Exit Donovan Peoples-Jones
Michigan loses a second guy to the draft early:
Forever Go Blue !! pic.twitter.com/310Z8NnKiX
— Donovan Peoples-Jones (@dpeoplesjones) January 4, 2020
Peoples-Jones is likely to assassinate the combine and has been projected in the second round by guys employed as draft analysts so this isn't totally unexpected.
Peoples-Jones leaves Michigan in much the same way Rashan Gary did: a five star who was a productive college player but not the obliterating All American you hope for when you get the #1 WR in the country. He had 47 catches for 612 yards last year and 34 for 438 this year, which was third on the team behind Nico Collins and Ronnie Bell. Part of that was due to quarterback play—lord knows I spent big chunks of this year gesturing at either a wide open or single covered Peoples-Jones like Lebron James at JR Smith. Part of that was DPJ not being Jerry Jeudy.
Nico Collins's decision is now extremely important for next year, since he and Bell are the only established outside receivers. Cornelius Johnson will be a sophomore and should start to have an impact but even if he does that's pretty thin. Giles Jackson and Mike Sainristil will get snaps; neither is suited to play outside the slot.
Peoples-Jones was also an explosive punt returner. You'd think Jackson would be a ready-made replacement there after he had a productive year on kick returns.
January 5th, 2020 at 5:35 PM ^
It's clear to me. After they keep losing the lose the big games, they don't want to go through Harbaughs grind, which maybe to them is only worth staying if they win and compete for the playoff...if not then they'd prefer to go pro which they are doing. Collins I admire for staying.
January 4th, 2020 at 8:07 PM ^
This feels like Nico's staying, but who knows.
https://twitter.com/lbg_nico7/status/1213599026236538882?s=19
January 4th, 2020 at 8:15 PM ^
I think DPJ's best recent comparable is Jehu Chesson. Very similar height / weight and stats while at Michigan.
Chesson Stats:
Year - Rec / Yards / Avg / TDs
2013 - 15 Rec / 221 Yds / 14.7 Avg / 1 TD
2014 - 14 Rec / 154 Yds / 11.0 Avg / 0 TD
2015 - 50 Rec / 764 Yds / 15.3 Avg / 9 TD
2016 - 35 Rec / 500 Yds / 14.3 Avg / 2 TD
DPJ Stats:
Year - Rec / Yards / Avg / TDs
2017 - 22 Rec / 277 Yds / 12.6 Avg / 0 TD
2018 - 47 Rec / 612 Yds / 13.0 Avg / 8 TD
2019 - 34 Rec / 438 Yds / 12.9 Avg / 6 TD
Chesson Combine / Draft: http://www.nfl.com/draft/2011/profiles/jehu-chesson?id=2557866
Height: 6' 3" / Weight: 204 lbs.
40 time - 4.47
Vertical - 35.5"
Shuttle - 4.09
Drafted 33rd pick of the 4th round (139th overall)
Chesson has spent most of his post Michigan career on the Chiefs then Redskins practice squad. He only has 3 career NFL receptions and 65 career return yards. He's had a total career earnings of about $1.46M (source).
Should Chesson have come out after his Junior year? Who knows - maybe he would been drafted higher than 139 overall. I suspect his career outcome would have been similar.
I suspect DPJ will be drafted in a similar spot to Chesson unless he runs sub 4.4 at the combine. Hopefully he will have a successful career.
January 4th, 2020 at 8:23 PM ^
That’s an interesting comparison. Chesson is a bit bigger, DPJ a bit faster. Both of their measurables indicate more than adequate bodies & athleticism to play in the NFL.
Of course it takes a lot more than athleticism to succeed in the NFL....
January 4th, 2020 at 10:10 PM ^
Chesson was never the same after the injury. I don’t remember the score but im pretty sure he shouldnt of been playing when he got hurt. I been saying it for a while Michigans use of the back ups have been horrible. Harbaugh ruined Chesson, Jr year Chesson is the best wr in the Harbaugh era.
January 5th, 2020 at 11:29 AM ^
IIRC Harbaugh wont put in back ups until he feels the starters are properly running the offense. Live game reps >>>> practice.
2016 is the only year I've felt our starters were playing that well.
January 4th, 2020 at 8:41 PM ^
I just came for the "incisive" takes. I was not disappointed.
January 4th, 2020 at 8:52 PM ^
Why come back to be the third banana again when the coaches are hell bent on forcing the ball to stone hands Ronnie Bell. DPJ should have been in the slot all year with Tarik and Nico flanked wise. Poor coaching once again.
January 4th, 2020 at 9:01 PM ^
The coaches aren’t hell bent on forcing the ball to the slot. That is all Shea as Bell was basically all he looked for because he can’t complete a pass over 20 yards
January 4th, 2020 at 9:53 PM ^
So I've heard Bell's success this year was either due to the coaches calling a bunch of plays for him OR Patterson going against the coaches' wishes and throwing to him because he locks on. It's quite a conspiracy this place has unearthed, I'll say.
January 4th, 2020 at 10:25 PM ^
I think the offense functionally revolves around the slot in pass game. Regardless it’s clear to anyone with eyeballs Bell isn’t in the same planet as the other three WR’s yet he was treated like he was better than all of them. For anyone that disagrees I’ll bet dollars to donuts Nico and DPJ both end up higher NFL draft picks than him. Bell would be a nice 4th option if he could actually catch the ball but his hands are just atrocious. It’s a shame Black became an afterthought because that kid has a ton of talent.
January 5th, 2020 at 12:13 AM ^
Someone should definitely look into that. It's probably not possible that Bell gets runs good routes to get himself open.
January 5th, 2020 at 8:55 AM ^
Also not possible Nico and DPJ were screamingly wide open this year multiple times every game and didn’t get the ball oh wait stone hands is our best WR never mind.
January 5th, 2020 at 9:44 AM ^
One theory on DPJ. If he's not the primary receiver on a certain play call, and he knows the QB almost never goes to the secondary receivers, how committed is he to running his route?
January 4th, 2020 at 9:06 PM ^
Well, I was optimistic about next year but wasn't envisioning Ruiz and DPJ leaving. Those are blows for sure. Especially for guys who are almost surely not 1st rounders. If Nico leaves that'd be terrible. SP+ says returning receiver production is actually the biggest correlate to winning the next year in terms of returning experience.
January 4th, 2020 at 9:37 PM ^
Good luck in the league DPJ. It's great seeing the Detroit kids doing well.
Not too worried about losing DPJ and Ruiz. It's Ambry that I'd be most concerned about losing. Then Nico. If Collins stays he's got a clear path to 1000+ yards next year. Come on Nico, one more time and be the dude!
January 4th, 2020 at 9:44 PM ^
I am cheering my ass off when he goes off the board in the first round
January 4th, 2020 at 10:12 PM ^
Let me count the times DPJ was wide streaking wide open and catching the ball to take it to the house. Hmm, once, maybe twice? When he first committed I honestly thought that would occur once every other game. Damn. Well, whatever, good luck dude.
January 4th, 2020 at 11:15 PM ^
How many times did you see both Collins and DPJ running down the field wide-open and Shea not seeing them and ends up taking a sack, throwing the ball out of bounds or doing a short dump off pass that goes nowhere. I think if we had a better QB who could read defenses, both of our WR would have had more yardage.
January 4th, 2020 at 11:45 PM ^
Not very often. DPJ was often a ghost receiver. Sorry but his production will be easy to replace.
January 4th, 2020 at 10:22 PM ^
Has great straight line speed, but always seemed stiff to me with his lateral agility. Will always remember the long bomb in East Lansing last season, but definitely was hoping for more based on his recruiting hype.
January 5th, 2020 at 12:25 PM ^
Dude was a good punt returner, he is patently not just a straight line guy.
January 5th, 2020 at 12:41 PM ^
Not sure if we're on the same page of what lateral agility means.
January 4th, 2020 at 10:27 PM ^
Like Gary DPJ had injury issues. Neither guy delivered 5-star production for UM. And when they leave, no big deal. Neither guy was impactful enough to matter. Each guy’s production can easily be replaced.
January 4th, 2020 at 11:11 PM ^
No reason to stay! All you will risk is injuries and we are far away from making the playoffs. Good luck in the NFL DPJ and Collins will declare next.
January 5th, 2020 at 12:06 AM ^
I'll miss him. We'll always have the Bunyan pose.
His best moment was "Peoples-Jones, down the sidelines! Peoples-Jones, touchdown!" against MSU.
January 5th, 2020 at 12:14 AM ^
Obviously, he’s making the best decision for him, his family, and the possibility of generational wealth he may create. With that in mind, I hope and trust he does much better at the next level than at UM. He genuinely struggled with routes, physicality, and ball protection. He may be a combine warrior, but his production is not near the top talent of the draft. By all non-UM homer accounts, he’s not even in the top 100 most talented potential draftees. I hope for his sake he’s making the right decision, but if he had not been some 5* outta high school, I’d say this decision is questionable at the very least.
January 5th, 2020 at 12:24 PM ^
Most talented he is absolutely top 100, that's an insane thing to say. sounds like you are too hung up on production. Not so important come draft time.
January 5th, 2020 at 2:57 PM ^
Hope you’re right. However, the highest I’ve seen him rated in this years draft is the #33 WR. Without the best combine ever, he’s looking at least a 4th round or later (and that’s being generous).
January 5th, 2020 at 1:36 AM ^
May be people forget that his eventual goal is to be a doctor. I would leave in that scenario as well : go to NFL now and make whatever money I can, then head to medical school
If he was NFL all the way, he may have stayed, but a decision like this with his inclination to eventually be MD tells me he truly believe its a Not For Long league so he is making hay while the sun shine. I commend that decision and to me it's logical.
Good luck DPJ!
January 5th, 2020 at 2:37 AM ^
Good for him, I know that players leaving early stings for us fans but that's what makes Michigan so appealing, Green Warren said it earlier today, he saw our track record putting players on the league and wants to be a draft pick. I sure would like to have players leaving with championships but is part of the deal, big time talent wants to play in the NFL and if we're hoping to get big talent we do what we can to put them there and have more big talent realizing we can make they dreams happen, it only consolidates us as an NFL springboard for talented guys.
January 5th, 2020 at 3:39 AM ^
Bell has to move outside anyway, we need Giles an Sainristril getting more reps at the slot.
January 5th, 2020 at 7:53 AM ^
So sad we could never take full advantage of having a talent like this.
January 5th, 2020 at 8:20 AM ^
We wish him all of the best as he makes the transition to the next level. Rather than criticizing the guy recognize that the situation was complicated and perhaps his performance and sentiment would have been different had we had the level of coaching, OL, and QB necessary for a robust team. I for one will be glad seeing another Wolverine thrive in the NFL.
January 5th, 2020 at 9:05 AM ^
Good luck to this young man in the League. He was an outstanding talent and seemed like a good guy. It's a bummer that he spent three years with three different offenses and two (kinda 4 with the 2017 disaster) different (middling) QBs. May all Michigan fans remember him for his Paul Bunyan poses and him streaking across the field wide open only to watch the ball be forced somewhere else.
January 5th, 2020 at 10:02 AM ^
Have a feeling people are going to watch this guy perform on Sunday’s and say...”He went to Michigan?” What a waste.
January 5th, 2020 at 10:17 AM ^
I miss the days when players stayed until they graduated. That alone would even the playing field for a lot of teams. OSU has their players nfl ready by the time they are sophomores. We need all the preparation we can get to counter that.
January 5th, 2020 at 10:58 AM ^
He could have been a difference maker. He wasn't. Don't really care who was at fault- him, Shea, or the coaches. Doesn't matter.
January 5th, 2020 at 11:47 AM ^
Anyone know if he'll be able to finish his degree.
January 6th, 2020 at 1:22 PM ^
He enrolled early so he will have 3-1/2 years completed this semester. Plus he took classes over three summers so I expect he is close to fulfilling degree requirements.
January 5th, 2020 at 12:22 PM ^
Sad we never used him to his potential. Scared af to lose Nico now.
January 5th, 2020 at 12:33 PM ^
Yes, it's funny that now Brian calls DPJ an explosive punt returner
January 5th, 2020 at 2:04 PM ^
Unless he needs the 5th round money badly, DPJ is making a huge mistake.
January 5th, 2020 at 10:21 PM ^
January 6th, 2020 at 8:48 AM ^
Good luck to DPJ in the league. Even though production didn't match expectations, he was fun to watch and follow. I'll miss him.
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