American Alliance of Football: Viewers guide for Michigan fans

Tag: Channing Stribling


9Feb 2019
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American Alliance of Football: Viewers guide for Michigan fans

The American Alliance of Football begins its inaugural season today. In case you haven’t seen it, here’s a brief rundown of the league from CBS Sports (LINK).

Here’s a game-by-game breakdown of what to watch for Michigan fans:
Saturday, February 9 @ 4:00 p.m. EST: San Diego Fleet (no Michigan players) @ San Diego Commanders (DL Matt Godin)
Saturday, February 9 @ 8:00 p.m. EST: Atlanta Legends (RB Denard Robinson) vs. Orlando Apollos (RB De’Veon Smith)
Sunday, February 10 @ 4:00 p.m. EST: Memphis Express (CB Channing Stribling) @ Birmingham Iron (Ty Isaac)
Sunday, February 10 @ 8:00 p.m. EST: 
Arizona Hotshots (no Michigan players) vs. Salt Lake Stallions (no Michigan players)

I’m throwing my fandom behind the Atlanta Legends, not only because of Denard Robinson but because I actively dislike players on the other teams with Michigan players.

Both Saturday games will be broadcast on CBS.

29Apr 2017
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2017 NFL Draft Results for Michigan

Here are the 2017 NFL Draft destinations for former Michigan Wolverines:

2017
1st round: Jabrill Peppers – S – Cleveland Browns (#25 overall)
1st round: Taco Charlton – DE – Dallas Cowboys (#28 overall)
3rd round: Chris Wormley – DT – Baltimore Ravens (#74 overall)
3rd round: Jourdan Lewis – CB – Dallas Cowboys (#92 overall)
3rd round: Delano Hill – S – Seattle Seahawks (#95 overall)
3rd round: Amara Darboh – WR – Seattle Seahawks (#106 overall)
4th round: Ben Gedeon – LB – Minnesota Vikings (#120 overall)
4th round: Ryan Glasgow – DT – Cincinnati Bengals (#138 overall)
4th round: Jehu Chesson – WR – Kansas City Chiefs (#139 overall)
5th round: Jake Butt – TE – Denver Broncos (#145 overall)
6th round: Jeremy Clark – CB – New York Jets (#197 overall)

UNDRAFTED FREE AGENTS
Kenny Allen, P/K – Baltimore Ravens
Pharaoh Brown, TE – Oakland Raiders**
Matt Godin, DT – Houston Texans
Kyle Kalis, OL – Washington Redskins
Erik Magnuson, OL – San Francisco 49ers
Ondre Pipkins, DT – Washington Redskins*
De’Veon Smith, RB – Miami Dolphins
Channing Stribling, CB – Cleveland Browns
Dymonte Thomas, S – Denver Broncos

*Finished his college career at Texas Tech
**Played his college career at Oregon

27Apr 2017
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2017 NFL Draft Preview: Michigan

Taco Charlton

Players are listed in order of how I expect them to get drafted.

1st ROUND

Taco Charlton – DE
Charlton didn’t particularly enjoy playing a 3-4 defensive end role in 2015 under defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin, and he was more productive as a weakside end in 2016’s version of the 4-3.  He’s projected by NFL scouts as a 4-3 end, and mostly I’ve seen him pegged as going in the last third of the first round, though he has moved up to the middle third of the first round in some mock drafts over the last week or two.
Teams to watch: Saints, Bears, Dolphins, Falcons

Hit the jump for the rest of the draft preview.

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13Apr 2017
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Goodbye, Channing Stribling

Channing Stribling (image via MGoBlue)

SITE NEWS: I’ve been asking you to upload avatars, and many of you have. Yesterday I promised to pick a name out of first 25 users who made an avatar, and the winner was BigSouthFork. But he’s such a nice guy that he donated the $25 back to the site. That makes this a bit easier, then: When we get to 50 avatars, there will be a $50 gift card up for grabs.


HIGH SCHOOL
Stribling attended Matthews (NC) Butler and was part of the 2013 recruiting class. I gave him a TTB Rating of 77 (LINK). Here’s an excerpt from what I wrote about him back in 2012:

Stribling is a pretty physical player, especially for playing his junior season at 160 lbs. or so.  He’s a willing tackler who wants to come up and hit, but he gets overpowered a little bit at times.  That should change as his body matures and he starts to add weight.  Where he currently lacks the confidence to wrap up ball carriers and instead chooses to go low and dive at legs, he should eventually be a solid run supporter.  Stribling has decent hips and ability to change direction, but his mental discipline helps him there.  He seems to read plays well and recognize developing route combinations.  When the ball is in the air, he shows an ability to go after it, timing his leaps well and using his length to disrupt receivers and bat the ball.

COLLEGE
Despite thoughts that Stribling might redshirt, he played a fair amount as a freshman. He made 16 tackles and 1 forced fumble as a freshman, though probably the most memorable play was when Penn State wide receiver Allen Robinson outjumped him for a key reception in the loss to the Nittany Lions. As a sophomore in 2014, Stribling made 7 tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss in a pretty forgettable season. In 2015 he became a part-time starter (4 games) and made 17 tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss, 2 interceptions, and 3 pass breakups while splitting time with Jeremy Clark. With alternating injuries to Jourdan Lewis and then Clark, it’s not clear whether Stribling would have been a starter on the outside in 2016, but he ended up starting every game, anyway. He was named Second Team All-Big Ten for making 28 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 4 interceptions, and 13 pass breakups.

CAREER STATS
68 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 6 interceptions (91 yards), 16 pass breakups, 1 forced fumble

AWARDS
Second Team All-Big Ten (2016)

SUMMARY
You can see by reading Stribling’s commitment post that I generally had a fond opinion of him from the beginning. He was a camp offer in the summer before his senior year, and people were worried that he didn’t have much of a recruiting profile, but he’s yet another example of a camp offer working out in Michigan’s favor. I was critical of Stribling early in his career, because he didn’t make some plays that he probably should have – he was an “almost” guy, as evidenced by him not making any pass breakups until his junior season. He even tweeted about me at one point during the 2015 season. Then as an upperclassman, issues with tackling became apparent. He made a particularly feeble attempt to tackle against Michigan State in 2016, and it almost seemed like he was trying to preserve himself. Overall, though, Michigan had some very good cornerback play over the past couple seasons, and the combination of Stribling, Jourdan Lewis, and Jeremy Clark was probably one of Michigan’s top few trios they’ve ever fielded at one time. Stribling graded out as the #2 coverage corner in 2016 (LINK), and he was a key component of Michigan’s win over a good Wisconsin team. This was a pretty darn good career for a scrawny, little-known kid who just happened to camp in Ann Arbor back in 2012.

I WILL REMEMBER HIM FOR . . .
. . . the play that got tattooed on Allen Robinson’s side. Not because it was a terrible play – a true freshman Stribling was bested by a talented, bigger, older player – but because it’s a really lame-ass tattoo:

PROJECTION
Stribling had a fine college career, but where he has always been lacking – even going back to high school – is strength, athleticism, etc., the physical aspects of playing cornerback. Despite having decent height at 6’1″, he was below 180 lbs. for most of his college career, only did 5 reps on the bench press at the NFL Combine, and ran a reported 4.68. Donovan Warren put up some arguably more impressive numbers on a bum leg several years ago, and he didn’t get drafted. On the plus side for him, Stribling was coached by Jim Harbaugh, Don Brown, D.J. Durkin, and Greg Mattison, a crew that has more pull than the guys who coached Warren his final couple seasons. I think Stribling will get picked in the latter half of the draft.

25Mar 2017
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Michigan 2017 Pro Day Results

Dymonte Thomas (image via MLive)

Several Wolverines participated in the NFL Combine a couple weeks ago (LINK), and I broke down the winners and losers from the Combine (LINK). Michigan held its pro day on Friday, and there were numerous big NFL names at Al Glick Fieldhouse to check it out:

  • Bears defensive backs coach Ed Donatell
  • Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis
  • Dolphins executive vice president Mike Tannenbaum
  • Jets head coach Todd Bowles
  • Lions head coach Jim Caldwell and general manager Bob Quinn
  • Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and defensive coordinator Matt Patricia
  • Ravens head coach John Harbaugh
  • Saints head coach Sean Payton
  • Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin
  • Texans defensive line coach Anthony Weaver
  • Titans head coach Mike Mularkey and head coach Jon Robinson

In total, there were reportedly going to be representatives from all 32 teams at the pro day.

Here are some notable performances from Michigan’s players:

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