Former Michigan running back commit Damien Harris is battling for playing time at Alabama
Well, the making of this post included my baptism into the annoying world of WordPress. There are some nice things about WordPress, but I really missed Blogger yesterday morning when I worked on this post from approximately 5:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. – with intermittent breaks for necessities – only to have 50% of it disappear into the ether.
Former QB Russell Bellomy: Bellomy’s coach at the University of Texas-San Antonio, Larry Coker, says that Bellomy is in the running . . . to win the #2 job (LINK). That says a lot about Bellomy’s talent level. If you disagree, consider that the entrenched starter, Blake Bogenschutz, went 22/39 (56.4%) for 282 yards, 0 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions last year.
Former OG Kyle Bosch: Bosch, who received a waiver to play this year after transferring to West Virginia in the off-season, is in a battle to start at offensive guard or potentially tackle this fall.
Former TE commit Pharaoh Brown: Brown, who suffered a nasty knee injury last season, will likely be the starter at tight end again this fall for Oregon. As a junior in 2014, he made 25 catches for 420 yards and 6 touchdowns.
Hit the jump for news and notes on 19 more former Michigan commits, signees, and players.
Former WR commit George Campbell, Jr.: Campbell had a 65-yard touchdown catch in Florida State’s spring game (LINK). He is expected to play a backup role this season for the Seminoles, and despite all those reports about his monster size, he’s listed at 6’4″ and 202 lbs., which is big but not overwhelmingly so.
Former TE commit Chris Clark: A recent news article from the L.A. Times says Jim Mora was heard saying to Clark, “I’ll drive you to the airport, and you can transfer to Rutgers or a community college” (LINK). However, he is expected to get on the field as a backup this season and is listed at 6’5″, 235 lbs.
Former CB commit Gareon Conley: Conley, listed at 6’0″ and 195 lbs., is expected to start at cornerback opposite Eli Apple at Ohio State. Conley had 16 tackles and 2 pass breakups last season.
Former CB commit Dallas Crawford: Crawford has played running back, wide receiver, and cornerback during his time at Miami, but this is the first time he will play a position (safety) for two consecutive years. Last year he made 35 tackles and 2 pass breakups, and he is expected to start this season.
Former CB commit Shaun Crawford: Crawford tore his ACL last week and will miss his true freshman season at Notre Dame.
Former LB Michael Ferns: Ferns, who redshirted as a freshman at Michigan last year, up and transferred to West Virginia, where he will have to sit out the 2015 season. By the time he is eligible to play, he will be a redshirt sophomore in 2016. He is listed as a 6’3″, 242 lb. tight end/fullback. His younger brother, Brendan, is a 2016 linebacker prospect who is down to WVU and Penn State.
Former K commit Matt Goudis: Goudis left Miami in the off-season for greener pastures. He had suffered from back problems frequently, and an excellent job opportunity came up with a financial firm. So Goudis decided to forgo his final year of eligibility.
Former RB commit Damien Harris: While Derrick Henry and Kenyan Drake return to Alabama this year, T.J. Yeldon moved on to the NFL and Tyren Jones was kicked off the team in May. Harris, who is listed at 5’11” and 205 lbs., is battling Drake for the backup role behind Henry.
Former RB Justice Hayes: Hayes took advantage of the grad transfer rule to end up at Southern Miss this year, where he is in a three-way battle for the running back job. Hayes is listed at 5’10”, 194 lbs.
Former LB signee Kellen Jones: The circuitous journey of Kellen Jones to football stardom mediocrity continues. He was quietly shuffled out of Michigan in 2011 after some indiscretions and ended up at Oklahoma almost immediately. Then he transferred to Clemson, sat out the 2012 season, missed all of 2013 for an unknown reason, and then made 29 tackles for Clemson in 2014. Now he has transferred to Wisconsin, where he is a 6’0″, 230 lb. backup linebacker. That’s two Big Ten schools, one Big 12 school, and an ACC program if you’re keeping track.
Former LB signee Antonio Kinard: Despite originally signing with the 2010 class, somehow Kinard is listed as a junior for Cincinnati. He did not qualify and ended up at Arizona Western, where he was a National Junior College All-American in 2013 (106 tackles, 16.5 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, 1 interception, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery). He missed most of 2014 due to an injury, but it was still enough to earn him a scholarship for the Bearcats. He’s listed at 6’4″, 220 lbs. and is in the battle to start at their outside linebacker/defensive end hybrid spot.
Former LB commit Darrin Kirkland, Jr.: Kirkland is listed at 6’1″, 224 lbs. and is reportedly challenging for the starting middle linebacker job for the Volunteers.
Former LB Kaleb Ringer: Ringer is listed as a 6’0″, 235 lb. linebacker for Georgia State. He came to Michigan, transferred to Ferris State for a year, spent last season at Butler Community College (114 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 1 pass breakup), and is now at Georgia State. Four schools in four years.
Former DE commit Darian Roseboro: Roseboro is listed as a 6’4″, 287 lb. defensive end for the N.C. State Wolfpack. He is expected to play this fall, whether as a starter or a backup. In an article on Rivals, the North Carolina native said that he did not think staying committed to Michigan would have ended well because of homesickness (LINK). Michigan is obviously a bigger football program, but there’s something to be said for being close to home. Going out of state just doesn’t make sense for a lot of 18-year-olds.
Former QB commit Kevin Sousa: Sousa is one of nine quarterbacks vying for the job at Winston-Salem State University. In his previous four years at Wake Forest, Sousa attempted just 1 pass.
Former CB commit Anthony Standifer: Standifer is listed as a 6’1″, 175 lb. cornerback at Eastern Illinois. After transferring from Ole Miss prior to the 2014 season, he made 33 tackles, 3 interceptions, and 6 pass breakups last year.
Former CB commit Garrett Taylor: Taylor, who tore his ACL last year and missed his senior season of high school, is competing at cornerback for Penn State this fall. He’s on the borderline between getting a redshirt and playing as a backup.
Former OT commit Denzel Ward: Ward, who is listed at 6’8″ and 325 lbs. for Syracuse, has a lower body injury that is currently holding him out of practice. He redshirted as a freshman last year.
Former RB commit Michael Weber: Weber suffered a torn meniscus in practice and will miss 4-6 weeks for recovery.
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Good stuff.
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I enjoy these “What Could Have Been” posts.
I look at the guys that were actually on the roster (like Bosch) very differently than the decommitments, just because those are so common these days that it’s hard to get attached until you see a guy on the fall roster.
I would have loved to see Bosch stick around and compete hard with this new staff.
I really think we’ll miss Ferns too, though we don’t know if he’s a good player yet, he looks like he has a shot.
I hope Kellen Jones signed up for frequent flyer miles.
I thought Bellomy could end up being a useful contributor but I guess not. Borges indeed does seem like not a great evaluater of talent, though we still could still see something from Morris and Speight perhaps, it looks increasingly unlikely that any Borges recruited QB has a significant positive contribution to Michigan winning football games.
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