2018 Under Armour All-American Game

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3Jan 2018
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2018 Under Armour All-American Game

Myles Sims (image via Detroit News)

The 2018 Under Armour All-American Game will take place on January 4, 2018, at 6:00 p.m. EST. Played in Orlando, FL, it will be broadcast on ESPN. Below are the Michigan offerees who will be participating.

TEAM HIGHLIGHT

  • QB Jacob Sirmon (Washington), #22
  • QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson (UCLA), #14
  • RB Keaontay Ingram (Texas), #28
  • RB Brian Snead (Ohio State), #7
  • WR Tommy Bush, #11
  • WR Ja’Marr Chase, #10
  • WR Jacob Copeland, #5
  • WR Jalen Preston (Texas A&M), #15
  • WR Alontae Taylor (Tennessee), #13
  • TE Malcolm Epps (Texas), #8
  • TE Brevin Jordan (Miami), #9
  • OL Jaelyn Duncan (Maryland), #70
  • OL Curtis Dunlap (Minnesota), #77
  • OL Daniel Fa’alele (Minnesota), #72
  • DE Eyabi Anoma (Alabama), #9
  • DE Tyreke Smith (Ohio State), #14*
  • DT Keondre Coburn (Texas), #99
  • CB Kalon Gervin (Michigan State), #11
  • CB Olaijah Griffin (UCLA), #2
  • S Trey Dean (Florida), #3
  • S B.J. Foster (Texas), #25

TEAM SPOTLIGHT

  • QB Joey Gatewood (Auburn), #2
  • QB Jack West (Stanford), #12
  • WR Matt Hill (Auburn), #17
  • WR Elijah Moore (Ole Miss), #11
  • WR Joshua Moore, #6
  • WR Justin Ross, #5
  • WR Anthony Schwartz, #10
  • WR Justin Shorter (Penn State), #15
  • WR Xavier Williams (Alabama), #4
  • TE Mustapha Muhammad (Michigan), #80
  • OL Tommy Brown (Alabama), #75
  • OL Verdis Brown (Illinois), #58
  • OL Richard Gouraige (Florida), #77
  • OL P.J. Mustipher (Penn State), #55
  • OL Nicholas Petit-Frere, #78
  • DE K.J. Henry (Clemson), #5
  • DE Jayson Oweh, #22
  • DE Stephon Wynn (Alabama), #90
  • DT Robert Cooper (Florida State), #8
  • DT Austin Fontaine (Maryland), #79
  • DT Coynis Miller (Auburn), #30
  • LB Nik Bonitto, #15*
  • CB Al Blades, Jr. (Miami), #7
  • CB Houston Griffith (Notre Dame), #3
  • CB Anthony Lytton (Florida State), #2
  • CB Asante Samuel, Jr. (Florida State), #13
  • CB Myles Sims (Michigan), #6
  • S Quindarious Monday (Auburn), #21

*Announcing his college decision during game

1Jan 2018
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Outback Bowl: South Carolina 26, Michigan 19

Take a deep breath. Take a deep breath. It’s hard after that game not to be very frustrated with the state of Michigan football, but I’ll say the same thing I said toward the end of the regular season: This was not going to be a great season from the beginning. Michigan lost almost everyone on defense from 2016, lost a bunch of production on offense, and lost three offensive line starters. They also didn’t get back their starting LT who got injured from last year, got their best WR hurt, and lost their starting four games into the year. If you’re an objective observer, you can probably admit that those are some huge, huge hurdles to overcome.

Hit the jump for the rest of the game discussion.

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31Dec 2017
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Outback Bowl Preview: Michigan vs. South Carolina

RUSH OFFENSE vs. SOUTH CAROLINA RUSH DEFENSE

Michigan is #40 in rush offense (186 yards/game) and #54 in yards per rush (4.51). They are led by junior Karan Higdon, who is 71 yards shy of 1,000 yards for the season (147 carries, 929 yards, 6.3 YPC, 11 TDs). Junior backup Chris Evans came on stronger during the second half of the season, and he sits at 661 yards, 5.3 YPC, and 6 TDs. Both players started their ascent during the latter half of the year, which is when the offensive line started to gel in the running game. The right side of the line will probably be totally different than the way it started the season, because right guard Michael Onwenu (replaced by Cesar Ruiz) and right tackle Nolan Ulizio (replaced by Juwann Bushell-Beatty) both struggled mightily in pass protection. Oddly enough, Bushell-Beatty has been superior in both phases, and Ruiz has been good enough in the run game that Michigan hasn’t really missed Onwenu. Michigan is #10 in Adjusted Line Yards and #9 in Power Success Rate. Defensively, South Carolina is #41 in Adjusted Line Yards and #123 in Power Success Rate, and that ALY number is their highest ranking in any of Football Outsiders’ nine categories. They are #45 in rushing defense (147 yards allowed/game) and #42 in yards per carry allowed (3.9). They are not great, but they have been very consistent, allowing anywhere from 2.54 to 4.84 yards per carry in every game. (For some perspective, Michigan has a higher ranked rushing defense but allowed opponents anywhere from 0.41 to 6.4 yards/carry.) The Gamecocks are led in tackles by 6’2″, 218 lb. senior WILL Skai Moore, who is their best overall defender with 88 tackles, 8 TFLs, 2 sacks, and 3 INTs). Sophomore MIKE T.J. Brunson (6’1″, 230 lbs.) is second with 75 tackles, and senior strong safety Chris Lammons (5’10”, 190) has 70. Sophomore weakside end D.J. Wonnum (6’4″, 251) leads the squad with 13 tackles for loss. Sometimes crazy things happen in bowl games, but the numbers suggest Michigan should be able to run the ball okay but won’t go hogwild.
Advantage: Michigan

Hit the jump for the rest of the preview.

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31Dec 2017
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Ja’Raymond Hall, Ex-Wolverine

Ja’Raymond Hall (image via 247 Sports)

Freshman offensive lineman Ja’Raymond Hall has elected to transfer. A graduate of Oak Park (MI) Oak Park, he enrolled early but did not play at all during this season. He will have to sit out the 2018 season due to NCAA transfer rules, and he will be a redshirt sophomore when he’s finally eligible to play in a college game in 2019.

Hall was an early addition to the 2017 class, committing in December of 2015. I gave him a final TTB Rating of 77. As an offensive tackle/offensive guard tweener, I thought he was a solid developmental piece, but there are other guys in the class ahead of him and in his class who have higher potential. I also thought Hall lost a little of his athleticism as he added weight during his senior year, and obviously tackles are at a higher premium than guards. This does hurt overall depth on the offensive line, however, a position that Michigan has struggled to recruit as effectively as I expected under Jim Harbaugh.

Hall is the first member of the 30-man class of 2017 to depart. Here’s a look at Michigan’s 2018 scholarship chart with Hall removed (LINK).

30Dec 2017
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Ben Herbert will be Michigan’s new S&C coach

Ben Herbert (right, with Bret Bielema)

Michigan is hiring Ben Herbert to succeed Kevin Tolbert as the strength and conditioning coordinator. Herbert was previously at Wisconsin and Arkansas, spending a lot of time with Bret Bielema, who was fired from at the end of the regular season.

I’m not knowledgeable enough in the area of strength coaches to know who was available or interested, but I was hoping Michigan would hire someone from a physical program, and Wisconsin and Arkansas both count. Here’s a link to Herbert’s bio on the Arkansas website (LINK).

I think Michigan has been caught in a No Man’s Land lately when it comes to the offensive line, which is the biggest spot that needs to be shored up from an S&C standpoint. They don’t have an identity. Do they want to be thin and athletic to run inside/outside zone? Do they want to be huge to run power and inside zone? Or do they want to be somewhere in between so they can run a variety of things?

Here’s Arkansas’ starting line in 2017:

  • LT: 6’6″, 298
  • LG: 6’4″, 311
  • C: 6’1″, 309
  • RG: 6’4″, 333
  • RT: 6’6″, 335

Michigan’s starting line in 2017:

  • LT: 6’5″, 305
  • LG: 6’5″, 310
  • C: 6’6″, 302
  • RG: 6’3″, 315
  • RT: 6’5″, 325

That’s an average of 317.2 lbs. for Arkansas, and it’s 311 lbs. for Michigan. That’s only about a 6 lb. difference, but why was Arkansas’ 6’1″ center heavier than Michigan’s 6’6″ center? Why isn’t a guy with Ben Bredeson’s frame playing guard around 320 lbs.?

For the record, I’m okay with having beefy inside guys paired with more athletic tackles, but Michigan hasn’t had that over the past few years. They’ve had a bunch of guard types playing tackle, and they’re neither athletic enough on the edge to hold up against pass rushers nor strong enough to get a push up the middle on combo blocks. If you’re going to roll a bunch of guards out there as your entire offensive line, then you might as well have them bulky enough to get a push. Because when you establish the running game, it slows down the pass rush enough that it can get the defense a half step out of position, thus allowing your slightly less athletic offensive linemen to do what they need to do.

This should be a solid hire for Michigan going forward.