Posts under: Blog

2020 Season Countdown: #13 Giles Jackson

Name: Giles Jackson
Height: 5’9″
Weight: 179 lbs.
High school: Oakley (CA) Freedom
Position: Wide receiver
Class: Sophomore
Jersey number: #0
Last year: I ranked Jackson #61 and said he would redshirt (LINK). He made 9 catches for 142 yards and 1 touchdown, ran 10 times for 69 yards and 1 touchdown, and returned 24 kickoffs for 622 yards and 1 touchdown.
TTB Rating: 76

As you can tell, Jackson didn’t redshirt in 2019. I thought he had a chance to play his way onto the field, mostly as a returner of some sort, but he was more involved in the offense than I expected. In addition to being named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten as a returner after averaging 25.9 yards per kickoff return, Michigan started to use him as a mismatch guy. He’s a super speedy receiver who can do the jet sweep thing, run wheel routes, run slot fades, etc.

Jackson probably deserves to be higher on this list here in 2020 now that fellow receiver Nico Collins has opted out of playing his senior season. Jackson was #7 on the team in receptions last year, and four of the guys ahead of him have departed. Michigan doesn’t have the height mismatch they had with the 6’4″ Collins, but they now have an array of speedy wideouts that can exploit linebackers and safeties.

Jackson ought to be a heavy contributor this season. With fellow slot receiver Ronnie Bell reportedly moving outside in Collins’s absence, that opens the door for Jackson, Mike Sainristil, A.J. Henning, and others to run RPOs from the slot. Jackson is not as tall as Bell, and without the basketball background, I’m not sure how well he would be able to handle high throws over the middle. But Jackson can threaten deep better than Bell, so there’s a trade-off. This should be a breakout year for Jackson, and I expect to see him used much the same way we saw K.J. Hamler play at Penn State.

Prediction: Starting slot receiver

Hit the jump for some of Jackson’s 2019 highlights.

2020 Season Countdown: #14 Nick Eubanks

Name: Nick Eubanks
Height: 6’5″
Weight: 256 lbs.
High school: Plantation (FL) American Heritage
Position: Tight end
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #82
Last year: I ranked Eubanks #31 and said he would be a backup tight end with 15 catches for 210 yards and 2 touchdowns (LINK). He started ten games and made 25 catches for 234 yards and 4 touchdowns.
TTB Rating: 44

I suppose it’s about time I offer up my apology to Eubanks for that TTB Rating of 44 back in the day. It assumed that the third most ready tight end in the class – behind Devin Asiasi and Sean McKeon – would not stick around to develop and become a player. Michigan, however, managed to hit on all three tight end signees that year. Asiasi became a 3rd round pick (after transferring to UCLA), McKeon played a bunch and signed with the Cowboys as an undrafted free agent, and Eubanks is coming back for year five as a pretty well established starter.

Eubanks had a high of 43 receiving yards (vs. Rutgers) and 3 catches (3 separate times) in 2019, so he doesn’t appear to be in danger of winning the Mackey Award. But he’s a pretty consistent receiving threat, and he improved as a blocker last year after struggling in that area earlier in his career.

Michigan still has options at tight end, so Eubanks isn’t free and clear to be the one and only tight end in 2020. There’s a lot of buzz about Erick All and some growing enthusiasm about Luke Schoonmaker. But I do like Eubanks’s experience, size, and overall athleticism. He’s not going to outrun safeties on seam routes, but he should be a consistent short target for Joe Milton and a presence in the running game.

Prediction: Starting tight end

Osman Savage, Ex-Wolverine

Thanks to Moser, Stephen, and Ashley for the recent Paypal donations!

Freshman linebacker Osman Savage has entered the transfer portal, presumably ending his Michigan career before it ever got started. A product of Baltimore (MD) St. Frances, he was a 247 Composite 4-star, the #18 outside linebacker, and #300 overall.

Savage was one of three signees from St. Frances, joining running back Blake Corum and fellow linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green. Both of his high school teammates have been generating some buzz here in the early going, but I had not heard much about Savage, for whatever reason. He did enter college heavier than I expected – reportedly in the 240+ range – so I’m not sure if that has factored into his place on the depth chart or other experiences so far.

Savage is the second 2020 signee to depart from Michigan already, joining Aaron Lewis, who landed at Rutgers.

2020 Season Countdown: #15 Joshua Ross

Name: Josh Ross
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 230 lbs.
High school: Orchard Lake (MI) St. Mary’s
Position: Linebacker
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #12
Last year: I ranked Ross #8 and said he would be a starting linebacker with 80 tackles and 3.5 sacks (LINK). He made 18 tackles in three games.
TTB Rating: 79

Looking back on the 2019 season, I probably had Ross ranked a little too high. Michigan had some veterans at inside linebacker, and they had a potential star waiting in the wings in Cameron McGrone. When Ross suffered an injury early in the year that wiped out most of his year, McGrone stepped in and made some great plays. He also made some mistakes. McGrone and Jordan Glasgow manned the inside linebacker spots well, and the truth is that the weaknesses of the defense were the defensive tackles and the defensive back depth. Ross could have played the whole year, and it probably wouldn’t have made much of a difference.

This year Ross has more of an opportunity to be a difference-maker, but I still dropped him down to #15. There’s very little linebacker depth after Jordan Anthony entered the transfer portal, Devin Gil transferred to USF, and Glasgow moved on to the NFL. McGrone and Ross are the leaders, and then you have . . . freshmen. While Michigan took a bunch of linebackers in the 2020 class and has a couple good ones, it still could be a difficult time if either guy drops. I expect good things from Ross and hope he lives up to the expectations we had for him last year.

Prediction: Starting WILL linebacker

2020 Season Countdown: #16 Joe Milton

Name: Joe Milton
Height: 6’5″
Weight: 243 lbs.
High school: Olympia (FL) Olympia
Position: Quarterback
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #5
Last year: I ranked Milton #55 and said he would be a backup quarterback (LINK). He completed 3/7 passes for 59 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception; he also ran 5 times for 16 yards and 1 touchdown.
TTB Rating: 85

WHAT?!?!?! THE STARTING QUARTERBACK IS RANKED #16?!?!?!

Yeah, I didn’t have Milton pegged as the starting quarterback. This countdown was put together long before Dylan McCaffrey opted out and planned to transfer. This is a pretty high ranking for a backup quarterback, largely because McCaffrey hasn’t made it through a season healthy.

It’s a low ranking for a starter.

I’ve overanalyzed Milton to the point of exhaustion (LINK), and obviously my interpretation of the quarterback battle did not mesh with the coaching staff’s. Milton has looked jittery and made poor decisions at almost every opportunity so far in his college career, and the only area where he looks like a plus player is in the run game. Even some of his completions have come when throwing jump balls into double coverage to Nico Collins, making guys dive to catch slants, etc.

On the plus side, Milton is absolutely an enticing athlete with very impressive arm strength and above average speed. Some people – including Devin Gardner, who worked with Milton in the off-season – have said Milton is Cam Newton-like in his physcality. And Milton has a stronger arm than Newton.

If Milton made tremendous strides in the off-season, then he certainly could have overtaken McCaffrey, who had his own struggles. But buying into that notion requires us to suspend what we saw on the field and believe in word trickling out of workouts. And we all know that off-season hype is overblown more often than not.

All that being said, Milton is now The Man. The hope is that he is a difference-maker from the quarterback position, something Michigan has not really had in many years. Denard Robinson was a difference-maker with his feet but struggled as a passer. Devin Gardner had a few games where he looked like a superstar, but that was not consistent.

I expect inconsistency, because that’s what we’ve seen so far. Milton has been inaccurate, and I go to the School of Mike Leach, who believes you’re either accurate or you’re not. I don’t expect Milton to start completed 65% or 67% of his passes, but if he can be around 61-62%, hit some deep balls, and make plays with his feet, Michigan could be in business.

Prediction: Starting quarterback