Posts under: Blog

2023 Season Countdown: #53 Keshaun Harris

Name: Keshaun Harris
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 190 lbs.
High school: Lansing (MI) Waverly
Position: Cornerback
Class: Redshirt senior
Jersey number: #18
Last year: I ranked Harris #78 and said he would be a backup cornerback (LINK). He played in eleven games and made 5 tackles and 1 pass breakup.
TTB Rating: N/A

Harris plays one of the toughest positions in college football to make hay as a walk-on, and that’s cornerback. Most guys who are athletic enough to play corner end up with a scholarship somewhere. And the corners at Big Ten and SEC programs are just such outstanding athletes that it’s tough to overcome them. So even though Harris is a walk-on, the fact that he has played cornerback in ten games over the past two seasons is a pretty impressive feat, even if the playing time came mostly in blowouts.

Harris had a couple nice plays in the 2023 spring game and seems closer to significant playing time than at any other point in his career. Will Johnson mans one corner spot, but the other spot is up in the air. Harris is unlikely to start, but he could be part of the rotation. Also, if Mike Sainristil ends up playing outside corner, Harris could potentially play in the slot a little bit. Harris is also a decent tackler and a physical player, so he brings the capability to play special teams. I expect to see him play a little bit more this fall, and hopefully he can make some memorable plays to finish out his career (unless he decides to come back for a sixth year in 2024).

Prediction: Backup cornerback and special teamer

2023 Season Countdown: #54 German Green

Name: German Green
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 187 lbs.
High school: DeSoto (TX) DeSoto
Position: Cornerback
Class: Sixth year senior
Jersey number: #33
Last year: I ranked Green #48 and said he would be a backup cornerback and special teamer (LINK). He made 5 tackles and 1 pass breakup.
TTB Rating: 59

The career of German Green so far at Michigan has been an interesting one, if not terribly exciting. I heard buzz during the recruitment of German and his twin brother Gemon that German was actually the player thought to have the higher ceiling, though he had some injury issues. They were recruited in the class of 2018, meaning that Gemon stayed five years, could have returned for a sixth in 2023, but chose to move on to the NFL. He was an experienced starter and surely would have started in 2023 opposite Will Johnson now that D.J. Turner II made the decision to go to the league.

German, on the other hand, has been a special teamer throughout his career. Somewhat fascinatingly, he decided to return for 2023, even after his twin brother left. Most guys would have called it a career after five years of not really playing much, but perhaps the draw of possibly winning a national championship is worth putting in an extra year of work. German is never mentioned as a possible starter in the defensive backfield even though his brother and Turner both left. Most of the talk surrounds unproven sophomore Amorion Walker and UMass transfer Josh Wallace.

What German does bring is experience and the ability to play on special teams. Altogether, he has played in 34 career games, including 27 over the past two years. This will likely be another year of playing on specials except in blowouts.

Prediction: Backup cornerback and special teamer

2023 Season Countdown: #55 Jyaire Hill

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Name: Jyaire Hill
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 171 lbs.
High school: Kankakee (IL) Kankakee
Position: Cornerback
Class: Freshman
Jersey number: #20
Last year: Hill was a senior in high school (LINK). He made 42 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 3 interceptions, and 3 forced fumbles.
TTB Rating: 88

Hill swooped in late during the 2023 recruiting class and quickly became one of the most exciting players in the group. Michigan needed help at cornerback and had struggled to land a big-time player at the position despite on-field success and a good chance of playing time if D.J. Turner II and Gemon Green decided to leave, which they did. (To be fair, Turner and Green did not announce their decisions until after the December signing day.) Hill had been one of Michigan’s top priorities at the position, but he was considering Illinois and Auburn, two programs whose success on the field in the past few years has paled in comparison to Michigan’s. So it seemed like an obvious choice, but Michigan had to sweat it out, anyway.

This season will be an interesting year for Hill and the cornerback position in general. Sophomore Will Johnson is a lock to start on one side, but the other side still seems up in the air. Amorion Walker was talked up in the spring, but he didn’t look good in the spring game. UMass transfer Josh Wallace is a multi-year starter who has the experience edge over everyone. And it’s also possible that nickel corner Mike Sainristil could play on the outside.

It would be a surprise if Hill leaps over those other guys for a starting role. I think he needs to wait until at least 2024 before he’s ready for that responsibility. But as a talented player at a position that’s going to need a new face next year – both Wallace and Sainristil will probably be gone – it would be good for Hill to get some experience in 2023.

Prediction: Backup cornerback

2023 Season Countdown: #56 Greg Crippen

Name: Greg Crippen
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 301 lbs.
High school: Bradenton (FL) IMG Academy
Position: Center
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #51
Last year: I ranked Crippen #35 and said he would be a backup center (LINK). He played in one game.
TTB Rating: 65

Crippen is taking a roller coaster ride in the season countdowns so far in his career. I ranked him in the 80s as a freshman, and he played in six games, burning his redshirt. Then I ranked him #35 last year as a backup center, but he played in just one game behind Olu Oluwatimi, getting his redshirt back. Now I’m putting him at #56 and he will probably win the Rimington.

More seriously, Crippen started for the Maize team in the spring game, but the spring game was sans Stanford transfer Drake Nugent. Nugent is expected to start, but there’s also competition from Raheem Anderson II. I was more impressed with Anderson (who started for the Blue team) than Crippen and I would rank the centers as Nugent, then Anderson, then Crippen. Crippen and Anderson can both play a little bit of guard, but they’re probably not the primary backups there. Whoever isn’t starting in 2023 needs to get some experience, because it’s possible that Michigan will lose all five starters to the NFL before 2024.

Prediction: Backup center

2023 Season Countdown: #57 Micah Pollard

Name: Micah Pollard
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 206 lbs.
High school: Jacksonville (FL) Bartram Trail
Position: Linebacker
Class: Sophomore
Jersey number: #4
Last year: I ranked Pollard #95 and said he would redshirt (LINK). He played in twelve games and made 8 tackles.
TTB Rating: 74

The expectations for Pollard were a little bit up in the air going into 2022. He was light at 200 pounds and Michigan didn’t have a strong need for a bunch of new contributions from linebackers. I expected him to redshirt for those reasons, but he surprisingly played in twelve games – mostly on special teams, but in four games at linebacker. So he burned his redshirt, which is usually a clue that the coaching staff likes a player.

The 2023 season will be an interesting one for him. Sam Webb recently pegged Pollard as someone that Michigan fans aren’t talking enough about when it comes to playing time for 2023, but I’m not sure where he fits. Junior Colson is expected to start, with Jimmy Rolder or Ernest Hausmann or Michael Barrett taking the other inside linebacker spot. Pollard is also light, so maybe he’s not an inside linebacker . . . but there’s not a ton of room for a 206 lb. non-nickel on the field. If Michigan needs a nickel, they’ll probably go with a safety type. So I don’t necessarily buy the idea that Pollard will play much of a role on defense, but he should be a regular special teams contributor once again in 2023.

Prediction: Backup linebacker and special teamer