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2019 Season Countdown: #3 Aidan Hutchinson

Name: Aidan Hutchinson
Height: 6’6″
Weight: 278 lbs.
High school: Dearborn (MI) Divine Child
Position: Defensive end
Class: Sophomore
Jersey number: #97
Last year: I ranked Hutchinson #66 and said he would be a backup defensive end (LINK). He made 15 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.
TTB Rating: 88

Hutchinson flew under the radar a little bit in 2018, which is understandable when you have a dynamic player like Chase Winovich at one defensive end and the former #1 player overall at the other defensive end spot. You could be an excellent player and still not receive much attention. Hutchinson wasn’t excellent, but he still showed flashes. You could tell the game was moving a little too quickly for him, and sometimes his reads just couldn’t keep up. He finished the season with 15 total tackles, but his playing time and production dwindled when the going got tough late in the year.

This year Hutchinson makes a jump all the way from #66 up to #3, which is a huge leap. That is the result of two major factors:

1. I think he’s going to be very good.
2. Michigan needs him on the field.

I said during the 2018 recruiting cycle that I thought Hutchinson was the best player in the State of Michigan, and nothing I’ve seen so far has caused me to stray from that evaluation. The physical skills are there. It’s the mental side of things that was a bit of an issue. Now he has a year under his belt, he’s getting more reps in practice, and he’s also 278 lbs. of muscle.

As for needing him on the field, Michigan is a little depleted on the defensive line. Winovich and Gary both moved on to the NFL, and there’s a lot of talent at defensive end but not much experience. Kwity Paye at weakside end is a junior, and fifth year senior Mike Danna played quite a bit at Central Michigan, but behind them are all players who haven’t seen the field. On top of that inexperience, Michigan needs the defensive line to come up big because of a lack of talent and depth at the cornerback positions. If they can’t put pressure on quarterbacks, teams could quite possibly pick apart Ambry Thomas, Vincent Gray, Jaylen Kelly-Powell, and others on the back end.

Prediction: Starting Anchor; 50 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, 5 sacks

2019 Season Countdown: #4 Lavert Hill

Name: Lavert Hill
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 182 lbs.
High school: Detroit (MI) King
Position: Cornerback
Class: Senior
Jersey number: #24
Last year: I ranked Hill #11 and said he would be the starting cornerback with 30 tackles and 2 interceptions (LINK). He made 14 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 interception (returned 21 yards for a TD), and 5 pass breakups.
TTB Rating: 84

Hill has somehow managed to become a shutdown corner at the University of Michigan with very little fanfare. He was Second Team All-Big Ten in 2017, First Team All-Big in 2018, and still not many in the media seem to be making a big deal of him. Perhaps it’s because other teams don’t target him much, so his numbers are modest: 41 tackles, 6 tackles for loss, and 3 interceptions over the course of three seasons.

Those modest numbers might also be because other teams haven’t had time to target him very much. Michigan has had a very good pass rush in recent years, whether it’s been organic with excellent defensive ends or established through the blitz. Either way, this should be an interesting year, because Michigan lost a lot on the defensive line and an excellent middle linebacker blitzer in Devin Bush, Jr. The defensive backfield might have to cover a little bit longer, so will that affect their targets? Will their counting stats go up? Only time will tell. I do not have a great deal of faith in Michigan’s defensive line as a whole for 2019, so I think Hill will get a few more targets, make a few more targets, and get his hands on the ball a little more.

Aside from his excellent play, his importance cannot be overstated. He might even deserve to be #1 in the countdown with how the roster is currently constructed. Michigan needs him to play and play well in 2019 while Ambry Thomas comes back from colitis. Thomas is back practicing, but it’s hard to say how rusty or out of shape he will be after some missed time. The Wolverines were already questionable with Vincent Gray stepping in at corner for Thomas, but if Hill and Thomas were both to miss time . . . yikes. Hill has struggled with nagging injuries in the past, so hopefully he stays as close to 100% as possible this season.

Prediction: Starting cornerback; 25 tackles, 2 interceptions

2019 Season Countdown: #5 Cesar Ruiz

Name: Cesar Ruiz
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 319 lbs.
High school: Bradenton (FL) IMG Academy
Position: Center
Class: Junior
Jersey number: #51
Last year: I ranked Ruiz #5 and said he would be the starting center (LINK). He started all thirteen games.
TTB Rating: 99

Ruiz has had a solid career so far. Sometimes expectations for highly regarded recruits can get out of hand, especially for linemen. For whatever reason, I don’t think that has been the case with Ruiz – for good reason. Many centers start off their careers as redshirts, backups, or contributors at offensive guard – check. (Ruiz started five games at guard as a freshman.) Then in their next year, they play but don’t necessarily stand out – check. (Ruiz had a decent year in 2018, but he was Third Team All-Big Ten). He was Offensive Line Player of the Week against Nebraska, a pretty bad squad.

This year is when Ruiz should hit his stride. He’s no longer adjusting to play center in college – he’s already done it. Despite a new offense, the schemes up front won’t be any more difficult; if anything, they should be a little simpler. Ruiz is quick and powerful, and he has great size. There has been a little discussion about his potential to leave for the NFL after this season, and we’ll see whether that comes to fruition or not. He might not be First Team all-conference in 2019 (Tyler Biadasz from Wisconsin already won that honor, so I expect him to win it again), but I think Ruiz will be just as good. As the commander of the offensive line, he’s a very important piece, but he does have a solid backup in redshirt junior Stephen Spanellis and a freshman who has turned some heads in Zach Carpenter.

Prediction: Starting center

What are the best Michigan football books?

For those of you who are interested in reading – and you’re reading these words right now, so that probably includes you – I thought I would put together a ranked list of my top Michigan Wolverines football books. This is not an exhaustive list, because I have not read every Michigan book, even though I own most of the ones listed. (Star ratings are via Goodreads.com.)

BOOKS I’VE READ (ranked in order of my preference)

1. Three and Out by John U. Bacon (4.15).
2. Endzone by John U. Bacon (4.32).
3. Fourth and Long by John U. Bacon (3.92).
4. Braylon Edwards: Doing It My Way by Braylon Edwards and Tom VanHaaren (not rated yet).
5. The Road to Ann Arbor by Tom VanHaaren (3.84).
6. If These Walls Could Talk: Michigan Football Stories from Inside the Big House by Jon Falk and Dan Ewald (3.99).
7. Forty Years in the Big House: Michigan Tales from My Four Decades as a Wolverine by Jon Falk and Dan Ewald (3.45).

BOOKS I HAVE YET TO READ (ranked in order of Goodreads.com ratings)

1. A Legacy of Champions: The Story of the Men Who Built University of Michigan Football by John U. Bacon and Bob Wojnowski (4.43).
2. Bo’s Lasting Lessons: The Legendary Coach Teaches the Timeless Fundamentals of Leadership by Bo Schembechler and John U. Bacon (4.40).
3. The Wolverines: A Story of Michigan Football by Will Perry (4.17).
4. Bo: Life, Laughs, and Lessons of a College Football Legend by Bo Schembechler and Mitch Albom (4.15).
5. War as They Knew It: Woody Hayes, Bo Schembechler and American in a Time of Unrest by Michael Rosenberg (4.08).
6. Michigan Man: Jim Harbaugh and the Rebirth of the Michigan Wolverines by Angelique Chengelis (3.96).
7. Bo’s Warriors: Bo Schembechler and the Transformation of Michigan Football by Frank Lieberman (3.50).
8. Overtime: Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan Wolverines at the Crossroads of College Football by John U. Bacon (not rated yet).

Do you have any additions to make to the list?

Originally posted on December 31, 2018.

2019 Season Countdown: #6 Jon Runyan, Jr.

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Name: Jon Runyan, Jr.
Height: 6’5″
Weight: 321 lbs.
High school: Philadelphia (PA) St. Joseph’s
Position: Offensive tackle
Class: Fifth year senior
Jersey number: #75
Last year: I ranked Runyan #19 and said he would be the starting right tackle (LINK). He started thirteen games at left tackle.
TTB Rating: 73

Runyan had one of the more impressive debut seasons as a starter in recent memory. A career backup from 2015-2017 (except a start in the Outback Bowl), Runyan struggled in the 2018 season opener at left tackle and then cruised to being named the best offensive lineman on the team and a First Team All-Big Ten selection by the conference’s coaches. He was named the Offensive Line Player of the Week against both Wisconsin and Penn State, which were also the two games where Pro Football Focus named him to their All-Big Ten team for the week. Runyan has always been very athletic, but he finally seemed to gain the necessary weight and strength to hold up in 2018.

Runyan will get a chance to continue his ascent in 2019 under second-year offensive line coach Ed Warinner. Runyan isn’t a prototypical left tackle (listed at 6’5″, some have suggested he’s only 6’3″ or maybe 6’4″), but Warinner has done a good job throughout his career of taking some mismatched pieces and molding them into solid offensive lines. Runyan himself just has great feet, anchors well, and gets up to the second level; the guys who were going to give him trouble are the really long dudes who can get their hands on him first, and there aren’t a ton of those. Runyan should have another solid year.

Prediction: Starting left tackle