Ross Taylor-Douglas
Michigan running back/cornerback Ross Taylor-Douglas is transferring from Michigan. As a graduate transfer after three seasons, he will have two years remaining and will be eligible immediately. He will be a redshirt junior in the fall.
Taylor-Douglas (formerly just Ross Douglas) was originally committed to Penn State in the 2013 class before flipping to Michigan over the summer of 2012. I was on vacation for a week with no internet, and he had the audacity to pledge in the middle of that week. Perhaps inspired by that terrible timing, I gave him a TTB Rating of 63 (LINK).
Hit the jump for more on Taylor-Douglas.
He came to Michigan as a cornerback, but he spent time at slot receiver and running back, too. He redshirted in 2013, played some special teams in 2014, and settled in as a little-used running back this past season. He totaled 10 carries for 18 yards, with a career-long 9-yard run coming against Rutgers. With his status on the depth chart and a bunch more competition coming in the 2016 class, the writing was on the wall that Taylor-Douglas would not get much of a chance to play going forward. He did not have the size or athleticism to play more than a bit role.
Often, it seems like players who transfer go closer to home. Along with Penn State, he had offers from Cincinnati, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisville, Pitt, Purdue, and Toledo, among others. My guess is that he will end up at a MAC program, but that’s based on no inside information. It just seems like a better conference for his size and skills.
Without Taylor-Douglas on the team, Michigan still has 92 scholarships allotted for 2016 (LINK), including incoming freshmen. That means the Wolverines need to lose at least 7 more scholarship players before the season begins. There are rumors of a lot of attrition, and this appears to be the beginning of a significantly sized exodus.
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Technically not true to say Michigan has 92 scholarships allotted. That’s a loose projection for Fall scholarships (presumably) based on publicly-announced departures and verbal commitments.
Fans counting scholarships is one of the more head-scratching things in my eyes. There’s so much fluidity to it, and so many unknowns, it’s a really pointless exercise. Maybe a week or two before signing day it’s worthwhile, but counting for months and months seems fruitless to me.
I get that we’re all on OVERSIGNING WATCH but we’ve already seen people pushed out of both the ‘committed’ recruiting class and the roster under dubious circumstances and few seem to have a problem with it.
In other words, expect that however the numbers crunch is resolved (gray-shirts, injuries, grad-transfers, regular transfers, medical assessments, etc.) – people will rationalize and accept it because Harbaugh. Right or wrong, but probably right because that’s what’s good for the program.
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It’s relevant to the discussion when trying to determine how much more attrition should be expected. If we’re sitting at 92 or 91, we know that at least 6 more guys have to disappear. If we’re sitting at 85, then we probably won’t experience a ton of losses. Is it important in the grand scheme of things? No, because every school has to be at 85. But I’m a blogger. Nothing I say is important. This is just as important as a list of visiting prospects, QB position grades, etc.
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Except we don’t actually know how many will end up in the class either on signing day. So it’s neither accurate from the demand or the supply side.
There will be commitments, decommitments (by choice or otherwise), gray-shirts (probably), etc.
All we know right now is the early enrollees, who there is room for just by winter grads/5th year departures.
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Then don’t pay attention to it. Personally, I like to keep track of it. Others like the information. If you don’t like the extra info, then skip to the next post.
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Number are just numbers, but it can give us a good indication of how many players we are looking at moving on or not coming back for 5th years. If we know there are spots open like there were last year and then hear of a sudden transfer like Blake Countess it makes the bigger picture a little clearer.
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Well, we have a big number crunch this year (supposedly) and we’re still recruiting grad transfers (supposedly) so I’m not sure the exercise is instructive at all.
There is a saying the world of analytics/data : garbage in garbage out. It means, bad data leads to bad conclusions. The data here is very weak.
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The data isn’t weak at all. The data suggests (demands, actually) that at least 6 players currently in the recruiting class or on the roster need to depart before the fall. The end.
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Youre missing the point.
The “recruiting class” is an imaginary construct. There are multiple guys that are in this imaginary “recruiting class” that are almost certainly not going to be in the real recruiting class. It could be 4 – it could be 7, we don’t know.
Since the recruiting class is imaginary, we don’t have to suffer any attrition from the imaginary thing.
Then there is the roster. It may not have been announced yet but I would be the coaches (and probably players) no very damn well that some specific people will not be back next year. So while the current roster IS a real thing, the speculative future roster you are basing your math on is not accurate.
So, there is an imaginary demand and an erroneous supply. That number you throw out there: 6, is meaningless. It could be 8 or 10 or 4. We don’t know.
So, while I agree that doing a count exercise like you’ve done has some value, sitting and talking about it as if it’s exact is a little ridiculous.
But yeah, of course, it’s your blog and you can say whatever you like. I’m just saying it’s highly inaccurate and speculative.
I do appreciate the recruiting coverage in general and I do appreciate the ballpark estimate of scholarships that are out there but counting down an exact number is the only part I’m quibbling about.
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I don’t see how it’s being treated as “exact” when the first post yesterday said that 7 guys need to depart, and the second post yesterday said that 6 guys need to depart. It’s acknowledged as being fluid. At the same time, we have a pretty good idea based on the numbers that I’m providing that it’s probably not 20, and it’s probably not 1.
Anyway, on a blog where I make predictions about how many yards running backs will gain, what the score of tomorrow’s game will be, etc., it’s an odd thing for you to pretend that the recruiting class size is imaginary. Everything that hasn’t happened yet is imaginary, in that nobody can predict the future with 100% accuracy.
So again, if you don’t like the added info, then there’s no point in grumbling about it. It’s like me walking into a Coney Island and saying, “I don’t like that you have cream of broccoli soup on the menu.” Who cares? You’re in a Coney Island. Order the Coney dog and a cup of chili that you came here for in the first place.
Anyway, note to self: Lanknows doesn’t like roster size projections. I’ll keep that in my back pocket.
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The analysts have been saying that the class will be 25-27 neighborhood for a long time. We’ve known for a long time that that means there will be heavier than normal attrition from the current roster. Being precise beyond that is, IMO, not very worthwhile.
Others, of course, may have other opinions, which I will respect. I’m just saying; I’m just saying.
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When you say X number of guys have to depart that it being precise. That’s an exact number to apply to things that are very inexact.
haha to the coney island comment. point taken.
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