Posts under: Blog

2017 Season Countdown: #57 Reuben Jones

Reuben Jones (#4, image via MGoBlog)

Name: Reuben Jones
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 222 lbs.
High school: Lakeland (FL) Lake Gibson
Position: Defensive end
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #4
Last year: I ranked Jones #53 and said he would be a backup weakside end. He made 2 tackles.
TTB Rating: 67

It’s hard to pin down this Jones kid. He came in as a weakside end, but he played middle linebacker a little bit for his first two years on campus. Even in year two, he was listed at 6’4″ and 222 lbs., which means he’s thin even for a linebacker. Due to that alone, it’s not surprising that he hasn’t earned a ton of playing time. What he has done, however, is win Scout Team Player of the Week, and he finished as Michigan’s fifth-best Scout Team Player of the Year at the annual football bust (LINK). Is that good or not? I don’t know. On the one hand, hooray for a guy who busts his butt on the scout team. On the other hand, the other guys in that top five were all walk-ons.

Michigan needs someone to step up at weakside end to back up Chase Winovich. There’s an opportunity for Jones to take that #2 spot, but competition exists in a couple other forms. I think he’ll have a battle on his hands from some freshmen, especially Luiji Vilain. Jones won’t win the gig if he stays at 222 lbs., but the spirit that helped him earn STPOTW might get him some opportunities on the kickoff, kickoff return, punt, and punt return teams.

Prediction: Backup defensive end

7-4-17 Recruiting Update: Recruiting Sam’s Son

Michael Johnson, Jr. (image via Mercury News)

ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2019

Everett (MA) Everett safety Lewis Cine was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’2″, 170 lb. prospect with offers from Florida, Indiana, Louisville, and Rutgers, among others. Cine is a hard-hitting safety from Don Brown’s old stomping grounds.

Eugene (OR) Sheldon quarterback Michael Johnson, Jr. was offered by Michigan. Johnson is a 6’3″, 185 lb. prospect with offers from Arizona, Georgia, LSU, Ohio State, and Oregon, among others. He claims a 4.57 forty. Jim Harbaugh took some ill-informed heat when it looked like Johnson’s dad – Michael Johnson, Sr. – was going to be hired onto Michigan’s staff. Instead, he was hired by Oregon when the tenth assistant coach job was pushed back to 2018, yet there wasn’t much blowback when Oregon hired the father of a recruit.

Hit the jump for some more new offers, as well as some guys who came off the board.

read more

2017 Season Countdown: #58 Jordan Anthony

Jordan Anthony (image via Scout)

Name: Jordan Anthony
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 220 lbs.
High school: Bradenton (FL) IMG Academy
Position: Linebacker
Class: Freshman
Jersey number: N/A
Last year: Anthony was a senior in high school.
TTB Rating: 79

Anthony was a nice win on the recruiting trail for Michigan’s staff. Early on when he lived in Maryland, it looked like he would stay on the East Coast, quite possibly at Maryland. Once he transferred to IMG Academy in Florida, it seemed like he became more open to playing elsewhere. He was rumored to be a silent commitment to Michigan for several months, and he finally made it public in December.

I have some questions about Anthony, partly because of size and partly because of him bouncing around from position to position. He played running back almost exclusively as a junior, and then he returned to the linebacker position as a senior. Rivals saw enough out of him to bump him up to a 5-star prospect, which is a little surprising for a guy who’s probably not even 6’0″ and who doesn’t seem to have truly elite athleticism. Those questions aside, I do have Anthony ranked as the most likely freshman to contribute in 2017. He has the positional flexibility to contribute at either WILL or SAM, and Michigan has a need for contributors at both positions. I also think he has the quickness to overcome some size deficiencies, and we saw a similar player (Devin Bush, Jr.) contribute last year.

Prediction: Backup linebacker

2017 Season Countdown: #59 Joshua Ross

Joshua Ross (#5) with teammate and WMU signee Dwayne Chapman (image via Scout)

Thanks to Peter for the Paypal donation!

Name: Joshua Ross
Height: 6’1″
Weight: 221 lbs.
High school: Orchard Lake (MI) St. Mary’s
Position: Linebacker
Class: Freshman
Jersey number: N/A
Last year: Ross was a senior in high school.
TTB Rating: 79

Ross, whose older brother James also played at Michigan, seemed like a lock to also be a Wolverine. And yet. He dragged his feet a little bit, flirting with the likes of Notre Dame and Oklahoma. It seemed late in the game when he finally committed to Michigan in late March of 2016, although in truth, that was still over 10 months away from National Signing Day. He earned some decent offers without reeling in many big-timers, and he ended up as the #9 inside linebacker and #214 overall in the 247 Composite.

Ross has a good chance to play this season, even if he is a bit undersized for a MIKE linebacker. Michigan plans to use him in the middle, and he’s not as athletic as Devin Bush, Jr., who played as a true freshman last season, mostly at WILL. The Wolverines had three guys in the spring that they seemed to trust in Bush, Mike McCray II, and Mike Wroblewski, but I think Wroblewski will get passed by someone, whether it’s Ross or another freshman. Both McCray and Wroblewski will graduate after this season, so Michigan needs to groom two or three guys who can start or be heavily rotated in 2018. I think Ross will play some, but there are other guys who should be able to fill in if needed, too.

Prediction: Backup middle linebacker

Traffic and Income Report: May 2017

Many of you visit regularly, click on ads, buy things on Amazon, contribute via Paypal, etc. Here’s how that turns up on my end.

The following data comes from May of 2017:

Page views: 282,083
This is a drop of almost 90,000 pageviews in one month. I’m not really sure of the reason, though I assume it has to do with the lull after the spring game. May is a pretty slow month for college football – very little recruiting news, no buildup to spring football, and the regular season still a few months away.

Google AdSense revenue: $428.23

Amazon Affiliates revenue: $164.56

Sovrn revenue: $138.59
This was a slight increase from the month of April, so Sovrn stayed somewhat strong despite the drop in traffic. I imagine that’s partly due to Sovrn having a chance to regulate for my content and traffic. Hopefully when traffic bumps back up, there will be a corresponding jump from Sovrn.

Paypal donations: $0.00
Paypal is still not productive unless I’m specifically asking for donations, which is fine.

TOTAL INCOME: $731.38