Linebacker Jordan Anthony has entered the transfer portal. Anthony just finished his third season in Ann Arbor.
Hit the jump for more.
Anthony was a Maryland native who finished his high school career at IMG Academy in Florida. He played linebacker and running back, spending what seemed like too much time at running back for a guy who was clearly a defensive player in the making. Rivals went out on a limb and gave him a 5-star rating, but the ratings settled out to place him as a 4-star, the #8 outside linebacker, and #106 overall.
He signed in the class of 2017 but redshirted his first year. As a redshirt freshman in 2018, he made 3 total tackles in seven games. His playing time expanded a little bit at the beginning of 2019 after the departure of Devin Bush, Jr., but he was quickly passed at middle linebacker by classmate Joshua Ross; when Ross got injured, it was the younger Cam McGrone who stepped in to play middle linebacker. Meanwhile, the weakside linebacker spot was won by walk-on Jordan Glasgow. Anthony made 11 tackles and 1 quarterback hurry in 2019 but did not play in the final three games of the year.
Anthony finishes his Michigan career (barring a change of heart) with 14 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 sack, and 1 quarterback hurry.
With Glasgow’s graduation, the 2020 inside linebackers are likely to be Ross and McGrone. With all the highly touted linebacker recruits brought in over the past few classes, there was bound to be some attrition. For what it’s worth, my TTB Ratings of the aforementioned trio went McGrone (80), Ross (79), and Anthony (69). I thought Anthony had some decent physical traits, but his instincts and reaction times weren’t on par with the other two.
Anthony is the second linebacker from the 2017 class to depart, joining Drew Singleton (Rutgers), and the twelfth departure overall from the 30-man class that cycle.
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From what little I saw of him play was not impressed. How big a loss do you think this is, Thunder?
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Well, as you can see by the TTB Ratings, I’ve never been very high on Anthony. I thought it was really weird that IMG was playing him exclusively at running back when he was being recruited as a linebacker. After watching him at the college level, too, I think my original thoughts were justified.
The one issue I see is a lack of experienced depth behind Ross and McGrone for next year. Devin Gil (if he returns) has played quite a bit, but after that it’s sophomore Anthony Solomon, redshirt freshman Charles Thomas, and true freshmen. And while Michigan had kind of a similar situation this year (Ross and Glasgow, then Gil, then young guys) and it worked out okay, nobody in that freshman group for 2020 is as good as McGrone.
So this isn’t a big loss…unless someone gets hurt.
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