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Ex-Wolverine Updates: 2017 Pre-season Edition

Shane Morris (image via Twitter)

TRANSFERS

OG Kyle Bosch: Bosch is expected to start at offensive guard for West Virginia. He’s currently ranked as the #11 offensive guard in the 2018 draft class by NFL Draft Scout.

WR/S Brian Cole: Cole spent the 2016 season at East Mississippi Community College, the school that’s the subject of the Netflix docuseries Last Chance U. Cole isn’t featured prominently, though he makes a couple cameos. Anyway, he made 54 tackles, 1 sack, 3 forced fumbles, and 2 fumble recoveries at safety. He enrolled at Mississippi State in January but he will have to redshirt this year to get in compliance with academic requirements.

RB Kingston Davis: Davis ran 2 times for 17 yards against Hawaii in last year’s season opener, and now he’s transferring to Independence Community College in Kansas. The assumption is that he’ll try to transfer back up to an FBS program in 2018.

Hit the jump for many, many more updates.

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2017 Season Countdown: #6 Chase Winovich

Chase Winovich (image via MLive)

Name: Chase Winovich
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 245 lbs.
High school: Jefferson Hills (PA) Thomas Jefferson
Position: Defensive end
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #15
Last year: I ranked Winovich #37 and said he would be a backup weakside end. He started two games and made 35 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, 5 sacks, and 1 forced fumble.
TTB Rating: 79

Winovich was an unknown quantity going into 2016 after spending 2014 as a linebacker and 2015 as a fullback/tight end. Jim Harbaugh liked his upside as an offensive player enough to move him to offense, but the high school quarterback didn’t seem to adjust to being a guy without the ball in his hands. But instead of moving back to linebacker, the staff bulked him up and plopped him at weakside end. I could see in the spring of 2016 that he was going to be quick enough and aggressive enough to pester offensive tackles and quarterbacks and be a contributor, and that came true. He backed up Taco Charlton at weakside end and finished the year with the second-most sacks on the team, despite being a backup.

Now that Charlton is with the Dallas Cowboys, Winovich’s spot is written in ink at weakside end. Some solid recruits back him up, but this is Winovich’s job. He should continue where he left off, and I expect an uptick in production now that he has been playing one spot for a second year in a row. He’s a smaller guy, but he plays with leverage and a non-stop motor. I think there’s a fair amount of talent in the Big Ten on the defensive line, but Winovich could be a second team all-conference guy this season.

Prediction: Starting weakside end; 40 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 9 sacks

2017 Season Countdown: #7 Patrick Kugler

Patrick Kugler (#57, image via Land of 10)

Name: Patrick Kugler
Height: 6’5″
Weight: 303 lbs.
High school: Wexford (PA) North Allegheny
Position: Center
Class: Fifth year senior
Jersey number: #57
Last year: I ranked Kugler #33 and said he would be the backup center. He started one game and played in five total.
TTB Rating: 83

Kugler came in with a lot of promise as a highly rated player and All-American. He was also the son of an NFL offensive line coach, who is now an FBS head coach at UTSA. It was thought that he would be ready to play center for Michigan by year two, maybe three. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case, and Michigan has had to rejigger its line several times to figure out the center spot, moving both Graham Glasgow and Mason Cole to center at times. Meanwhile, Kugler barely saw the field early in his career, and he started one game at left guard last season before ultimately being outplayed by freshman Ben Bredeson.

This year Kugler has finally appeared to seize the center position that we thought he would grab three years ago. Cole, who started at center in 2016 after playing left tackle the previous two years, is back at left tackle. Freshman Cesar Ruiz is battling at center and left guard, and he would probably be inserted if something were to happen to Kugler. One would think that Kugler would be ready to make the line calls as a fifth year senior, and the hope is that he can avoid mental mistakes while being able to hold up physically. In the spring, Ruiz looked the part physically, but he was a split second slow on recognizing blitzes. I would be very nervous if Michigan entrusted the center spot to a true freshman, even though Ruiz might be one of the best centers to come out of high school in a while.

Prediction: Starting center

2017 Season Countdown: #8 Khaleke Hudson

Khaleke Hudson (#7, image via MLive)

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Name: Khaleke Hudson
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 205 lbs.
High school: McKeesport (PA) McKeesport
Position: Viper
Class: Sophomore
Jersey number: #7
Last year: I ranked Hudson #46 and said he would be a backup strong safety. Hudson made 8 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, and 1 pass breakup.
TTB Rating: 80

Hudson looks like Tarzan and plays like Tarzan. He obliterated people in high school, and he struggled with digesting the defense in 2016, but he still blocked 2 punts. With a couple senior safeties and a pretty good sophomore in Tyree Kinnel, it wasn’t surprising that Hudson didn’t see the field much. The biggest question was whether Hudson or Josh Metellus would step forward first, and it seemed like the coaching staff thought Metellus was further ahead, since he stepped in for Jabrill Peppers in the bowl game.

Going into this spring, there were still questions about whether Hudson could handle the intricacies of the defense. After a few spring practices at Viper, the answer seemed to be a resounding YES. By almost all accounts, Hudson is just a hair away from being Jabrill Peppers; meanwhile, Metellus is no longer a factor at Viper and resides at strong safety. Nobody is a close second at Viper, but freshman Jaylen Kelly-Powell and redshirt sophomore Jordan Glasgow provide depth. It’s Hudson’s job unless something happens. I look forward to seeing Hudson support the run, chase after quarterbacks, and do his impression of a first round draft pick.

Prediction: Starting Viper; 65 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, 2 interceptions

2017 Season Countdown: #9A Devin Bush, Jr.

Devin Bush, Jr. (image via Detroit Free Press)

Name: Devin Bush, Jr.
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 232 lbs.
High school: Pembroke Pines (FL) Flanagan
Position: Linebacker
Class: Sophomore
Jersey number: #10
Last year: I ranked Bush #31 and said he would be a backup inside linebacker. He made 12 tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss.
TTB Rating: 85

Bush was the type of speedy, hard-hitting linebacker that Michigan seemed to have been lacking for years when he came out of high school in 2016. The son of a former NFLer and Florida State star, perhaps Bush’s pedigree got people a little more excited than normal, too. The recruiting sites liked him, but they didn’t love him. He was a shoo-in to play early after moving to campus in January 2016, partly because Michigan had very little depth at inside linebacker. Ben Gedeon and Mike McCray II held down the starting inside linebacker jobs and ate up the vast majority of snaps, but Bush was the #3 inside guy and held his own when given the opportunity.

Fast forward to 2017 camp, and the hype has continued inside the Michigan sphere. While Bush was mostly a WILL in 2016, he has taken over Gedeon’s vacated MIKE linebacker position, and the coaches like his ability to blitz and play sideline to sideline.  Despite lacking prototypical middle linebacker size, the 5’11”, 232-pounder can hold his own physically. Michigan has no proven depth at inside linebacker, and they’re likely counting on at least one freshman – Josh Ross, Drew Singleton, and/or Jordan Anthony – to be on the two-deep. Redshirt junior Jared Wangler has moved to fullback, but he wasn’t much of a threat to play meaningful snaps at linebacker, and the other potential contributors are second-year players. It’s a young position group aside from McCray, so keeping Bush on the field will be important with Michigan’s complicated defense.

Prediction: Starting middle linebacker; 90 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, 4 sacks