Berkley Edwards (image via Detroit Free Press)
Former Minnesota and Central Michigan running back Berkley Edwards will be joining the Michigan Wolverines as a walk-on. He’s the son of former Michigan running back Stan Edwards and the brother of former Michigan wide receiver Braylon Edwards.
Hit the jump for more on the transfer news.
Jeff George, Jr.
University of Illinois quarterback Jeff George, Jr. has announced plans to transfer to Michigan as a graduate transfer. He will have two years of eligibility remaining and should be eligible immediately.
Hit the jump for more on George’s transfer.
Tight end Ian Bunting, who just finished his redshirt junior season, announced that he intends to transfer for his fifth and final season of college football.
Bunting committed to Michigan in April of 2013 as a part of the 2014 recruiting class (LINK). I gave him a final TTB Rating of 75 (LINK). After redshirting initially, he caught 5 passes for 72 yards in 2015. He followed that up with 5 receptions for 46 yards in 2016 and 1 catch for 6 yards in 2017. Altogether, he totaled 11 catches for 124 yards during his time in Ann Arbor.
Following a year behind Jake Butt, he was always expected to take some time to get a featured spot. He also played a lot of wide receiver in high school, which probably slowed his development a bit. Regardless, I predicted in the off-season that he would have a breakout season this year and lead Michigan’s tight ends in production. Obviously, that never materialized. After a career-best game in the Orange Bowl against Florida State (3 catches, 40 yards), he fell off the map to the point where he was behind several younger guys.
Bunting’s departure had been expected for a while, and I had heard this would happen during the end of the fall semester. Redshirt sophomore Zach Gentry and true sophomore Sean McKeon had moved past him as receiving targets, and redshirt sophomore Tyrone Wheatley, Jr. was used in a blocking role. I am a bit puzzled at the playing time allotted, because I think Bunting is a superior player to Wheatley at the least. For whatever reason, it seemed like Bunting found himself in the doghouse a little bit. It may (or may not) be a coincidence that his place on the depth chart changed for the worse when Jay Harbaugh moved to coaching the running backs, while a new face in Greg Frey came in to coach the tight ends.
Michigan now goes into 2018 with Zach Gentry (RS Jr.), Tyrone Wheatley, Jr. (RS Jr.), Sean McKeon (Jr.), Nick Eubanks (RS So.), Mustapha Muhammad (Fr.), and Luke Schoonmaker (Fr.) on the roster. Here’s a look at the roster numbers for 2018 (LINK).
Casey Hughes (image via Zimbio)
Utah defensive back Casey Hughes has decided to transfer to Michigan as a graduate transfer for the 2018 season.
Hughes is 6’0″, 185 lbs. and started at cornerback for the Utes in 2017, when he made 35 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 2 forced fumbles, and 1 pass breakup. He made 6 tackles and 1 forced fumble as a backup in 2015 and 2016 combined. He redshirted as a freshman in 2014. He has run 4.44 and 4.47 forties during his time at Utah.
As a high school recruit in the class of 2014, Hughes was a 247 Composite 3-star, the #126 cornerback, and #1595 overall. He had offers from Colorado, Nevada, Oregon State, UNLV, and Utah State, among others.
Hughes is known as a good tackler and tough player. He is expected to play nickel safety. There have been rumors since the season’s end that Michigan’s coaching staff was not happy with the safety position this past season, particularly in pass coverage. Hughes may be able to help with that as an obvious passing down substitution, and he could provide depth on the outside. However, he’s unlikely to become a starting corner since Michigan has two very good corners already in David Long and Lavert Hill.
Redshirt sophomore cornerback Keith Washington is transferring out of Michigan. I ranked Washington at #20 in the 2017 Season Countdown (LINK) and projected him as a starting cornerback after he looked like the best corner on the roster in the spring game.
Recent rumors suggested that David Long and Lavert Hill solidified themselves as the top corners, and Sam Webb intimated that Washington was no longer playing corner, presumably meaning that he had moved to safety. That makes sense for Michigan due to the low numbers at safety. But maybe it didn’t sit well with Washington, who would have been behind two sophomores at cornerback, a junior safety in Tyree Kinnel, and a sophomore safety in Josh Metellus. Maybe he simply didn’t see the path to playing time.
Washington was committed to Cal at one point, and Michigan flipped him out of Prattville (AL) Prattville. Remember that exciting pipeline to Prattville? Nobody is left. Washington is transferring, Dytarious Johnson didn’t qualify, Kingston Davis transferred to a JUCO in Kansas, and Cam Taylor – 2018 wide receiver who was offered – committed to Missouri this summer.
Not much of a pipeline after all.