Logan Tuley-Tillman
Redshirt sophomore offensive tackle Logan Tuley-Tillman has been kicked off of the team. The 6’7″, 309 lb. Tuley-Tillman played in just two games during his career, including the season opener against Utah a week ago.
Hit the jump for the remainder of the post.
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Dan Samuelson
Redshirt sophomore offensive guard Dan Samuelson has decided to transfer. I had ranked him at #79 (LINK) in the 2015 Season Countdown, so you can see I was not counting on him to be a major factor this year. When he flipped from Nebraska to Michigan in January of 2013, I gave him a TTB Rating of 65 (LINK). I did not see him as the caliber of player that Michigan should have been recruiting at that stage, and I had been hoping that the Wolverines would be able to reel in Cameron Hunt, who eventually signed with Oregon and has been a two-year starter for the Ducks, including seven games as a true freshman.
Michigan took six offensive linemen in that 2013 class, and Samuelson is the third to leave, joining Kyle Bosch (now at West Virginia) and Chris Fox (now on medical scholarship). That monster offensive line class has now been whittled down to David Dawson, Patrick Kugler, and Logan Tuley-Tillman, none of whom have made an impact yet. But out of 27 signees in that cycle, only four have left so far – those three linemen and wide receiver Csont’e York, who got into some legal trouble in Ann Arbor.
With three open scholarships and thirteen seniors scheduled to graduate following the upcoming season, Michigan’s 2016 class technically has 16 spots right now.
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| Josh Furman blocked this punt against Nebraska in 2011 |
Safety Josh Furman, who would have been a fifth year senior in 2014, has decided to leave the program one year early, joining running back Thomas Rawls and defensive tackle Richard Ash in departing.
Furman committed to Michigan in December 2009 over teams like Oklahoma and Virginia Tech. I did not write a commitment post for him at the time, as the blog was still in its infancy stages. However, I did write a scouting report on him the previous month. At the time, I assumed he would bulk up and turn into a linebacker, and once he signed with the Wolverines, I thought he would play on the weakside. You may notice that I questioned his coverage abilities and said he would be too stiff to play defensive back in college. Players who move back in a defense (from DE to LB, or from LB to S) tend to struggle more, and Furman is no exception. He had the potential to be a quality linebacker for the Wolverines, but he turned into a below average safety.
Furman never added the weight to become a linebacker and finished his Michigan career as a 6’2″, 202 lb. safety. With starting safety Thomas Gordon suspended to begin the year, Furman made his first career start in the opener and went on to start three games this past season. Altogether, he finished with 11 tackles and 1 pass breakup on the season. In 30 games played over his career, he totaled 29 tackles and the 1 pass breakup. Most of those tackles came on special teams coverage, which was perhaps the best trait he provided to Michigan during his career.
It is unclear where Furman will end up, but most players end up transferring closer to home. Perhaps he’ll end up at Maryland or Temple, or he might even move down a level to play in the FCS. He’s the 19th member of the 27-man 2010 class to depart before running out of eligibility.
Michigan is left rather thin at safety with Furman’s departure and the graduations of Thomas Gordon and Courtney Avery. The Wolverines return one starter in the form of junior Jarrod Wilson, but other contributions will have to come from untested players like redshirt sophomore Jeremy Clark, sophomore Dymonte Thomas, sophomore Delano Hill, position switchers, or freshmen. My initial expectation is that Wilson and Thomas will be the starters at safety next season.
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| Richard Ash (#54) |
Rising fifth year senior nose tackle Richard Ash was granted a transfer release and will not return to Michigan in 2014. His destination is unclear at this point, but I would expect him to end up at a MAC level school or at the FCS level.
Ash committed to Michigan in December 2009 after flipping his commitment from West Virginia. He was a 263 lb. player coming out of high school, and I assumed that he would chisel his body into becoming a 5-tech defensive end or perhaps a 3-tech tackle. However, he was 300 lbs. when he arrived on campus, which is obviously a ways away from his high school weight. Recruiting analysts mentioned that he was a better player when he was 240 or so as a junior, so his weight when he arrived in Ann Arbor was an immediate red flag to me. Ash settled in at nose tackle for the duration of his career, but he never made an impact on the field. After redshirting as a freshman, he appeared in 14 games from 2011-2013 and finally made his first (and only) career tackle in the regular season finale against Ohio State.
This departure leaves Michigan somewhat thin at nose tackle with last year’s starter Quinton Washington graduating and presumed new starter Ondre Pipkins coming off a torn ACL. Other options include redshirt sophomore Willie Henry, redshirt freshman Maurice Hurst, redshirt sophomore Ryan Glasgow, redshirt freshman Henry Poggi, and incoming freshmen Brady Pallante and Bryan Mone. Henry has shown the most promise, but he played 3-tech defensive tackle last season. Regardless of which players are on the two-deep at nose tackle, there will likely be some reshuffling on the defensive line. Ash may not have seen significant playing time in 2014, but he was an insurance policy in case of injury.
Along with safety Josh Furman (I’ll have a separate post for Furman), this is the nineteenth (19th!) player to depart from the 27-man class before exhausting his eligibility. Courtney Avery, Jibreel Black, Drew Dileo, and Jeremy Jackson played all four years, so the only remaining members are QB Devin Gardner, P Will Hagerup, TE Jordan Paskorz, and LB Jake Ryan.
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| Thomas Rawls (#38) is transferring to Central Michigan |
Soon-to-be senior running back Thomas Rawls will not be a senior at the University of Michigan. He has decided to transfer to Central Michigan, which is something that I’ve quietly been suggesting for a while.
Rawls was a late addition the 2011 recruiting class, needing some late academic success to propel him toward a scholarship at Michigan. He was probably headed to CMU if not for the offer to play in Ann Arbor, so this development is approximately three years in the making. My commitment post from February 2011 suggested that Rawls would be in over his head a little bit in the Big Ten, and I gave him a TTB Rating of 68. I always believe that Rawls was too slow and lacked elusiveness, and he didn’t break as many tackles as a 5’10”, 217 lb. running back should.
Rawls played sparingly during his three seasons as a Wolverine behind a variety of mediocre-performing running backs like Fitzgerald Toussaint (who did have a good year in 2011), Vincent Smith, Derrick Green, and De’Veon Smith, among others. His most productive season was as a sophomore in 2012 when he had 57 carries for 242 yards (4.2 yards/carry) and 4 touchdowns; that year included his career highlight, a 63-yard touchdown run late in a blowout win over Illinois. This past season, he had 3 carries for 12 yards and 1 touchdown in the season opener against his future team, but he never saw another snap again at running back and was relegated to special teams duty. He finished his Michigan career with 73 carries for 333 yards (4.6 yards/carry) and 5 touchdowns, plus 1 catch for 6 yards.
This leaves Michigan with four tailbacks on the roster for 2014: redshirt junior Justice Hayes, redshirt sophomore Drake Johnson, and sophomores Derrick Green and De’Veon Smith. The Wolverines have recently sent out offers to Sarasota (FL) Booker’s Marlon Mack and Minneapolis (MN) Washburn’s Jeff Jones, but neither appears to be even planning to visit Michigan, even though Mack decommitted from UCLA as soon as the Wolverines offered him. It would appear to make sense for Michigan to grab a running back before National Signing Day in a couple weeks, but things are quiet on that front right now. The last time Michigan skimped on an important position in a recruiting cycle, they didn’t take a quarterback in the 2012 class, which left them in a bind when Denard Robinson and Russell Bellomy got injured at various points.
Rawls is the eighth member of the 2011 class to depart prior to exhausting eligibility, joining Chris Barnett, Greg Brown, Tamani Carter, Kellen Jones, Antonio Poole, Tony Posada, and Chris Rock.
