Michigan has a few players headed to the East-West Shrine Game, which will be played on January 18, 2019, at 3:00 p.m. and broadcast on NFL Network.
Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . anyone who doesn’t fumble. Zach Charbonnet fumbled. Tru Wilson fumbled. Christian Turner tried to fumble, but his knee was down first. The fumbling at Michigan has been ridiculous this season.
Hit the jump for more.
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Name: Mike Danna
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 257 lbs.
High school: Warren (MI) De La Salle
Position: Defensive end
Class: Fifth year senior
Jersey number: N/A
Last year: I did not rank Danna, who was at Central Michigan. He made 66 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, 9.5 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, 3 fumble recoveries, 1 pass breakup, and 7 quarterback hurries.
TTB Rating: N/A
Danna had an outstanding 2018 season by many metrics. He was a Pro Football Focus All-American and all-conference player in the MAC, along with making 66 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, and 9.5 sacks, which are Chase Winovich-like numbers.
The problem is that he was in the MAC.
Against three Power Five programs (Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan State) in 2018, Danna made 12 tackles and 1 quarterback hurry. Against one FCS program (Maine), he made 7 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 4 sacks, and 2 quarterback hurries; against 4-8 Akron, he made 5 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, and 2 sacks.
In three games against Power Five teams, he made 0% of his TFLs and 0% of his sacks.
In two games against bad teams, he made 60% of his TFLs and 63% of his sacks.
I believe Michigan fans should temper their expectations for Danna. While he will get superior coaching and a better supporting cast, he will also be facing better offensive tackles on a weekly basis, with no FCS opponents to pad his stats. Some have talked about his becoming the starter at weakside end, but I believe that job will go to junior Kwity Paye. I expect to see Danna come off the bench or enter the game on third downs, when Paye can move inside on obvious passing downs.
Prediction: Backup weakside end
Central Michigan defensive end Mike Danna has announced that he intends to transfer to Michigan for his fifth and final year of eligibility as a grad transfer. Grad transfers can play immediately.
Danna was a 2015 graduate of Warren (MI) De La Salle, the school that has also sent Shane Morris, Jared Wangler, True Wilson, and others to Michigan. He was listed at 6’3″ and 230 lbs. at the time, coming in to college as a 3-star, the #95 weakside end, and #2005 in the 247 Composite rankings. Central Michigan’s website listed him at 6’2″ and 257 lbs. last year.
Danna was a Pro Football Focus All-American in 2018, finishing the year with 66 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, 9.5 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, and 3 fumble recoveries. He made 54 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, and 4 sacks in 2017. He also had 31 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, and 1.5 sacks as a redshirt freshman in 2016. He may have been a MAC player, but he has racked up 151 tackles, 28 tackles for loss, and 15 sacks in his career.
This is why he can vertical jump 42 inches. Another Highlight from Mike Danna…..#FireUpChips #19yearsold pic.twitter.com/LxcJsyfwlp
— CMU Strength (@ChippewaStrong) July 27, 2017
I can’t quite tell how much is on that bar up above, but that looks to be at least 600 lbs.
Danna provides an upgrade to Michigan’s defensive line after they lost three to four starter-level players from last year, including Chase Winovich, Rashan Gary, Bryan Mone, and Aubrey Solomon. The Wolverines addressed the issue with a big class of defensive linemen in the 2019 class, but the number of college-impact edge guys is low or maybe non-existent.
Michigan now has 87 scholarships allotted for 2019, so at least two more players will have to depart prior to the season (LINK).
