Tag: Jalen Mayfield

2020 Season Countdown: #1 Jalen Mayfield

Name: Jalen Mayfield
Height: 6’5″
Weight: 296 lbs.
High school: Grand Rapids (MI) Catholic Central
Position: Offensive tackle
Class: Redshirt freshman
Jersey number: #73
Last year: I ranked Mayfield #30 and said he would be a backup offensive tackle (LINK). He started all thirteen games at right tackle.
TTB Rating: 87

Mayfield was a big question mark going into 2019, because nobody knew – including the coaches – if he was even going to be a starter. He and Andrew Stueber were in a heated battle for the starting right tackle job, and I believe Stueber was going to win. Unfortunately, Stueber tore his ACL in August, giving Mayfield the job by default.

Overall, Mayfield had a very good redshirt freshman season, even though it got off to a little bit of a rocky start early in the year. He didn’t make a lot of embarrassing mistakes, but he was a little unsure of his assignments. And he wasn’t quite as nasty as he will be as he gets older. However, he improved throughout the year, enough to be named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten.

When everyone was slated to return, I thought Mayfield was the most important guy. Michigan lost four starters on the offensive line, and Mayfield was the only guy coming back. Then the season was “canceled,” Mayfield opted to enter the 2021 draft, and Michigan had to replace all five starters . . .

. . . until Mayfield opted back in. Some people projected Mayfield as a first round pick, and others felt he would go on the second or third day. I’m guessing Mayfield will still enter the 2021 NFL Draft, but he will have an extra year of film now. I do think he has potential to be a high draft pick down the road, but I didn’t see a dominant player in 2019 that should be entering the draft so early.

Prediction: Starting right tackle

Welcome back, Jalen Mayfield!

I guess I prematurely posted a goodbye post for Jalen Mayfield after he opted out of the 2020 season (LINK), because now he’s reportedly coming back to play. It’s understandable that he opted out since the season was canceled/postponed at the time.

Meanwhile, defensive end Kwity Paye also came out and said he was returning, even though he had not necessarily made an official announcement that he was leaving.

That leaves Nico Collins and Ambry Thomas, both of whom have signed with agents, as the other two guys who are in some limbo right now. Thomas is reportedly interested in coming back, while there’s not much coming out of Collins’s camp.

Goodbye, Jalen Mayfield

Offensive tackle Jalen Mayfield, who would have been a redshirt sophomore in 2020-2021, has declared for the NFL Draft.

HIGH SCHOOL
Mayfield, from Grand Rapids (MI) Catholic Central, was recruited to Minnesota by then-Gophers offensive line coach Ed Warinner, but he flipped to Michigan when the Wolverines came through with an offer. He ended up playing in the Army All-American Bowl and finished the 2018 recruiting cycle as a 4-star, the #16 offensive tackle, and #268 overall. I initially gave him a TTB Rating of 84 (LINK) before bumping him up to an 87 at the end of the cycle (LINK).

COLLEGE
Mayfield redshirted in 2018. He became a 13-game starter in 2019, earning Honorable Mention All-Big Ten on the offensive line.

CAREER STATS
13 games played (13 starts)

AWARDS
Honorable Mention All-Big Ten (2019)

SUMMARY
Boy, this is going to be a short summary. Mayfield was a very athletic and exciting recruit who needed a year to work on his body. He had a rough start to the 2019 season against Middle Tennessee when he made some mental mistakes, but as the year went along, he improved significantly. His potential was exciting, and I was looking forward to watching him block relentlessly for at least another year or two. His combination of athleticism and aggression was a notch below Taylor Lewan.

I WILL REMEMBER HIM FOR . . .
. . . leaving “too early.” Who am I to say he’s leaving too early when we’re in the middle of a pandemic and the 2020 season was postponed/canceled? But we’ve never seen a guy leave Michigan for the NFL essentially after his redshirt freshman year. This is very odd and leaves me wondering how he would have looked with another year of strength, conditioning, and technique work. He would have been really good this year. Drat.

PROJECTION
It’s not often that we have to project a redshirt freshman to the NFL, and I have no idea which players will be entering the 2021 draft. If he were eligible for the 2020 draft, he would not have been a first round pick. He simply wasn’t playing at that level. But he did show a ton of athleticism. Some people think he’s too short for tackle at 6’5″, but I think he has enough length to stick at tackle at the next level. If I had to guess right now, I would say he would be a second or third round pick in 2021, but that’s only a slightly educated guess because everything is so fluid.

All-Harbaugh Team: Offense

Thanks to Joe for the generous Paypal contribution over the weekend! It was much appreciated. After getting paid by Amazon, AdSense, etc. for the month of June, that was actually the roughest financial month since I started keeping track in August 2012 . . . and the second worst month in that span was April 2020. That’s fitting, of course, since we’re in the middle of a pandemic and a recession and everything. Anyway, if you would like to contribute, here’s the link:

I like to take a look back at the careers of Michigan’s recent coaches and see which players had the best seasons. After five years at Michigan’s helm, it’s time for a look at Jim Harbaugh’s tenure in Ann Arbor.

QUARTERBACK: 2015 Jake Rudock
Rudock, a former starter at Iowa, decided to grad transfer to Michigan for his final year of eligibility. Unlike some grad transfers who spend the spring at their new school, Rudock did not practice with Michigan until fall camp. Through seven weeks of the season, Rudock threw for 5 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. But when he heated up toward the end of the season, he really heated up. Over the final six contests, he threw 15 touchdowns and just 3 picks on his way to a 10-3 overall record in Harbaugh’s first year. His final stats included 249/389 (64.0%) on completions, 3017 yards, 20 touchdowns, 9 interceptions; he also ran for 166 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Hit the jump for more.

Afternoon Roundup: May 5, 2020

Jalen Mayfield is a 1st rounder to Mel Kiper, Jr. (LINK).

Shea Patterson spoke about being undrafted (LINK).

Check out this thread of clips of J.J. McCarthy throwing to A.J. Henning and others (LINK). I can’t say I’m a big fan of some of these drills, but there has to be something to keep QB gurus employed…

I can’t remember if I linked this previously or not, but it’s a great piece from Nick Baumgardner on Josh Uche (LINK).

Dm’ed Uche the video of my son freaking out after he was drafted to the Pats. I was shocked when he responded and then made this cameo off of it. So cool. Such a nice guy and wish him all the best in the league. pic.twitter.com/YBgDoB2NOh

— Bridget (@GoBlueHail) May 3, 2020

Hit the jump for more.