Tag: 2011 NFL draft

NFL Draft Preview: Ex-Wolverine-style

Justin Boren.

This is slightly related to yesterday’s NFL Draft Preview: Michigan-style and completely related to the Ex-Wolverine Encyclopedia.  I will freely admit that I didn’t put too much effort into this post, because I dislike two of the four players highlighted, and the other two aren’t exactly Boy Scouts.  One is a traitor, one is a reported alcoholic, and two are borderline criminals.  So I won’t exactly be rooting for any of these guys, but it will still be slightly interesting to see when and if they’re drafted.  Those players are:

Justin Boren – OG – Ohio State
Boren, who played for Michigan from 2006-07, transferred to Ohio State and played the 2009-10 seasons for the Buckeyes.  He is 6’3″, 311 lbs. and rated the #17 offensive guard by NFL Draft Scout.
Projection: 7th round or free agent

Eugene Germany – DE – Central Washington
Germany, who was on Michigans team from 2005-06, transferred to Arizona State and then Central Washington.  He is 6’2″, 270 lbs. and rated the #76 defensive end by NFL Draft Scout.
Projection: Free agent


Ryan Mallett – QB – Arkansas
Mallett, who played for Michigan in 2007, transferred to Arkansas and played the 2009-10 seasons for the Razorbacks.  He is 6’7″, 253 lbs. and rated as one of the top five or six quarterbacks.  A potential first round prospect at one time, his stock seems to have dropped off because of serious character issues.  Michigan fans predicted this approximately halfway through Mallett’s freshman year.
Projection: 2nd round


Cobrani Mixon – ILB – Kent State
Mixon, who spent one year at Michigan in 2006, transferred to Kent State and played the 2008-10 seasons for the Golden Flashes.  He is 6’1″, 241 lbs. and rated the #20 inside linebacker by NFL Draft Scout.
Projection: 7th round or free agent

NFL Draft Preview: Michigan-style

Jonas Mouton (#8) should be one of just two Michigan players drafted this weekend

The NFL Draft has always been a fun time for me, because I would always sit around and wait for the next Michigan player’s name to get called.  Between watching for a Michigan player to get drafted and waiting for the Lions to pick, one Saturday in April was perhaps the most exciting day of the football off-season.  But Michigan’s production of NFL players has waned in recent years.

Ever since six players were taken in the 2008 draft – four in the first three rounds – the Wolverines have only been able to muster five total draft picks in 2009 (4th round: Terrance Taylor; 6th: Morgan Trent) and 2010 (1st: Brandon Graham; 5th: Zoltan Mesko; 7th: Steve Brown).  That’s an average draft position of the 4.6th round.

By contrast, 60 players were taken from 1995-2007, an average of 4.62 per year.  On average, those players were drafted in the 3.68th round.  Not only has the number of Michigan draftees been lower in the past couple seasons, but they’re getting picked lower, too.

That average draft position might rise slightly this year, but there will probably only be two Wolverines chosen this coming weekend:


Jonas Mouton – Linebacker
Mouton measured in at the NFL Combine at 6’1″ and 239 lbs.  I think he could play a couple positions, either as a weak inside linebacker in a 3-4 or as a weakside outside linebacker in a 4-3.  He’s pretty solid in coverage and changes direction well (video here, senior profile here).
Projection: 5th round to the Patriots


Steve Schilling – Offensive guard
Schilling measured in at the NFL Combine at 6’5″, 304 lbs.  He had a pretty good Combine performance, but nothing stellar.  He played a lot of offensive tackle at Michigan, but I think he’s strictly a guard at the next level.  Four years of starting experience should help him (senior profile here).
Projection: 4th round to the Browns


Undrafted: DT Greg Banks, OT Perry Dorrestein, LB Obi Ezeh, OG John Ferrara, LB Kevin Leach, FB/LB Mark Moundros, DE/DT Adam Patterson, CB James Rogers, DT Renaldo Sagesse, TE Martell Webb


I do think there is a remote chance that two other players get drafted late – Obi Ezeh and Martell Webb.  Ezeh was, for all intents and purposes, a four-year starter at middle linebacker.  That might be worth something to a team late in the draft.  And Webb turned into a very good blocker.  If a team is looking for a cheap blocking tight end in the 7th round, they could do worse than picking a 6’4″, 268-pounder with decent athleticism.