Tag: Ex-Wolverines

R.J. Moten, Ex-Wolverine

Rising redshirt junior safety R.J. Moten is transferring out of Michigan.

I gave Moten a TTB Rating of 68 when he committed in July of 2019 (LINK) and compared him to former Wolverine Josh Furman, who finished his career at Oklahoma State. Moten was also a high-level baseball prospect but decided to pursue football instead.

Moten played in just one game in the COVID-shortened 2020 season. Altogether, he played in 29 career games, including five starts in 2021 and ten more in 2022. He managed 65 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, 4 pass breakups, and 1 interception during his career. So Michigan is essentially losing a starter, even though Makari Paige kind of usurped the starting safety job toward the end of 2022. When Michigan was missing some linebacker depth toward the end of 2022, the coaching staff practiced Moten at linebacker during bowl prep for the TCU game, thinking he might be able to play in case of emergency.

Moten is the tenth member of the class of 2020 to depart, and the second of the day, along with wide receiver A.J. Henning (LINK). Michigan also landed an amazingly alliterative trio of safety/linebacker hybrids in 2020 with Moten, Jordan Morant, and William Mohan, and all three have now transferred (Morant to Duke/Mississippi State, Mohan to Tennessee before being dismissed).

Presumably, the two safety starters are now Rod Moore and Makari Paige, with Keon Sabb and Zeke Berry also looking like promising players for the future.

A.J. Henning, Ex-Wolverine

Rising senior wide receiver A.J. Henning is entering the transfer portal. A class of 2020 signee, he still has two years of eligibility remaining.

I missed on Henning when I gave him a TTB Rating of 89 (LINK), making a comparison to Jeremy Gallon. The recruiting services also seem to have missed on him so far, ranking him as a 4-star, the #18 wide receiver, and #102 overall in the 247 Composite. He still has a couple seasons to reach that level, but he hasn’t shown a ton so far outside of a couple big plays against MAC-level teams. In fact, I wrote about him back in December as someone to look out for as a potential early departure (LINK).

Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Ohio State, and others pursued Henning out of Frankfort (IL) Lincoln-Way East, but the Wolverines won that recruiting battle. He made a minimal impact in 2020 with just 9 touches, but he showed promise in 2021 when he ran 9 times for 162 yards and 2 touchdowns – including a memorable end around for a TD against Ohio State – and caught 10 passes for 79 yards. But his offensive usage tailed off in 2022, when he tallied just 12 offensive touches (9 catches, 3 carries); his most memorable moment of his final season was a punt return touchdown against UConn.

Where Henning’s departure will be felt most is on special teams, where he returned 28 punts for 201 yards (7.2 yards/return) and the 1 touchdown; he also returned 11 kickoffs for 241 yards (21.9 yards/return). But in general, that type of production is replaceable. In fact, no leading kick returner in the Jim Harbaugh era has had a lower average except Ambry Thomas in 2017-2018, and Henning had the lowest punt return average of anyone in that span, too.

So, in other words, I don’t think Henning is a terrible player . . . but this might end up being addition by subtraction overall. All other punt returners (Ronnie Bell, D.J. Turner II) are headed to the NFL, so somebody brand new will be returning punts. Meanwhile, Roman Wilson averaged 22.8 yards/return on kickoff returns, so he might be a candidate to return kicks, along with freshman running back Cole Cabana, sophomore running back C.J. Stokes, and others.

Henning is the ninth member of the 2020 class to depart, joining CB Darion Green-Warren (Nevada), DE Aaron Lewis (Rutgers), LB William Mohan (Tennessee), S Jordan Morant (Mississippi State), LB Osman Savage (Alabama A&M), CB Andre Seldon, Jr. (New Mexico State), QB Dan Villari (Syracuse), and LB Cornell Wheeler (Kansas)

Ex-Wolverine Coach Updates: Post-season 2022

During the season, I like to keep readers updated on what’s happening with former commits, players, and head coaches. But there’s not enough time – and it’s frankly not interesting enough – to keep up with all the former assistant coaches who are assistants elsewhere. So in the off-season, I like to do a little catching up on where former coaches are now. I am also including in this rundown a look at where some former Michigan players are now coaching, mostly in the college and professional ranks.

FORMER COACHES

Joe Bolden (Special Teams Coordinator/Defensive Assistant, Tulsa): Bolden spent one year as OLB coach and special teams coordinator for the Nevada Wolfpack and is now in a similar role at Tulsa, though he’s only listed as a “defensive assistant” and special teams coordinator.

Don Brown (Head Coach, UMass): Brown went 1-11 in the first season of his second stint as the head coach at UMass.

Anthony Campanile (Linebackers Coach, Miami Dolphins): Campanile is heading into his fourth year as the Dolphins’ linebackers coach.

Ross Douglas (Assistant Wide Receivers Coach, New England Patriots): Douglas is going into his second year as an assistant wide receivers coach for the Patriots.

Hit the jump for more updates.

Eyabi Okie, Ex-Wolverine

Michigan outside linebacker Eyabi Okie is entering the transfer portal. He has one more year of eligibility remaining and has also spent time at Alabama, Houston, and UT-Martin.

Okie was a 5-star recruit to Alabama in the class of 2018. But off-the-field issues led to him transferring multiple times. He seemed to sort things out at UT-Martin in 2021, and he was a late addition to Michigan’s program in August, even after camp began.

Early in the 2022 season, Okie was a situational pass rusher, but he earned more playing time as the season went along, especially once Mike Morris got hurt a couple weeks before the end of the season. Okie made 18 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, 2 pass breakups, and 4 quarterback hurries during his one year in Ann Arbor.

I would not be surprised to see Okie follow his high school coach, former Michigan staffer Biff Poggi, to Charlotte, where Poggi is now the head coach.

Here’s a look at what’s remaining at the EDGE positions for 2023:

EDGE: Braiden McGregor (RS Jr.), Derrick Moore (So.), Kechaun Bennett (RS So.), Enow Etta (Fr.)
Rush LB: Jaylen Harrell (RS Jr.), Josaiah Stewart (Jr.), Tyler McLaurin (RS So.), Aymeric Koumba (Fr.)

You can also view the 2023 scholarship count (LINK).

Ex-Wolverine Player Updates: Post-Season 2022

FORMER PLAYERS

P George Caratan (UConn): Caratan punted 5 times for 201 yards in a 28-14 loss to Marshall in the bowl game. Caratan finished the season with 67 attempts for 2,704 yards (40.36 yards per attempt). He also kicked off 1 time for 65 yards. UConn went 6-7.

C Zach Carpenter (Indiana): Carpenter started eight games, mostly at left guard due to a hand injury that prevented him from playing center. Indiana went 4-8.

RB Zach Charbonnet (UCLA): Charbonnet ran 195 times for 1,359 yards (6.97 yards/carry) and 14 touchdowns, and also caught 37 passes for 321 yards.

S Sammy Faustin (UMass): Faustin made 3 tackles while playing in eleven games this season. UMass went 1-11.

OG Chuck Filiaga (Minnesota): Filiaga is leaving Minnesota after being a 3rd Team All-Big Ten offensive guard in 2022.

CB Darion Green-Warren (Nevada): Green-Warren made 5 tackles and 1 pass breakup this season. Nevada went 2-10.

Hit the jump for more.