devin bush

I started a bit of offseason content during the long offseason so I might as well finish it. I'll post the 3-, 4-, and 5-star teams next to each other at the end and link a poll if you want to compare.

What is this? I'm making a team of Michigan four-stars since 1990. Offense is here. For the writeups I gave up on focusing on the recruiting rankings because compared to 3-stars (there's always a reason) and 5-stars (there's always a story), 4-star recruitments are boring. Instead I'll try to tell you something about the guy you didn't know.

More All-Michigan [Blank] Teams: 5-Stars, 3-Stars, Pro Offense/Pro Defense, 1879-Before Bo, Extracurriculars, Position-Switchers, Highlights, Numbers Offense/Numbers Defense, In-State, Names, Small Guys, Big Guys, Freshmen

Rules: Lower bound: must be a four-star to at least one major ranker of his era, and average over 4.0 stars on the Seth scale. Upper bound: cannot a 5-star to anybody or average higher than a 4.50 on the Seth scale. Since 1990 because data go back that far. College performance considered only.

Defensive Tackle

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Left: photo via Maize and Blue Nation. Right: Bryan Fuller

Mo Hurst (2013) burst into the consciousness of recruiters with a play he made while on offense, as the nation delighted in the fullback shrugging off eleven overmatched Northeastern schoolchildren for a 70-yard touchdown run.

The rest of the tape was the dude teleporting into the backfield. His coach used "yay" as an adjective.

The recruiting comp for Hurst was Mike Martin (2008), whom Brian described as "pulsing" and "a single twitching muscle." A wrestler and "crab person" for his perfect pad level, the Detroit Catholic Central committed to Lloyd Carr in June and stuck when the staff switched. In the interim he blew up, with his film showing a slab of muscle running down ballcarriers like a linebacker. Because Michigan had just experienced The Horror while this was happening, every recruiter checked in with Martin to ask if he's sure he wanted to "be on a sinking ship."

All of that negative recruiting might have helped Michigan keep Martin in the fold when Notre Dame made their serious run at him in November; according to Mike he was swayable right up until his Notre Dame recruiter started his visit by badmouthing Michigan. If everyone else started their pitch with why he shouldn't choose Michigan, that probably meant they knew Michigan had the most to offer. I have his contact so I might reach out about bringing back this shirt:

MGoBlog Profiles Six Zero | mgoblog

[After THE JUMP: Even I can't make Dan Rumishek interesting, but I can certainly make you appreciate uninteresting]

devin bush jr khaleke hudson
ah squirrel [Bryan Fuller]

Our ongoing series covering Michigan's 2010s. Previously: Our Favorite Blocks, QBs, RBs, and WRs, TEs, FBs, and OL, Defensive Line, The 2000s.

Methodology: The staff decided these together and split the writeups. Considering individual years but a player can only be nominated once. Because of the various iterations of defense over the decade we decided on three types: two interior linebackers who could play MLB or WLB, a DE-ish rush specialist like a 3-3-5 Quick, 4-3 Under SAM, or Don Brown's Uche position, and a hybrid safety, considering the guys who played Spur (2010), Nickel (2014-'15), or Viper (2016-'19).

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INTERIOR LINEBACKER: Devin Bush Jr. (2018)

Doom Squirrel Devin

Picking a year for Bush is difficult because he is one of those players who burst onto the scene fully formed. His first game as a starter came against Florida, which is a delightful team to debut against when you are a rabid squirrel man.

His numbers were actually better in 2017, his sophomore year, but a large portion of that dropoff was a shift in defensive scheme that forced him to drop into anti-slant zones. He did this with aplomb because he did everything with aplomb. Another chunk of it was the existence of Chase Winovich and Rashan Gary, particularly the former.

Bush got picked 10th overall after 2018 so we'll go with that season. He was the same guy both years he started.

That was the fastest linebacker in the country. You could occasionally get Bush to take a false step; often it didn't matter. Attempting to edge him was a recipe for second and eight…

…if you were lucky.

Bush rewrote the UFR record book for a linebacker because he was a true triple threat LB, able to blitz, play the run, and cover. Not bad for a guy whom Florida State offered a couple of weeks before his commitment.

-Brian

[After THE JUMP: This is MGoBlog, what did you think we were going to carp about?]

[Patrick Barron]

In which we respond with Seinfeld gifs. Ohio State's Chase Young has been suspended for taking money from someone last year. The Michigan Twitter response to this has been 1) assert that Young will be back for the Michigan game because nothing ever goes wrong for them, 2) bitch about NCAA rules being stupid, and 3) post Seinfeld gifs.

Excellent work, everyone.

Young asserts that he got a loan (it was not a loan) from a "family friend I've known since the summer before [his] freshman year" (agent, why do you think that timeline is exculpatory, agent agent agent) and that he repaid it (because the payment was about to become public knowledge and repaying it helps him get his eligibility back). This is the kabuki dance dictated by the NCAA abasement ritual, and OSU knows its steps well.

I have questions: why is this coming out now? Is this like the Pryor thing where the one idiot in the OSU fanbase who thinks everything is on the up and up courageously emails the head coach? Or is there a disgruntled booster? How much of a toddler do you have to be to be an OSU booster who is disgruntled in any way? Isn't it slightly convenient that whoops this suspension is for Maryland and probably Rutgers but obviously not PSU and Michigan?

UPDATE: Ah.

I don't think it helps Young's case for reinstatement. Yes, I think NCAA rules should be changed. No, I'm not above hoping OSU gets burnt by them.

[After the JUMP: Devin Bush's fashion sense remains undefeated]

nobody could play hockey in a place with a name as silly as "Kamloops," surely 

that was one Mad Max-ass suit 

love at first sight is no way to run a football team 

The little guys' turn

What can be done (other than the obvious?)

Devin Bush Jr

At least NFL quarterbacks will feel worse about it than we do.

Michigan's DTs are a problem. Everything else is a problem in other, cool sense. 

Man is a rope over an abyss, and Michigan should cut the damn rope 

Jake Mood attempts one of his record-breaking six field goal completions against Indiana

So that happened.

"attack Devin Bush on the sideline" was the best of Rutgers's options