Tag: 2016 season countdown

2016 Season Countdown: #19 Mike McCray II

Mike McCray II

Name: Mike McCray II
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 248 lbs.
High school: Trotwood (OH) Trotwood-Madison
Position: Linebacker
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #8
Last year: I ranked McCray #32 and said he would be a backup linebacker and special teamer (LINK). He did not play at all due to injury.

Going into his fourth year, Michigan’s presumed starter at WILL linebacker has only played in eleven football games during his career. He redshirted in 2013, played some in 2014, and then missed all of 2015. His most noteworthy moment so far in a limited career was when he blocked a punt against Appalachian State in 2014, allowing fellow inside linebacker Ben Gedeon to return it for a touchdown. Last year a recurring shoulder injury held him out for the year, and Michigan’s linebacker play was questionable. It’s not clear whether he would have been a step up, but he would have at least provided competition.

Now there isn’t a ton of competition. Four senior linebackers departed, and the starting linebackers are the only linebackers who have ever stepped on the field in college. With Gedeon starting in the middle and Jabrill Peppers starting at SAM, that’s a pretty experienced duo. McCray, on the other hand, played mostly on special teams when he did see the field. He has bulked up to nearly 248 lbs. to handle the run-stuffing duties on the inside, while Michigan recruited a shorter, quicker backup for the WILL spot in Devin Bush, Jr. I expect Bush to spell McCray at times, and McCray would probably slide over to MIKE if anything were to happen to Gedeon. McCray did a nice job of tackling and stuffing the run in the spring, and he was decent in pass coverage coming out of high school a few years ago. Hopefully, he can stay healthy and be a pleasant surprise for the Wolverines in 2016.

Prediction: Starting WILL linebacker; 60 tackles

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2016 Season Countdown: #20 Delano Hill

Delano Hill (image via Detroit Jock City)

Name: Delano Hill
Height: 6’1″
Weight: 215 lbs.
High school: Detroit (MI) Cass Tech
Position: Safety
Class: Senior
Jersey number: #44
Last year: I ranked Hill #27 and said he would be the starting nickel safety with 25 tackles (LINK). He started eight games and made 46 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, and 2 pass breakups.

The second Hill in the countdown today, Delano earned a role as a part-time starting safety last season. To get an idea of how the safety position is played, with 13 games and two traditional starting safeties, Michigan handed out a total of 37 starts to safeties last year, including 13 to Jarrod Wilson, 12 to Jabrill Peppers, 8 to Hill, and 4 to Dymonte Thomas. It’s a position with a potential for a variety of roles. Hill was used largely as a strong safety who would play in the box, cover tight ends over the middle, or cover in the flat. He was mostly adept at supporting the run, making some nice open-field tackles, including a very nice one against Oregon State early in the year. His best game came against Indiana, when he made 10 tackles and a game-sealing pass breakup. On the flip side, there were a couple occasions where he trailed ball carriers on big plays and tried to punch out the football rather than making a quicker tackle attempt.

Hill is almost assured to start every game this season. With Wilson having graduated and Peppers moving to a SAM linebacker role, the safety position is rather thin. Thomas improved in the second half of last season and should combine with Hill to be the primary duo on the back end. Michigan also has sophomore Tyree Kinnel, who only played special teams last year but has earned some praise this off-season. Other options include freshmen Khaleke Hudson and Josh Hudson, along with a couple walk-ons in A.J. Pearson and Jordan Glasgow. I am not inclined to trust freshman or inexperienced safeties, so it’s important that Thomas, Hill, and Kinnel remain healthy. As for Hill himself, I have never been in love with him as a playmaker. He has a bit of a reputation as a workout warrior (occasionally, you hear the claim that he’s the fastest guy on the team), but that hasn’t necessarily translated to the field. When it comes to being around the ball, he has just 2 pass breakups and 1 fumble recovery in three years on the field. Still, it’s nice to have senior safeties, and I think he’s a solid player to have working in underneath coverages.

Prediction: Starting strong safety; 55 tackles, 1 interception

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2016 Season Countdown: #21 Khalid Hill

Khalid Hill (image via Twitter)

Name: Khalid Hill
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 263 lbs.
High school: Detroit (MI) East English Village
Position: Fullback
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #80
Last year: I ranked Hill #41 and said he would be a starting F-back by the end of the season (LINK). He started two games and made 4 catches for 71 yards.

Hill missed spring 2015 practices due to a torn ACL, so he was someone getting his first reps in the fall. As a backup tight end used off the line or in motion, he made 4 catches for 71 yards, almost doubling his yardage total on the same number of catches as he had in 2014. He proved to be a pretty solid blocker, and the coaches seemed to cook up some special plays for him on some delayed screens.

This spring Hill moved to fullback after seniors Joe Kerridge and Sione Houma graduated. He’s a bit of an odd fit at fullback because he’s never taken a handoff before, and he’s on the taller end of the spectrum for a fullback. But the Wolverines have limited options of players who fit the mold, so much so that the other top option returning from last year is 6’4″ former defensive lineman Henry Poggi. Little used walk-on Bobby Henderson returns as a fifth year senior, and he may be the best bet to carry the ball from fullback, but Hill is the most valuable of the bunch, in my opinion. He has soft hands to present a threat in the passing game, and I think he’s a solid blocker. He probably has the most well rounded game of any of the fullbacks. He won’t be Larry Centers and catch 100 passes from the fullback position, but I think he’ll probably hit double digits in receptions and score a touchdown or two.

Prediction: Part-time starting fullback; 11 catches, 110 yards, 2 touchdowns

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2016 Season Countdown: #22 John O’Korn

John O’Korn (image via MLive)

Name: John O’Korn
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 215 lbs.
High school: Ft. Lauderdale (FL) St. Thomas Aquinas
Position: Quarterback
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #8
Last year: I ranked O’Korn #91 and said he would redshirt (LINK). He redshirted and I am Nostradamus.

O’Korn spent the 2015 season redshirting after transferring from Houston.

He didn’t sit around and twiddle his thumbs, though. He was the scout team quarterback most of the time, and some observers said he was the best quarterback on the roster, and that included the option of starter Jake Rudock. Rudock threw for over 3,000 yards, got drafted, and has completed about 80% of his passes in two NFL pre-season games. To say O’Korn was better than him might be a stretch, especially because here I have him sitting at #22 on the team, and a starting quarterback should be higher than #22.

You may have guessed by now that I’m pegging Wilton Speight as the starter. I like the physical tools that I’ve seen from O’Korn, both at Houston and in the practices where I’ve seen him. He is a better athlete and a more natural quarterback than Speight. They say slow and steady wins the race, and while that’s not always true . . .

. . . it may hold some water in the quarterback battle. O’Korn has starting experience from Houston, he runs well, and he has a strong arm. You keep hearing that he makes more bad decisions or turnovers, though, and that’s a problem for a ball control offense. Jim Harbaugh won’t settle for a QB who throws 25 touchdowns and 25 interceptions, at least not if he can help it. I don’t think O’Korn would be that careless after spending two seasons at Michigan, but I do think Harbaugh would rather have a guy with an 18:5 TD-to-INT ratio than a 1:1.

O’Korn still has some considerable value here at #22. First, he may still earn the starting job, whether it’s for the opener against Hawaii or if Speight doesn’t play up to Harbaugh’s standards. Second, a backup QB is often needed in key situations, just like Speight was needed against Minnesota last season after Rudock got injured. And third, as Harbaugh likes to say, steel sharpens steel. Even if O’Korn doesn’t take a single snap this year, his presence will keep Speight working hard to hold on to the pole position.

Prediction: Backup quarterback

2016 Season Countdown: #23 Rashan Gary

Rashan Gary

Name: Rashan Gary
Height: 6’5″
Weight: 287 lbs.
High school: Paramus (NJ) Catholic
Position: Defensive end
Class: Freshman
Jersey number: #3
Last year: Gary was a senior in high school (LINK). He made 55 tackles, 13.5 sacks, and 4 forced fumbles.
Final TTB Rating: 100

There’s not much to say about Rashan Gary that hasn’t been said a hundred times. He was: an All-American, an Under Armour All-American, a Paramus (NJ) Catholic product (the alma mater of Jabrill Peppers and the former team of current linebackers coach Chris Partridge), and the consensus #1 player in the country. Everybody and his mother thought Gary was the most college-ready defensive lineman they’ve seen in years. He’s big and fast and athletic and – everyone’s favorite descriptor – he’s technically sound! Yeah! Michigan seemed like the front-runner for a long time until Clemson made it scary at the very end. He said later that he didn’t know whether he would pick the Wolverines or Tigers until he walked out on stage to announce on national television, but luckily he picked the good guys.

Unable to enroll early, Gary didn’t arrive on campus until June. Early reports on his abilities have been positive. Sam Webb issued a gut feeling this summer that Gary would start at Anchor (a.k.a. strongside defensive end), and that makes some sense. Michigan is a little thin at the defensive end positions, and Taco Charlton has moved to weakside end. That means the Anchor position will probably be a rotation of Gary and Wormley, and the next option would be to move Charlton to Anchor while inserting Chase Winovich and/or a freshman at weakside end. That being said, there are other guys who could probably play strongside end in a pinch (Matt Godin, Maurice Hurst, Jr.), and Gary is likely to have a few growing pains while getting used to Big Ten competition. Even if he’s not an All-American right off the bat, he should give the Wolverines some fun moments this year.

Prediction: Starting Anchor; 35 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 5 sacks

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