Tag: Jyaire Hill

Michigan 27, USC 24

A win is a win. I always try to keep things in perspective. Herm Edwards famously said “You play to win the game,” and Michigan won the game. The Wolverines are 3-1 and their primary goals are still within play: win the Big Ten, beat your rivals, make the College Football Playoff, and win a national championship. Sometimes you win ugly, and sometimes you win pretty. It might help put things in perspective that star tight end Colston Loveland missed the entire game with an arm injury and Will Johnson was absent at the end of the game. This just happened to be an ugly victory, but oh well.

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Michigan vs. Texas Awards

Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . running backs carrying the ball. Michigan’s top two running backs, Donovan Edwards and Kalel Mullings, had just 14 total carries on Saturday. While they were only mildly productive, Michigan needs to commit to the run game to help out inexperienced quarterback Davis Warren. Michigan can’t just run the ball to run the ball, either; the coaches need to find creative ways to get them the ball and help them be successful.

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Michigan 30, Fresno State 10

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PWO QB FTW. Well, it was a mild surprise when it was announced that former walk-on Davis Warren was named the starting quarterback for the season opener over Alex Orji and Jack Tuttle. Orji had received most of the hype in the off-season, and Tuttle is the most experienced. But Tuttle has been dealing with injuries and soreness, so he wasn’t really an option. Rumors started coming out a couple days before the game that Warren would be the guy. He finished 15/25 for 118 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception and graded out as Michigan’s #4 offensive player (69.7 on Pro Football Focus). Overall, I thought Warren was mostly accurate. He overthrew a deep shot to Tyler Morris, and he underthrew Fredrick Morris on an open post route that could have been a touchdown but turned into an interception. There were a lot of checkdowns and short throws, probably by design to make things easy for Warren in his first start. But overall, I thought Warren looked composed and accurate.

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2024 Season Countdown: #20 Jyaire Hill

Name: Jyaire Hill
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 185 lbs.
High school: Kankakee (IL) Kankakee
Position: Cornerback
Class: Redshirt freshman
Jersey number: #20
Last year: I ranked Hill #55 and said he would be a backup cornerback (LINK). He made 8 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss in four games.
TTB Rating: 88

Hill was a very talented freshman in 2023, but the Wolverines had a few cornerbacks who could get the job done, including Will Johnson, Josh Wallace, and Mike Sainristil. Fellow freshman D.J. Waller also came in ready to play and passed up Hill on the depth chart. According to Sam Webb, Hill’s maturity was a bit of an issue in his first year and he wasn’t ready to play from a mental standpoint. Michigan does some complicated things with its coverages and Hill wasn’t in his playbook enough.

For what it’s worth, the good news is that Hill preserved his redshirt, so now he can be a starting cornerback at Michigan through 2028! Word out of camp is that Hill is ahead of Albany transfer Aamir Hall on the depth chart and will start the season opener opposite Will Johnson. While I like Hill’s upside – thus the TTB Rating of 88 – it’s nice to have a seasoned veteran in Hall to come off the bench or rotate in when possible. Once Michigan gets past those three, it will be interesting to see who steps in as the #4 cornerback. The next most experienced guys would be UNLV transfer Ricky Johnson and veteran Michigan player Ja’Den McBurrows. There might be some rough moments for Hill, but he’s physical, confident, and athletic.

Prediction: Starting cornerback; 25 tackles, 2 interceptions

Spring Game 2024: 5 Things to Watch

Here are five things I’ll be watching in the 2024 spring game:

1. How does Alex Orji throw the ball? Third-year quarterback Alex Orji seems to be the most likely [currently rostered and healthy] guy to start behind center this fall. At 6’3″ and 236 lbs., we know he can run. We saw him do it at various times during the championship run in 2023. What we didn’t see at all in 2023 is Orji passing the ball. Footwork, accuracy, and touch are all in question. I don’t expect to see him run the ball a whole lot, because running a QB when they can’t be tackled is kind of unfair and boring. If/when he has time to throw, how does he look? Can he feather the ball or does he just throw it on a line? Does he get his feet lined up properly to throw, or are they all over the place? What we see might indicate whether Michigan needs to dip into the portal for a potential starter in the fall.

2. Who’s the “other” corner? We know Will Johnson has one cornerback spot locked down for this fall. If a currently rostered player wins the job across from him, it will likely be either Jyaire Hill or D.J. Waller. Waller got more playing time in the fall, but when Hill enrolled early last spring and was flying around, I thought he looked like a potential future star. Michigan still might look to the transfer portal to help out at a fairly thin position, but it would still be nice to see progress from Hill and Waller.

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