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2016 Season Countdown: #16 Kenny Allen

Kenny Allen (#91, image via ABC 7 News)

Name: Kenny Allen
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 222 lbs.
High school: Fenton (MI) Fenton
Position: Kicker/punter
Class: Fifth year senior
Jersey number: #91
Last year: I ranked Allen #80 and said he would be the backup kicker, punter, and holder (LINK). He was the starting placekicker and kickoff specialist.

Boy, was I wrong about Allen in 2015. I had heard going into the season that Allen was likely to be the backup to Kyle Seychel at placekicker, and that was backed up by the fact that Seychel was doing the placekicking in the 2015 spring game. Allen, who had come to Michigan as a punter, was told by Jim Harbaugh to work on his kicking skills. He did. And he beat out Seychel. And by the end of the year, Seychel was no longer a part of the program. Allen hit 18/22 field goals (81.8%) with a long of 47 yards, and he was 47/47 on extra points. He also averaged 61.4 yards on kickoffs, and he even punted once for 57 yards.

Punter Blake O’Neill exhausted his eligibility last season, so now Allen might pull triple duty this year as the kickoff specialist, placekicker, and punter. Michigan did recruit the #1 kicker in the country, Quinn Nordin, as part of the 2016 class. But Nordin is unlikely to beat out Allen for the placekicking or punting job. Allen proved himself as a kicker, and both of his career punts have traveled 51+ yards. The most likely place for Nordin to contribute would be on kickoffs, where Allen could get some rest and avoid the risk of injury that is sometimes involved when trying to make tackles and take on an occasional blocker. It’s also noteworthy that redshirt freshman Andrew David, a scholarship player from the 2015 class, recently left the program to transfer to TCU. David did not have a strong leg, but he may have been able to help as a pooch punter or extra point kicker. With David gone and Nordin the backup, Michigan could have a pretty rough go of it if Allen were to pull a hamstring or suffer some other unfortunate injury. In fact, I considered moving Allen higher on the list, but this is where he was prior to the news of David transferring, so this is where he stays.

Prediction: Starting placekicker, punter

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2016 Season Countdown: #17 Erik Magnuson

Erik Magnuson (image via Michigan Daily)

Name: Erik Magnuson
Height: 6’6″
Weight: 305 lbs.
High school: Carlsbad (CA) La Costa Canyon
Position: Offensive tackle
Class: Fifth year senior
Jersey number: #78
Last year: I ranked Magnuson #11 and said he would be the starting right tackle (LINK). He started twelve games at right tackle and was named Third Team All-Big Ten.

Magnuson had a hard time locking down a job in 2013 and 2014, as he bounced between tackle and guard, mostly sticking at the latter. Going into last season, he seemed to have become entrenched at right tackle, and that’s what played out during the year. He was the full-time starter on the right side, and for the most part, he held his own. He struggled against the truly elite edge players, and even this spring, he had a tendency to cross his feet against speed rushers and get off balance. His body hasn’t developed quite the way I expected, and he’s become a little rounder and less like a slab of muscle than I expected.

That last bit doesn’t matter so much at this point, because he is who he is. He’s a solid right tackle who earned All-Big Ten votes by both the coaches and media. I dropped him from #11 to #17 this year, not because I’m less confident in his abilities, but because there are other positions that are more critical and redshirt freshman Nolan Ulizio looked solid in the spring. There’s also the possibility that Ben Bredeson or Grant Newsome could back him up at right tackle, depending on which of those guys wins the left tackle gig. Much like my take on Kyle Kalis yesterday, I think there’s a good chance for Magnuson to once again be All-Big Ten based on his experience and participation on what should be a pretty good team this fall.

Prediction: Starting right tackle; Second Team All-Big Ten

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Ahmir Mitchell, Ex-Wolverine

Ahmir Mitchell (image via MLive)

Freshman wide receiver Ahmir Mitchell announced on Twitter that he plans to transfer. Mitchell was a class of 2016 signee who enrolled early at Michigan in January.

Mitchell is 6’3″, 204-pounder who could play wide receiver, safety, or outside linebacker in college. He was recruited to Michigan as a wideout, but there was a lot of speculation that he would end up playing defense. At one point during his recruitment, it looked like he would end up at Ohio State if they wanted him, but that didn’t really pan out. He was running with the second team in the spring – partially because of some injuries – but there was a good chance that he could have played this fall. Unfortunately, he got into some trouble during the summer, and he was going to be suspended for the year. Instead, he has chosen to transfer.

Hit the jump for more.

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Andrew David, Ex-Wolverine

Andrew David

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Redshirt freshman kicker Andrew David is reportedly transferring to TCU, which is an interesting location, considering that senior running back Derrick Green is also headed there.

David committed to Michigan in June of 2013 as part of the 2015 recruiting class (LINK). He was a 3-star and the #9 kicker in that class. He redshirted last year. I’m admittedly not an expert on kicking, so I mostly left it up to the recruiting sites to determine whether he was any good or not, and they generally thought he was. However, I did not hear great things coming out of practice about him, and when I saw him kicking at Ford Field this spring, I was very underwhelmed. After redshirting in 2015, he was expected to ride the bench this year with fifth year senior Kenny Allen and perhaps true freshman Quinn Nordin handling kickoffs, punts, and placekicking.

David is the second player from the 14-man class of 2015 to depart, joining wide receiver/safety Brian Cole (East Mississippi Community College).

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Jalil Irvin, Ex-Wolverine

Stone Mountain (GA) Stephenson OG Jalil Irvin

Stone Mountain (GA) Stephenson offensive guard Jalil Irvin decommitted from Michigan on Tuesday. He committed to Michigan in June (LINK).

Irvin still has Michigan in his top five and will consider the Wolverines going forward. I originally compared him to former Michigan offensive guard Patrick Omameh, since he’s an athletic guard who can grow into being a lineman at the next level. As a 2018 prospect, it’s too early to regret his departure from the class too much, but it’s reason not to get too invested in these early commitments. Michigan has already offered several other offensive guard prospects, including Indiana’s Emil Ekiyor, Michigan’s own Marquan McCall, and Georgian Jamaree Salyer, among others.

This is the third decommitment for Michigan in two days, as 2017 defensive tackle Aubrey Solomon (LINK) and 2018 defensive end Leonard Taylor (post yet to come) both backed off their commitments on Monday.

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