Aaron McMann talks about Michigan’s running back situation (LINK).
Nick Baumgardner has a fluff piece on incoming freshman offensive lineman Karsen Barnhart (LINK).
Breakout DE/EDGE Stars for 2019: ??
Xavier Thomas, Clemson Nick Coe, Auburn Jon Garvin, Miami Kwity Paye, Michigan Chauncey Rivers, Miss St James Smith-Williams, NC St Wyatt Hubert, Kansas St George Karlaftis, Purdue Trevis Gipson, Tulsa Boogie Basham, Wake Forest
I just finished reading Brad Thor’s Foreign Agent (LINK):
Name: Tyler Cochran Height: 6’1″ Weight: 201 lbs. High school: Orchard Lake (MI) St. Mary’s Position: Safety Class: Redshirt junior Jersey number: #30 Last year: I ranked Cochran #112 and said he would be a backup safety and special teamer (LINK). He played in all thirteen games and made 1 tackle. TTB Rating: N/A
At first glance it may seem like I have this walk-on safety ranked too high – and maybe I do. But I’ll start off my justification with this: his thirteen games played in 2018 is more than the guys above and below him in the countdown.
Cochran won the Most Improved Special Teams Player of the Year in 2018, and that includes winning over some other guys who had solid years on special teams (Will Hart, Jake McCurry, Ambry Thomas, etc.).
Cochran, the son of Brad Cochran (who played at Michigan from 1981-1985), should see plenty of time on special teams again in 2019.
Ben Bredeson and Lavert Hill are pre-season All-Americans (LINK).
This is an excellent piece on former Kentucky quarterback Jared Lorenzen, who passed away recently (LINK). I apologize if it’s behind a paywall at The Athletic.
Below is a great video of Taylor Lewan breaking down offensive line play:
Olney (MD) Good Counsel DE Kris Jenkins, Jr. (image via 247 Sports)
Olney (MD) Our Lady of Good Counsel defensive end Kris Jenkins, Jr. committed to Michigan on Wednesday. He picked the Wolverines over offers from Iowa, Maryland, Penn State, and Virginia Tech, among others.
Name: German Green Height: 6’2″ Weight: 175 lbs. High school: DeSoto (TX) DeSoto Position: Safety Class: Redshirt freshman Jersey number: #13 Last year: I ranked Green #88 and said he would redshirt (LINK). He redshirted. TTB Rating: 59
Boy, in retrospect that 59 seems a little harsh, but here we are going into 2019 and I still have yet to hear much about German Green. I don’t mean that in a harsh way, but injury and a lack of film prevented him from being scouted much in high school. Other than a vague rumor that the Michigan coaches thought German was a better player than his more highly regarded brother, Gemon, there’s not much to go on.
Going into the 2019 season, the safety position seems pretty solid. Josh Metellus returns as a starter, and the other safety starter will probably be junior Brad Hawkins…or junior J’Marick Woods…or freshman 5-star Daxton Hill. Add in 4-star freshman Quinten Johnson, junior utility man Jaylen Kelly-Powell, and redshirt freshman Sammy Faustin…well, this is a pretty deep position. I don’t think there will be any leftover snaps for Green on defense, but as a redshirt freshman safety, he should be spending some time running down the field on kickoff, at the very least.
