Belated Hello: Casey Hughes
This one slipped through the cracks as Ace and I discussed the greatest arthropods in the history of baking: Michigan's picked up a frankly bizarre grad transfer, Casey Hughes. Hughes isn't bizarre. Hughes is probably a nice young man. But the circumstances that would take a starting cornerback for Utah and deposit him on a Michigan roster that returns three starter-quality CBs and Ambry Thomas are hard to fathom.
And it does appear that Hughes was one of Utah's preferred starting CBs when healthy. Opponent blogs usually have a clear—and sometimes jaundiced—eye towards guys who have just left the roster, and this was Block U's take on Hughes's spot:
After playing mostly on special teams to start his career, Hughes, one of the fastest players on the team, earned a starting cornerback role in 2017 following the departures of four starters in the secondary. Hughes, a North Las Vegas, Nev. native, recorded 35 tackles and one pass breakup and had two forced fumbles against the Arizona Wildcats that helped Utah secure that win in Tucson, Ariz.
Injuries limited Hughes to end the 2017 season. He missed the game against the Washington Huskies and had to leave the game against the Colorado Buffaloes due to injury, which also kept him out of the Heart of Dallas Bowl win over the West Virginia Mountaineers. Hughes also would have likely been facing stiff competition for playing time as a senior from Jaylon Johnson and Julian Blackmon, a second-team All-Pac-12 selection and Heart of Dallas Bowl MVP.
Hughes was part of an excellent secondary; Utah finished 14th in pass defense to S&P+ despite a pass rush that ranked 94th nationally. His stats are pretty nondescript, but that's often a good thing with cornerbacks. A lack of PBUs is maybe a concern. Michigan's CBs had some pretty absurd tackle/PBU ratios this year:
- Lavert Hill: 20 tackles, 7 PBUs
- David Long: 17.5 tackles, 6 PBUs
- Brandon Watson: 15.5 tackles, 5 PBUs
- Hughes: 30 tackles, 1 PBU.
Also it does not appear that Pro Football Focus or NFL draftniks had Hughes high on their radar. It's safe to assume that Long and Hill are, or will be, so it's hard to see much playing time open up at the spot Hughes started at last year.
Safety? I'm dubious. Michigan's safety play was okay to good last year and returns both starters and a couple of freshmen who got playing time. For Hughes to get playing time there he'd have to beat those guys out. His best bet might be if Michigan is looking for a slot fade specialist. If he is one, great. Maybe you can see one in here:
But the name that comes most readily to mind is Wayne Lyons.
January 24th, 2018 at 12:53 PM ^
January 24th, 2018 at 1:33 PM ^
Good enough to land us at the 10th ranked defense in S&P+, 3rd in NCAA Total Defense, 9th in DFEI, 1st in passing defense.
January 24th, 2018 at 1:38 PM ^
Also not good enough to beat a team with a winning record.
Check that we beat Purdue. Yay us.
January 24th, 2018 at 2:00 PM ^
January 24th, 2018 at 2:16 PM ^
The defense gave up 49 points to PSU and over 500 yards of offense.
The defense blew a 14 point lead to OSU and gave up 31 points.
The defense blew a 16 point lead vs South Carolina and gave up 26 points.
The offense was bad and it was the pimary reason why UM lost 5 games this year, but the defense has some culpability too that people seem to be conveintly ignoring.
January 24th, 2018 at 2:23 PM ^
Every team in the nation gives up points. No game was ever salted away at 14-0 with 14:57 remaining in the 2nd quarter. No defense can withstand FIVE 2nd half turnovers.
January 24th, 2018 at 2:24 PM ^
January 24th, 2018 at 3:22 PM ^
I might buy the worn down argument vs. OSU - but not SC.
Mich-OSU Time of Posession:
M: 28:43
OSU: 31:17
2nd Half:
M: 12:18
OSU: 17:42
Mich-SC Time of Posession:
M: 34:17
SC: 25:43
2nd Half:
M: 14:16
SC: 15:44
January 24th, 2018 at 5:21 PM ^
It could simply be that Michigan's defense played a bad half. Alabama, the #1 defense in the country, gave up almost 200 yards in the first half to CSU and only led 17-10, could barely stop Miss St. that entire game, etc. And that's with all-world talent that is experienced and mature at a number of key spots (though injuries whittled that down over the year).
Michigan's defense wasn't elite this season, but they were absolutely a top-10/15 unit. And considering they had, what, 2 seniors see major minutes, that's pretty good.
January 25th, 2018 at 2:19 AM ^
Time of possession is only part of the story. You have to look at how much depth. Were we keeping only our starters out there, or was there a solid rotation?
January 24th, 2018 at 5:15 PM ^
Defense also held Air Force to their 2nd-lowest output of the year, same for Purdue and MSU, Wisconsin their third lowest, etc. You'll come back with "but those were bad teams" and I'd country with "good teams don't usually roll over against even great defenses", and we'd get into the same bullshit arguments your posts always generate because they are purposely obtuse and lazy.
So I guess my point is to say that you are again bringing up reactionary bullshit in a commit post because you like to piss people off and have literally nothing else to do, and for reasons that I don't understand I am drawn to your stupidity like a moth to a flame.
January 24th, 2018 at 7:56 PM ^
I find it funny that posting facts is now called "obtuse and lazy reactionary bullshit." I also find it funny you have to resort to personal insults and attacks because you can't argue the merits of my point. But that's just par for the course for you.
January 24th, 2018 at 8:39 PM ^
Everything you post is reactionary, and you attach the most basic, context-free numbers to support what are either blindly obvious statements or simply misleading.
I did argue the merits of your point. I pointed out numerous situations in which Michigan's defense put up some of the most impressive defensive performances opponents saw all year. I noticed you sailed past that, because of course you would. Because cherry-pick stats only applies to your points, apparently.
Michigan gave up 506 yards to PSU, which was less than they put up against top-15 defenses Iowa and Washington. They are sorta good at scoring points, and that's really the only outlier on the year in terms of defensive breakdowns. They held Ohio State to their second-fewest yards for the whole season, and one of their lowest point totals of the year. I could go on and provide even more examples of how one of the youngest defenses in the country did a great job for most of the year and were submarined by an ineffective offense, but again, that not the debate we're having. You literally only post in commit threads because you want to start a fight and shit on recruiting, because dog-whistling about Beilein's recruiting fell on deaf ears and there are no more football games to bitch about.
You make this place a worse experience for people with your continued attitude, and I find it funny that someone who loves getting a reaction from people for being wrong is so profoundly sensitive about people pointing out that reality. But I'm done pointing out your failings; you don't care (I'm sure you'll TL;DR this post if you even respond) and I'd rather not spend any more time on it. My hope is the site redesign will make it easier to ignore dumb posts like yours, but if not I'm sure I'll survive. Enjoy being a shitty fan of a school's athletic programs that apparently only disappoint you.
January 24th, 2018 at 9:37 PM ^
Call the whambulance.
January 26th, 2018 at 12:20 PM ^
January 24th, 2018 at 5:33 PM ^
January 24th, 2018 at 7:19 PM ^
January 24th, 2018 at 8:04 PM ^
Looks better than Watson to me from what little I've seen. Watson just isnt good enough athletically, love hearing about how fast Hughes is
January 24th, 2018 at 2:16 PM ^
You are insufferable. I'll tend to believe what Brian says (okay to good) vs. what your opinion on the matter is. Asking you how good a player is is like asking Eeyore how the weather is on a clear, sunny, mid 70s fall day.
Fuck dude. PFF rated them okay/good. Brian breaks down every single play and they come out okay/good. They cannot consistently do the hardest thing tasked to them on a defense that puts more on the safeties plate than any other in the nation and "THEY SUCK!" That is bullshit.
January 24th, 2018 at 12:54 PM ^
Since he's a grad transfer, maybe his priority is to play school?
January 24th, 2018 at 1:36 PM ^
January 24th, 2018 at 2:44 PM ^
Could be a win-win for both Michigan and a guy who knows he likely has no NFL future.
He adds secondary depth for Michigan for a year, and gets a scholarship to a great university for a grad degree that significantly enhances his potential employment value.
Holy crikey, that would be the system actually working the way it was supposed to for once.
January 24th, 2018 at 1:01 PM ^
"Michigan's safety play was ok to good las year."
Going to have to strongly disagree there. Any team with any semblance of a passing game last year exposed our safeties. The PSU game obviously sticks out but it was also a disaster vs South Carolina and OSU, and they had their troubles in the Maryland, Wisconsin, and Cincinnati games too. They lack length, height, and flexibility and their ball skills are meh. Hughes is going to be a very welcome addition.
January 24th, 2018 at 1:30 PM ^
Our Safety play was ok against teams with losing records, bad to terrible against teams with winning records.
Watson is not coming back next year! Hughes fills his role or starts at safety.
January 24th, 2018 at 1:44 PM ^
But, you are not being congruent with the rest of your usual negativity. Casey Hughes was a 2.5 star out of high school that has starting playing time as a CB in one injury riddled season. It sounds like he wasn't expected to be a starter for the Utes this upcoming season. Yet, you, the unhappy camper that you are, suprisingly find him as not only a welcome addition, but also starting safety material.
On top of this, when we recruit DBs who do not lack in length, height, flexibility and ball skills, you complain because they lack stars.
I hope you are right and he does amazing things for Michigan. But your optimism strikes me as odd
January 24th, 2018 at 2:04 PM ^
Wrong. I said Hughes would be a welcome addition in that he gives Michigan another option at a position where UM lacks top end talent. I never said he would start. If he works out great, if he doesn't he only uses the scholarship for one year so no harm no foul.
Moreover, height, length, flexibility, and ball skills are traits all UM DB recruits should have. UM DB recruits should also be highly ranked. The two aren't mutually exclusive. Assuming all of the UM commits have these traits just because they are tall is a false assumption on your part. This isn't that hard to understand.
January 24th, 2018 at 3:00 PM ^
You strongly disagreed that Michigan's safety play was any good this past year and then said Hughes was a "very welcome addition". This leads people to believe that you are suggesting he will raise the level of Michigan's safety play when you have no clue if he will play saftey or not. We will have the best CB duo in the country, are returning all our safeties with experience, and have loaded up on DB recruits. Now we are using a scholarship on a guy for one year who most likely will see the field in limited action. This looks like a Wayne Lyons situation through and through. How many scholarships we have has not been fully determined but we are obviously expecting quite a bit of attrition, or we are not expecting to land many if any of the remaining targets that we are after.
As I said before, you being very welcoming of this addition is not congruent with the rest of your board behavior.
The common theme for the incoming DB recruits is height, length, and ball skills. Those aren't just false assumptions. Read the hello posts or their recruiting profiles on various sites. Unlike you have insinuated, I never said that those traits are mutually exclusive with a high recruiting ranking. I merely pointed out that you welcome Hughes as another bullet in the chamber for the safety postion but gripe about all the other bullets that Michigan has added to the chamber because they don't have enough stars. Hate to say it but Hughes doesn't pass the stars mafia test either. Case in point, you are not being congruent with your thought process on Michgan DB additions.
January 24th, 2018 at 3:46 PM ^
No, it suggests I welcome competition at a position that performed poorly last year. You made the "raise the level of play" assumption all on your own. Per Sam Webb he was recruited to play safety here, so actually I do know that's where he's going to play. I'm glad UM is recruiting guys at DB with good measurables but the data shows that recrutiing rankings matter and I subscribe to them, so when UM signs guys that don't fall into both categories it annoys me. In the case of Hughes, it appears he's outperformed his rankings and brings better measurbales to the position than what UM currently has. Expecting freshman to be "bullets in the chamber" given where most of them are ranked in this class coming out of high school is downright silly. Seems pretty starightforward.
As far as what is "congruent of my board behavior," uh I really don't give a shit and frankly don't understand why you do either. My opinions on UM football aren't binary and I really think you need to find a new word or rather just stop caring so much about what I say. Really bad look on your part.
January 24th, 2018 at 5:24 PM ^
Ok, so you don't give a shit when someone calls you out on your inconsistencies but the fact you keep firing back is expected and par for the course.
You don't have to like the word congruent but it isn't my fault that it fits well in this situation when you are constantly negative about 95% (ballpark guess) of the football and basketball recruits. You being high on Hughes is just funny to me, being that he isn't a big splash recruit. So I pointed it out.
Rankings matter, there is no dispute there. But for you to completely disregard incoming freshman as a bullet in the chamber at any postion simply because of their stars seems, to use your phrase, downright silly. It is rare but Mike Hart seemed to work out as a freshman. So it can happen. The coaches are going to kick the tires on all of them and see what they've got. Am I expecting a freshman to be starting at safety, no. Nor am I expecting Hughes to be one. My guess is Woods will start.
January 24th, 2018 at 12:55 PM ^
January 24th, 2018 at 1:05 PM ^
January 24th, 2018 at 1:26 PM ^
January 24th, 2018 at 1:05 PM ^
I mean, it seems obvious we would take him as a free veteran depth piece, but I wonder who wanted him and how in the world they found him (since I imagine they didn't watch a bunch of Utah film on a whim).
If Don Brown and/or Zordich scouted him then actively persued him... well, that's good enough for me.
January 24th, 2018 at 1:06 PM ^
Looks like he could be the best tackler in the backfield.
Is that enough to grab playing time?
I would think the answer is "yes" only if he can play at one of the safety spots, or as a backup/change of pace Viper.
January 24th, 2018 at 1:19 PM ^
There's no way they are going to ask this kid to play Viper.
January 24th, 2018 at 3:42 PM ^
A change of pace Viper? What does that even mean and why would we need one?
January 24th, 2018 at 1:08 PM ^
When I saw this, the only thing that makes sense is a "slot fade" specialist. I guess this pickup doesn't make a lot of sense if he isn't just that.
January 24th, 2018 at 1:12 PM ^
Furthermore, U-M’s problem at safety was coverage. Makes sense, then, to get another cover guy whom you can potentially throw at the problem.
January 24th, 2018 at 1:14 PM ^
Think of what Partridge, Zordich and Don Brown can do with this kid.
this is a solid addition to the secondary.
January 24th, 2018 at 1:37 PM ^
When I watch Watson's tape, he is a more lucky than good corner. Hughes should have no probably beating him out if doesn't start at safety.
Harbaugh had 3 holes to fix this offseason. QB, LT, and Safety. Two have them he has crossed off.
January 24th, 2018 at 1:40 PM ^
Good chance he won't be asked back per Sam Webb. Regardless I see Ambry Thomas taking over the 3rd CB role anyways.
January 24th, 2018 at 1:59 PM ^
I believe only 3 guys have been asked back of the 5th year players. Chase, Marshall, and I believe the 3rd is Mone.
There is no bigger fan of Ambry Thomas than me. Hoping he can put on a little weight. Also wouldn't mind him on the offensive side of the ball for some plays.
January 24th, 2018 at 1:39 PM ^
On Michigan Insider earlier this week, Sam talked about how this is intended to help shore up our slot coverage from the safety position.
January 24th, 2018 at 1:40 PM ^
January 24th, 2018 at 1:41 PM ^
Depth is not an issue for our d-backs, at all. But the need for excellent recruits at other poisitions, guys who have potentially high ceilings once they come in--as freshmen, is. And when we need talented kids, but it's not the end of the recruiting year yet, asnd he takes a spot--again, this makes no sense, This is my first ever case of I don't trust the coaches (Harbaugh edition) on this.
January 24th, 2018 at 2:00 PM ^
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