Posts by: Thunder

2019 Season Countdown: #6 Jon Runyan, Jr.

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Name: Jon Runyan, Jr.
Height: 6’5″
Weight: 321 lbs.
High school: Philadelphia (PA) St. Joseph’s
Position: Offensive tackle
Class: Fifth year senior
Jersey number: #75
Last year: I ranked Runyan #19 and said he would be the starting right tackle (LINK). He started thirteen games at left tackle.
TTB Rating: 73

Runyan had one of the more impressive debut seasons as a starter in recent memory. A career backup from 2015-2017 (except a start in the Outback Bowl), Runyan struggled in the 2018 season opener at left tackle and then cruised to being named the best offensive lineman on the team and a First Team All-Big Ten selection by the conference’s coaches. He was named the Offensive Line Player of the Week against both Wisconsin and Penn State, which were also the two games where Pro Football Focus named him to their All-Big Ten team for the week. Runyan has always been very athletic, but he finally seemed to gain the necessary weight and strength to hold up in 2018.

Runyan will get a chance to continue his ascent in 2019 under second-year offensive line coach Ed Warinner. Runyan isn’t a prototypical left tackle (listed at 6’5″, some have suggested he’s only 6’3″ or maybe 6’4″), but Warinner has done a good job throughout his career of taking some mismatched pieces and molding them into solid offensive lines. Runyan himself just has great feet, anchors well, and gets up to the second level; the guys who were going to give him trouble are the really long dudes who can get their hands on him first, and there aren’t a ton of those. Runyan should have another solid year.

Prediction: Starting left tackle

Nightly Roundup: August 24, 2019

So . . . ummm . . . Andrew Luck is retiring.

Filed to ESPN: Andrew Luck has informed the Colts he is retiring from the NFL, per source. There will be a press conference Sunday to make it official, but Luck is mentally worn down, and now checking out.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 25, 2019

More bad news coming for #Michigan: According to a source, Jim Harbaugh is being blamed for Andrew Luck's denied application for immediate Medicare eligibility.

— Touch the Banner (@TouchTheBanner) August 25, 2019

Kwity Paye doesn’t think leadership will be an issue (LINK).

Rashan Gary left the game with an injury (LINK).

It’s going to be very interesting to see how Brandon Peters does as the starter for Illinois. He went from #4 at Michigan to #1 at Illinois in one off-season.

2019 Season Countdown: #7 Nico Collins

Name: Nico Collins
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 222 lbs.
High school: Birmingham (AL) Clay-Chalkville
Position: Wide receiver
Class: Junior
Jersey number: #4
Last year: I ranked Collins #34 and said he would be a backup wide receiver with 15 catches for 180 yards and 2 touchdowns (LINK). He started eleven games and made 38 catches for 632 yards and 6 touchdowns.
TTB Rating: 85

Collins had a huge breakout season in 2018. Coming out of a spring where Tarik Black was reported to be the most outstanding receiver on the team, I expected Collins to take a back seat to Black and Donovan Peoples-Jones. Instead, Collins turned out to be a huge factor in the passing game. He was #1 on the team in receiving yards (632), #2 in receptions (38), #2 in receiving touchdowns (6), and #1 in yards per catch (16.6) out of players who caught 10+ passes.

Collins isn’t a big catch-and-run guy, but he’s a downfield threat because he has decent straight-line speed and great size to box out defensive backs. He’s Devin Funchess without the drops and with a better work ethic. Buzz about Black has fizzled since his latest broken foot, but some have been suggesting that Collins has been the best player on the team during spring and fall camp. I expect him to continue to ascend and get more of a chance to show what he can do in Michigan’s new offense.

Prediction: Starting wide receiver; 60 catches for 990 yards and 10 touchdowns

2019 Season Countdown: #8 Josh Ross

Name: Josh Ross
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 232 lbs.
High school: Orchard Lake (MI) St. Mary’s
Position: Linebacker
Class: Junior
Jersey number: #12
Last year: I ranked Ross #41 and said he would be a backup WILL linebacker (LINK). He made 61 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 1 sack, and 2 pass breakups.
TTB Rating: 79

Ross had one of the more baffling situations in 2018, which seems to have become the norm at inside linebacker. He started exactly one game, but he ended up #4 on the team in tackles with 61. Meanwhile, the guy who started the other twelve games at WILL (Devin Gil) finished #9 in tackles with 33. Ross also outpaced him in tackles for loss (5.0 to 3.5) and pass breakups (2 to 0). This was reminiscent of Joe Bolden starting over Ben Gedeon.

During the upcoming 2019 season, we should see no such imbalance between Gil and Ross, because both will probably start. Gil will stay at WILL, while Ross moves over to MIKE to fill the shoes of Devin Bush, Jr. There appears to be no question that Ross is the starter, even with former highly touted recruits Jordan Anthony and Cameron McGrone waiting in the wings. Ross isn’t as fast as Bush, but both can bring the lumber and Ross is one of the more technically sound linebackers you’ll find. I would not be surprised to see him in the running for First Team All-Big Ten by season’s end.

Prediction: Starting middle linebacker; 80 tackles, 3.5 sacks

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