Posts under: Blog

2016 Season Countdown: #12 De’Veon Smith

De’Veon Smith (image via Sporting News)

Name: De’Veon Smith
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 228 lbs.
High school: Warren (OH) Howland
Position: Running back
Class: Senior
Jersey number: #4
Last year: I ranked Smith #21 and said he would be the starting running back with 150 carries, 700 yards, and 8 touchdowns (LINK). He started ten games and had 180 carries, 753 yards, and 6 touchdowns.

Smith embodies what Jim Harbaugh looks for in a running back: toughness, determination, and not dropping the football. That was why it seemed apparent that he would win the starting gig last year, and he did. He ran 180 times for 753 yards (4.2 yards/carry) and 6 touchdowns, and he added 19 catches for 159 yards (8.4 yards/catch) and 1 touchdown. The highlight of his season came against BYU when he disappeared into a pile of Michigan/BYU players and seemed to evaporate, appearing on the other side of the pile and running 60 yards for a touchdown, shaking off and spinning out of a tackle near the goal line.

Hit the jump for more on Smith.

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2016 Season Countdown: #13 Ben Braden

Ben Braden (image via Michigan Daily)

Name: Ben Braden
Height: 6’6″
Weight: 335 lbs.
High school: Rockford (MI) Rockford
Position: Offensive guard
Class: Fifth year senior
Jersey number: #71
Last year: I ranked Braden #17 and said he would be the starting right guard (LINK). He started thirteen games at left guard.

Going into the 2015 season, Braden was making a pretty big transition. At 6’6″ (and sometimes listed at 6’7″), he seemed a little tall for an offensive guard, and he had started at right tackle during the 2014 season. Brady Hoke had tried him at guard in the spring of 2014, but he was back to tackle by that fall. Jim Harbaugh committed to the left guard thing, and Braden was good enough to be named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten. He wasn’t as dominant as you would hope for somebody who’s 330+ pounds and was winning sprints for his position group, but the offensive playcalling favored running behind Braden and then tackle Mason Cole on the left side.

Braden should be back at left guard for the second season in a row, and I expect him to make at least an incremental improvement. He will need to be a little better because he will most likely have a first-time starter on his left, since Cole has moved to center. Whether it’s sophomore Grant Newsome or freshman Ben Bredeson at left tackle, it’s important for a team with a right-handed QB like Michigan to have a solid left side of the line, not only to protect the QB’s blind side, but to set up a convincing play action. I think Braden has a chance at being All-Big Ten this fall, since he should be a three-year starter at season’s end and Michigan should be a top-tier team in the Big Ten.

Prediction: Starting left guard

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2016 Season Countdown: #14 Amara Darboh

Amara Darboh

Name: Amara Darboh
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 215 lbs.
High school: West Des Moines (IA) Dowling Catholic
Position: Wide receiver
Class: Fifth year senior
Jersey number: #82
Last year: I ranked Darboh #6 and said he would have 50 catches for 650 yards and 4 touchdowns (LINK). He made 58 catches for 727 yards and 5 touchdowns.

I was impressed with the strides Darboh made from 2014 to 2015, and I mean that in a literal sense. Maybe being a full year recovered from his foot injury made the difference, or maybe it was the new strength and conditioning staff. But either way, he had a little extra juice, and Michigan took advantage of that at times by running some quick screens. The younger version of Darboh would have been chopped down quickly, but redshirt junior Darboh blew past some corners and stiff-armed others. As always, he was a reliable possession target, and he had one of the highlights of the year for the Wolverines when he made a leaping, twisting, one-handed catch against BYU. Darboh led the team in receptions and finished second to Jehu Chesson in both receptions and receiving yardage.

I’m dropping Darboh in this year’s countdown for a couple reasons. First of all, Chesson developed into the bigger receiving threat as the season went on. Second, I think the pack has caught up to Darboh a little bit, with Maurice Ways, Drake Harris, Grant Perry, and a couple freshmen being able to contribute. And third, with more receiving options at tight end, the wideouts could become less emphasized if the game plan, opponent, and personnel packages deem them so. Darboh will start and should remain a frequent target on the outside, but I don’t think he’s quite as valuable as last year, when he and Butt were the only proven targets.

Prediction: Starting wide receiver; 45 catches, 600 yards, 4 touchdowns

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2016 Season Countdown: #15 Bryan Mone

Bryan Mone (image via The Majors)

Name: Bryan Mone
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 310 lbs.
High school: Salt Lake City (UT) Highland
Position: Nose tackle
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #90
Last year: I ranked Mone #23 and said he would be a backup nose tackle (LINK). He suffered a broken leg and redshirted.

Mone earned a ton of hype last off-season after a mediocre freshman season in 2014. He made 9 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, and 1 fumble recovery as a true freshman. Naturally, the highly rated recruit was thought to be more valuable than the walk-on redshirt junior Ryan Glasgow, and the coaches did indeed say that when they ranked all their players, Mone was the #3 guy on the whole team. Maybe Glasgow was #1 or #2, but that seems unlikely. I don’t know why the coaches would lie, but I certainly didn’t think Mone was the third-best guy on the team. Either way, it didn’t matter because Mone broke his leg not long into August practices, and 325-pounders don’t recover quickly from broken legs. The Wolverines started Glasgow (who also eventually got hurt) and counted on the undersized Maurice Hurst, Jr. at times, along with other, uh, less qualified players. The run defense did okay for a while, but once Glasgow got injured, Indiana and Ohio State ran all over the place.

This year it sounds like Mone will once again be the #2 nose tackle. It might seem like a reach to rank the backup nose tackle at #15 in the countdown, but I’m a little nervous that Glasgow’s pectoral injury will linger. It’s also just tough to stay healthy on the interior defensive line, with guys hurting shoulders, getting rolled up on, etc. Michigan will rotate a lot of guys on the defense line, and the toughest teams to beat on the schedule are Michigan State and Ohio State, both of whom employ power running games. The Wolverines will need Glasgow and Mone to beat those teams, so he’s an important cog in the defense. I also like the fact that he has dropped about 15 lbs. since last season. When he came out of high school, I mentioned that he moved a lot better at a lighter weight and I was concerned with the extra pounds he added as a senior. By no means is he a lightweight at 310, but he should be moving better and playing with more energy at his new weight. I have seen speculation that he could earn himself a spot in the 2017 NFL Draft, but it’s more likely that he positions himself for a big-time role in 2017 and perhaps some notoriety heading into the 2018 draft.

Prediction: Backup nose tackle; 25 tackles, 3 sacks

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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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