Tag: 2019 season countdown

2019 Season Countdown: #55 Joe Milton

Name: Joe Milton
Height: 6’5″
Weight: 234 lbs.
High school: Olympia (FL) Olympia
Position: Quarterback
Class: Redshirt freshman
Jersey number: #5
Last year: I ranked Milton #80 and said he would redshirt (LINK). He played in four games and was 3/4 for 58 yards and had 7 carries for 31 yards and 1 touchdown.
TTB Rating: 85

Expectations were all over the map for Joe Milton coming out of high school. Some fans expected him to step right in and be a stud, passing up Dylan McCaffrey for the #2 quarterback; some even suggested he would be a day one starter if Shea Patterson’s eligibility waiver from the NCAA failed. And on the other side, some people thought he would bust because of his low completion percentage in high school. You can see I was somewhere in between – I gave him a TTB Rating of 85, but I thought he would redshirt. He will get a redshirt, thanks to the new NCAA redshirt rule, since he only played in four games. He played in three big games (Wisconsin, Ohio State, Florida) and against Rutgers. I think he ran the ball better than some expected, and you can’t argue much with 75% completions and 14.5 yards per attempt through the air.

Those are small sample sizes, though, and Milton still resides at #3 on the depth chart. Patterson is the returning starter, and McCaffrey returns after breaking his collarbone to end the season on the injured list. It seems like an injury always dings a quarterback for at least a game or two, so that obviously puts the #3 quarterback in the on-deck circle. I still expect Milton to have a solid college career, but it seems like he’s getting a little bit antsy; word out of Ann Arbor was that the coaching staff sat down with Milton and his family this off-season to explain to him what the future looks like in 2019 and beyond, with the implication that the seaweed might seem greener in somebody else’s lake.

With the way college football is going, it would be mildly surprising if both McCaffrey and Milton finish their careers in a Michigan uniform. But for now, I think Michigan is in a solid position if Milton is the third-best guy.

Prediction: Backup quarterback

2019 Season Countdown: #56 Hunter Reynolds

Name: Hunter Reynolds
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 191 lbs.
High school: South Orange (NJ) Choate Rosemary Hall
Position: Safety
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #27
Last year: I ranked Reynolds #109 and said he would be a backup defensive back and special teamer (LINK).
TTB Rating: N/A

Reynolds went into last year as a well regarded walk-on defensive back, and he got a little bit of playing time. He was also named Scout Team Defensive Player of the Year.

This spring I started to hear some more buzz about Reynolds. He was supposedly outpacing some of the scholarship guys, and he’s also expected to become a contributor on special teams. He doesn’t have a great resume so far – although obviously he stands out on the scout team – but I think his special teams coverage will at least be significant in 2019.

Prediction: Backup safety, special teamer

2019 Season Countdown: #57 Sammy Faustin

Name: Sammy Faustin
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 187 lbs.
High school: Naples (FL) Naples
Position: Safety
Class: Redshirt freshman
Jersey number: #17
Last year: I ranked Faustin #93 and said he would redshirt (LINK). He redshirted.
TTB Rating: 76

Faustin was raw coming into 2018. He had some injury issues in high school and played cornerback, when he was almost certainly bound for safety. That made him a virtual lock to redshirt.

Now Faustin is in a bit of an odd spot. The coaches reportedly think highly of him, but there are already players entrenched or expected to contribute ahead of him. Josh Metellus, Brad Hawkins, and J’Marick Woods are established players ahead of him, while Jaylen Kelly-Powell has a little playing time under his belt and 5-star Daxton Hill is expected to jump ahead as soon as the practice pads go on. Some of those players will start to filter away after 2019 (Metellus to the NFL, Hawkins/Hill/Woods perhaps to Viper), but right now Faustin will have to bide his time as a little used backup.

Prediction: Backup safety, special teamer

2019 Season Countdown: #58 Tyler Cochran

I just finished reading Brad Thor’s Foreign Agent (LINK):

Name: Tyler Cochran
Height: 6’1″
Weight: 201 lbs.
High school: Orchard Lake (MI) St. Mary’s
Position: Safety
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #30
Last year: I ranked Cochran #112 and said he would be a backup safety and special teamer (LINK). He played in all thirteen games and made 1 tackle.
TTB Rating: N/A

At first glance it may seem like I have this walk-on safety ranked too high – and maybe I do. But I’ll start off my justification with this: his thirteen games played in 2018 is more than the guys above and below him in the countdown.

Cochran won the Most Improved Special Teams Player of the Year in 2018, and that includes winning over some other guys who had solid years on special teams (Will Hart, Jake McCurry, Ambry Thomas, etc.).

Cochran, the son of Brad Cochran (who played at Michigan from 1981-1985), should see plenty of time on special teams again in 2019.

Prediction: Backup safety, special teamer

2019 Season Countdown: #60 Nate Schoenle

Name: Nate Schoenle
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 202 lbs.
High school: Ann Arbor (MI) Gabriel Richard
Position: Wide receiver
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #81
Last year: I ranked Schoenle #53 and said he would be a backup slot receiver (LINK). He played in seven games and made 3 tackles on special teams.
TTB Rating: N/A

Schoenle was the walk-on receiver with all the hype in 2017.

That hype fizzled.

Then in 2018 it was Jake McCurry.

Now going into 2019, all the hype is about new offensive coordinator Josh Gattis and #speedinspace. I’m interested to see how that plays out on the field. Michigan has the choice to play experienced guys with limited upside (Schoenle, McCurry) or inexperienced players with that aforementioned speed component (Giles Jackson, George Johnson III, etc.). Even though Jim Harbaugh has a history of playing those trusty types, he has admitted handing over the reins of the offense to Gattis.

Gattis’s former employer, Alabama, went 14-1 in 2018, and only five (5!) wide receivers caught passes, all of them scholarship guys and only one of them who wouldn’t be labeled as speedy (Derek Kief). By comparison, Michigan spread the ball out to seven wideouts, and I don’t know that the likes of McCurry, Grant Perry, and Oliver Martin would be characterized as being speedy. Granted, Alabama had more overall talent to work with, but Gattis’s history suggests that he’s going to get his playmakers the ball rather than try to involve everyone. And I think that’s the way to go.

This post got off track a wee bit, but the point is that offensive contributions from the likes of McCurry and Schoenle will probably be minimized this season. On the plus side, both players have shown the ability to contribute on special teams, so they still have value to the team.

Prediction: Backup wide receiver, special teamer