Goodbye, Chase Winovich

Goodbye, Chase Winovich


June 14, 2019
Chase Winovich (image via MGoBlue)

HIGH SCHOOL
I did a scouting report on Winovich after his junior year of high school (LINK) and gave him a TTB Rating of 79 (LINK). He ended the cycle as a 4-star, the #24 outside linebacker, and #299 overall. I’ll pat myself on the back for this take from that scouting report:

At his height he should end up around 240-250 lbs. by the time he’s a college upperclassman.  Since there’s so much physical development in the works, it’s hard to project what kind of athlete he might be; however, I think he could be a BCS all-conference type of player if he can maintain his athleticism.

And this is just ridiculous(ly coincidental) on my player comparison:

Crable…had good speed and a knack for getting skinny to avoid blockers and shoot gaps.

You might know where I’m going with this. Winovich was picked in the 3rd round, #77 overall, by the Patriots. Crable was picked in the third round…#78 overall…by the Patriots.

Hit the jump for more on Winovich’s career.

COLLEGE
Winovich was recruited as a SAM linebacker by then defensive coordinator Greg Mattison, and as expected, he redshirted during his first year – which was Mattison’s last as defensive coordinator and Brady Hoke’s last as head coach. The 2015 season brought Jim Harbaugh…and a switch for Winovich to fullback/tight end. That didn’t seem like a terrible move for Winovich, who was a standout running quarterback in high school, but the move didn’t take. He played some special teams, but that was it. For the 2016 season, he moved back to defense but to weakside defensive end, where he pestered offensive linemen non-stop. Backing up Taco Charlton, he made 35 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, and 5 sacks, and a star was born. He became a starter once Charlton moved to the NFL, making 79 tackles, 18 tackles for loss, and 9.5 sacks as a redshirt junior. Returning for a fifth year in 2018, he made 69 tackles, 17 tackles for loss, and 5 sacks.

CAREER STATISTICS
185 tackles, 44.5 tackles for loss, 18 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, 3 fumble recoveries, and 1 pass breakup

AWARDS
Third Team AP All-American (2018)
Second Team AFCA All-American (2018)
Blue Collar Award (2017)
First Team All-Big Ten (coaches, 2018; media, 2017-2018)
Second Team All-Big Ten (coaches, 2017)
Bo Schembechler MVP Team Award (2018)
Richard Katcher Award (2018)

SUMMARY
Winovich came in as a project that everyone knew would take some time to develop. He was a 4-3 Under outside linebacker to begin his career, but the changing coaching staff – and changing landscape of defense in college football – has largely caused that traditional position to disappear in favor of smaller, quicker players. Instead of being eradicated from the game, Winovich tried offense and eventually transitioned to a weakside end spot, doing similar things to what he would have done as an OLB – just with his hand down instead of in a two-point stance. He ended his career as a fan favorite, #4 all-time at Michigan in tackles for loss, and tied for #5 all-time in sacks.

I WILL REMEMBER HIM FOR…
…playing with reckless abandon. The long hair contributed to this, but there’s just something about the way Winovich plays that makes me like him. As I mentioned above, he’s relentless and a pest. I expected pretty good things from him coming out of high school, but when I saw him at the open spring practice at Ford Field in April of 2016, I knew he was going to break out soon. Even though he had just switched back from offense, he was terrorizing the offensive line.

PROJECTION
The NFL Draft already took place, but I expect Winovich to make a nice career for himself as an NFL edge rusher. He fits really well with what the Patriots and Bill Belichick like to do defensively and with the culture there.

8 comments

  1. Comments: 13
    Joined: 12/17/2015
    MGoStrength
    Jun 14, 2019 at 8:57 AM

    I’m not super familiar with the TBB ranking, but 79 sounds kind of average, like a starter for a year or two, but nothing special. Shouldn’t that be higher for a two time all conference player and all american?

    • Comments: 400
      Joined: 12/24/2016
      INTJohn
      Jun 14, 2019 at 9:22 AM

      You should’ve checked out his rankings of the girl pix he used to post……..

      They were all 69’s……………INTJohn

      • Comments: 3844
        Joined: 7/13/2015
        Jun 14, 2019 at 12:45 PM

        Come on, man…a few of them were 100s!

    • Comments: 359
      Joined: 8/11/2015
      GKblue
      Jun 14, 2019 at 12:38 PM

      That ranking was well prior to his accomplishments here, even then it represents a solid starter in the B!G. Use the ranking tab above to see the ranking spread.

      Winovich met or exceeded the expectations most had of him. His all out play is a great legacy to leave for others to emulate. Besides we can only hope some of our guys regularly exceed Thunder’s rankings. Nobody would complain, not even him.

      • Comments: 3844
        Joined: 7/13/2015
        Jun 14, 2019 at 12:46 PM

        You are correct about those last two sentences. I hope every player exceeds my TTB ratings, because that means good things are happening for the program.

    • Comments: 3844
      Joined: 7/13/2015
      Jun 14, 2019 at 12:45 PM

      You know what they say – hindsight is 50/50.

      All joking aside, I gave that 79 rating to him when he committed to Michigan. Was it too low? Yes. Still a pretty good ranking, but I would say it’s pretty on par with the 4-star ranking (#299 overall) he got from the recruiting services, if not higher. I said in the scouting report that I thought he could be a BCS all-conference player, which is pretty well correlated with playing in the NFL.

      Also, I do a review of my TTB rankings, like this one that I published a couple weeks ago on the 2012 class: https://touch-the-banner.com/review-of-2012-ttb-ratings/

      So I do hold myself accountable. I don’t really sweep my misses under the rug.

  2. Comments: 1863
    Joined: 1/19/2016
    je93
    Jun 14, 2019 at 9:45 AM

    Loved Chase. Playing with his hair on fire says it well!

  3. Comments: 40
    Joined: 9/24/2017
    bluegoinggray
    Jun 14, 2019 at 10:50 AM

    Love me some Chase Winovich. Lots of fond memories. Wish him the best in New England.

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