In Defense of Juwann Bushell-Beatty

Submitted by Bodogblog on

I don't know things.  What do I know. 

But Juwann Bushell-Beatty is totally ignored on this blog and shouldn't be.  Let's talk about why. 

The tackle position is in fairly dire straits.  Cole was excellent in the spring game against the best competition at LT, I think he'll be legit all-conference.  But there's no one behind him.  There is no starter at RT as of now.  We know this.  So by definition there is also no one behind that no one.  This is pretty dire.  Lots of options sure, young talent.  But true freshman or others who haven't played.  

JBB has played.  Mixed results, wasn't great and at times bad, but he was better than "never mention this RS Junior OT again when talking about a team that desperately needs OT's".  First, there's a perception that Bushell-Beatty was lowly rated recruit and a toss-in with Jabril Peppers.  That's not the case.  Per his profile on this site

  • ESPN: 4*, #10 OT, #120 overall 
  • 247: 4*, #17 OT, #215 overall 
  • Rivals: 3*, #33 OT (the #32 OT was a 4*) 
  • Scout: 3*, #45 OT 

That's about 3.5 star eh?  Low 4*/High 3*.  Recruiting rankings don't matter now that he's 4 years in the program?  Maybe.  But it's some indication that perhaps he shouldn't be erased from all memory. 

He was passed by Grant Newsome for the LT job, never really seemed to be in it.  Maybe not a big deal because Newsome was pretty awesome.  Bredeson moved ahead of him too.  That's not so great because Bredeson was not pretty awesome (lots of potential).  But he's also a guard and JBB is emphatically not that.  

He's also not a LT.  But that's what he played in his primary outings last year.  You may remember he came in against Wisconsin.  The UFR in that game calls him out negatively.  But on review I'm not certain why.  Wiscy has a beastly defense, and none of the OL except Kalis had a particularly good day.  Coming in cold off the bench I think JBB did rather well.  In 32 run snaps he had a UFR run grade of -3.5, and a PFF grade of -1.2.  Not great.  But in 19 snaps Newsome had a UFR of -.5 and PFF of -1.6.  PFF liked him better on the ground.  In Pass Pro, UFR has him -1 out of 27 snaps, error of 3%.  This is vs. Kalis at 2%, Cole at 4%, Magnuson at 10% (Newsome and Braden have no grades listed).  In terms of PFF pass pro, JBB is at .3, Newsome at .5, Cole at .7, Braden -.2, Kalis 1.5, Magnuson -.6.  These aren't glowing numbers for JBB, but looking at them, who stands out as the negative outlier?  He seems to center toward the middle against a very good defense in a crtically important game.  Out of position at LT.  That's an emphatic win and I'd take that and run at RT this year. 

Rutgers is more problematic, no doubt.  He was beaten around the edge soundly and frequently.  The move to Braden the next week was necessary.  This is bad.  He lunged in pass pro, missed, and people ran around him.  Don't lunge JBB.  One potential explanation: he went down hard in that game early, before he had the problems, went out for a bit and came back in.  In the spring he mentioned some vague injuries last year.  I'm working too hard to explain away a poor performance, but we're all trying to squint and see the positives at RT this year.  You're doing it with Runyan/Stueber/Filiaga. 

Runyan won all the Feats OF STRengTH awards for OL this spring.  If you watched the interview when he talked about it, he said everyone else was just behinid him.  Maybe he was being modest.  I hope he's great.  He was not very good at all in the spring game.  Stueber or any of the freshman are going to struggle mightily, at least that has to be the going-in view.  They need to learn the offense and where the bookstore is, in addition to gaining strength.  

Maybe there's insider noise that says JBB is buried in a hole.  A 6'6" 310 lb hole (yes I know / think / not sure actually that holes don't have mass).  All I heard during spring was that the coaches were begging him to take the job.  He was trotted out for interviews.  He was injured and since has never been heard from again. 

He's going to be a factor at that RT spot.  Anybody with a body is going to be a factor at that spot this year.  It's not a "develop the young kid if he's of similar performance to the senior" situation.  Because if he locked down RT this year, he can return with a year under his belt playing with Onwenu and have the true makings of a holy shit OL next year.  

Please don't ignore Juwann Bushell-Beatty.  He may be the bridge that gets the team past Florida and time for the freshman to acclimate before PSU.  He may be OK, given Speight's ability to scramble.  He may be good if Frey can work on him.  He may solve all problems at RT this year and next.  It's OK to mention him again. 

 

HarbaughsLeftElbow

July 30th, 2017 at 10:58 AM ^

Newsome was the weak link on a weak line. People were excited about him because he was young and showed flashes of brilliance. JBB was a huge dropoff from Newsome. 

It is possible that JBB will eventually become a good player. He was a huge project out of a high school and still has some time left. However, it is also possible he will never be a strong player because lack of technical ability, flexibility, etc.

1VaBlue1

July 30th, 2017 at 4:59 PM ^

Newsome was the weak link?  On a line with Kalis?  Whatever, man...  That's some revisionist history right there.  While true Newsome had a rough start, he was rounding into a very good LT.  You don't think its fair to give him a few games into the start of his career before evaluating?  Jeez...

S.G. Rice

July 30th, 2017 at 11:11 AM ^

Good thing it's time for fall camp, when the coaches figure out who the best players are.  And then it's time for the season, when the best players are set loose upon the field for the purpose of obliterating suspecting opponents.

 

I have no idea if JBB will be one of those players.  Objectively speaking he wasn't very good last year.  He also wasn't as bad as, say, the players Rutgers deployed as an "offensive line" (emphasis on offensive).

 

I hope he'll be good.  That means he's been working hard, studying hard, prepping hard, eating right, sleeping hard, focusing hard.

 

But who knows.  As of right now, nobody.  Check back in four weeks.

philidor's legacy

July 30th, 2017 at 11:19 AM ^

JBB has plenty of strength. He has an ideal lineman frame and appears to be a natural when it comes to certain aspects of line play, most especially in how he uses his hands. The conundrum: seems to be a different player once he enters the game. Maybe that is now past. Hope so. Pulling for him to be a contender!

TomJ

July 30th, 2017 at 11:30 AM ^

I thought it was a great, incisive analysis of JBB's strengths and weaknesses, and why he should probably factor into the RT discussion that we've all been having since last year ended.Sometimes I wonder if people have lost the ability to read more than 140 characters.

Bigku22

July 30th, 2017 at 12:44 PM ^

The analysis was fine, but it is hard to gloss over the fact he was terrible in pass pro against a Rutgers D-line (and overall team) that was bascially a Division 2 opponent. If you can't have at least a solid game against that level of competition......it's hard to have any real level of optimism that you're a legit starting tackle at this level. 

Icehole Woody

July 30th, 2017 at 11:46 AM ^

O linemen typically take years to develop. Extrememly rare are those like Cole that contribute as Freshmen. As JBB continues to work and develpe I think you'll see him on the field. That's how it usually works.

DMack

July 30th, 2017 at 12:06 PM ^

This does make sense and hopefully he improves to the point where we get some quality minutes out of him. He should be more mature, stronger, and knowledgeable of the playbook. This gives an advantage to him over newer younger players who are still trying to learn how to find classes and the complete blizzard of things coming at them as freshmen.

I would imagine it takes a year or two to be ready in every facet to effectively play major CFB. (plays, strength, conditioning, mental toughness, academics). It seems plausible that he takes a step forward from where he was last year. Some athletes improve faster in some areas than others but I fully expect him to take a step forward on the field and be equal to if not better than a freshman or sophomore. He could be one of the players who's most important to us. We need him to provide us time while these younger players grasp the playbook and mature.

XiX

July 30th, 2017 at 12:34 PM ^

JBB will have his opportunity in camp and I think he and all the guys will give it their best shot. I agree that he shouldn't be written off but, unfortunately, that's the nature of CFB these days.

Whoever earns spots on the line with Cole and Bredeson will have battled for it and I can't wait to learn who they'll be. Competition is a good thing!

Mr Mxyzptlk

July 30th, 2017 at 12:53 PM ^

I clicked your link hoping to see a projected depth chart heading into the fall.  Your link led to a page of dozens of links to 6-20 minute YouTube videos.  Was I supposed to watch each one and read between the lines of coach-speak and player interviews in order to deduce a mental picture of a depth chart?

Edit: (Oops, meant to reply to #28)

JimBo RedJohn

July 30th, 2017 at 4:55 PM ^

Scroll down the page where it runs through each position group and the projected depth chart. The link should work, however if it fails you go to http://mwolverine.com. Right click the link labeled Developing Michigan Football Depth Chart for 2017 located in the center of the of the links grid.
PS the depth chart begins when you scroll down to the picture of Coach Drevno.

M-Dog

July 30th, 2017 at 12:58 PM ^

He was thown into the mix in October of last year during the Wisc game, and then he played off and on since then.  That's not a lot of actual game experience.  

No, he hasn't proven himself to be a success at this point, but he certainly hasn't proven himself to be a failure either.  There is still time for him.  

 

dipshit moron

July 30th, 2017 at 12:59 PM ^

no back up at Lt and no starter at rt, ot position is in dire straits? i bet the coaches have a whole other perspective of this. just because you havent been notified doesnt mean there is a problem. if these coaches cant put together an above average line by this time, they would have to be one of the worst coaching staffs in the conference.

Here2CWoodson

July 30th, 2017 at 1:25 PM ^

How good are we expecting Runyan to be? I don't remember hearing much about him since he's been on campus and I know when he committed he was small and expected to be a center. What has changed for the optimism to start at RT? Or is it more a sign of the tackle depth ?




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Mich1993

July 30th, 2017 at 2:24 PM ^

I think the op did a good job of summarizing the good and bad of JBB with a bit of a positive lean.  My only disagreement is the statement that Runyan was not very good at all in the spring game.  I thought overall Runyan played just fine in the spring game.  He did get beat once or twice by a speed rusher but held his own on the rest of the plays.

To me, there are two options we have seen play at RT so far, Runyan in the spring game and JBB last year.  Having watched both, I have much more confidence in Runyan due to the spring game than what I saw of JBB last year.  On JBBs side, if he learns from his mistakes and improves a lot from last year (not unlikely), he does have more upside than Runyan based on his size.

I expect to see Runyan start and do just fine against Florida, but it would not be shocking for JBB to start.