Ex-Wolverines in the 2019 NFL Draft

Tag: Mikey Weber


29Apr 2019
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Ex-Wolverines in the 2019 NFL Draft

Damien Harris (image via Lexington News Herald)

In keeping up with the NFL Draft, it was impossible to miss when a couple former Michigan commits came off the board. The Wolverines lost two running back commits in the 2015 class, and both of them were drafted – while Michigan’s signees at the position (Karan Higdon, Chris Evans) went undrafted and got suspended, respectively.

Hit the jump for a rundown of former Michigan commits and players who were involved in the draft this past weekend.

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17Jan 2019
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Ex-Wolverine Commit Updates: Post-2018 Recap

Damien Harris (image via Stadium)

FORMER COMMITS

George Campbell III, WR (Florida State): Campbell struggled once again with injuries, and when he was healthy, he played in seven games and ended with 4 catches for 42 yards on the year. Florida State went 5-7.

Shaun Crawford, CB (Notre Dame): Crawford missed the entire season with a torn ACL, the third ACL injury of his football career.

Messiah DeWeaver, QB (East Mississippi Community College): DeWeaver completed 181/266 passes (68%) for 1,735 yards, 10 touchdowns, and 4 interceptions; he also ran 88 times for 110 yards (1.3 YPC) and 2 touchdowns. EMCC went 12-0 and won the NJCAA national championship. At the time of this 247 Sports article, he had scholarship offers to play for Akron, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Louisiana-Lafayette, Ole Dominion, Southern Mississippi, and Toledo; he just announced on Twitter a couple days ago that he would be transferring to Old Dominion.

Hit the jump for a bunch of other former commits.

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4Dec 2018
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Ex-Wolverine Updates: Championship Game Week

Damien Harris (image via USA Today)

 

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DECOMMITMENTS

Damien Harris, RB (Alabama): Harris ran 9 times for 52 yards and caught 1 pass for -1 yard in a 35-28 win over Georgia, giving Alabama the SEC Championship.

Jeremiah Holloman, WR (Georgia): Holloman caught 2 passes for 37 yards in a 35-28 loss to Alabama.

Rashad Weaver, DE (Pitt): Weaver made 1 tackle, 1 tackle for loss, and 1 pass breakup in a 42-10 loss to Clemson in the ACC Championship.

Mike Weber, RB (Ohio State): Weber ran 17 times for 51 yards and caught 3 passes for 21 yards in a 45-24 win over Northwestern, giving the Buckeyes the Big Ten Championship.

FORMER COACHES

Brady Hoke, Defensive Line Coach (Carolina Panthers): Hoke was fired after the Panthers’ 24-17 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. The Panthers are 6-6.

Scott Shafer, Defensive Coordinator (Middle Tennessee): A week after holding UAB to 3 points in a victory, Middle Tennessee’s defense gave up 27 points and lost the Conference-USA Championship game to UAB, 27-25.

27Nov 2018
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Ex-Wolverine Updates: Week 13

Jordan Elliott (image via 4search)

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TRANSFERS

Ahmir Mitchell, WR (Fort Scott Community College): Mitchell finished the season with 7 catches for 73 yards (10.4 YPC) and 1 touchdown.

Wilton Speight, QB (UCLA): Speight was 29/47 for 466 yards, 0 touchdowns, and 1 interception in a 49-42 loss to Stanford; he also ran 10 times for -37 yards and 1 touchdown. He finished the year 126/208 (60.6%) for 1,527 yards, 6 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions, plus 39 carries for 27 yards and 2 touchdowns. UCLA was 3-9 and not eligible for a bowl game.

Kareem Walker, RB (Fort Scott Community College): Walker finished the season with 64 carries for 207 yards (3.2 YPC) and 1 touchdown. He is committed to transfer to Mississippi State.

Keith Washington, CB (West Virginia): Washington made 5 tackles in a 59-56 loss to Oklahoma.

Maurice Ways, Jr., WR (Cal): Ways made 3 catches for 43 yards and 1 touchdown – his first career score – in a 33-21 win over Colorado.

Tyrone Wheatley, Jr., TE (Stony Brook): Wheatley finished his redshirt junior year at Stony Brook with a total of 6 catches for 36 yards.

Hit the jump for news on former commitments and coaches.

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22Nov 2018
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The Game Preview: Michigan Rush Defense vs. Ohio State Rush Offense

Previously: M Rush Offense vs. OSU Rush Defense, M Pass Offense vs. OSU Pass Defense

MICHIGAN

Michigan is #14 in rushing defense (111.6 yards allowed/game), and the 3.28 yards allowed per rush ranks at #14 also. Despite having the #1 passing defense in the country, teams have still only run for 11 touchdowns this season, which is tied for #20 overall.

Michigan runs mostly a 4-man front, but defensive end Chase Winovich – the team’s third-leading tackler with 58 – is questionable after suffering an injury against Indiana. Devin Bush, Jr. is a sideline-to-sideline middle linebacker, and his 73 tackles lead the team. Safety Tyree Kinnel (62 tackles) has improved his tackling this year and frequently pokes his nose up into the box to help in the run game. Winovich’s 13.5 tackles for loss will be greatly missed if he’s unable to play, and Bush is second with 9.0.

As for the defensive line overall, Michigan is #10 in Line Yards, #3 in Opportunity Rate, and #15 in Stuff Rate; where they struggle is in Power Success Rate (#80), which is the result of a lack of a powerful nose tackle. Michigan has not had great production from the interior line, which makes Michigan’s defensive success so impressive: the top three defensive tackles (Lawrence Marshall, Bryan Mone, Auburey Solomon) have combined for just 26 tackles and 2 tackles for loss. For a comparison, Maurice Hurst, Jr. had 61 tackles and 14.5 tackles for loss by himself last year.

OHIO STATE

Ohio State is #53 in rushing offense (182 yards/game) and #66 in yards per carry (4.4). Their 20 rushing touchdowns come in tied at #61.

Ohio State’s line is as follows:

  • LT: Thayer Munford (So., 6’6″, 325)
  • LG: Malcolm Pridgeon (RS Sr., 6’7″, 315)
  • C: Michael Jordan (Jr., 6’7″, 310)
  • RG: Demetrius Knox (RS Sr., 6’4″, 311)
  • RT: Isaiah Prince (Sr., 6’6″, 306)

Munford was not heavily recruited, Pridgeon is a JUCO transfer, and Jordan was thought to be a tackle or guard coming out of high school. As a group, they are #34 in Opportunity Rate, #67 in Line Yards, #67 in Stuff Rate, and #101 in Power Success Rate. It’s not a great group, but it is Ohio State: they’re still not bad, because of the talent and the coaching.

The Buckeyes have a good 1-2 punch with sophomore J.K. Dobbins (5’10”, 214) and senior Mike Weber (also 5’10”, 214). They have combined for 1,626 yards and 12 rushing touchdowns. Weber missed last week with an injury, leading to Dobbins’s 37 carries for 203 yards against the Maryland Terrapins. Dobbins has generally been held in check by solid defenses (28 yards against Michigan State, 57 against Penn State), but Weber went for 102 against MSU two weeks ago. Quarterback Dwayne Haskins (6’3″, 220) is decently mobile, but he’s not really a runner like J.T. Barrett, Braxton Miller, and other past OSU quarterbacks; Haskins has 93 yards and 4 touchdowns on the year and is more in the mode of Cardale Jones.

OVERALL

The fact that Haskins isn’t a great runner should help Michigan out here, because Urban Meyer used J.T. Barrett to great effectiveness over the past several years. Even in their worst rushing game against Michigan over Meyer’s tenure (the 2016 game), Barrett ran the ball 30 times for 125 yards and 1 score. Michigan should do well, but the absence of Chase Winovich would be a big blow. Backup Josh Uche isn’t a run-stopper, and Aidan Hutchinson can be taken advantage of because of his inexperience. Michigan’s best defensive end combo, sans Winovich, would be Rashan Gary on the strong side and Kwity Paye on the weak side, but that leaves the backup situation in flux.

It will also be important for Michigan to control the ball on offense. Michigan can get worn out on defense, like they did against Indiana last week, and that has also hurt them in the past. Several players went down with cramps last week. No Barrett probably means a lesser chance of getting worn down on extended drives, but it will still be something to watch for in the fourth quarter.

Advantage: Michigan