Name: Carl Myers
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 268 lbs.
High school: Grand Rapids (MI) West Catholic
Position: Defensive tackle
Class: Sophomore
Jersey number: #54
Last year: I did not rank Myers. He played in one game.
This may seem like an odd place to spot a sophomore walk-on with only one game of playing experience, but here he stands anyway. Myers was a preferred walk-on coming into the 2016 season, so he seemed like a shoo-in for a redshirt. After all, how often do freshman interior lineman play, let alone walk-ons? He’s the first in my memory at Michigan. When Greg Mattison talks up walk-on linemen, I’ve learned not to disregard them. Will Heininger, Ryan Glasgow, etc., they all seem to be better than initially thought. Even Nathan Brink – who never contributed as much as the aforementioned guys – earned a scholarship, and he was unable to finish out his career due to injury.
Michigan has a way of coaching up these guys, so I don’t see any reason to expect much less from Myers. He probably won’t be a mid-round draft pick like Glasgow, but I imagine he’ll be serviceable at some point. And Michigan could use “serviceable” at backup defensive tackle. I have Myers, Lawrence Marshall, Jr., and James Hudson III bunched up here in the 60s, and any one of them could factor into the rotation this fall. With Maurice Hurst, Jr. starting at 3-tech and Michael Dwumfour penciled in as his backup, there might not be a huge need for crunch-time snaps from the trio; however, Dwumfour has been held back by injury, and it wouldn’t be at all surprising to see one of these players have to step up. Myers saw action in game one last year, and the coaches seem to like him. All other things being equal, the coaching staff might want to reward Myers while also letting him serve as a motivational ploy for others.
Prediction: Backup defensive tackle