Tag: 2023 season countdown

10May 2023

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2023 Season Countdown: #120 Brooks Bahr

Name: Brooks Bahr
Height: 6’6″
Weight: 280 lbs.
High school: Lake Forest (IL) Loyola
Position: Defensive end
Class: Freshman
Jersey number: N/A
Last year: Bahr was a senior in high school (LINK). He made 49 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, and 2 sacks.
TTB Rating: 71

Bahr committed to Michigan over a year ago, back in March of 2022. A tall and relatively lanky defensive lineman, he seems to be headed for somewhere along the defensive line. Whether Michigan decides to use him on the edge like Mike Morris or as more of an interior guy might depend on how his body progresses. Usually, it seems like guys with his body type usually end up hanging out between the 290-300 lb. range. Morris was an odd fit at stand-up defensive end at 292-295 pounds, and Julius Welschof could barely get on the field except on special teams – and Bahr doesn’t have that kind of athleticism.

So I expect to see Bahr redshirt this season as Michigan figures out what to do with him and as Bahr’s body figures out how it wants to grow. He also has some technical things to figure out, as he played lacrosse and basketball in addition to football.

Prediction: Redshirt

7May 2023

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2023 Season Countdown: #121 Chibi Anwunah

Name: Chibi Anwunah
Height: 6’5″
Weight: 242 lbs.
High school: Canton (MI) Plymouth Christian
Position: Tight end
Class: Redshirt freshman
Jersey number: #95
Last year: I ranked Anwunah #131 and said he would redshirt (LINK). He redshirted.
TTB Rating: N/A

Anwunah came into Michigan last season listed at 6’7″ and 220 lbs. I said he needed to add weight, and lo and behold, he got shorter by two inches . . . and put on 22 pounds. He redshirted last season at defensive end, which was expected because of some rawness. I was surprised to see this spring that he had switched to tight end on the roster, but now he’s back to being listed as an “EDGE” on MGoBlue.com, so perhaps the offensive experiment is finished.

Whether he stays on defense or gets another shot on offense, it will likely be another year of watching from the sideline for Anwunah. He has size and potential, but again, he was raw, and playing a little positional ping-pong this spring probably didn’t help him get any closer to seeing the field.

Prediction: Backup defensive end

6May 2023

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2023 Season Countdown: #122 Brandon Mann

Name: Brandon Mann
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 225 lbs.
High school: Detroit (MI) Country Day
Position: Quarterback
Class: Redshirt freshma
Jersey number: #5
Last year: I did not rank Mann. He played in one game and completed 1/1 pass for 7 yards.
TTB Rating: N/A

Mann, a walk-on who doubles as a pitcher on the baseball team, surprisingly got a couple snaps in during the blowout of UConn in 2022, and he even completed his one pass to Darrius Clemons for a 7-yard gain. Of course, it was a 59-0 win and seven (7!!!) quarterbacks completed passes for Michigan, including three walk-ons altogether (Mann, Andy Maddox, Davis Warren).

The depth chart won’t be any more friendly in 2023. Even though Cade McNamara transferred to Iowa, Michigan brought in Indiana backup Jack Tuttle and got a year of development from Alex Orji and Jayden Denegal. Mann will likely just be a practice squad player yet again with a chance to get some mop-up duty in a game or two.

Prediction: Backup quarterback

2May 2023

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2023 Season Countdown: #123 Joshua Luther

Name: Joshua Luther
Height: 5’9″
Weight: 180 lbs.
High school: Clarkston (MI) Clarkston
Position: Cornerback
Class: Redshirt senior
Jersey number: #44
Last year: I ranked Luther #118 and said he would be a backup defensive back (LINK). He played in one game.
TTB Rating: N/A

It’s always interesting to me to see how players progress in the countdown from year to year, and through no fault of his own, Luther is on a downward slide. He appeared in 2021 at #117, dropped to #118, and now appears at #123. There’s no real explanation other than the fact that Michigan brought in several scholarship-worthy transfer players, and the team now has a deeper talent well than they used to have.

At 5’9″ and 180 lbs., it’s hard to get on the field in the Big Ten unless you’re a dynamic athlete, and I think we can safely say that Luther is not particularly dynamic. But maybe he can make an occasional appearance on special teams.

Prediction: Backup defensive back

25Apr 2023

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2023 Season Countdown: #124 Noah Howes

Name: Noah Howes
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 240 lbs.
High school: Rochester (MI) Rochester
Position: Tight end
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #45
Last year: I ranked Howes #122 and said he would be a backup tight end (LINK). He played in one game.
TTB Rating: N/A

Howes joins the growing list of walk-ons who got an inch shorter from 2022 to 2023, going from 6’5″ to 6’4″ on this year’s roster, but adding 6 pounds in the process. Surely this loss of height came from the impact Howes made on Hawaii defenders in his lone appearance last season, during the 56-10 Michigan victory.

Fun fact: Howes was rated as a 2-star offensive guard by 247 Sports in the 2021 recruiting class. Michigan may decide to use him as a blocking tight end sometime in the future, since they lost several tight ends to the NFL (Luke Schoonmaker), transfer (Erick All, Louis Hansen), and/or graduation (Joel Honigford, Carter Selzer).

Prediction: Backup tight end