Tag: 2020 season countdown

2020 Season Countdown: #54 Trevor Keegan

Name: Trevor Keegan
Height: 6’6″
Weight: 316 lbs.
High school: Crystal Lake (IL) South
Position: Offensive tackle
Class: Redshirt reshman
Jersey number: #77
Last year: I ranked Keegan #92 and said he would redshirt (LINK). He redshirted.
TTB Rating: 81

Keegan went the typical route in 2019 of redshirting as a true freshman. Michigan had four seniors starting on the offensive line, and the two guys battling for the open tackle position were redshirt freshmen with some recruiting hype themselves. Keegan also came in with a body that needed to be reformed a little bit, so I think the redshirt was a good plan.

Now those four senior linemen are gone, and Keegan would seem to have a shot at the open tackle position. He seems unlikely to win that battle against redshirt sophomore Ryan Hayes and others. Of the tackles in that 2019 class, Keegan earned the most practice hype and will probably find himself on the second unit. The staff needs to find out who can play, because there has been some buzz about the potential for Jalen Mayfield to jump to the NFL following his redshirt sophomore season.

Prediction: Backup offensive tackle

2020 Season Countdown: #55 Nolan Rumler

Name: Nolan Rumler
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 321 lbs.
High school: Akron (OH) Hoban
Position: Offensive guard
Class: Redshirt freshman
Jersey number: #55
Last year: I ranked Rumler #85 and said he would redshirt (LINK). He redshirted.
TTB Rating: 87

Rumler came in as a guy who perhaps would have played in a lot of years. He was already 6’3″ and 310 lbs., and his feats of strength are pretty well documented. But with four senior offensive linemen who would eventually get drafted, Michigan didn’t need contributions from true freshmen up front. So Rumler got a year to percolate.

I expected Rumler to create more practice buzz than he did, but that hype belongs to Zach Carpenter and Karsen Barnhart. Carpenter is projected by many as the starter at center, while people keep saying Barnhart needs to see the field without a specific position for him. Rumler appears to be in that next tier from the 2019 class, along with offensive tackle Trevor Keegan. It’s doubtful that Rumler starts in 2020, but he should start to get some playing time. He’s penciled in as a backup offensive guard, and he may have to wait until redshirt juniors Andrew Stueber and/or Chuck Filiaga move on. I expect Rumler to make an appearance on the field goal protection unit and get some backup snaps at guard this year.

Prediction: Backup offensive guard

2020 Season Countdown: #56 Roman Wilson

Name: Roman Wilson
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 175 lbs.
High school: Honolulu (HI) St. Louis
Position: Wide receiver
Class: Freshman
Jersey number: N/A
Last year: Wilson was a senior in high school (LINK). He caught 61 passes for 1,025 yards and 11 touchdowns.
TTB Rating: 78

Wilson is a speedy wide receiver who was maybe a little undervalued during the recruiting cycle because he played high school football in Hawaii. He won a state championship while putting up crazy numbers. What I like about Wilson – aside from his speed – is the fact that his highlights show a guy making plays in a variety of ways, including catches over his outside shoulder, catches lying on his back, running after the catch, etc.

I see Wilson playing on the outside more than in the slot, and because of that, I think he will spend the majority of this season as an understudy. Nico Collins and Cornelius Johnson will probably get more playing time, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Ronnie Bell play a little more on the outside, too. Wilson should get his feet wet in 2020 to prepare for his sophomore season, when Collins will be off to the NFL.

Prediction: Backup wide receiver

2020 Season Countdown: #57 Nate Schoenle

Name: Nate Schoenle
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 206 lbs.
High school: Ann Arbor (MI) Gabriel Richard
Position: Wide receiver
Class: Fifth year senior
Jersey number: #81
Last year: I ranked Schoenle #60 and said he would be a backup receiver and special teamer (LINK). He played in two games and made 1 tackle on special teams.
TTB Rating: N/A

Schoenle, Michigan’s current #1 walk-on receiver, fell off the map a bit in 2019. I suspected his role would diminish with Josh Gattis and #speedinspace, but I didn’t think he would play in only two games. What happened?

Schoenle got injured.

Schoenle was probably Michigan’s best blocking wide receiver before last year, and he was the guy Michigan would bring in to run crack tosses, letting Schoenle do the dirty work. This offense is more dependent on having receivers run RPOs rather than blocking guys straight up, but Schoenle might come in handy for a team that plans to run a lot of little guys out there like Mike Sainristil, Giles Jackson, A.J. Henning, etc. I will be at least a little interested to see how much Schoenle plays receiver when healthy, but he’s also a solid special teams guy.

Prediction: Backup wide receiver, special teamer

2020 Season Countdown: #58 Blake Corum

Name: Blake Corum
Height: 5’8″
Weight: 193 lbs.
High school: Baltimore (MD) St. Frances
Position: Running back
Class: Freshman
Jersey number: N/A
Last year: Corum was a senior in high school (LINK). He ran 145 times for 1,266 yards and 19 touchdowns.
TTB Rating: 83

Running backs always get a lot of attention and hype, and Corum is no exception due to his running style and production against high-level opponents, such as Santa Ana (CA) Mater Dei. He ended up as a 4-star, the #12 running back, and #128 overall and played in the All-American Bowl.

Corum enrolled early at Michigan, which didn’t help with practice time because of the coronavirus pandemic. On the plus side, Corum has posted videos of himself doing some tough workouts on his own, and he’s going to be 20 years old by the time the 2020 season wraps. (By contrast, Giles Jackson played his 2019 season at the age of 17.)

Corum’s freshman season will probably be pretty boring from a playing time perspective. Last year’s co-starters (Zach Charbonnet and Hassan Haskins) both return, as does former starter Chris Evans, who was suspended in 2019. Corum will probably be the fourth running back, at least if he can beat out Christian Turner, which I think he can. That should help him get his feet wet for a bigger role in 2021.

Prediction: Backup running back

Hit the jump for some highlights from his 2019 season.