michichusetts

Don Brown no longer works at Michigan but is still giving us a hand, or more specifically, his best cornerback. UMass transfer CB Josh Wallace announced this morning that he's committing to Michigan.

The grad transfer is on his (last) COVID season of eligibility. He has decent size but up-and-down grades on PFF over four seasons of starting at Amherst, the first three of those in the milquetoast Quarters/Cov2 system of Charlie Strong acolyte Tommy Restivo before Brown installed a more aggressive Cover 1 scheme. He was also a two-time captain. Wallace's other main consideration was a guarantee to play immediately at Virginia Tech; the other serious offers were from Oklahoma and Iowa.

In my limited scouting Wallace looks like a functional player but not a star, more long than tall, and excellent at press coverage versus UMass-caliber competition. Speed looks average for the Big Ten. His experience shows in run support; he's not a great individual tackler but a very sound team defender, responsible and strong enough to press an edge closed against the receivers he's played against. Those include Pitt's Jordan Addison in 2021, but UMass's coverages were so soft pre-Brown I couldn't take much away from that film. Alex Drain will have a more complete writeup later on today.

Projection:

Since Will Johnson had knee surgery after spring ball and "might" return in time for the opener, Wallace has a shot to start the season #1 on the depth chart. Amorion Walker was #2 in spring but is transitioning from wide receiver, and got the worst of a spring game battle with walk-on Peyton O'Leary. Ja'den McBurrows looked like their best non-Johnson CB in spring but has dealt with injuries his first two years on campus and hasn't been on the field. Touted Jyaire Hill is a true freshman. His classmate Cameron Calhoun and Johnson classmate Myles Pollard have thus far been behind veteran walk-on Keshaun Harris, if not 6th year special teamer German Green as well. Mike Sainristil is much more valuable to them at nickel, and his RS freshman understudy Kody Jones is supposed to be getting reps there to prepare for life after Sainristil.

There is no content after the jump.

Previously: Last year’s profiles, K Adam Samaha, K James Turner (Tr), S Brandyn Hillman, CB DJ Waller, CB Cameron Calhoun, CB Jyaire Hill, HSP/LB Jason Hewlett, LB Hayden Moore, LB Semaj Bridgeman, LB Ernest Hausmann (Tr), OLB Breeon Ishmail, DE Aymeric Koumba, DE Enow Etta.

Coastal Carolina transfer (HS: Everett, MA) – 6'1"/237
		247: 6'2/235                     4.14*	AS TRANSFER: 4*, 91 #3 EDGE, #70 portal
		On3: 6'2/235                     4.15*	AS TRANSFER: 4*, 91 #7 EDGE, #67 portal
		Rivals: 6'2/220                     4.16*	AS TRANSFER: 4*, 5.8 #7 LB, #62 portal
		Transfer Avg                     4.15*	4*, #294/788 since '90 #40/85 EDGEs
		HS Composite        3.67* / 3.45*	3*, #748/#935 overall #43/#90 DE, #5/#4 MA
		HS Avg:    3.49*	3*, #695 ovr, #78 EDGE
		YMRMFSPA	Mike Danna
Other Suitors	USC, LSU
Previously On MGoBlog	Portal In by Brian
Notes	HS teammates with Sainristil at Everett.
Film:
Every snap vs Troy (Stewart is #0) 2021 highlights: Reminds me of how 2018 NWern ended. Team hype man.

Since Michigan's defense went full Ravens they've loved almost nothing so much as size in their edge prospects. I say "almost" because evidently when a guy gets 16 sacks and 81 pressures in his first two years in college, the measuring tape can go back in the drawer. Josaiah Stewart is two things, without question: an extremely productive pass-rusher versus mid-major competition, and extremely small for a Big Ten defensive end. How much one affects the other is impossible to tell.

The other popular knock on Stewart was he produced only 3.5 of those sacks as a sophomore, after which the same people who overrate sacks enough to name a true freshman their conference defensive player of the year began to underrate the same guy. If you watch the first embedded video above however, the dip in one of the more randomized counting stats starts to make a lot more sense. Coastal Carolina switched to a Stunt 4-3 defense designed to have the guy in Stewart's role loop inside and occupy multiple pass-blockers. The reigning DPoY of the Sun Belt also had his entire league working on gameplans designed to prevent him from doing worse. Pro Football Focus is on firm ground grading the high-volume pass/fail nature of pass-rushers, and gave him an 87.5 (excellent) and 83.3 (very good) for his freshman and sophomore efforts.

It would be nice if we could see it against a higher caliber of pass protector but if Stewart was doing that to NFL-caliber competition already he'd be in the top five of everyone's draft board. Unfortunately the lone Power 5 game on the Chanticleers' schedule last year was canceled due to the Virginia campus shooting. Stewart needed a higher level of opponent, a role that better emphasized his skills, and teammates who could take enough focus off of him to leave some for the pro scouts. Michigan needed a guy who will do better than stalemates on pass-rushing opportunities. Former Everett teammate Mike Sainristil vouched for his character, and USC fans seemed really upset to be left at the altar.

The big knock on him is he would look pretty small if he stood in a drill line at the combine, and is eye-level with the top of the 8 when standing behind 6'5"/275 Derrick Moore. I'm not saying after a year of getting no rush from Harrell, Upshaw, and Okie someone told their deity they'd trade the tallest man on campus for the shortest credible edge threat in the country. Not even the guy who had to chart that would do such a thing. Right?

[After THE JUMP: Aagggyylllbaaaahaaadaaaa *saw noises*.]

A composite four-star tight end from Massachusetts might be considered destined for Ann Arbor before his recruiting cycle’s begun, but it’s still nice to hear that the Don Brown Country pipeline hasn’t been interrupted, as 2023 tight end Andrew Rappleyea announced he’s committing to the Wolverines.

CO〽️〽️ITTED pic.twitter.com/zppElchsko

— Andrew Rappleyea (@andrewrappleyea) January 16, 2022

Rappleyea, out of Milton Academcy, is currently the 332nd player on the 247 composite, though there’s yet quite a lot of disagreement between the sites. 247 has him a 3-star, On3 says top-170 player, Rivals splits the difference, and ESPN…

…seems as burned out after football season as I am. Quick glance at the at the film shows an earthbound athlete with good hands and excellent blocking. We’ll have a full hello post when Alex gets to it.