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2018 Season Countdown: #8 Ben Bredeson

Ben Bredeson (#74, image via The Wolverine)

Name: Ben Bredeson
Height: 6’5″
Weight: 320 lbs.
High school: Hartland (WI) Arrowhead
Position: Offensive guard
Class: Junior
Jersey number: #74
Last year: I ranked Bredeson #9B and said he would be the starting left guard (LINK). He started twelve games at left guard.
TTB Rating: 88

Bredeson quickly became a very dependable interior lineman for Michigan. He started most of the season as a freshman, and he became a full-time starter in 2017. His sophomore campaign was good enough for him to be named Second Team All-Conference. He’s a massive lineman who looks like the tough, hard-nosed, road-grading Michigan offensive linemen of yesteryear.

The buzz coming out of Schembechler Hall is that Bredeson has been the team’s best lineman, and that’s not surprising. There are a lot of unproven players up front, and other than left guard, the next most solidified position is center Cesar Ruiz, who was primarily a backup last season and played a lot of right guard. Bredeson is of great value to the team, and that’s represented by the fact that he’s #8 on this list. At the same time, Michigan has a battle at right guard (Michael Onwenu vs. Stephen Spanellis) and a battle at right tackle (James Hudson vs. Juwann Bushell-Beatty), even though Onwenu and Bushell-Beatty have earned starting gigs before. I think Michigan could weather the loss of Bredeson by plugging in someone like Spanellis (or left tackle Jon Runyan, Jr.) temporarily, but it would be a setback. Led by new offensive line coach Ed Warinner, I think this line is going to be pretty solid in 2018.

Prediction: Starting left guard

2018 Season Countdown: #9 Tarik Black

Tarik Black (image via Michigan Daily)

Name: Tarik Black
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 215 lbs.
High school: Cheshire (CT) Cheshire Academy
Position: Wide receiver
Class: Redshirt freshman
Jersey number: #7
Last year: I ranked Black #27 and said he would be a starting wide receiver with 35 catches for 450 yards and 5 touchdowns (LINK). He caught 11 passes for 149 yards and 1 touchdown.
TTB Rating: 82

Black had a great start to his career, making 2 catches for 83 yards and 1 touchdown in the season opener against Florida. He was less effective against Cincinnati (4 catches for 11 yards) and had 5 catches for 55 yards against Air Force. Unfortunately, he also broke his foot against Air Force, which ended his season. Black entered college playing second fiddle to fellow receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones, but early on it looked like Black was more ready to contribute in college.

Now that he’s healthy again, Black looks to be a starter on the outside. He should be one of the guys who benefits most from having an experienced, talented quarterback in Shea Patterson. Black is big and strong with good speed and ball skills. Normally a guy with 11 career catches wouldn’t be ranked this high in the countdown, but Michigan doesn’t have a lot of numbers at outside receiver now that Maurice Ways, Drake Harris, Kekoa Crawford, and others have moved on to greener pastures. Black is going to need to play – a lot – or else the Wolverines will find themselves with huge question marks on the outside.

Prediction: Starting wide receiver; 45 catches for 600 yards and 6 touchdowns

Deron Irving-Bey, Ex-Wolverine

Deron Irving-Bey

Redshirt freshman defensive tackle Deron Irving-Bey is transferring out of the program and is headed to Central Michigan. Irving-Bey is a 6’5″, 274-pounder who was a 4-star, the #9 strongside end, and #249 overall in the class of 2017. He will join fellow 2017 recruit Ja’Raymond Hall, an offensive guard, at CMU.

I gave Irving-Bey a TTB Rating of 59 when he committed (LINK) and parked him at #69 in this year’s countdown (LINK). This transfer is not at all surprising, though I thought he would stick around for a couple years before transferring. Despite playing in the 2017 Army All-American Bowl, I thought he was overrated by the recruiting sites.

Michigan has now lost three commits from that 2017 class, including Hall, Irving-Bey, and defensive end Corey Malone-Hatcher, who medically retired.

Final TTB Ratings for 2018

Aidan Hutchinson (image via Hudl)

Thanks to Bryan and Keith for the recent, generous donations through Paypal!

It’s been a long time coming because I’ve been so busy, but here are the final TTB Ratings for the class of 2018.

A note on the ratings: These are Michigan-specific ratings, so a guy who would be an instant starter at Eastern Michigan might not be quite so much of an individual standout playing against Michigan’s opponents . . . and he might even have a hard time getting on the field over some other Wolverines. It’s tricky trying to determine how the depth chart will shake out over the next three to five years, but I’m here for the heavy lifting. For more of an explanation, check out this page here (LINK).

Hit the jump for the final rankings.

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2018 Season Countdown: #10 Devin Bush, Jr.

Devin Bush, Jr. (image via Toledo Blade)

Name: Devin Bush, Jr.
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 233 lbs.
High school: Pembroke Pines (FL) Flanagan
Position: Linebacker
Class: Junior
Jersey number: #10
Last year: I ranked Bush #9A and said he would be the starting middle linebacker with 90 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, and 4 sacks (LINK). He made 102 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, and 1 interception.
TTB Rating: 85

A lot was expected of Bush in 2017 after he had been the one main backup linebacker to sub in for Ben Gedeon and Mike McCray in 2016. Bush did not disappoint. Through the first four games of 2017, Bush made 33 tackles, 6 tackles for loss, and 5 sacks. During that time Michigan rolled out a lot of 3-3 stack packages that flummoxed offenses who had not seen Michigan run that as a base defense, and Bush thrived running from sideline to sideline, especially when making 12 tackles against Air Force. After that opening third of the season, however, Bush’s production dropped off as Michigan went to more four-man fronts and opponents started game planning to neutralize Bush. Big Ten coaches named him First Team All-Big Ten and he won the Roger Zatkoff Award for the top linebacker on the team, even though senior Mike McCray II was on the team and the flashy Khaleke Hudson racked up a ton of tackles for loss playing Viper.

Michigan comes back with a very experienced defense in 2018, but nose tackle Maurice Hurst, Jr. has left for the NFL. Hurst helped keep offensive linemen off Bush, and it remains to be seen if his replacements can do that same. Even so, Bush has the speed, tenacity, and power to be a tackling machine. While the backup middle linebacker spot is undecided as of now, there are several highly rated recruits vying for time, including Drew Singleton, Josh Ross, and Cameron McGrone. It would be a big blow to the team if Bush were to miss time, but I’m confident that defensive coordinator Don Brown could come up with a scheme or “dude” to still make the defense elite without its stout middle linebacker. But if Bush stays healthy, he should be an all-conference guy once again who has to make a decision between life in Ann Arbor vs. life in the NFL.

Prediction: Starting middle linebacker; 95 tackles, 12 tackles for loss