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Potential Departure Candidates: Offense

With the onslaught of transfer portal entries in college football, it’s inevitable that Michigan will face some more departures this off-season. Three players have already announced their intentions to transfer, and one (Cade McNamara to Iowa) has already found a landing spot. Tight ends Erick All and Louis Hansen are both headed for, ahem, greener pastures.

McNamara and All are both somewhat unique cases of players who played a lot but felt slighted in some way, but Hansen is a more typical case of a player buried on the depth chart who wants to see some light at the end of the tunnel. This post explores several players in similar situations who may find greener pastures elsewhere:

DISCLAIMER: This post is speculative in nature and not intended to encourage/discourage any player from leaving Michigan’s program. The reality is that college football is now a lot like unrestricted free agency from year to year.

RB TAVIERRE DUNLAP
Why he should stay: Every Michigan starting running back during his tenure has turned in a 1,000+ yard season, but they had to wait three or more years to do it. Hassan Haskins and Blake Corum have both turned in star performances after waiting their turn. Dunlap has done well when given a chance, averaging 6.1 yards per carry.
Why he might leave: Opportunities are limited when you’re the third string back or lower, and there’s no reason to expect much of a change in scenery for 2023. While Corum is likely headed to the NFL, Donovan Edwards is a bona fide star in the making and freshman C.J. Stokes already has many more carries (55) in one season than Dunlap has in two (16), and walk-on Isaiah Gash (19 carries, 101 yards, 2 touchdowns) even topped Dunlap in touches. When it came to the Big Ten championship game and Ohio State, Michigan decided to use a big back at times . . . but that back was the 6’2″, 232 lb. backup linebacker Kalel Mullings instead of Dunlap (6’0″, 217).

Hit the jump for more.

Hogan Hansen, Wolverine

Bellevue (WA) Bellevue tight end Hogan Hansen, a 2024 prospect, committed to Michigan on Thursday. He picked the Wolverines over offers from Colorado, Florida, Miami, Oregon, Washington, and Washington State, among others.

Hansen is listed at 6’6″ and 220 lbs.

RANKINGS
ESPN: 4-star, 81 grade, #11 TE, #252 overall
On3: 3-star, 87 grade, #27 TE
Rivals: 4-star, 5.8 grade, #12 TE
247 Sports: 4-star, 90 grade, #6 TE, #122 overall

Hit the jump for more.

2023 Recruiting Update: November 8, 2022

I have started a 2023 Transfer Portal offer board. You can find it in the dropdown menu at the top of the page.

DECOMMITMENT

Santa Margarita (CA) Rancho Santa Margarita defensive end Collins Acheampong flipped from Michigan to Miami (LINK).

COMMITMENTS

Cincinnati (OH) Winton Woods cornerback Cameron Calhoun committed to Michigan (LINK).

Arizona State offensive lineman LaDarius Henderson announced he would be transferring to Michigan (LINK).

Youngstown (OH) Chaney linebacker Jason Hewlett committed to Michigan (LINK).

Cincinnati (OH) Princeton linebacker Breeon Ishmail committed to Michigan (LINK).

Hit the jump for more.

LaDarius Henderson, Wolverine

Arizona State offensive guard LaDarius Henderson announced today that he would be spending his final year of eligibility in Ann Arbor.

Henderson was a 6’4″, 270 lb. offensive tackle prospect coming out of Waxahachie (TX) Waxahachie in the class of 2019. He was ranked as a 247 Composite 3-star and the #50 offensive tackle, and he picked ASU over offers from Boise State, Colorado State, and Illinois, among others. (Fun fact: While at Waxahachie, Henderson played for former NFL quarterback Jon Kitna, who coached the program for three seasons before stepping down.)

Now listed at 6’5″ and 310 lbs., Henderson started thirteen games at left guard in 2021 – in fact, all but 12 of ASU’s offensive snaps – but only played in six games in 2022 due to injury. Overall, he has 29 career starts and was named a team captain this past season. He had accepted an invitation to the East-West Shrine Game, but instead it appears he will play for the Wolverines.

Michigan is losing at least two starters after this season in left tackle Ryan Hayes and center Olu Oluwatimi; but there’s a good chance that one or both guards, Trevor Keegan and Zak Zinter, enter the NFL Draft in 2023. Henderson was ranked as an offensive tackle coming out of high school and played some as a backup tackle in 2020, but he’s more of a guard. My guess is that Michigan plans to bring him in to compete at the guard position.

A possible depth chart for 2023 could be (as the roster stands right now):

LT: Karsen Barnhart (RS Sr.), Jeffrey Persi (RS Jr.), Evan Link (Fr.)
LG: Trevor Keegan (RS Sr.), LaDarius Henderson (RS Sr.), Alessandro Lorenzetti (RS Fr.), Connor Jones (RS Fr.)
C: Greg Crippen (RS So.), Raheem Anderson (RS So.), Amir Herring (Fr.)
RG: Zak Zinter (RS Jr.), Giovanni El-Hadi (RS So.), Dominick Giudice (RS So.), Nathan Efobi (Fr.)
RT: Trente Jones (RS Sr.), Andrew Gentry (RS Fr.), Tristan Bounds (RS So.)

Louis Hansen, Ex-Wolverine

Second-year tight end Louis Hansen announced that he is entering the transfer portal. Hansen played in one game in 2021 and in two games during the 2022 season.

Hansen was a 4-star, the #11 tight end, and #257 in the 247 Composite during the 2021 recruiting cycle, with offers from Florida, Georgia, Ohio State, and Penn State, among others. The Needham (MA) St. Sebastian’s product committed to Michigan in April 2020 during the beginning of the COVID outbreak and was a vocal recruiter in the class, so it’s a bit surprising in retrospect to see him not stick around.

Here’s what I said about him when he committed (LINK):

“Overall, Hansen is a fine prospect. Is he a difference maker at the next level? I don’t believe so. Could he come in to Michigan and maintain the status quo? Sure. He could be Sean McKeon with a little better ball skills.”

However, Hansen has also played very little in two seasons, despite having good size and decent athleticism. He was buried on the depth chart this season even when Erick All and Luke Schoonmaker were hurt; and freshman Colston Loveland and walk-on Max Bredeson both passed him up for playing time. His size (6’5″, 245 lbs.) and athleticism do not appear to be the limiting factor, but he never got much practice buzz; I can only assume there were some habits that were just not in line with what the coaching staff sought.

Hansen is the first member of the 2021 recruiting class to depart, though there will surely be others, including this off-season. Jim Harbaugh spoke proudly in the pre-season about keeping that 2021 class together despite concerns about his job and the stability of the program. The class was never going to stay intact forever, but at least all those players lasted two seasons.