Northland wideout Branham is headed to Kentucky.

George Campbell, WR (West Virginia): Campbell announced that he was transferring out of Florida State, and the rumor was that he was headed to Penn State. However, he is now on WVU’s roster and listed as a 6’4″, 184 lb. redshirt senior.

Hit the jump for more.

2019 Season Countdown: #55 Joe Milton

Name: Joe Milton
Height: 6’5″
Weight: 234 lbs.
High school: Olympia (FL) Olympia
Position: Quarterback
Class: Redshirt freshman
Jersey number: #5
Last year: I ranked Milton #80 and said he would redshirt (LINK). He played in four games and was 3/4 for 58 yards and had 7 carries for 31 yards and 1 touchdown.
TTB Rating: 85

Expectations were all over the map for Joe Milton coming out of high school. Some fans expected him to step right in and be a stud, passing up Dylan McCaffrey for the #2 quarterback; some even suggested he would be a day one starter if Shea Patterson’s eligibility waiver from the NCAA failed. And on the other side, some people thought he would bust because of his low completion percentage in high school. You can see I was somewhere in between – I gave him a TTB Rating of 85, but I thought he would redshirt. He will get a redshirt, thanks to the new NCAA redshirt rule, since he only played in four games. He played in three big games (Wisconsin, Ohio State, Florida) and against Rutgers. I think he ran the ball better than some expected, and you can’t argue much with 75% completions and 14.5 yards per attempt through the air.

Those are small sample sizes, though, and Milton still resides at #3 on the depth chart. Patterson is the returning starter, and McCaffrey returns after breaking his collarbone to end the season on the injured list. It seems like an injury always dings a quarterback for at least a game or two, so that obviously puts the #3 quarterback in the on-deck circle. I still expect Milton to have a solid college career, but it seems like he’s getting a little bit antsy; word out of Ann Arbor was that the coaching staff sat down with Milton and his family this off-season to explain to him what the future looks like in 2019 and beyond, with the implication that the seaweed might seem greener in somebody else’s lake.

With the way college football is going, it would be mildly surprising if both McCaffrey and Milton finish their careers in a Michigan uniform. But for now, I think Michigan is in a solid position if Milton is the third-best guy.

Prediction: Backup quarterback

Nightly Roundup: July 8, 2019

Matt Fortuna from The Athletic wrote up a “State of the Program” piece for Minnesota (LINK).

Here’s a fluff piece on Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor (LINK).

Hit the jump for more.

2019 Season Countdown: #56 Hunter Reynolds

Name: Hunter Reynolds
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 191 lbs.
High school: South Orange (NJ) Choate Rosemary Hall
Position: Safety
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #27
Last year: I ranked Reynolds #109 and said he would be a backup defensive back and special teamer (LINK).
TTB Rating: N/A

Reynolds went into last year as a well regarded walk-on defensive back, and he got a little bit of playing time. He was also named Scout Team Defensive Player of the Year.

This spring I started to hear some more buzz about Reynolds. He was supposedly outpacing some of the scholarship guys, and he’s also expected to become a contributor on special teams. He doesn’t have a great resume so far – although obviously he stands out on the scout team – but I think his special teams coverage will at least be significant in 2019.

Prediction: Backup safety, special teamer