Goodbye, Joe Bolden

Joe Bolden (#35, image via Michigan Daily)

HIGH SCHOOL
Bolden went to Cincinnati (OH) Colerain and committed to Michigan in April of 2011 (LINK). I initially gave him a TTB Rating of 77 before bumping him up to an 88 (LINK) after hype started to build following the Under Armour All-American Game.

COLLEGE
Bolden showed promise as a true freshman backup linebacker, when he made 31 tackles, 4 TFLs, 1 sack, and 1 FR, and he was named to a couple All-Big Ten Freshman teams. He started four games in 2013 and made 54 tackles, 4 TFLs, and 2 sacks. He became a full-time starter as a junior and made 102 tackles, 4 TFLs, 2 sacks, and 1 PBU. As a senior in 2015, his stat line was 83 tackles, 6.5 TFLs, and 1 fumble recovery.

STATS
270 tackles, 18.5 TFLs, 5 sacks, 2 fumble recoveries, 1 PBU

Hit the jump for more on Bolden’s college career.

AWARDS
ESPN All-Big Ten Freshman Team (2012)
BTN All-Big Ten Freshman Team (2012)
Co-Captain (2015)

SUMMARY
Bolden showed a lot of promise in high school, and I was encouraged by his performance at the Under Armour All-American Game. I thought he probably should have redshirted as a freshman. Michigan recruited four linebackers in 2012 (Bolden, Royce Jenkins-Stone, Kaleb Ringer, and James Ross III), and all of them burned their redshirts except Ringer, who transferred after the season. But Bolden acquitted himself fairly well and earned some accolades, so it didn’t seem like the worst decision in the world. I thought he took a small step forward as a sophomore, and then he stagnated from there. Desmond Morgan seemed like the superior player, but Bolden must have been great in practice, because he moved ahead of Morgan in the pecking order before Morgan got hurt in 2014, and then Bolden was named a captain. Bolden started for approximately 2.5 seasons and never forced a fumble, never grabbed an interception, broke up only one pass, etc. He somewhat famously jammed a stake into Michigan State’s field in 2014 for no reason at all (which precipitated an awkward apology from then-head coach Brady Hoke), and the last strong image I have of him is his feeble attempts to tackle Ezekiel Elliott in the Ohio State game. My hat is off to the guy for earning a captaincy at Michigan and staying atop the depth chart somehow, but his career at Michigan was just so-so.

I WILL REMEMBER HIM FOR…
…the hype he received at the Under Armour All-American Bowl. The buzz he drummed up while practicing against those all-stars and then his subsequently mediocre career gives me caution when hearing about the “top performers” at the high school all-star games. According to observers, Bolden was passionate and flying all over the field and making tackle after tackle from sideline to sideline. After watching him soar to the top of the depth chart and make captain at Michigan, it seems to me that he’s probably just one of those guy who busts his butt in practice while a lot of other guys are going 85%. And then when the lights come on, everyone else gets jacked up and it turns out Bolden’s one step too slow or a couple pounds undersized.

PROJECTION
I meant to finish these profiles before the draft, but it just didn’t happen. I did predict pre-draft that he would not be selected, and he wasn’t. In fact, it’s been a couple weeks since the NFL Draft, and Bolden hasn’t signed with a team as an undrafted free agent or even announced a tryout opportunity. The chances of him making an NFL roster at this point are very slim, though not impossible.

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