Posts by: Thunder

2019 Season Countdown: #56 Hunter Reynolds

Name: Hunter Reynolds
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 191 lbs.
High school: South Orange (NJ) Choate Rosemary Hall
Position: Safety
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #27
Last year: I ranked Reynolds #109 and said he would be a backup defensive back and special teamer (LINK).
TTB Rating: N/A

Reynolds went into last year as a well regarded walk-on defensive back, and he got a little bit of playing time. He was also named Scout Team Defensive Player of the Year.

This spring I started to hear some more buzz about Reynolds. He was supposedly outpacing some of the scholarship guys, and he’s also expected to become a contributor on special teams. He doesn’t have a great resume so far – although obviously he stands out on the scout team – but I think his special teams coverage will at least be significant in 2019.

Prediction: Backup safety, special teamer

2020 Recruiting Update: July 8, 2019

I appreciate any support you can send the way of Touch the Banner (LINK), like by checking out this link to Past Tense by Lee Child, which I just finished reading:

COMMITMENT

Olney (MD) Good Counsel defensive end Kris Jenkins, Jr. committed to Michigan (LINK).

ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2020

Jaheim Bell – WR – Valdosta (GA) Valdosta: Bell decommitted from Florida. He’s a 6’4″, 212-pounder with offers from Alabama, Auburn, Florida State, and Penn State, among others. He is now expected to go to South Carolina.

Hit the jump for more.

The All-Rodriguez Team: Offense

Denard Robinson makes fatties look fat.

In case you can’t tell, I like to make lists.  And depth charts.  And lineups.  This has nothing to do with football.  But when I was about thirteen years old, I laid down in my living room with a piece of paper and a pen.  I wrote down a batting order for my favorite team, the Detroit Tigers.  And the Atlanta Braves.  And the Chicago Cubs.  And, what the hell, the rest of Major League Baseball, too.

From memory.  If you wanted to know the emergency catcher for the Montreal Expos, I was your man (er, well, boy).

So here’s another list.  I’ve often thought about the best players to come through Michigan during the years of my fanaticism, and this one is narrowed down to the Rodriguez years.  Which players in the past few years turned out the best seasons for what amounted to be Michigan’s worst three consecutive years in program history?  Despite the 15-22 record over Rodriguez’s tenure, we had some pretty good individual players.  But as you might expect, the majority of them (nine out of eleven) were on the 2010 squad that had a winning record and played in a bowl game.

QB: Denard Robinson (2010)
182-for-291 passing, 2570 yards, 18 touchdowns, 11 interceptions
256 carries, 1799 yards, 14 touchdowns
This is a no-brainer.  For half the season, he was on pace to win the Heisman.

Hit the jump for the rest.

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Nightly Roundup: July 6, 2019

Franz Wagner, Moe’s little brother, committed to and signed with Michigan (LINK).

The Athletic previews Georgia Tech, a team I find very interesting this year as they transition out of Paul Johnson’s flexbone offense (LINK).

2019 Season Countdown: #57 Sammy Faustin

Name: Sammy Faustin
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 187 lbs.
High school: Naples (FL) Naples
Position: Safety
Class: Redshirt freshman
Jersey number: #17
Last year: I ranked Faustin #93 and said he would redshirt (LINK). He redshirted.
TTB Rating: 76

Faustin was raw coming into 2018. He had some injury issues in high school and played cornerback, when he was almost certainly bound for safety. That made him a virtual lock to redshirt.

Now Faustin is in a bit of an odd spot. The coaches reportedly think highly of him, but there are already players entrenched or expected to contribute ahead of him. Josh Metellus, Brad Hawkins, and J’Marick Woods are established players ahead of him, while Jaylen Kelly-Powell has a little playing time under his belt and 5-star Daxton Hill is expected to jump ahead as soon as the practice pads go on. Some of those players will start to filter away after 2019 (Metellus to the NFL, Hawkins/Hill/Woods perhaps to Viper), but right now Faustin will have to bide his time as a little used backup.

Prediction: Backup safety, special teamer