Posts under: Blog

Site News: AdSense is trying to kill me

So this was already a wild week (if you only knew…), and then AdSense tried to put another nail in my coffin.

AdSense, which is Google’s ad program that puts most of the non-Amazon ads on the site, sent me an e-mail saying they were disabling ads on my site. Why? They said I posted pictures that broke their policies. This sort of happened previously, except then they told me it was okay if I posted those pictures, so I started posting them again last fall (after going through and deleting thousands of pictures off the server).

Then out of the blue, they canceled my ads again earlier this week.

At one time this site was making upward of $1,000 per month in AdSense revenue.

Recently it had trickled down to less than $2 a day.

Yesterday it was $0.06.

Today it is $0.00.

I submitted the site for AdSense review, but they rejected my appeal by saying the site was still breaking their policy. They sent me a link as an example of a violation, and the link said “Page Not Found.” So I have no idea.

I am now exploring other ad server programs.

2020 Season Countdown: #66 Tyler Cochran

Name: Tyler Cochran
Height: 6’1″
Weight: 206 lbs.
High school: Orchard Lake (MI) St. Mary’s
Position: Safety
Class: Fifth year senior
Jersey number: #30
Last year: I ranked Cochran #58 and said he would be a backup safety and special teamer (LINK). He played in twelve games and made 2 tackles and 1 fumble recovery.
TTB Rating: N/A

Cochran has turned into a steady special teams contributor over the past couple seasons. He has played in 15 games during that span with 3 tackles and 1 fumble recovery, which came last year against Rutgers.

So far Cochran has not played safety in a game, and it’s unlikely that he will this season, either. Michigan brought in a few 2020 scholarship safeties with the new signing class, and there are some talented players already in the program.

Prediction: Backup safety, special teamer

2020 Season Countdown: #67 Julius Welschof

Name: Julius Welschof
Height: 6’6″
Weight: 278 lbs.
High school: Germany somewhere
Position: Defensive tackle
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #96
Last year: I ranked Welschof #49 and said he would be a backup defensive end (LINK). He played in one game.
TTB Rating: 78

Michigan was very inexperienced on the defensive line last year once the team got past the top five guys (the starters plus Mike Danna), so that artificially elevated Welschof into the top 50. Now without losing much along the defensive line except tackle Mike Dwumfour, Welschof settles back down to where he should have been in 2019, right here in the 60s.

Welschof is supposedly bigger and stronger this year and looking like an interior defensive lineman. Word is that he could be bound for nose tackle. He does not appear to be in the running to start, but he could work in with the second unit. We have seen very little of him to make much of a judgment, but the buzz around him makes me think we might start to see some flashes of his athleticism and strength this year.

Prediction: Backup defensive tackle

2020 Season Countdown: #68 Nikhai Hill-Green

Name: Nikhai Hill-Green
Height: 6’1″
Weight: 230 lbs.
High school: Baltimore (MD) St. Francis
Position: Linebacker
Class: Freshman
Jersey number: N/A
Last year: Hill-Green was a senior in high school (LINK).
TTB Rating: 74 81

Hill-Green transferred from Pittsburgh (PA) North Catholic to St. Francis between his junior and senior years, and that move worked out well for him. I gave him a so-so TTB Rating of 74 based on his junior film at North Catholic, but what I see of him as a senior shows a player who is more physical, quicker, more decisive, and more confident.

I have heard some chatter that Michigan thinks Hill-Green is a little bit of a sleeper in this class, and I think he has an outside shot to contribute this fall. Michigan needs someone to step up at inside linebacker behind Cam McGrone and Joshua Ross, and the only veteran presence is redshirt freshman Charles Thomas. If Hill-Green is in good shape and truly measures in close to his listed numbers (6’1″, 230 lbs.), then he could be a guy who gets a few snaps to groom him for 2021, when it’s not totally unrealistic that one or both of McGrone and Ross could move on to the NFL.

Prediction: Backup linebacker

Hit the jump for his senior highlights.

2020 Season Countdown: #69 Hunter Reynolds

Name: Hunter Reynolds
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 198 lbs.
High school: South Orange (NJ) Choate Rosemary Hall
Position: Safety
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #27
Last year: I ranked Reynolds #56 and said he would be a backup safety and special teamer (LINK). He made 5 tackles and 1 tackle for loss.
TTB Rating: N/A

Reynolds had his most significant year yet in 2019. He was named Defensive Scout Team Player of the Year in 2018, and last year he made 5 tackles and 1 tackle for loss while playing special teams and a little bit of defense.

Overall, it’s tough to get much playing time as a walk-on, let alone as a defensive back. At the defensive back position, it’s been since the early 2010’s when Jordan Kovacs manned one of the safety positions. (Jordan Glasgow didn’t really emerge until he moved to linebacker.) With Josh Metellus and Lavert Hill having moved on to the NFL, there’s a possibility that Reynolds might work his way into the two-deep.

For whatever it’s worth, in 2019 Reynolds made more tackles than Sammy Faustin, played in more games than Faustin and Gemon Green, recorded stats – unlike German Green – and exceeded any season Jaylen Kelly-Powell ever had in a Wolverines uniform.

How much does all that mean for Reynolds going into 2020? It’s very hard to say. But I think he might be a dark horse candidate for playing time while people are busy getting excited about R.J. Moten, Jordan Morant, Makari Paige, and Darion Green-Warren.

Prediction: Backup safety, special teamer