Tag: Donovan Peoples-Jones

Penn State 28, Michigan 21

This was Shea Patterson’s best game. Patterson has taken a lot of criticism this season, and some people were still clamoring for backup Dylan McCaffrey – or even Joe Milton – to start. I thought this was Patterson’s best game this season by far, and one of his top few performances as a Wolverine overall. His numbers weren’t great (24/41 for 276 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT; 12 carries, 34 yards, 1 TD), but part of that was due to drops and general refereeing inefficiency. Donovan Peoples-Jones dropped two passes and Ronnie Bell dropped one, and there were a couple pass interference calls that should have been called against Penn State but weren’t, resulting in incompletions. Patterson had one truly bad throw, and that was the interception.

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Michigan 42, Illinois 25

Boy, Rutgers must be really bad. I mean, Rutgers is bad. We know this. And Illinois is bad, too. But there are different levels of bad. Illinois was missing its starting quarterback (Michigan transfer Brandon Peters), and backups Matt Robinson and Isaiah Williams helped the Illini score 25 points. Meanwhile, Rutgers didn’t look like a viable FBS team in a 52-0 loss to the Wolverines.

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Michigan vs. Rutgers Awards

Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Donovan Peoples-Jones. Peoples-Jones played quite a bit on Saturday, but I just want to take this opportunity to express how important Peoples-Jones is to this offense. I really think his absence from the field hampered Michigan during the first few weeks of the season. The team was missing its best receiver and the only reliable punt returner. His 4 catches for 62 yards didn’t set the world on fire, but he offers a different element to the team than anyone else can provide.

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Michigan 40, Middle Tennessee 21

There’s a lot that we could get into with the new offense, so I think it might be best to just go position-by-position on that side of the ball.

The two-quarterback thing needs to be nixed. Jim Harbaugh and Josh Gattis are probably trying to make Dylan McCaffrey happy by putting him on the field with Shea Patterson, but it’s a bad move. The offense isn’t in sync when both are on the field. Whoever’s behind center is late getting the play off, and then they threw an inside screen to McCaffrey, who was immediately swarmed under by big guys. Why put your lanky backup QB in a situation where he catches a ball three yards away from 250+ pound defensive linemen and linebackers?

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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