Mid Season MVP award - to ESPN it's Jaylen Harrell
According to Bill Connelly our Mid Season MVP is not JJ, Wilson, Graham, Sainristil or Jenkins it's Jaylen Harrell.
He wouldn't have been the choice of most. I didn't even know he was a dude, but Connelly watches more football than I do so I'll take it. It actually bodes well. We know we have monsters up the middle if Harrell is an elite edge, this line is just scary.
The only other surprise for me was Adisa Isaac edge for Penn State. I thought it would have been Chop Robinson. This means they have an Ojabo to their Hutch. Big Ten tackles are going to have their hands full.
October 17th, 2023 at 3:20 PM ^
I mean Harrell definitely excels at certain things and is a valuable piece for sure, but haven't some of the ufr's and columns on here noted that he has got some stat sheet fillers that were created by others and he got the cleanup? Though obviously still get some credit for being in position to clean up. Like idk just strikes me as an opinion of someone who hasn't really watched UM this year and seen the level JJ has been operating or the chaos created by the DT's, etc.
October 17th, 2023 at 3:38 PM ^
Yup. Connelly fell into the trap of looking at a stat sheet and thinking it tells the whole story. Harrell's a solid edge defender, but he's the beneficiary of excellent play along the rest of the line (and of Michael Barrett's blitzing this past weekend).
October 18th, 2023 at 8:38 AM ^
While that is all true, Harrell would not have those stats if he did not do his part on those plays. Some guys might take the wrong angles, have poor timing on stunts, not be able to us different disengagement moves while executing the designed plays, ect....I do think he is elite as a run defender. I do not think he should be in coverage at all. I also think he is elite in playing his 1/11 man part each play to make the WHOLE defense work. He wouldn't be my pick for MVP either but you do have to recognize that it is a team game and he is a very solid part of the best D in the country because he does HIS job.
October 17th, 2023 at 3:25 PM ^
I'd suggest that Connelly probably needs to watch more UM football, or change the award to "Under the Radar Mid Season MVP" or "MVP that doesn't usually touch the ball".
I'd probably lean towards our defensive tackles or offensive interior line for this type of recognition. I mean, both JJ and Harrell benefit from the efforts in front of them.
October 17th, 2023 at 3:26 PM ^
So you tried to edge Jaylen Harrell? How did that work out? Needs the Dax Hill rhetorical treatment.
October 17th, 2023 at 3:28 PM ^
"Jaylen Harrell is the REAL Michigan MVP this season" ESPN Insider Bill Connelly
Or, how do you let me know you havent watched one down of Michigan football in the year of our Lord 2023 without telling me you havent watched a down of Michigan football this year.
October 17th, 2023 at 4:16 PM ^
Yeah, also the part where he said Roman Wilson is the most important guy going forward sorta makes sense but opens with this lede that makes me wonder what Bill is trying to say here:
Most important player for remaining unbeaten: WR Roman Wilson. Granted, it might not happen until mid-November or later, but there will come a time when J.J. McCarthy absolutely has to complete a pass.
McCarthy is completing 80% of his passes this year; he can throw the ball and has done so in the past in pressure situations. It's insane to act like McCarthy is some Drew Allar type who is game-managing his way down the field.
October 17th, 2023 at 4:26 PM ^
Agreed. To my non-expert eye, JJ is more of a gunslinger/improvisor type. Doesn't take too many risks...but he does take some risks...and is great on the move.
October 17th, 2023 at 7:13 PM ^
And in this role, I believe he's hella-better than everyone's fav Caleb Williams. As fun as Caleb is to watch, he plays a LOT of hero ball - something JJ rarely, if ever, does. The result is that JJ is much more reliable/secure when he scrambles. And he throws the ball with more accuracy. I see a lot of arm punts from Williams to wide open guys that are doing nothing more than out-athleting their cover guy. Those plays aren't normally open against defenses like ND, let alone good defenses like a real playoff team will have.
October 18th, 2023 at 6:53 AM ^
Like the Sundance Kid, he's better when he moves.
October 17th, 2023 at 4:26 PM ^
There was a stat going around on Twitter the last few days that on 3rd & 7+ this year, JJ is 15/16 passing for over 240 yards and 4 TDs and has been perfect on his 2 4th down passing attempts. The people who are saying JJ isn't good or isn't put in obvious passing situations just aren't paying attention
On the contrary, you have the media gushing over Allar when his passing stats are looking like this. PSU either doesn't trust him or he is unable to throw the ball down field, period.
October 17th, 2023 at 4:54 PM ^
Is JJ too focused on 3rd down success??? What if he has to complete a pass on 2nd down??
October 17th, 2023 at 5:10 PM ^
Was already logged in but I’d have logged in just to upvote.
😂😂😂
October 17th, 2023 at 5:53 PM ^
I bet he clocks to live for third down.
October 17th, 2023 at 6:24 PM ^
Drew Allar is this season's "do you watch the games or just look at the stats" because he's basically a game manager to the extreme but people think he gets talked about like he's elite. Same with McCord.
There was some stat some weeks ago that said Allar hadn't thrown a turnover-worthy pass and I found two examples in just the WVU game where he threw a ball directly into a Mountaineer player's chest. It feels like huge disconnect
October 17th, 2023 at 6:39 PM ^
Great statistics but let's not pretend that a 3rd down completion against IU when they are up by 20+ is the same as a 3rd down conversion vs OSU/PSU down 7 with 2 minutes left. That's the point he is trying to make. There is "pressure" and then there is "PRESSURE".
I think JJ is going to have this hanging over his head due to the TCU performance until he can win a playoff game.
October 17th, 2023 at 6:54 PM ^
uh JJ has played in some pressure-filled games and done just fine. yeah, he had a TCU bad game. it happens.
October 18th, 2023 at 10:13 AM ^
The thing about the TCU game is, yes, he was the reason we were down initially, but he was also the reason we were even back in that game
October 17th, 2023 at 7:20 PM ^
I recall a 3rd and 10, on the road, in the second quarter of an important game when the home team had all the momentum and had control of the game. Nothing was working for Michigan. And here comes the blitz... That pass connected perfectly, leading the WR to cut around the DB and go for all the yards.
Pretty sure that was a "PRESSURE" situation.
JJ will be just fine when the tough games roll around...
October 17th, 2023 at 7:27 PM ^
So TCU is the only pressure situation he's ever faced? Not OSU in the Horseshoe without Corum?
October 17th, 2023 at 7:58 PM ^
Apropos of nothing, but hello there
Joe Milton ranks 16th in the SEC in completions of 20+ yards (there are 14 teams in the SEC)
October 18th, 2023 at 3:18 AM ^
General Kenobi.
Er, uh, sorry...wrong group of nerds.
October 17th, 2023 at 3:30 PM ^
Don't tell Seth
October 17th, 2023 at 4:38 PM ^
Seth and Brian strongly disagree with this take. They have consistently been very lukewarm about him. I fall somewhere in the middle and think that he fits very well in our scheme and is a plus big ten defender for sure.
October 17th, 2023 at 3:33 PM ^
My 2023 MVP
Although media biased against winning a 3rd year in a row if this team wins what I think they will win, that I refuse to still mention so as not to jinx it, then there will be no choice then to award them for a third year in a row.
October 17th, 2023 at 3:59 PM ^
That's the most bad-ass trophy in all of sports. I wonder if there's any way to sculpt snow flurries flying in their faces. It would also be cool to have cloth bandages slipping off of elbows and knuckles, showing scars and blood.
October 17th, 2023 at 4:12 PM ^
If you win that trophy you are playing for Championships.
October 17th, 2023 at 3:36 PM ^
Okay, this is obviously stupid. If I have to pick one player it's JJ, duh.
If I have to pick one defensive player, that's far less obvious. Mason Graham? Except he's been out a lot. Kris Jenkins?
I really don't think there is a true MVP, which is the beauty of this team.
The other option for MVP is the schedule.
October 17th, 2023 at 3:53 PM ^
I'm surprised he didn't pick the frisbee catching dog. He has the most catches at the Big House.
Stats are for losers and weak journalists.
October 17th, 2023 at 6:30 PM ^
And for 3rd base coaches (not that kinda 3rd base coach)
October 17th, 2023 at 3:53 PM ^
Bill Connelly is an analytics/numbers guy, he's not an Xs and Os guy.
Which is fine - that's how I approach football too. Hard core Xs and Os obviously matter but they aren't my thing. I do love the numbers and data.
I get it - the ESPN+ business model is based on pumping out LOTS of content. But when he does articles like this, it strikes me as "out of his lane."
October 17th, 2023 at 4:42 PM ^
I don't think he's out of his lane so much as he's just a stat guy.
Most of the picks were no-brainers but Jaylen Harrell was a real outlier.
The PSU choice was a surprise too. is that another situation where Chop Robinson is getting double-teamed so Adisa Isaac is putting up big numbers?
October 17th, 2023 at 4:56 PM ^
For PSU, I think that's some of that - but Isaac may legitimately BE the better player.
I'm not trying to knock Connelly, but the article covers teams from Georgia and U-M to Air Force and Liberty. Who can possibly be intimately familiar with all of them? It seems an impossible task.
October 17th, 2023 at 4:00 PM ^
I think Bill C is very good for macro level, team-based analysis, because he's got a great model. He isn't so good at looking beyond the stat sheet to identify who the impact players are because he's not watching Michigan as closely as Brian, Seth, et al are. We all know Harrell isn't an elite edge rusher but his stats so far obfuscate that (he is a great rush defender, though). Bill C just has too many teams to opine on for in-depth micro analysis to be cogent. Mid-season MVP is pretty clearly JJ
October 17th, 2023 at 4:00 PM ^
Harrell gets shout outs from seth on mgopodcast
October 17th, 2023 at 4:02 PM ^
Is Bill Connelly an alias for Seth?
October 17th, 2023 at 4:12 PM ^
Its JJ. You take JJ away and put in whoever the hell you want and it will make a hell of a bigger difference than taking Harrell out and putting in next best.
Put it another way. JJ's season right now is the #10 all time QB rating in history of tracking it. Is Harrell the 10th best LB season in college football history? Is he even top 500? Top 1000?
October 17th, 2023 at 4:13 PM ^
It's a weird write-up about Harrell because at no point does Connelly reference anything he's specifically doing to stand out along the defensive line other than the fact that he leads the team in sacks and pressures. Those are counting stats sure but that's mostly because he got 2 sacks against IU. You could argue Graham, for example, with a fumble recovery and a forced fumble as well as 1.5 sacks and 4 TFLs is just as important. Or point at Stewart leading the team in TFLs and only a half-sack behind Harrell. Connelly usually digs deeper than a couple of counting stats so it's weird to list Harrell.
I really like how Harrell has been playing and he deserves recognition for it. But the bigger argument seems to be "the defensive line is getting more pressure than I expected", and so in that case I'd almost just give it to the whole line because they're all doing their parts really well.
October 17th, 2023 at 4:29 PM ^
Some of you aren't giving him enough credit.
Harrell has been very very good.
His improvement year to year is a testament of M's ability to develop.
October 18th, 2023 at 3:13 AM ^
Someone finally said it...
Don't be suckered into knocking Harrell because you disagree w this article. The young man has been a key piece of a dominant defense for the last couple of years. His growth and steady impact are to be celebrated.
One of the things I appreciate w Harbaugh is how he never compares his guys. No need to knock one to elevate another.
October 17th, 2023 at 4:35 PM ^
This is an example of lazy sport writing. I wonder how many Michigan games he watched so far. With no respect to Harrel, maybe the entire DL should be the MVP.
October 17th, 2023 at 5:49 PM ^
Interesting. Thanks for sharing. Go Jaylen !
October 17th, 2023 at 5:55 PM ^
Connelly is not basing this off of watching more football than anybody else, to be clear.
October 17th, 2023 at 6:33 PM ^
I like Connelly (and Harrell) a lot, but while Connelly certainly watches more football than you, he almost certainly watches less Michigan football than you since he's responsible for covering 70 games a week.
October 17th, 2023 at 6:56 PM ^
Does Connelly even know about the UFRs?
October 17th, 2023 at 8:26 PM ^
So Connelly is wrong about the mid season mvp for Michigan. And I wouldn’t go as far as to compare the psu edge guys to Hutch and Ojabo. Just not close.
October 17th, 2023 at 8:38 PM ^
If our back up DT is better than anyone else's starters and our edge is our MVP I'd say we have quite a Dline.
October 17th, 2023 at 9:35 PM ^
Jaylen has performed very well this year. It has been a joy to watch.
October 17th, 2023 at 11:12 PM ^
I bet this guy also only likes obscure music.
October 18th, 2023 at 9:14 AM ^
I randomly met his grandfather at a restaurant in Tampa a couple weeks ago. He saw my M hat and immediately started gushing about his grandson (or maybe nephew I can’t remember exactly).
Nice guy. I’m happy for Jaylen and his family.