2021 Season Countdown: #27 Vincent Gray
Name: Vincent Gray
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 192 lbs.
High school: Rochester (MI) Adams
Position: Cornerback
Class: Junior
Jersey number: #4
Last year: I ranked Gray #17 and said he would be a starting cornerback (LINK). He made 25 tackles and 3 pass breakups.
TTB Rating: 71
Gray had a 2020 season to forget. We probably all wish we had one of those flashy thingies from Men in Black to forget about the Michigan State game, which largely consisted of Michigan State’s crappy quarterback (who has since transferred to Northern Illinois) blindly flinging balls to Michigan State’s no-name receivers. Ricky White’s 8 catches, 196 yards, and 1 touchdown were 6 more catches, 169 more yards, and 1 more touchdown than he compiled in all his other games. When Gray wasn’t getting torched by no-names, he was grabbing and tugging on jerseys to give up yards in 15-yard chunks at a time, courtesy of yellow flags.
Gray did supposedly recover toward the end of the year, but basically that seemed to include changing coverages and playing Gray way off to prevent other teams from running right past him.
From my commitment post:
What Gray lacks is great athleticism. His 4.76 forty isn’t inspiring, and he doesn’t play much faster than what one would assume from that forty time. He struggles to pull away from mediocre competition at Adams, and he doesn’t have great acceleration. He’s a bit of a glider and doesn’t seem to be going all out when he sprints, although I have no reason to believe he’s not going 100%. His tackling could use some work; he needs better technique, and he needs to get stronger.
Michigan is getting from Gray what I expected. The problem is that Gray shouldn’t have been starting. Ambry Thomas, Gemon Green, Andre Seldon, and others were all ranked higher, but with Thomas opting out, Seldon missing time, etc., Gray was almost forced into action. Gray was supposed to be a late-career spot starter or fill-in, not a guy starting full-time in his third year.
Most insiders think D.J. Turner II is going to take over Gray’s starting corner job, and I’m hopping on that bandwagon. Overall, I believe that athleticism usually wins out, and Gray is not a guy who should be a two- or three-year starter in a Michigan uniform. However, Gray has been a heavy contributor up to this point in his career, and I don’t think he’ll suddenly get mired on the bench. I expect him to be a rotation guy or perhaps a sub-package guy if the coaches want to go with a third cornerback.
Prediction: Backup cornerback
