Tag: 2019 season countdown

2019 Season Countdown: #9 Donovan Peoples-Jones

Name: Donovan Peoples-Jones
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 208 lbs.
High school: Detroit (MI) Cass Tech
Position: Wide receiver
Class: Junior
Jersey number: #9
Last year: I ranked Peoples-Jones #6 and said he would have 40 catches for 600 yards and 6 touchdowns (LINK). He caught 47 passes for 612 yards and 8 touchdowns; and returned 25 punts for 250 yards and 1 touchdown.
TTB Rating: 92

Peoples-Jones is the ninth-highest rated recruit in Michigan history (in the recruiting era), and last year he started to show some of that promise. There were flashes in 2017, but not the production. Michigan started handing out a team Offensive Skill Player of the Year award in 2018, and Peoples-Jones was the recipient. He led the team with 47 receptions and 8 touchdowns, and his punt returning was solid, too. Highlights of his 2018 season included a 79-yard touchdown against SMU, a 3-touchdown performance against MSU, a 60-yard punt return TD against Nebraska, and a career-high 7 receptions against Ohio State.

Enter the Josh Gattis era. Peoples-Jones has been battling some groin issues, so as long as those problems don’t persist, he should take another step forward. He has the speed to take the top off the defense, the strength to fight off tackles, and the hands to make difficult catches. One area I think Peoples-Jones could improve is in his route running, but Gattis has a reputation as one of the top wide receiver coaches in the country. Alabama threw the ball a ton in 2018, but the top five receivers all had 40+ catches, 6+ touchdowns, and an average of 16+ yards per reception. Will that happen for Michigan in 2019? I doubt it, because the same pieces aren’t available for the Wolverines. Shea Patterson isn’t regarded as highly as Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama’s offensive line was superior, and Alabama had multiple 5-star running backs to threaten on the ground. But we should see an uptick in Peoples-Jones’s production.

Prediction: Starting wide receiver and punt returner; 50 catches for 800 yards and 9 touchdowns

2019 Season Countdown: #10 Joshua Uche

Name: Joshua Uche
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 250 lbs.
High school: Miami (FL) Columbus
Position: Linebacker
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #6
Last year: I ranked Uche #40 and said he would be a backup linebacker and special teamer (LINK). He made 15 tackles, 8 tackles for loss, and 7 sacks.
TTB Rating: 82

I doubt anyone other than Uche’s family was as excited to see him blow up in 2018 as I was. When Uche came out of high school, I was excited about his ability to bend around the corner and rush the passer. Edge rushers are hard to come by, and someone with that natural ability should be valued. Uche was a bit player last year, but he still managed to lead the team in sacks – he made more (7.0) than 1st round pick Rashan Gary (3.5) and new Patriots standout Chase Winovich (5.0).

Perhaps best of all was the fact that he didn’t beat up on the patsies on the schedule. All 7 of his sacks came against solid teams like Wisconsin, Penn State, Michigan State, and Northwestern. One sack against Northwestern was a huge play in a game that ended up tighter than it should have been.

It’s hard to say how much Uche will be utilized in 2019. He played less than a third of Michigan’s defensive snaps and was essentially a pass rush specialist, yet he still picked up 7 sacks in one season, which is the fifth best total in the last decade. Talk out of the spring and camp has been that Uche will be used in a variety of ways, but I don’t know that there’s too much mystery: Michigan is going to rush him off the edge as a defensive end, and they’ll blitz him from the second level. He should have a future as a 3-4 outside linebacker in the NFL at some point, which doesn’t exactly mesh with how Michigan plays defense, but it’s nice to have at least one of those explosive edge rushers available.

Prediction: Backup SAM linebacker; 25 tackles, 6 sacks

2019 Season Countdown: #11 Ambry Thomas

Name: Ambry Thomas
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 182 lbs.
High school: Detroit (MI) King
Position: Cornerback
Class: Junior
Jersey number: #1
Last year: I ranked Thomas #29 and said he would be a nickel corner and special teamer (LINK). He made 9 tackles, 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery, and 1 pass breakup; he caught 2 passes for 5 yards; and he returned 19 kickoffs for 412 yards (21.7 yards/return) and 1 touchdown.
TTB Rating: 90

Thomas was a highly touted cornerback prospect who has not taken the path to excellence that many expected. Blocked by two very good corners in David Long and Lavert Hill, Thomas has spent much of the past couple seasons working on special teams or dabbling on offense. During the 2018 season, Brandon Watson had a lot of success as the third corner, too. Thomas showed flashes – such as a 99-yard kickoff return against Notre Dame in the opener – but they were somewhat rare. In the final three games of the season (Indiana, Ohio State, Florida), the only appearance on the stat sheet for Thomas came on 6 kickoff returns against Ohio State. (On a side note…that game included way too many kickoff returns.)

This was expected to be a breakout year with Long off to the NFL and Watson having graduated. Unfortunately, it has not worked out that way so far. Jim Harbaugh said Ambry Thomas was not on the 110-man roster to start August camp, and he is not practicing after dealing with colitis. He will likely be back, but when? And will he be physically capable of excelling when he does return?

Michigan has had good cornerback play since Jim Harbaugh and Mike Zordich arrived in Ann Arbor. This list was made prior to the announcement of Thomas’s afflicition, so the Wolverines will be down the #11 player right off the bat. Now the job will likely fall to Vincent Gray, a late 3-star offer from the class of 2018. Jaylen Kelly-Powell has moved from safety to corner to mitigate the loss of Thomas, but that takes the second cornerback spot from a somewhat unknown in Thomas to basically complete unknowns. Kelly-Powell and the other options (Gray, D.J. Turner II, Jalen Perry, and Gemon Green) have barely been on the field, if at all. Cornerback is probably the biggest question mark on the team.

Prediction: Starting cornerback by end of season; 15 tackles, 1 interception

2019 Season Countdown: #12 Josh Metellus

Name: Josh Metellus
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 218 lbs.
High school: Pembroke Pines (FL) Flanagan
Position: Safety
Class: Senior
Jersey number: #13
Last year: I ranked Metellus #25 and said he would be the starting strong safety with 45 tackles and 1 sack (LINK). He made 48 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 3 interceptions (1 for a TD), and 6 pass breakups.
TTB Rating: 71

Metellus has been a very pleasant surprise in Ann Arbor over the past couple years. He was All-Big Ten Honorable Mention in 2017 as a sophomore, and it was nice to have a returning starter. He stepped up his game in 2018, making Second Team All-Big Ten to the coaches and media, along with First Team to the Associated Press. His huge 73-yard interception return for a touchdown on the final play of the first half against SMU gave Michigan some much-needed relief during a bit of a nail-biter that was 14-7 prior to the pick. His performances against Maryland and Wisconsin earned him the team’s defensive player of the week award, and he was named to Pro Football Focus’s Big Ten Team of the Week after Nebraska.

This year Metellus should be a huge piece of Michigan’s defense. I could make an argument to move him higher on the list, but I like the pieces Michigan is compiling at safety – including J’Marick Woods, Brad Hawkins, Daxton Hill, Quinten Johnson, and others. Metellus is the best of that bunch right now, but there’s both experience and talent behind him. Metellus can cover and support the run. I was skeptical when he came out of high school, but I’m a believer now. Metellus is among the top few true safeties Michigan has developed over the last twenty years, right up there with Ernest Shazor, Jarrod Wilson, and Jamar Adams.

Prediction: Starting safety; 55 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 1 interception

2019 Season Countdown: #13 Carlo Kemp

Name: Carlo Kemp
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 286 lbs.
High school: Boulder (CO) Fairview
Position: Defensive tackle
Class: Senior
Jersey number: #2
Last year: I ranked Kemp #37 and said he would be a backup strongside end and defensive tackle (LINK). He started twelve games, making 17 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, and 0.5 sacks.
TTB Rating: 84

From the perspective of pure playing time, Kemp made quite a leap in 2018. He went from a mediocre backup in 2017 to a part-time starter in 2018, and he went from being a backup defensive end to basically a full-time defensive tackle. It’s arguable how much of an impact he made, however. He finished the year with 17 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, and 0.5 sacks over twelve starts. On pace for roughly 1.5 tackles per game and 1 sack every 24 starts, not many offensive linemen lined up across from him are afraid going into their matchup.

The loss of three defensive tackles boosts Kemp’s importance, and by all accounts, he’s a standout leader. Some have suggested that he should be a captain, along with rumblings about Khaleke Hudson, Josh Metellus, and others. I have little doubt about his leadership; those traits were discussed during his recruitment. He grew up in a football family (he’s the nephew of Chuck Pagano and John Pagano, both long-time NFLers) and knows the commitment it takes to succeed at a high level in football.

Unfortunately, Kemp is lacking in a couple areas. One is explosion. The other is size. He’s expected to play nose tackle, a position normally reserved for 330+ pound behemoths. When not that, they’re lighter but lightning quick. Aside from his positive leadership qualities, Kemp is basically just a guy. He will occasionally slice into a backfield and make a play, but he would be ranked lower if Michigan could afford to lose defensive tackles and still chug along. As things stand right now, Kemp is a fairly important piece of the defensive puzzle, since the interior line starts to dissolve into freshmen rather quickly after the first three guys.

Prediction: Starting nose tackle; 25 tackles, 1.5 sacks