Tag: 2020 season countdown

2020 Season Countdown: #15 Joshua Ross

Name: Josh Ross
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 230 lbs.
High school: Orchard Lake (MI) St. Mary’s
Position: Linebacker
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #12
Last year: I ranked Ross #8 and said he would be a starting linebacker with 80 tackles and 3.5 sacks (LINK). He made 18 tackles in three games.
TTB Rating: 79

Looking back on the 2019 season, I probably had Ross ranked a little too high. Michigan had some veterans at inside linebacker, and they had a potential star waiting in the wings in Cameron McGrone. When Ross suffered an injury early in the year that wiped out most of his year, McGrone stepped in and made some great plays. He also made some mistakes. McGrone and Jordan Glasgow manned the inside linebacker spots well, and the truth is that the weaknesses of the defense were the defensive tackles and the defensive back depth. Ross could have played the whole year, and it probably wouldn’t have made much of a difference.

This year Ross has more of an opportunity to be a difference-maker, but I still dropped him down to #15. There’s very little linebacker depth after Jordan Anthony entered the transfer portal, Devin Gil transferred to USF, and Glasgow moved on to the NFL. McGrone and Ross are the leaders, and then you have . . . freshmen. While Michigan took a bunch of linebackers in the 2020 class and has a couple good ones, it still could be a difficult time if either guy drops. I expect good things from Ross and hope he lives up to the expectations we had for him last year.

Prediction: Starting WILL linebacker

2020 Season Countdown: #16 Joe Milton

Name: Joe Milton
Height: 6’5″
Weight: 243 lbs.
High school: Olympia (FL) Olympia
Position: Quarterback
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #5
Last year: I ranked Milton #55 and said he would be a backup quarterback (LINK). He completed 3/7 passes for 59 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception; he also ran 5 times for 16 yards and 1 touchdown.
TTB Rating: 85

WHAT?!?!?! THE STARTING QUARTERBACK IS RANKED #16?!?!?!

Yeah, I didn’t have Milton pegged as the starting quarterback. This countdown was put together long before Dylan McCaffrey opted out and planned to transfer. This is a pretty high ranking for a backup quarterback, largely because McCaffrey hasn’t made it through a season healthy.

It’s a low ranking for a starter.

I’ve overanalyzed Milton to the point of exhaustion (LINK), and obviously my interpretation of the quarterback battle did not mesh with the coaching staff’s. Milton has looked jittery and made poor decisions at almost every opportunity so far in his college career, and the only area where he looks like a plus player is in the run game. Even some of his completions have come when throwing jump balls into double coverage to Nico Collins, making guys dive to catch slants, etc.

On the plus side, Milton is absolutely an enticing athlete with very impressive arm strength and above average speed. Some people – including Devin Gardner, who worked with Milton in the off-season – have said Milton is Cam Newton-like in his physcality. And Milton has a stronger arm than Newton.

If Milton made tremendous strides in the off-season, then he certainly could have overtaken McCaffrey, who had his own struggles. But buying into that notion requires us to suspend what we saw on the field and believe in word trickling out of workouts. And we all know that off-season hype is overblown more often than not.

All that being said, Milton is now The Man. The hope is that he is a difference-maker from the quarterback position, something Michigan has not really had in many years. Denard Robinson was a difference-maker with his feet but struggled as a passer. Devin Gardner had a few games where he looked like a superstar, but that was not consistent.

I expect inconsistency, because that’s what we’ve seen so far. Milton has been inaccurate, and I go to the School of Mike Leach, who believes you’re either accurate or you’re not. I don’t expect Milton to start completed 65% or 67% of his passes, but if he can be around 61-62%, hit some deep balls, and make plays with his feet, Michigan could be in business.

Prediction: Starting quarterback

2020 Season Countdown: #16.5 Chris Evans

Please consider using the Amazon links to make your purchases (LINK):

Name: Chris Evans
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 216 lbs.
High school: Indianapolis (IN) Ben Davis
Position: Running back
Class: Fifth year senior
Jersey number: #12
Last year he played (2018): I ranked Evans #15 and said he would be a backup running back with 120 carries for 650 yards and 5 touchdowns with 22 catches for 220 yards and 2 touchdowns. He ran 81 times for 423 yards (5.2 yards/carry) and 4 touchdowns, plus 18 catches for 148 yards and 1 touchdown.
TTB Rating: 68

Okay, every year I screw up and leave someone off the countdown, having to fix it halfway through once I realize my mistake. I thought I was doing well this year, because I made DOUBLE SURE to include every 2020 signee and carry over every roster member from 2019. But of course, Chris Evans wasn’t a signee and wasn’t on the 2019 roster, so I had to wedge him in here after I realized my mistake.

Evans took a step back in his true junior season of 2018, going from 600+ rushing yards in each of his first two seasons to just 423 yards in 2018. However, he did reach a career high in receptions (18) while watching Karan Higdon handle the starter’s workload. The coaching staff really seemed unable to get him going, with his only successful games coming in blowouts or mismatches (SMU, Rutgers, Western Michigan, etc.). It was the first year he did not reach 100 yards in at least one game, with a high of 86 coming against the MAC’s yearly sacrifice, the Broncos.

This year I decided to place Evans at #16.5, a few spots higher than Zach Charbonnet (LINK), not because I think Evans will be the starter or take a plurality of the workload. The reason is that I think Evans opens up some more possibilities for the offense. He’s the best receiver out of Michigan’s backfield, and Josh Gattis’s offense is a knockoff of systems that have used running backs in the passing game more often than what we saw Michigan use in 2019. Saquon Barkley caught 54 passes at Penn State. Alabama’s top two backs caught 22 and 20 passes in 2018 when Gattis was there. Even the forgettable Bill Belton caught 26 passes for Penn State back in 2014.

Michigan running backs totaled 20 catches in 2019, led by Charbonnet’s grand total of 8.

Assuming Gattis wants to replicate the more diverse passing game we’ve seen in other versions of this offense, I think Evans will pair well with Charbonnet in the backfield. I would like to see both of them on the field at the same time, and I would like to see Evans used in the RPO game as a slot receiver. Whether that will happen or not remains to be seen, but I think it would be a mistake to just use one running back at a time when the Wolverines have three guys available with starting experience (Charbonnet, Evans, and Hassan Haskins).

Michigan’s most talented non-freshman skill guys are the following group, so I would try to get them together whenever possible:

• WR Ronnie Bell
• WR Giles Jackson
• RB Zach Charbonnet
• RB Chris Evans
• TE Nick Eubanks

Prediction: Backup running back

Here are some highlights to remind you of some of his ability:

2020 Season Countdown: #17 Vincent Gray

Name: Vincent Gray
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 190 lbs.
High school: Rochester (MI) Adams
Position: Cornerback
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #31 #4
Last year: I ranked Gray #25 and said he would be a backup cornerback (LINK). He made 20 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, and 5 pass breakups.
TTB Rating: 71

Gray entered the 2019 season as a likely backup to Lavert Hill and Ambry Thomas, but for a short time, it looked like he might be pressed into significantly more duty when Thomas was hospitalized with colitis. Luckily, Thomas recovered and Gray had some wiggle room to grow and learn. Gray made one start throughout the season and got a pretty good grade from PFF, notching 5 pass breakups in that backup role. While he didn’t make many big plays, he was in position to flail and be physical and avoid getting beaten much.

This year Gray was expected to be the #2 corner behind Thomas, but Thomas has opted out in favor of preparing for the NFL Draft. That leaves Gray as perhaps the #1 corner on the team as the most experienced guy. All other options have been garbage timers or haven’t seen the field in college yet. Gray has good length, but his speed and quickness are a little bit of a question mark. He makes me nervous if he’s matched up against some of the better receivers in the league, but cornerbacks coach Mike Zordich and defensive coordinator Don Brown have worked wonders with corners overall, with the lone exception of when they come up against Ohio State.

Prediction: Starting cornerback

2020 Season Countdown: #18 Ryan Hayes

Name: Ryan Hayes
Height: 6’7″
Weight: 302 lbs.
High school: Traverse City (MI) West
Position: Offensive tackle
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #76
Last year: I ranked Hayes #77 and said he would be a backup offensive tackle (LINK). He started two games and played in twelve games.
TTB Rating: 84

Hayes was forced into action a little early last year. He was expected to be the #4 tackle going into the season, with Jon Runyan, Jr. entrenched on the left side and Jalen Mayfield/Andrew Stueber battling for a starting gig on the right side. Then Stueber tore his ACL, giving Mayfield the right tackle job by default. And then Runyan was working through an injury to begin the year.

So Hayes went from the #4 tackle to starting the opener in pretty short order. He did about as well as expected, showing some nice athleticism while also looking lost at times. It was good for him to get his feet wet, but it was also nice when Runyan returned to take over the role for the remainder of the year.

This year with Runyan gone and Stueber looking like a starter at guard, Hayes seems pretty solidly locked in to the left tackle position. Mayfield is further along in his development, but offensive line coach Ed Warinner said there were no plans to move Mayfield over to protect the blind side. That indicates that there’s confidence in Hayes’s ability, and he’s also put on some weight, jumping up to 302 pounds on the fall roster. I expect some growing pains as a first-year full-time starter, but overall, I think Hayes should be a pretty good player by the time the season wraps.

Prediction: Starting left tackle