Phil Steele’s 2014 All-Big Ten team released

Tag: Will Hagerup


6Jun 2014
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Phil Steele’s 2014 All-Big Ten team released

Devin Funchess

Phil Steele released his 2014 All-Big Ten team, and there are several Michigan players on the list.

FIRST TEAM
WR Devin Funchess
LB Jake Ryan
CB Blake Countess

SECOND TEAM
DE Frank Clark
LB Desmond Morgan

THIRD TEAM
P Will Hagerup

FOURTH TEAM
QB Devin Gardner
LB James Ross III

Many of these are interesting picks for various reasons. First of all, Devin Funchess is going into his first year as a full-time wideout, and he will also be without a proven commodity taking attention away from him in the form of Jeremy Gallon. Ryan is switching positions from strongside outside linebacker to middle linebacker in a new base defense. Countess has been rumored to be relegated to a backup role behind sophomore Jourdan Lewis, though Countess will start at slot corner. Morgan is another guy who changes positions, albeit slightly (middle linebacker to weakside linebacker). Gardner might be the most physically talented quarterback in the conference, but he’s behind Braxton Miller (understandable due to winning and good talent), Connor Cook (who came out of nowhere last year), and Christian Hackenberg (who will be without his stud receiver, Allen Robinson). I think there’s a decent chance that Gardner is a First Team or Second Team all-conference quarterback by year’s end. Meanwhile, Ross is in a battle for his position with up-and-comer Royce Jenkins-Stone.

Michigan certainly has a lot of question marks going into 2014, but that’s what happens when you go 8-5 and 7-6 in consecutive years.

26May 2013
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2013 Season Countdown: #95 Will Hagerup

The only picture of Will Hagerup that really matters: the one with Erin Andrews.

Name: Will Hagerup
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 227 lbs.
High school: Milwaukee (WI) Whitefish Bay
Position: Punter
Class: Senior
Jersey number: #43
Last year: I ranked Hagerup #51 and said he would be the starting punter. He punted 33 times for 1,486 yards (45.0 yards/punt), 4 touchbacks, 4 fair catches, 3 punts inside the 20-yard line, 13 punts of 50+ yards, and a long of 62.

If you want to shake your head and/or laugh, click on that profile from last year’s countdown.  Much of the discussion was about whether he would get suspended or not (note: he was indeed suspended for the Outback Bowl against South Carolina).  But before the perennial suspension occurred, he kicked well enough to be the Big Ten’s best punter.  In some respects, it was even better than his outstanding freshman year.  When he was on the field, he was very reliable.

Unfortunately for everyone involved, the suspension for the bowl game shows a habitual disregard for the rules, and Brady Hoke instituted the Darryl Stonum Fifth Year Clause, which suspends Hagerup for the entirety of the 2013 season in an effort to clean up his act.  If he avoids troublesome issues (alleged to be marijuana), then he can return as a fifth year senior in 2014.  If he reverts to his old ways, he might find himself playing at a community college in Wisconsin.  For the sake of everyone, hopefully he finds a new path.

Prediction: Redshirt

26Jan 2013
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Review of 2012 Season Predictions

This guy led the team in sacks.

Nobody else probably cares, but this is one of the things I enjoy most about the post-season: looking back and seeing how many things I got right or wrong.

Leading Rusher
Prediction: Denard Robinson, 1200 yards
Actual: Denard Robinson, 1266 yards

Leading Receiver
Prediction: Roy Roundtree, 750 yards
Actual: Jeremy Gallon, 829 yards (Roundtree had 580)

Leading Tackler
Prediction: Kenny Demens, 90 tackles
Actual: Jake Ryan, 88 tackles (Demens had 82)

Leading Sacker
Prediction: Jake Ryan, 5.5 sacks
Actual: Jake Ryan, 4.5 sacks

Leading Interceptor
Prediction: J.T. Floyd and Jordan Kovacs, 2 interceptions (tie)
Actual: Thomas Gordon and Raymon Taylor, 2 interceptions (tie); (Kovacs had 1, Floyd had 0)

All-Big Ten First Team
Prediction: Taylor Lewan, Denard Robinson
Actual: Taylor Lewan, Patrick Omameh, Will Hagerup (Denard Robinson was Honorable Mention)

Leading Scorer (non-QB, non-kicker)
Prediction: Fitzgerald Toussaint
Actual: Fitzgerald Toussaint

Breakout Offensive Player
Prediction: Thomas Rawls
Actual: Devin Funchess. Funchess didn’t light the world on fire, but he showed flashes of what he can do if Michigan can get him the ball in the coming years.  Rawls didn’t show much elusiveness or much power.

Breakout Defensive Player
Prediction: Thomas Gordon
Actual: Quinton Washington.  Washington went from a bit of an afterthought to a viable Big Ten nose tackle.  While he didn’t put up great numbers (32 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 1 sack), he took up blockers in the middle of the line and didn’t get blown off the ball.

Most Disappointing Offensive Player
Prediction: Jerald Robinson
Actual: Fitzgerald Toussaint.  Robinson was disappointing and then left the team, so he was clearly a disappointment.  But the starting running back, who averaged 5.6 yards/carry in 2011, dropped all the way to 4.0 yards/carry this season.

Most Disappointing Defensive Player
Prediction: Jibreel Black
Actual: J.T. Floyd.  Floyd didn’t make a single interception this season and got himself suspended for the Outback Bowl.

Alabama
Prediction: Loss
Actual: Loss

Air Force
Prediction: Win
Actual: Win

UMass
Prediction: Win
Actual: Win

Notre Dame
Prediction: Win
Actual: Loss

Purdue
Prediction: Win
Actual: Win

Illinois
Prediction: Win
Actual: Win

Michigan State
Prediction: Loss
Actual: Win

Nebraska
Prediction: Win
Actual: Loss

Minnesota
Prediction: Win
Actual: Win

Northwestern
Prediction: Win
Actual: Win

Iowa
Prediction: Win
Actual: Win

Ohio State
Prediction: Loss
Actual: Loss

CONCLUSION
Out of 23 predictions, I got 12.5 right.  I’m like Nostradamus or something.

16Dec 2012
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Floyd, Hagerup, and Hawthorne suspended for Outback Bowl

J.T. Floyd got himself suspended for the upcoming bowl game

Fifth year senior cornerback J.T. Floyd, junior punter Will Hagerup, and senior linebacker Brandin Hawthorne have all been suspended for the Outback Bowl against South Carolina, which will be played on New Year’s Day.

Floyd has started all 12 regular season games at boundary corner, making 48 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, and 5 pass breakups.  However, I have been a pretty persistent and vocal critic about his play, because he lacks speed and playmaking ability.  He’s also not a very physical player, and he was beaten deep several times this year, although the Big Ten’s mediocre quarterbacks rarely connected.  His replacement will likely be Raymon Taylor at the boundary corner spot, with Courtney Avery probably stepping in at field corner.  This could also cause recent position switcher Dennis Norfleet or sophomore Delonte Hollowell to get some playing time on defense.

Hagerup is the Big Ten’s best punter, averaging 45.0 yards per punt.  Thirteen of his 33 punts went farther than 50 yards.  His replacement will probably be Matt Wile, who averaged just 31.9 yards per punt, but 7/9 of those landed inside the 20-yard line.  Last season Wile averaged 41.6 yards per punt when Hagerup was suspended for the first four games of the season.

Hawthorne was completely limited to special teams this season, making 19 total tackles.  As a small-ish, speedy linebacker, he was very solid in kickoff coverage.  But he has clashed with coaches at times, made some halfhearted plays, and generally played/behaved his way out of regular playing time.  Despite having some playmaking ability – witness his one-handed interception in April’s spring game – he was surpassed at inside linebacker by freshman Joe Bolden, freshman James Ross, and a guy who has yet to make a single positive play in a Michigan uniform, Mike Jones.

The biggest loss might be Floyd, because Michigan had already been without starting cornerback Blake Countess for the entire season due to an ACL tear.  Now Michigan’s #3 and #4 corners to start the year will probably line up for the majority of the Outback Bowl, and guys who have played sparingly will be forced into action while other players shuffle around.