Goodbye, Wayne Lyons

Wayne Lyons (image via MLive)

HIGH SCHOOL
Lyons was listed at 5’11”, 185 lbs. coming out of Fort Lauderdale (FL) Dillard and was a 4-star, the #5 safety, and #98 overall in the 247 Composite rankings. He was a U.S. Army All-American. I wrote a scouting report on him when Michigan was recruiting him in the 2011 class (LINK). He ended up committing to the Stanford Cardinal shortly before National Signing Day.

COLLEGE
Lyons played a bit as a true freshman at Stanford in 2011 before an injury shortened his season, so he took a medical redshirt. He then became a part-time starter for the next three seasons, including his best year in 2013, a 69-tackle, 2-interception effort for the Cardinal. However, he was relegated to coming off the bench in 2014 and sought greener pastures. Both Michigan and Jim Harbaugh – who was at Stanford for most of Lyons’s recruitment – had pursued him coming out of high school, so it seemed like a good fit. However, he had a difficult time cracking the lineup at Michigan, and the secondary stayed largely injury-free, so he played sparingly during his final year of eligibility.

Hit the jump for more on Lyons’s career at Michigan.

STATS
At Michigan in 2015: 6 tackles, 1 PBU
At Stanford from 2011-2014: 126 tackles, 4.5 TFLs, 3 INTs, 6 PBUS, 2 FF, 1 FR

AWARDS
None

SUMMARY
Having followed Lyons coming out of high school, I was a little bit surprised that he could not find more playing time at Michigan. Michigan’s secondary was one of the best in the country in 2015, but it was not without some weaknesses. Lyons was a cornerback/safety tweener, so he could have taken snaps at a number of positions, but he didn’t push for playing time even when one of the corner spots was a seesaw battle between Channing Stribling and Jeremy Clark. I also expected Lyons to bulk up more than he did, but at 6’1″, 193 lbs. at Michigan, his physique was limiting. He did not make any impact plays, and his most notable snap was when he failed to stop Michigan State’s last-second punt block for a touchdown, though that would have been a tough play for anyone to make. I can’t help feeling like Lyons left my expectations unfulfilled, although the Wolverines were at a point where heavy contributions from him were not needed.

I WILL REMEMBER HIM FOR…
…maybe kinda sorta forcing Blake Countess to transfer. For being a relatively low-impact player at Michigan, Lyons’s most significant actions had very little to do with his accomplishments on the field. Michigan had an all-conference cornerback in 2013 who had a mediocre year in 2014, but as a rising fifth year senior, he was expected to start in the Wolverines’ defensive backfield in 2015. It was announced that Lyons would be transferring in to compete for playing time, and Countess up and transferred to Auburn. (Statistically, Countess had a mediocre season, but defensive coordinator Will Muschamp said he was the Tigers’ best defender in 2015.) We may never know how much Lyons had to do with Countess’s departure, and the emergence of Stribling/Clark may have been a bigger factor, but it’s something to consider. And on another note, Michigan hired Lyons’s mother, Gwendolyn Bush, last winter as kind of a “team mom,” which had some people believing Harbaugh was just hiring people to get their kids on campus. Never mind that Bush was qualified for the job and Lyons wasn’t a difference-maker. Even so, the most buzzworthy events surrounding Lyons’s time at Michigan had to do with his mom getting a new job, another kid transferring, and a botched punt snap against Michigan State.

PROJECTION
According to NFL Draft Scout, Lyons measured in at a shade under 5’11” and 190 lbs. during Michigan’s pro day in March. He ran a 4.58 forty, showed off a 35.5″ vertical, and a 10’3″ broad jump. He also did 12 bench press reps at 225 lbs. None of those numbers stands out as a defensive back, though they’re not bad. He will almost certainly not be drafted, and he will really have to show out at workouts or mini-camps if he wants to stick on a roster or practice squad. Ultimately, he lost his job at Stanford, rarely stepped on the field at Michigan, and doesn’t have a great deal of production on his resume. I doubt that he musters much of a pro career.

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