Posts under: Blog

2024 Season Countdown: #120 Anthony Arnou

Name: Anthony Arnou
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 226 lbs.
High school: Santa Monica (CA) Santa Monica
Position: Quarterback
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #15
Last year: Arnou was at Pasadena City College and completed 58/98 passes for 620 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions. He also ran 20 times for 101 yards and 2 touchdown.
TTB Rating: N/A

Arnou is in his first year at Michigan after transferring in as a walk-on. The fall of 2024 will be his third season of college football after walking on at Fresno State in 2021, where he redshirted behind Jake Haener . . . and played for Kalen DeBoer, who went on to be Washington’s head coach in 2022-2023 and whom Michigan beat for the national championship back in January.

Arnou then went on to play for Pasadena City College in 2022, where he played a fair amount. Watching his highlights from that season, he looks like a fine lower level college prospect. He looks like a Division II potential starter to me. But he’s a little heavy-footed even at that level, and his arm strength and throwing mechanics leave something to be desired.

It’s nice to have a player like Arnou on the roster for the scout team, but Michigan already has depth – not proven depth, but depth – at the quarterback position. There are about three guys vying for the starting quarterback job, and another couple with higher upside, including freshman Jadyn Davis. Other than the outstanding education, the awesome city that is Ann Arbor, and a chance to have some team success, I’m not really sure why a player like Arnou would transfer to Michigan if he’s looking for playing time.

Prediction: Backup quarterback

Spring Game 2024: 5 Things to Watch

Here are five things I’ll be watching in the 2024 spring game:

1. How does Alex Orji throw the ball? Third-year quarterback Alex Orji seems to be the most likely [currently rostered and healthy] guy to start behind center this fall. At 6’3″ and 236 lbs., we know he can run. We saw him do it at various times during the championship run in 2023. What we didn’t see at all in 2023 is Orji passing the ball. Footwork, accuracy, and touch are all in question. I don’t expect to see him run the ball a whole lot, because running a QB when they can’t be tackled is kind of unfair and boring. If/when he has time to throw, how does he look? Can he feather the ball or does he just throw it on a line? Does he get his feet lined up properly to throw, or are they all over the place? What we see might indicate whether Michigan needs to dip into the portal for a potential starter in the fall.

2. Who’s the “other” corner? We know Will Johnson has one cornerback spot locked down for this fall. If a currently rostered player wins the job across from him, it will likely be either Jyaire Hill or D.J. Waller. Waller got more playing time in the fall, but when Hill enrolled early last spring and was flying around, I thought he looked like a potential future star. Michigan still might look to the transfer portal to help out at a fairly thin position, but it would still be nice to see progress from Hill and Waller.

Hit the jump for more.

Visitors: 2024 Spring Game

Please consider donating to TTB via Paypal (LINK):

The following list of players is mostly a group of players expected to be in town for the spring game; however, there are a few in the list who visited during the week leading up to the game.

2025

Kamar Archie – LB – Princeton (NJ) Hun School: Archie is a 6’1″, 215 lb. prospect with offers from Clemson, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Texas A&M, and USC, among others. He’s a 4-star, the #26 linebacker, and #229 overall. He visited Michigan earlier this spring, too, and was one of the first visitors to the program under its new leadership.

Iverson Howard – RB – Gaithersburg (MD) Quince Orchard: Howard is a 5’10”, 195-pounder with offers from Florida, Florida State, Maryland, Michigan, Oregon, and Penn State, among others. He’s a 4-star, the #32 running back, and #379 overall. He also has an official visit set for Michigan at the beginning of June, along with one to FSU in mid-June.

Marco Jones – DE – Danville (CA) San Ramon Valley: Jones is a 6’5″, 230-pounder with offers from Alabama, Florida, Michigan, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, and USC, among others. He’s a 4-star, the #15 edge, and #150 overall.

Bobby Kanka – DT – Howell (MI) Howell: Kanka is committed to Michigan.

Hit the jump for more.

2024 Season Countdown: #121 Jack MacKinnon

Name: Jack MacKinnon
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 244 lbs.
High school: Sarasota (FL) Cardinal Moooney
Position: Linebacker
Class: Redshirt freshman
Jersey number: #39
Last year: I did not rank MacKinnon. He redshirted.
TTB Rating: N/A

MacKinnon was a preferred walk-on in the class of 2023. A high school defensive end (he had 58 tackles, 26 tackles for loss, and 13 sacks as a senior in 2022), he was originally committed to play baseball at USF. But according to this article (LINK), Jack Harbaugh saw him play football and recommended him to the Michigan coaching staff as a PWO.

I like MacKinnon’s high school film, but he’s now listed as a linebacker. Can he be a true linebacker at 6’4″ and 244 pounds? Or would he potentially be better off trying to grow into a stand-up edge player like Jaylen Harrell? Either way, he’s unlikely to play this early in his career at Michigan. I could potentially see him playing in Ann Arbor down the road, but he also seems like a prime candidate to transfer at some point for a clearer path to playing time. Regardless, he’s on Michigan’s roster for now and should be a solid scout team player for the time being.

Prediction: Backup linebacker

2025 Recruiting Update: April 16, 2024

OFF THE BOARD

Dallas (TX) Skyline linebacker Elijah Barnes (4-star, #13 LB, #98 overall) committed to Texas.

Denton (TX) Ryan offensive tackle Marcus Garcia (4-star, #29 OT, #308 overall) committed to Texas A&M. Garcia visited Michigan earlier this spring.

Rome (GA) Rome linebacker Jaedon Harmon (4-star, #23 LB, #177 overall) committed to Alabama.

Rabun Gap (GA) Nacoochee offensive guard Justin Hasenhuetl (4-star, #10 IOL, #196 overall) committed to Georgia Tech. He’s a teammate of 2025 tight end Marshall Pritchett, who recently picked North Carolina over Michigan, and both attend the alma mater of Michigan tight end Marlin Klein.

Corona (CA) Centennial quarterback Husan Longstreet (4-star, #5 QB, #44 overall) committed to Texas A&M.

Washington (OK) Washington tight end Nate Roberts (4-star, #5 TE, #118 overall) committed to Ohio State.

Bradenton (FL) IMG Academy wide receiver Raiden Vines-Bright (4-star, #43 WR, #318 overall) committed to Washington.

MISCELLANEY

Here’s a list of visitors from this past weekend (LINK).

Howell (MI) Howell defensive tackle Bobby Kanka (4-star, #41 DL, #361 overall), a Michigan commit, has set two other official visits to Michigan State and Tennessee. He remains committed to Michigan but is exploring his options.