FORMER PLAYERS
LB Jordan Anthony (Troy): Troy (4-3) had a bye.
RB Zach Charbonnet (UCLA): Charbonnet ran 15 times for 35 yards and caught 3 passes for 21 yards in a 34-31 loss to Oregon.
WR Kekoa Crawford (Cal): Crawford caught 1 pass for 15 yards in a 26-3 win over Colorado.
Hit the jump for more.
read more
FORMER PLAYERS
LB Jordan Anthony (Troy): Anthony made 1 tackles in a 21-9 win over Southern Miss.
RB Zach Charbonnet (UCLA): Charbonnet had 6 carries for 19 yards and 2 touchdowns in a 40-37 loss to Fresno State.
WR Kekoa Crawford (Cal): Crawford did not play in a 42-30 win over Sacramento State.
Hit the jump for more.
read more
Defensive tackle Phillip Paea has entered the transfer portal. Paea played in just a few games from 2017-2020, bouncing back and forth between offensive and defensive line.
Paea was recruited for defensive tackle, even though I said all along I liked him best on offense (LINK). I initially gave him a TTB Rating of 76 thinking the staff might come around, but as it became clear he was headed for defense, I lowered that to 68 (LINK).
It seems to be rather unusual that a player in modern football sticks around for four years without having a role on offense or defense, but that was the case here with Paea. As a grad transfer, he now has two years to play two.
That 2017 class was thought to be a great in-state haul, but Donovan Peoples-Jones and Ambry Thomas only played three years each, never reaching their ceiling. Deron Irving-Bey, Ja’Raymond Hall, Jaylen Kelly-Powell, and Joshua Ross rounded out that in-state class. The only one remaining is Ross, and so far, none has received honors above Third Team All-Big Ten.
Name: Phillip Paea
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 302 lbs.
High school: Berrien Springs (MI) Berrien Springs
Position: Defensive tackle
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #92
Last year: I ranked Paea #80 and said he would be a backup . . . somewhere (LINK). He did not play in any games.
TTB Rating: 68
Well, here we are on the brink of another season (or not) and Paea doesn’t appear to be any further along than he was last year at this time. Paea went from being a backup offensive lineman in 2018 to a backup defensive tackle in 2019. Michigan had a need for contributions on the interior of the defensive line, because they were relying on help from other unproven players, like freshman Chris Hinton and veteran Donovan Jeter.
This year the guys ahead of Paea appear to be all the same guys, except the departed Michael Dwumfour, who will be suiting up for Rutgers in 2020. There might even be some strongside defensive end types encroaching on defensive tackle playing time, such as Julius Welschof. Though there is opportunity once again for unproven players to step up, it’s unlikely that Paea will be one of them. Unless he has a breakthrough this season, this will probably be the finale of his Michigan career.
Prediction: Backup defensive tackle
