Tag: senior profile

Goodbye, Desmond Morgan

HIGH SCHOOL
Morgan attended Holland (MI) West Ottawa, where he was a quarterback and inside linebacker. As a senior he threw for 519 yards and 5 touchdowns, while also running for 802 yards and 11 touchdowns. He committed to Michigan in December of 2010 as a part of the 2011 recruiting class, and I gave him a TTB Rating of 76 (LINK). A 3-star prospect across the board, Michigan only had to beat out the likes of Northwestern and some MAC programs for his commitment.

Hit the jump for more on Morgan’s career.

read more

Devin Gardner, #98

Devin Gardner

Thanks for your generous donations and purchases on Amazon! If you would like to donate to the site redesign drive, please use Paypal (on the left sidebar) or do some shopping on Amazon (LINK). I had a productive meeting with a web developer last week, and things are rolling forward. Thanks!
————–

HIGH SCHOOL
A product of Detroit’s Inkster High School – which is no longer open – Gardner was a Rivals 4-star, the #1 dual-threat quarterback, and #132 overall in the 2010 class. He chose the Wolverines over offers from Michigan State, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Oregon, among others. I was not giving out TTB Ratings at the time, but I named him Michigan’s best recruit in the class (LINK).

Hit the jump for lots more on Gardner’s career.

COLLEGE
There was a hope that Gardner would redshirt as a freshman in 2010 while sitting behind Denard Robinson and Tate Forcier, but when Robinson got injured in the first game, Gardner indeed stepped in, which ruined his chance to redshirt. That seemed to be more of a punishment of Forcier, who had run afoul of the coaches, than a reward for Gardner. Regardless, Gardner went on to play in three games as a freshman, completing 7/10 passes for 85 yards and 1 touchdown; he also had 7 carries for 21 yards and 1 touchdown. Miraculously, he suffered a wink wink back injury, which would eventually allow him to take a medical redshirt for the year. As a redshirt freshman in 2011, he played sparingly as Robinson’s backup, completing 11/23 passes for 176 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception; he also ran 25 times for 53 yards and 1 score. Gardner was converted to wide receiver for the 2012 season in order to get the fleet-footed, 6’4″, 210-pounder on the field somewhere. Catching passes from Robinson for the first half of the year, he looked unpolished but decent on his way to 16 catches, 266 yards, and 4 touchdowns. When Robinson’s elbow was hurt against Nebraska, Gardner stepped back in at quarterback the following week and finished the year with 75/126 completions, 1219 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions, plus 47 carries for 101 yards and 7 touchdowns on the ground. Gardner became the full-time starter in 2013, a year in which he played terribly to start and heroically near the end. He was 208/345 for 2,960 yards, 21 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions, and he added 483 yards and 11 touchdowns rushing. As a fifth year senior in 2014, he was 174/283 for 10 touchdowns and 15 interceptions, while also rushing for 258 yards and 4 touchdowns, all sandwiched around a very brief loss of his job to sophomore Shane Morris.

CAREER STATISTICS
475-for-787 (60.4%), 6336 yards, 44 touchdowns, 32 interceptions
342 carries, 916 yards, 24 touchdowns
18 catches, 286 yards, 4 touchdowns
27 starts at quarterback, 4 starts at wide receiver

AWARDS
School-record 503 passing yards and 584 total yards against Indiana in 2013

SUMMARY
Gardner came in with a lot of hype, and he showed flashes of brilliance throughout his career. If not for the guy who preceded him at the position, he would have been Michigan’s all-time most dynamic athlete at the quarterback spot. Unfortunately, team success did not come along with his talent. There was much gnashing of teeth – mine and others’ – when Gardner played immediately in 2010, because it seemed as if then coach Rich Rodriguez was sending a message to his team by sacrificing a year of Gardner’s eligibility. (The 2014 season was not pretty, but imagine Shane Morris starting for the entire year with Gardner having graduated. Yikes.)

When we finally saw Gardner for an extended period of time, he was a de facto redshirt sophomore in 2012 and he was playing wide receiver for the Wolverines. He actually led the team in receiving for a few games, had a few touchdown catches, and probably could have made a decent college career out of the position if not for the fact that he had a pretty good throwing arm, too. When Denard Robinson got hurt midway through the year, Gardner looked like the next big thing at quarterback. After practicing exclusively at wide receiver until everyone realized Russell Bellomy couldn’t hack it as Robinson’s backup, Gardner went under center for a week and then went 12/18 for 234 yards, 3 touchdowns (1 rushing), and 1 interception against a decent Minnesota squad. He threw an interception every game, but he also accounted for 18 touchdowns.

Things were looking good going into 2013, but the offensive line ultimately let down the team. Unable to run the ball or protect Gardner in any way, he threw loads of bad interceptions and took a beating throughout the year. He threw 11 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in the first six games before calming himself down and throwing 10 touchdowns and just 1 pick over the second half of the year. The season included record-setting performances against Indiana; not only did he pass for 503 yards and account for 584 total yards, but he also helped wide receiver Jeremy Gallon set a Big Ten record for receiving yards in a game. Gardner ended his season with an unbelievable game against mighty Ohio State, where he broke his foot but continued on to bring his team within a hair’s breadth of victory; he went 32/45 for 451 yards and 4 touchdowns, while also rushing 9 times for 25 yards and 1 more score. After the broken foot was discovered, he sat out the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl.

Many held out hope for continued maturation into his fifth year, but he and the rest of the offense continued to underperform. Gallon’s graduation meant that the new go-to guy was Devin Funchess, but Funchess got hurt early in the year and was never the same again. The running game improved somewhat, but Michigan had few threats in the passing game, and the best tight end, Jake Butt, was coming off of an ACL tear. After topping the 200-yard mark in passing eight times as a redshirt junior, Gardner managed just two such games in 2014, against Indiana and Ohio State. Additionally, he ran for 80+ yards four times in 2013, but just once in 2014, against Maryland. The team’s poor play got Gardner benched in favor of Morris for the beginning of the Minnesota game, but Morris was battered into a gimpy ankle and a controversial concussion. The fact that Morris was beaten up in little more than a half of a game while Gardner stayed mostly healthy (aside from the broken foot against Ohio State in 2013) for 2.5 years of starting gives an idea of how tough Gardner was. There were times when it looked like he wouldn’t be able to pull himself up off the turf, but often with a helping hand from a teammate, he got up over and over again.

I WILL REMEMBER HIM FOR . . .
. . . looking like a poor man’s Vince Young. That might not sound like a great compliment, but Young was a Heisman winner who made things look easy at times. Gardner was not a great decision maker, but he could make some beautiful throws, he could outrun the majority of players on the field, and he always had a chance to make any play exciting. The way he moved on the field was right out of a video game.

PROJECTION
Gardner has resigned himself to the fact that he will almost surely have to play wide receiver if he wants to have an NFL career. At Michigan’s pro day in March, he measured in a little over 6’3″ and 218 lbs. He ran a 4.65 forty, did 15 reps on the 225 lb. bench press, showed off a 35.5″ vertical, broad jumped 9’9″, and ran the 20-yard shuttle in 4.42 seconds. Those numbers are solid but not amazing. Considering the fact that he is changing positions and does not have blazing speed, his options may be limited. However, there are other quarterbacks who have made the transition from quarterback to wide receiver in the NFL quite well – Josh Cribbs, Julian Edelman, Bert Emanuel, etc. Those guys generally seem to be smaller, quicker guys who can get open in the middle of the field, not big guys who can go against NFL corners – arguably the best athletes on the field – and win one-on-one battles. I think Gardner is going to struggle with the move to receiver, but he has size, leadership, toughness, and character on his side. I do not expect him to get drafted, but some team will pick him up as an undrafted free agent.

Brennen Beyer, #97

Brennen Beyer (image via Bleacher Report)

HIGH SCHOOL
Coming out of Plymouth (MI) Plymouth in 2011, Beyer was a Rivals 4-star, the #16 strongside end, and #201 overall. He committed in April of 2010 (LINK) and I gave him a TTB Rating of 82.

COLLEGE
Despite being rather unready physically, Beyer played as a backup SAM linebacker during his freshman year. It was a position that was roughly similar to weakside end, so he was not asked to drop back in coverage often. He made 11 tackles during his inaugural season. He started nine games as a sophomore, making 19 tackles, .5 tackles for loss, and 1 forced fumble. As a junior in 2013, he bounced from starting at SAM linebacker (when Jake Ryan was recovering from a torn ACL) to starting at strongside end. He made 27 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble, and the biggest play of his career, a 7-yard interception return for a touchdown against Iowa (thrown by Jake Rudock, who will be playing for Michigan this coming fall). Beyer became the full-time starter at strongside end as a senior in 2014, finishing his final campaign with 35 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, and 5.5 sacks.

CAREER STATS
92 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 1 pass breakup, 1 interception for 7 yards (TD)

AWARDS
Academic All-Big Ten, 2012-2014

SUMMARY
I suppose in the grand scheme of things, my comparison between Roh and Beyer was quite apt. Both played linebacker for a spell before turning into strongside ends. Both also had trouble carrying enough weight for the strongside end position and were somewhat limited athletically. As you can see from the commitment post linked above, I always thought Beyer was a year behind where he should have been. He should have been redshirting in 2011 but he was a backup SAM. He should have been working his way slowly onto the field in 2012, but he started nine games. So on and so forth. Ideally, he would be entering his fifth year senior season and penciled in as a starter at one of the end positions. Early on in his career, I lamented Beyer’s playing time because he simply didn’t produce – through two seasons of significant playing time, he had exactly 30 total tackles and .5 tackles for loss. He started to come into his own during his last two seasons, when he was probably talented enough to be a spot starter or heavily used backup, but instead got pressed into duty as a SAM linebacker and strongside end, neither of which truly fit his skill set. Lamenting aside, he had a solid career and will always have that touchdown, which is a special moment for a defensive lineman.

I WILL REMEMBER HIM FOR . . . 
. . . returning that Jake Rudock interception for a touchdown. You can’t help but love watching the big guys up front get an interception once in a while, let alone return it for a score.

PROJECTION
Beyer was not invited to the NFL Combine, but he had a decent performance at Michigan’s pro day in mid-March. He ran a 4.9 forty, had a 4.12 shuttle, benched 225 lbs. 20 times, had a 33.5″ vertical, and broad-jumped 9’2″. He still probably won’t get drafted simply because of the aforementioned lack of production. He lacks the size to be a strongside end in the NFL, and he lacks the speed to be an outside linebacker or weakside end at the next level. A team will probably bring him in for a tryout, but I doubt he will make an NFL roster.

Joey Burzynski, #56

Joe Burzynski (center, image via MGoBlog)

HIGH SCHOOL
Burzynski attended Carlsbad (CA) Carlsbad and was not recruited out of high school.

COLLEGE
Burzynski walked on to Michigan’s football program for Rich Rodriguez’s final year in 2010. Too small and light to play, he redshirted. Still very light as a redshirt freshman, he played backup left guard in four games. He finally hit a reasonable playing weight (295 lbs.) in 2012 and saw action as a backup in eight games. During the 2013 season that saw an array of players moving about on the offensive line, Burzynski played in four games and finally earned a start against Indiana . . . and promptly tore his ACL, missing the rest of the season. As a fifth year senior in 2014, he played in just two games, one of those a start when Graham Glasgow was suspended for the season opener.

CAREER STATISTICS
2 starts, 18 games played

AWARDS
Academic All-Big Ten (2011-2014)

SUMMARY
Burzynski seemed like one of those players who was around forever, and then he practically disappeared as a senior. In 2012 and 2013, it seemed like he was a play or two away from getting in the game. This past season he was an afterthought. It used to seem quite rare that walk-ons were elevated to starter status, but we have seen that become a trend in the past several years, including Nick Sheridan, Kevin Leach, Jordan Kovacs, Graham Glasgow, Ryan Glasgow, and Burzynski occasionally. Not much can be said for Burzynski as a player, whom Brady Hoke seemed to love but was just so-so as a contributor at the Michigan level. He generally seemed to know his assignments, but he was not strong enough or big enough to get much movement. Kudos to him for making a five-year college career out of football.

PROJECTION
Burzynski’s football career is presumably finished.

Jake Ryan, #47

HIGH SCHOOL
One of the few 2010 recruits to stick with Michigan for an entire college career, Ryan was a Rivals 3-star and the #30 inside linebacker coming out of Cleveland (OH) St. Ignatius. He had a handful of MAC offers before committing to the Wolverines in January of 2010. Brady Hoke – who was at San Diego State – somewhat famously took a pass on recruiting Ryan, who would end up being perhaps Hoke’s best defensive player at Michigan. Here’s my commitment post on Ryan from January 2010 (LINK), and I named him the most underrated recruit in that class (LINK).

COLLEGE
When Ryan entered college, he was considered a bit of a project after missing a chunk of his junior year in high school due to injury. It was assumed he would redshirt, and redshirt he did while Rich Rodriguez and Greg Robinson played around with the 3-3 stack. When Hoke was hired and brought in Greg Mattison, Ryan became a SAM outside linebacker and changed from #37 to #90. He made an immediate wow play in the 2011 spring game when he jumped in front of a Devin Gardner pass and returned it for a touchdown while wearing the #37 jersey. That fall he switched to #90 and earned the starting SAM job, and he would finish the season with 37 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, 1 forced fumble, and 2 fumble recoveries. That redshirt freshman season earned him some hype for a 2012 in which he did not disappoint. He made 88 tackles, 16 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, 4 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery, and 3 pass breakups, earning Second Team All-Big Ten. With expectations shooting through the roof, he promptly tore his ACL in the spring of 2013. It was early enough that he was not ruled out for the entire season, so he returned mid-year and made 30 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, and 1 pass breakup in an understandably mediocre campaign. Fully healed by his fifth year, Ryan moved to middle linebacker in a revamped defense and finished the 2014 season with 112 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 3 pass breakups, and his first career interception. He was named First Team All-Big Ten as a senior.

CAREER STATISTICS
267 tackles, 45.5 tackles for loss, 9.5 sacks, 7 forced fumbles, 3 fumble recoveries, 7 pass breakups, 1 interception (returned for 2 yards)

AWARDS
2011: ESPN and Big Ten Network Freshman All-Big Ten
2012: Second Team All-Big Ten, Roger Zatkoff Award (team’s top linebacker), #47 Legends jersey
2013: Team Captain, #47 Legends jersey
2014: Team Captain, Roger Zatkoff Award, First Team All-Big Ten, #47 Legends jersey

SUMMARY
For his career, Ryan ranks #17 in solo tackles, #3 in tackles for loss, and tied for #4 in forced fumbles. While he never had a truly dominant year, he was a very consistent player for Michigan every year except in 2013, when he hurried back after tearing that ACL. But “consistent” is not really what I think of when I think of Ryan. While he was reliable, he was one of Michigan’s best playmakers on defense – from blitzing to deflecting passes to keeping outside contain to forcing fumbles, he was the one guy that offenses generally had to worry about on a play-to-play basis. He has never wowed anybody with his measurables, but he simply found a way to make plays over and over again. Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Greg Mattison said several times throughout Ryan’s career that he had an unorthodox way of playing the linebacker position, but he got the job done. Ryan would sometimes get his lower body out of position but find a way to redirect and make the tackle, or he might leap over a blocker, or he might sidestep a blocker instead of taking him on directly. Michigan’s defense has been lacking stars in recent years, which you realize when you think about walk-on safety Jordan Kovacs being the biggest fan favorite since Brandon Graham wore the winged helmet in 2009. Ryan is the closest thing to a bona fide stud for the Wolverines since Graham terrorized Big Ten opponents in Rich Rodriguez’s second year.

I WILL REMEMBER HIM FOR . . .
. . . his very first college game when he started at SAM linebacker, moved inside occasionally to blitz, and destroyed Western Michigan’s quarterback while causing an interception that was returned 94 yards for a touchdown by Brandon Herron. That was the first sign – and it happened immediately – that we might have something special in Ryan.

PROJECTION
Ryan projects to linebacker in the NFL, although it’s unclear exactly where he will play. He could be a 3-4 outside linebacker, a SAM linebacker in a 4-3, a middle linebacker in a 4-3, or an inside linebacker in a 3-4. At the NFL Combine, he ran a 4.65 forty, did 20 reps on the bench at 225 lbs., broad jumped 10′, showed off a 34.5″ vertical, and had a 4.2 shuttle time. I think he’s best as an outside linebacker in a 3-4 look because he can rush the passer and has a knack for hemming guys in on the edge, and I think he fits as a SAM in a 4-3 look. I do not think he has the athleticism to be a star in the NFL, but I do think he can carve out a long career if he stays healthy.