2017 Season Countdown: #31 Jon Runyan, Jr.

Tag: 2017 season countdown

4Aug 2017
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2017 Season Countdown: #31 Jon Runyan, Jr.

Name: Jon Runyan, Jr.
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 304 lbs.
High school: Philadelphia (PA) St. Joseph’s
Position: Offensive tackle
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #75
Last year: I ranked Runyan #52 and said he would be a backup offensive guard. He played in one game.
TTB Rating: 73

Runyan wasn’t expected to play much in 2016, and he didn’t. He was athletic but undersized, and the team had a fair number of veterans to play above him (Kyle Kalis, Ben Braden, Patrick Kugler, David Dawson, etc.). He did stand out to me in the spring of 2016 as a guy who could really move, and that skill allows him to have some positional flexibility.

This past spring he was taking reps at right tackle, in an effort to replace Erik Magnuson. Michigan isn’t sure whether Juwann Bushell-Beatty can handle the tackle position, and they have made contingency plans in order to shore up the spot. Bushell-Beatty struggled last year against Rutgers and Wisconsin, and he had injury issues this spring. Runyan was the nominal starting right tackle for the majority of spring, despite only being 6’4″. Bushell-Beatty may get a shot to claim the tackle position, but as a redshirt junior, we know that he’s limited. Runyan has the ability to start at right tackle – which I think will happen sooner or later this year – and also can fill in on the interior.

Prediction: Part-time starter at right tackle; backup offensive guard

3Aug 2017
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2017 Season Countdown: #32 Andrew Robinson

Andrew Robinson (image via Twitter)

Name: Andrew Robinson
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 221 lbs.
High school: Troy (MI) Athens
Position: Long snapper
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #49
Last year: I did not rank Robinson. He played in two games.
TTB Rating: N/A

A funny thing happened over the past year with Michigan’s long snapper position. Maybe it starts with the 2015 Michigan State game, in which a bad punt snap and then a poor decision by the punter led to a loss against the Spartans. But long snapper Scott Sypniewski never seemed to recover the full trust of Michigan’s coaching staff. Robinson played against Hawaii and Rutgers, and some people suggested he was snapping better than Sypniewski in practice. That may be what led Michigan to part ways with Sypniewski, who transferred to Vanderbilt this off-season.

Robinson steps up into the void vacated by Sypniewski. As the backup last year, he’s expected to be the man this year. It shouldn’t be lost that he’s arguably the #2 guy who could be on Michigan’s roster right now, and the actual backup might be the #3 guy. The hope is that the casual fan won’t hear (or at least remember) Robinson’s name, but he’ll be an important piece of the 2017 football team. In limited experience so far, he’s done a good job.

Prediction: Starting long snapper

1Aug 2017
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2017 Season Countdown: #33 Michael Wroblewski

Michael Wroblewski (image via Detroit News)

Name: Michael Wroblewski
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 242 lbs.
High school: Detroit (MI) U of D Jesuit
Position: Linebacker
Class: Fifth year senior
Jersey number: #46
Last year: I did not rank Wroblewski. He played in nine games, making 4 tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss.
TTB Rating: N/A

Wroblewski was mostly an afterthought for me going into last season, with his biggest contribution being a slow-moving culprit on a few chunk plays in the 2016 spring game. Michigan moved him from a practice squad defensive end to what seemed like a practice squad-level inside linebacker. Things didn’t look promising, but he still made his way into several games and made a handful of tackles.

This spring the coaches insisted he had taken steps forward. According to Don Brown, Wroblewski knows the defense inside and out, and he can make the calls for the entire defense. Naturally, that translates to identifying opposing personnel and formations, as well as making quick reads. We saw some of that this spring when Wroblewski made some plays in the run game, but he’s more of a two-down MIKE linebacker with little upside. Michigan supposedly has a trustworthy trio of inside ‘backers with Wroblewski, Devin Bush, Jr., and Mike McCray II, but it would be ideal if one of three highly touted freshman linebackers stepped up to play more snaps. The question is whether they’re ready, but they still might benefit from having the senior leadership of Wroblewski (and McCray). It’s good to have an experienced, smart leader in the film room and on the practice field. I expect Wroblewski to play more than he did last year, but I also expect one of the freshmen to take more and more of his snaps as the season progresses.

Prediction: Backup MIKE linebacker

31Jul 2017
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2017 Season Countdown: #34 Donovan Peoples-Jones

Donovan Peoples-Jones (image via Bleacher Report)

Name: Donovan Peoples-Jones
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 193 lbs.
High school: Detroit (MI) Cass Tech
Position: Wide receiver
Class: Freshman
Jersey number: #9
Last year: Peoples-Jones was a senior in high school.
TTB Rating: 92

Peoples-Jones was perhaps the jewel of the 2017 class, as he was the most highly sought recruit in the State of Michigan, and one of the best in the country. He had the highest SPARQ score as an underclassman in the summer of 2016, and everyone raves about his speed and athleticism. Toss in the fact that he’s academics-oriented and wants to go to medical school someday, and Michigan seems to have pulled in a pretty solid all-around guy. He ended up playing in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl before enrolling early at Michigan.

Now Donovan Peoples-Jones is going to wear the #9 at Michigan. This is noteworthy, because he yoinked it from junior Grant Perry. (Perry may have yoinked it from himself with his alleged felonious behavior in East Lansing, but we’ll kind of ignore that for the purposes of this post.) Peoples-Jones impressed in the spring, though he doesn’t seem to have an otherworldly grasp on the game to the point where he’s going to be an immediate star in college. That’s a difficult task for almost anyone, but especially in a pro-style offense with lots of adjustments and virtually no emphasis on tempo. Kekoa Crawford will likely start at one receiver spot, so it seems to be a race between Peoples-Jones and fellow freshman Tarik Black for the open wideout position. My take based on practice rumblings and what I saw in the spring game is that Black might have the edge for now, but I think Peoples-Jones has the higher ceiling in the long run. Either way, both should play a considerable amount, but neither is destined for an all-conference year here in 2017.

Prediction: Backup split end

29Jul 2017
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2017 Season Countdown: #35 Brandon Watson

Brandon Watson (#28, image via GBMWolverine)

Name: Brandon Watson
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 203 lbs.
High school: Elkton (MD) Eastern Christian Academy
Position: Cornerback
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #28
Last year: I ranked Watson #56 and said he would be a backup cornerback. He made 12 tackles.
TTB Rating: N/A

Watson has so far been strictly a backup cornerback, and no higher than fourth on the depth chart during his career. He has had a chance to take an open spot the past couple seasons, but he has not taken advantage of those opportunities. In two years of playing time, he has yet to make a play on the ball (no FF, FR, INT, or PBU); however, he made a great interception in the 2015 spring game, and he made a pick-six in this year’s spring game. While not very tall, he has long arms and plays receivers physically. He just lacks the quickness and speed to be an important cog in the defense. In addition to the pick-six, he also got outrun by Ty Isaac for a touchdown in the spring game.

Despite the uncertainty at the cornerback positions going into 2017, Watson isn’t thought to be a contender to start. He will almost certainly play a good deal as a nickel corner or backup safety. Lavert Hill, David Long, and Keith Washington look to be ahead of him, and Benjamin St-Juste (outside corner) and Ambry Thomas (slot corner) have a chance to pass him. Watson has value as a veteran presence, but his lack of athleticism makes him a liability against better passing offenses.

Prediction: Backup cornerback