Tag: Tyler McLaurin

2024 Season Countdown: #67 Tyler McLaurin

Name: Tyler McLaurin
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 252 lbs.
High school: Bolingbrook (IL) Bolingbrook
Position: Edge
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #27
Last year: I ranked McLaurin #78 and said he would be a backup outside linebacker and special teamer (LINK). He did not play in any games.
TTB Rating: 75

I’ll be the first one to admit that as a fan, we have no idea what’s happening behind closed doors or in players’ personal lives. I’m sure players have medical issues all the time (illnesses, syndromes, allergies, etc.) that prevent them from training or eating the way we expect them to. They have deaths in the family and girl problems and monetary issues we don’t know about. Sometimes their genes or metabolisms are limiting factors.

But I was thoroughly confused last year when Michigan moved Tyler McLaurin to the “edge” position and listed him at 6’3″, 231 pounds. No Big Ten player is going to set an edge at that size. If Michigan faces a military program with a 230 pound outside linebacker – or 240 or 250 or maybe even 260 – they Wolverines are champing at the bit to roll over that dude with a 310 pound offensive tackle or an extra “tight end” or a kickout block from a 250 pound H-back.

I said I didn’t think McLaurin would play much defense (he didn’t play any) but that he might play some special teams (he didn’t play any). Maybe he didn’t know the playbook. Maybe he didn’t try hard in practice. Maybe he wasn’t doing well in school. Maybe he’s great in all those areas but just wasn’t good enough to get on the field.

But 231 isn’t going to cut it in the Big Ten.

But you know what? Tyler McLaurin is listed at 252 pounds now. And that is a playable weight. Jaylen Harrell was 246 pounds. Josaiah Stewart is 245. Michigan can work with 252.

Outside linebacker is a spot that needs some help after Harrell left. While Stewart is stepping in as the starter, there’s no clear answer about who will be the primary rotation guys at edge outside of Derrick Moore and T.J. Guy. I’ll once again say that I don’t expect McLaurin to play much defense, but I can see a scenario where the fourth-year player gets a few mop-up or injury-related snaps. Michigan has lots of inexperienced options (Lugard Edokpayi, Devon Baxter, Aymeric Koumba, etc.), and maybe McLaurin’s time in the program will set him apart. He was named Scout Team Player of the Week four times last year (three times for special teams, one time for defense), so perhaps that will translate into some playing time this season.

Prediction: Backup outside linebacker, special teamer

2023 Season Countdown: #78 Tyler McLaurin

Name: Tyler McLaurin
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 231 lbs.
High school: Bolingbrook (IL) Bolingbrook
Position: Edge
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #27
Last year: I ranked McLaurin #60 and said he would be a backup linebacker and special teamer (LINK). He played in four games.
TTB Rating: 75

Much like Ike Iwunnah (LINK), it’s starting to get a bit late for Tyler McLaurin to look like a contributor. He started off as a linebacker in 2021, but last year he got thrown in with the “edge” players, presumably the Jaylen Harrell outside linebacker spot. Listed at 237 lbs. last season, I thought he would continue to bulk up. He played in four games in 2022, mostly on special teams.

Now McLaurin is still listed at “edge” in 2023, but he’s down to 231 pounds, which is probably not a feasible weight for a 6’3″ edge defender in the Big Ten unless you have some excellent quickness/athleticism, which is not necessarily McLaurin’s forte based on his high school scouting. I expect McLaurin to be a special teams player, but I don’t foresee him playing much defense in 2023.

Prediction: Backup outside linebacker and special teamer

2022 Season Countdown: #60 Tyler McLaurin

Name: Tyler McLaurin
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 237 lbs.
High school: Bolingbrook (IL) Bolingbrook
Position: Linebacker
Class: Redshirt freshman
Jersey number: #27
Last year: I ranked McLaurin #74 and said he would redshirt (LINK). He played in one game.
TTB Rating: 75

McLaurin is a big linebacker at 6’3″ and 237 pounds. He might have been a prototypical inside linebacker in the 1990s or even the early 2000s, but most linebackers these days are smaller and quicker than they used to be. It seemed to be pretty obvious that he would redshirt – most freshman linebackers do unless they’re likely to start the following year – and he did. Michigan had plenty of depth at outside linebacker, and they had three solid guys on the inside.

As for the 2022 season, we can be fairly confident that the two starters will be Junior Colson and Nikhai Hill-Green. After that things are up in the air. Kalel Mullings might be playing running back, Joey Velazquez plays baseball all winter/spring, Jaydon Hood got some snaps last year, and there are two solidly built freshmen in Jimmy Rolder and Deuce Spurlock. And that’s not to mention Michael Barrett, who is likely to fit in somewhere, but we just don’t know where. Someone has to call “Next!” I don’t think it will be McLaurin because I think his upside is capped, but he should start to get some special teams action this year.

Prediction: Backup linebacker, special teamer

2021 Season Countdown: #74 Tyler McLaurin

Name: Tyler McLaurin
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 220 lbs.
High school: Bolingbrook (IL) Bolingbrook
Position: Linebacker
Class: Freshman
Jersey number: #27
Last year: McLaurin was a senior in high school (LINK). His senior year was canceled due to COVID.
TTB Rating: 75

McLaurin had the unfortunate luck of seeing his senior season canceled due to the pandemic, and he was one of the players in the class I was most looking forward to seeing. I was not a big fan of his game when he committed because he pledged to the Wolverines’ Don Brown-led defense, a scheme that didn’t seem to match McLaurin’s skills.

Fast forward to 2021, and I think McLaurin is in a better place. I always thought he was pegged for SAM in Brown’s 4-3 packages, but now I think McLaurin can play inside linebacker in Mike Macdonald’s 3-4 look. The 3-4 tends to prioritize bigger linebackers, and at 6’2″ – with a frame to get significantly heavier than 220 – this suddenly looks like a better personnel match. McLaurin could still end up at outside linebacker because of his length, but I believe he should start out inside due to a relative lack of depth there. Either way, he will probably redshirt this year unless injuries deplete the depth chart.

Prediction: Redshirt

Class of 2021: Historical Recruiting Comparisons

In case you’re not aware, I have a list of every Michigan recruit going back 20+ years and their rankings (LINK).

Below you will find each 2021 recruit and his closest ranked comparison by position in Michigan history. This might help boost – or temper – some expectations for what we will see from the class.

Hit the jump for the comparisons.