Posts by: Thunder

2016 Season Countdown: #4 Jehu Chesson

Jehu Chesson

Name: Jehu Chesson
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 203 lbs.
High school: St. Louis (MO) Ladue Horton Watkins
Position: Wide receiver
Class: Fifth year senior
Jersey number: #86
Last year: I ranked Chesson #18 and said he would be a starting wide receiver with 25 catches for 320 yards and 2 touchdowns (LINK). He started twelve games, making 50 catches for 764 yards and 9 touchdowns; he ran 8 times for 155 yards and 2 touchdowns; and he returns 4 kickoffs for 166 yards and 1 touchdown.

Chesson was the offensive breakout star of the Michigan Wolverines in 2015. Earlier in his career, I had lamented his ball skills, and that even reared its ugly head early in the year when Jake Rudock tried to connect with Chesson on deep balls numerous times. The ball was either overthrown or Chesson wouldn’t adjust properly to it. Then about halfway through the year, the light came on for Chesson and he turned into one of the most dynamic receiving threats in the country. He had 33 catches for 632  yards and 7 touchdowns over the final six games, including a 207-yard effort against Indiana. One of the most exciting moments of the year was his kickoff return against Northwestern, which he took 96 yards for a touchdown and was completely untouched.

I have high expectations for Chesson in 2016. I think his game meshes well with Wilton Speight, who has a stronger arm than Rudock. Again, I’m putting my faith in Jim Harbaugh to pick the right quarterback, so hopefully Speight will push the ball down the field at times so he can connect with guys like Chesson. I’ve had questions about Speight’s accuracy on the deep ball, but Chesson can leave corners in the dust and out-leverage safeties. He may not be needed so much in the running game if the Wolverines can run the ball more effectively, but based on what teams saw him do last season, he can be a threat to make defenses pause on end around and jet sweep fakes.

Prediction: Starting wide receiver; 60 catches for 900 yards and 9 touchdowns

2016 Season Countdown: #5 Taco Charlton

Taco Charlton (image via MGoBlog)

Name: Taco Charlton
Height: 6’6″
Weight: 272 lbs.
High school: Pickerington (OH) Central
Position: Defensive end
Class: Senior
Jersey number: #33
Last year: I ranked Charlton #31 and said he would be the backup strongside end (LINK). He started three games, making 30 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, 5.5 tackles for loss, and 1 sack.

Some might say that Charlton had a breakout season in 2015, but it was a pretty quiet breakout. When he was talking about the change from D.J. Durkin to Don Brown at defensive coordinator, he lamented the fact that he spent 2015 as a 285 lb. “tackle” in a 3-4. While I didn’t deem him a tackle, I did think it was odd that Michigan took a long, lanky guy whose raw athleticism was his biggest asset, and then added bulk to make him a more stationary player. Charlton has never been known as the most technically sound player, so making him deal with double-teams instead of trying to tear off the edge seemed like a mild mistake. However, it’s hard to argue with the production too much, since he was third on the team in sacks while mostly being a backup. His best game came against Penn State when he made 3 tackles for loss and 2 sacks.

Now Charlton has lost 10+ pounds and moved to weakside end in Don Brown’s four-man front. He claims to be quicker and faster, and those skills will be needed on a team that has sorely lacked a quality speed rusher. Not only are those skills highly desirable, but few others on the roster offer potential as edge rushers. Backup end Shelton Johnson is in the doghouse and could miss the entire season, and the primary backup at weakside end is redshirt sophomore Chase Winovich, who impressed some people in the spring but spent the last two seasons playing linebacker and tight end/H-back. If the Wolverines are forced into playing the 6’3″, 245 lb. Winovich full-time at end, they’re going to be hurting. I think Winovich is a capable backup, but he’s not going to scare too many left tackles. Meanwhile, Charlton’s size and speed combination could strike some fear in offensive tackles and quarterbacks, and his measurables/production have some NFL scouts thinking he could be a high-round draft pick. He has been steadily improving over the past few years, and I think a lot of people will notice his play this year, as Brown will find ways to free him up coming off the edge.

Prediction: Starting weakside end; 45 tackles, 9 sacks

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Visitors: Michigan vs. Hawaii

Tarik Black (image via Eleven Warriors)

2017

Tarik Black – WR – Cheshire (CT) Cheshire Academy: Black is a 6’3″, 204 lb. prospect with offers from Alabama, Michigan, Notre Dame, Stanford, and UCLA, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 4-star, the #17 wide receiver, and #131 overall. The U.S. Army All-American will be taking his official visit this weekend. Michigan held a camp at Cheshire Academy this summer, and Black is one of a few targets Michigan is heavily in the mix for right now. As of Wednesday night, the Crystal Ball is 62% in favor of the Wolverines for Black.

Corey Bolds – DT – Paramus (NJ) Catholic: Bolds is a 6’3″, 276 lb. prospect with offers from Alabama, Clemson, Michigan, and Rutgers, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 3-star, the #38 defensive tackle, and #462 overall. He’s a teammate of 2017 linebacker Drew Singleton (see below).

Carter Dunaway – TE – Bloomfield Hills (MI) Brother Rice: Dunaway is committed to Michigan (LINK).

Ja’Raymond Hall – OT – Oak Park (MI) Oak Park: Hall is committed to Michigan (LINK).

Brad Hawkins, Jr. – WR – Suffield (CT) Suffield Academy: Hawkins is a 6’1″, 202 lb. prospect who signed with Michigan in the 2016 class. He was an NCAA non-qualifier and is now headed to Suffield Academy for a prep year. He graduated from Camden (NJ) Camden, where he was a teammate with freshman defensive end Ron Johnson, Jr. Here’s Hawkins’s commitment profile from the summer of 2015 (LINK).

Hit the jump for more visitors.

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2016 Season Predictions

Jourdan Lewis

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LEADING RUSHER
This one doesn’t leave much to the imagination. Michigan’s leading rusher from last season returns, and nothing that happened this off-season suggests that he will lose his mantle as Michigan’s top back. Unless a serious injury befalls him, it will be . . .
Prediction: De’Veon Smith, 870 yards

LEADING RECEIVER
Last year I had Amara Darboh with 650 yards, and I was a little low with that yardage total. He also lost out late in the season to Jehu Chesson, who became a big-time deep threat down the stretch. There’s talk that Darboh is the #1 receiver and has stepped up this fall, but I don’t expect him to change much from his redshirt junior season to his redshirt senior year.
Prediction: Jehu Chesson, 900 yards

Hit the jump for the rest of the season predictions.

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2016 Season Countdown: #6 Jake Butt

Jake Butt (image via Michigan Daily)

Name: Jake Butt
Height: 6’6″
Weight: 250 lbs.
High school: Pickerington (OH) North
Position: Tight end
Class: Senior
Jersey number: #88
Last year: I ranked Butt #2 and said he would be the starting tight end with 40 catches for 550 yards and 6 touchdowns (LINK). He caught 51 passes for 654 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Butt was a sure bet to have a very good year in 2015, not only because of his prodigious talent, but because of a coach that values tight ends. While the season started off with a disappointing loss to Utah, it also included a spectacular Butt touchdown catch where he outjumped three defenders. He finished with 8 catches for 93 yards and that 1 touchdown. He broke the 80-yard mark twice more, against Rutgers and Indiana, and had a career-long 56-yard touchdown catch against the Scarlet Knights. He won Big Ten Tight End of the Year after outpacing other tight ends by 16 receptions and 226 yards. And he was a First Team All-American, although he lost the John Mackey Award to Hunter Henry of Arkansas (51 catches, 739 yards, 3 touchdowns).

This year I expect more of the same from Butt. He will be helping to break in a new quarterback, but he went through that in 2015 with Jake Rudock. In this year’s case, the new quarterback will be a guy he’s been practicing with for at least a year. Butt is a pre-season All-American and a captain for Michigan’s offense. His value diminishes slightly because of the additional depth and talent at the position. Even though blocking tight end A.J. Williams graduated, up-and-comers like Tyrone Wheatley, Jr., Ian Bunting, Devin Asiasi, Zach Gentry, and others can play ball, too. It’s perhaps the deepest position group on the team, which is why one could perhaps make the argument that a captain and All-American should be rated even lower than the #6 most important player on the squad. All that aside, though, it should be fun to watch Butt’s continued maturation in a tight end-friendly offense.

Prediction: Starting tight end; 50 catches, 700 yards, 5 touchdowns