Chris Hinton and several other Wolverines officially go undrafted
Something to talk about other than Frankie :(
Hinton left multiple years early to go undrafted, not ideal. Wish undrafted kids could come back to school.
Other Wolverines to go undrafted include Brad Hawkins, Vincent Gray, Daylen Baldwin, Josh Ross, and Donovan Jeter (no big surprise for those guys IMO).
Best of luck to all Wolverines, drafted and undrafted, at carving out a career after UM.
I would bet most if not all of them will promptly sign UDFA tryout deals. Good luck gents!
I'm pulling for all of them, but I have a real soft spot for Ross and Hawkins and I really hope they can stick on to a roster.
ditto
Hopefully Hawkins will get a shot. So proud of that dude for keeping his head up through all the adversity. 4-star WR recruit but had to take a year of prep school because of transcript problems. Switched to safety in his freshman year. Had that rough game against ND...
But he stuck it out and became a hell of a player and a leader of a B1G championship team. Just needs a chance to prove himself.
“But he stuck it out and became a hell of a player and a leader”
The concept of “sticking it out” will be a very rare thing in the tranfer portal era.
I’d really like to know how Hinton arrived at his decision. I also wonder if teams viewed his choice, which left everyone scratching their heads when he made it, as a negative reflection on his maturity, judgement and/or work ethic. I’m sure he’ll still get his chance as a free agent, but I bet he’d like to have a do over.
Very puzzling decision. Dad played in the NFL and would presumably have a good idea of where his son's development was. Good kid from a good family. It turned out even worse than I expected. Wish he could come back.
I havent paid as much attention to the blog since the season ended and I'll admit I didnt even know Hinton declared. Puzzling indeed, worst decision to leave early since Earnest Shazor? At least Shazor was projected to go in the first few rounds.
Yeah. At least Shazor was an All American; although he was basically a LB playing Safety in college, but didn’t have the size to play LB in the NFL or the speed to play Safety.
Hinton was a 5* but that disappears after you’ve been in college for years. He was the 4th best DL on a Defensive Line that had two Top-15 talents (Ojabo was before injury). He was a solid B1G 3-tech who improved a ton from how poor he looked in 2020. The fact that he was playing alongside the best defensive player in America, an elite pass rusher, and an all conference level Nose, and he never really stood out a ton given the favorable looks he got (again, he was good, but far from spectacular ever), really makes you wonder why he believed it was good to go early with 2 years of eligibility remaining
Shazor the prototypical Viper back in the day...
cumong you're the oracle i thought you were here to tell *us*
Thought somebody would take a late flyer on Hinton, not sure why someone leaves early in hopes of being a 7th round pick though.
Rest of them I didn't expect to get drafted, hopefully they catch on as UDFAs somewhere.
Well, going undrafted is not the end of the world. They may all still wind up in the league as free agent signees. We shall see. Good luck to all going forward through that route.
Hinton was extremely puzzling. Bad advice for sure
Hinton made a HUGE mistake. There was no reason for him to leave early.
Hawkins and Gray were who they were...basically it was do you want to try to make a roster this year or next year?
Baldwin tested horribly, he also couldn't catch half of Kaep's passes, FWIW.
Josh Ross is surprising.
Jeter, sucks the NCAA can't figure his situation out because he was never getting drafted.
In the end, Hinton is the only one where I'm like, come on, man.. Especially since his dad was a long time pro and he should have the connections to know better.
Basically came to say this. There really isn't an draftable guy in that list. Hinton could have helped himself but now we'll never know. Hawkins and Gray are who they are, they weren't getting drafted last year, this year or with another year in college. Ross just lacks the basic athleticism needed at the next level. He was getting cooked with regularity in conference play so imagine The NFL. Ross is a guy that I expect to immediately get into coaching like his brother after a couple quick signings and cuts (and there is nothing wrong with that). In another era of the sport I think he finds a team for a few years but not in the modern game. Jeter probably won't even get a UDFA call.
Hinton and Gray should have both been "until you kick me out of college" guys to maximize their chances. In the end, all the UM guys went pretty much exactly when they should have short of Ojabo dropping a round due to injury.
Hawkins was out of eligibility.
Yes, the point being that even if he wasn't he isn't getting drafted. I think fans naturally want to see the best traits of their guys but often forget that there are a lot of guys that are as good and better. Further, a lot depends on which teams would even want them and whether the scouting department on those teams sees what the fans think they see.
Overall it's that those guys listed aren't NFL players, at least not for more than a season or two floating around the league on practice squads and such.
Now they can get full time training in the G league. Its just better.
Source: "Trust me bro"
I wish them all well, but damn, Chris Hinton. What a waste.
I'm surprised Hawkins and Hinton didnt get picked up.
Wishing the best of luck.
Hawkins will definitely catch on somewhere as a special teams contributor. Gray and Baldwin might make practice squads if they latch on with the right teams.
Might be the end of the road for the rest. Or USFL.
When Hinton declared I was surprised because he seemed like a guy that was starting to put things together and coming back for a year and showcasing that with the blue chip background could’ve pushed him into middle rounds next year. Maybe the position coach switch affected his decision more than has been let in as II remember it happened roughly around the same time he declared.
Chris Hinton signed as UDFA with the Giants. Pretty cool since we very rarely ever have Michigan players on it. He'll join Bredeson (for now). We had Peppers for a couple years and Stevie Brown waaay back, but I don't remember any others really.
Amani Toomer, Tyrone Wheatley, Mario Manningham, Jarrod Bunch, Jumbo Elliott off the top of my head.
This. Most teams have had a number of wolverines on it in the last 40 years
David Bass was the starting C on their 2011 Super Bowl team as well
baas-o-matic
Toomer and Manningham are probably two of their best four WRs over the past 20 years. Toomer held (or holds) some career records and Manningham also made one of the most important catches for the NYG in the Super Bowl win over the Pats. Not sure how you forget those two
Hinton to the Giants. https://twitter.com/Schultz_Report/status/1520546030382690306
It’s a damn shame about Hinton, I believe he could’ve made himself into a solid mid-round Prospect with another year at Michigan, but he bet on himself and you’ve got to respect his choice.
I hope he gets a good opportunity at training camp somewhere.
Wait until he sees Mazi taken day 1 next year.
I thought Hinton made a mistake in the sense he'd be drafted a round or two later than he would had he had a solid follow up season. I always assumed he'd be drafted if for no other reason than his pedigree and size.
The rest were always outliers so not huge surprises. They'll get UDFA shots.
Josh Ross to Ravens.
https://twitter.com/umichfootball/status/1520554036717670400?s=21&t=0oUwp4nFI1p3dN4_J-x3tg
When I saw Ross was undrafted I immediately pictured him going to Ravens.
Brandon Peters to LAC
Sam Webb (NTSB) to LV
As a ball boy?
Kekoa Crawford to the Colts too.
I’ll be surprised if he catches on
I didn't see Vastardis listed anywhere. Is he not even pursuing the NFL?
Vastardis is currently working as a research assistant with Michigan medicine. He is preparing to apply to medical school with hopes to matriculate in 2023.
That's awesome. Thanks for the info.
Can any of our undrafted guys who remained in the draft until now return to college?
Really could've used Hinton this upcoming season plus he would've made NIL money. Terrible decision
Unfortunately I was also undrafted for the 20th straight year … they’ll see my potential eventually.
April 30th, 2022 at 10:38 PM ^
You and me both, brother.
For those interested: Luiji Vilain signed by Minnesota for $200k
Jeter signed by Steelers
I pondered this when Hinton declared - I winder if five-star recruits have this “I’m going pro in three years” mindset from the start, and it’s either pride or shame the keeps them from accepting the thought that they really need more time in college before they’re ready.