Ex-Wolverines after Week 1
If you're interested, I compiled a rundown of what 45 former Michigan players/commits did during week 1 of the new college football season (LINK).
For example, good ol' Erik Swenson is still a backup at Oklahoma, even though Lincoln Riley took a shot at Michigan's coaching staff for "dropping" him. My take on the Swenson thing:
Look, something about Swenson spooked the coaching staff. We don't know what it was. If the staff soured on him, it's better to sour on him before the NLI than after. But for all we know, being "slighted" by Michigan could have pissed him off so much that he wants to work harder at Oklahoma and prove Michigan wrong. Maybe if he would have coasted into Michigan, he wouldn't have a chip on his shoulder to work hard. Swenson is playing for a great football program in a high-powered offense, and Michigan is doing just fine without him, too.
Also, Kekoa Crawford actually caught the ball three times, and two of them were for touchdowns.
September 2nd, 2019 at 2:19 PM ^
I watched the OU game and I think Swenson was the LT. It could’ve changed but I swear he was out there.
Got it, read your post.
September 2nd, 2019 at 2:22 PM ^
He played but didn't start. I checked the participation chart.
September 2nd, 2019 at 2:32 PM ^
Did Aubrey Solomon play in Tennessee’s loss? He will be interesting to watch considering the strange circumstances of his time here.
September 2nd, 2019 at 2:34 PM ^
Why not click the link and find out?
The answer is "yes."
September 2nd, 2019 at 3:27 PM ^
Also, you won't believe what number 6 on the list did!
September 2nd, 2019 at 2:35 PM ^
It's in the link.
September 2nd, 2019 at 3:08 PM ^
Hamilton started at left guard, and didn't look particularly well. Thanks for the updates.
September 2nd, 2019 at 2:24 PM ^
What did Pep Hamilton do?
Not necessarily limited to Week 1, but more specifically his 2 years as Passing Game Coordinator at the Michigan making a cool Million a year.
September 2nd, 2019 at 2:26 PM ^
Damn that’s a lot of ex players. Is this normal? Meaning, compared to other major teams.
I still am baffled that Martin and Crawford are gone. I feel like Johnson and either Jackson or Mike S would rs if those two were here.
September 2nd, 2019 at 2:36 PM ^
I think it's pretty normal at this point.
September 2nd, 2019 at 2:36 PM ^
Martin, for sure. Crawford? Nah, that was a mutual parting of the ways.
September 2nd, 2019 at 2:39 PM ^
Crawford had a chance to claim a starting WR spot in 2017 but had a poor season and was passed by DPJ/Collins. The situation with Martin is a bit murkier, since the coaching staff was reportedly fighting to keep him at Michigan.
September 2nd, 2019 at 3:24 PM ^
He played better when his name was Dylan. Should have kept it.
September 3rd, 2019 at 12:59 PM ^
One of my coworkers was at the Iowa game Saturday night. He said Martin looked good when catching passes, but whenever he wasn't the target, his blocking was...not good. He basically looked a little lost, like he didn't know who he was supposed to go block, and he missed his man more often than he picked up the correct target. Sounds like he's got a bit of work to do away from the ball.
September 2nd, 2019 at 3:39 PM ^
To be fair - about 2/3 of that list is former commits that never came to M - I.e. George Campbell so the number is big if you were thinking transfers only.
September 2nd, 2019 at 8:44 PM ^
There are 45 players/coaches listed. 18 are former players, 2 are former coaches, and the other 25 are former commits.
September 2nd, 2019 at 3:44 PM ^
If Crawford was still here, one less WR would have been recruited. Good chance we don't take both Sainritsil and Johnson.
Martin may have given the luxury of redshirting a WR, but those freshmen would have been battling him for playing time. It's hard to know who comes out on top.
September 4th, 2019 at 7:16 AM ^
My thoughts exactly. Almost enough transfers (18) to field both sides of the ball.
September 2nd, 2019 at 2:47 PM ^
Really interesting, thx.
BP stats, although good, don't do justice to his play.
He was terrific, a solid leader for the illini.
September 2nd, 2019 at 3:29 PM ^
I am very excited for Peters but in the time I watched that game (mainly first half) he straight airmailed at least 3 throws when he had minimal pressure. The announcers even discussed/showed him with a case of “happy feet” in the pocket. Hopefully that improves with game reps- I would love to see him beat a Scott Frost or PJ Fleck led team this year.
September 2nd, 2019 at 10:27 PM ^
PTSD from that drevno o line
September 2nd, 2019 at 2:49 PM ^
A few thoughts
- Happy for Kekoa and Peters. Looks like they landed in good spots
- Hope Aubrey and the croots I forgot about who all got paid by UT are enjoying the tire fire. 2-10 won't be very fun.
- How did Oliver Martin get immediate eligibility at Iowa, yet the NCAA still denied that player at VT from playing after moving to be closer to his mother with brain cancer(I think)? Is it really just about hiring a good lawyer to threaten the NCAA as it seems the Martin family did? It feels like the headless chicken roulette from South Park. What value does the NCAA actually bring anyone again? I swear they intentionally screw things up so these things stay in the news and it distracts people from talking about messing with the cash flow (paying players)
September 2nd, 2019 at 2:58 PM ^
George Campbell is still in college??
September 2nd, 2019 at 3:04 PM ^
I was thinking the exact same thing. Didn’t FSU have him on the DL
September 2nd, 2019 at 3:41 PM ^
He was supposed to join Penn State’s roster so we could have seen him first-hand this year but (obviously) that fell through and he ended up at WVU.
September 2nd, 2019 at 3:03 PM ^
After watching Swenson's senior film I am still amazed he got a scholarship at OU, it was just awful and I don't blame the staff for getting spooked. Glad Crawford and Peters are getting opportunities.
September 2nd, 2019 at 3:11 PM ^
Still wish Solomon panned out to his recruiting profile and stuck around. We could really use another DT right now. I feel like at some point retention has to improve to get depth where we want it otherwise we're looking at lots of freshman on the 2-deep. Maybe that's the natural progression of guys not panning out and getting passed by younger guys IDK, but it seems to be happening more with us than most other places.
September 2nd, 2019 at 3:13 PM ^
I hope Tennessee loses all their games
September 2nd, 2019 at 3:18 PM ^
I actually watched a bit of Peters' opener as an Illini, and I will say, it does look like he landed in precisely the right situation for him. It was good to see him do well.
September 2nd, 2019 at 3:56 PM ^
Thought the same thing. Just a good fit for everyone. Glad to see him succeed.
September 2nd, 2019 at 3:39 PM ^
Ouch McDoom
Nice to see Ulizio starting.
September 2nd, 2019 at 3:41 PM ^
I had no idea Ulizio transferred, but man that brief period he started at RT was abysmal
September 2nd, 2019 at 3:51 PM ^
Otis Reese and Emil E. were two recruits that would have played as freshmen here.
September 2nd, 2019 at 4:14 PM ^
if i remember correctly, i think devery hamilton started at guard with walker little & foster sarrell at the tackles. regardless, i was curious about former M-adjacent prospects and how they did, i.e. this exact post!
one thing i noticed in that NW-Stan game was that despite two extremely highly touted tackles being coached at freaking stanford, gaziano absolutely destroyed them at least two separate times. little reminded me of ND runyan from last year, just looked like he glitched while gaz teleported through him on more than one play. guess that's what high end edge rushing will do to any team!
September 2nd, 2019 at 4:16 PM ^
It does seem like most of the positive spin about Swenson has been more about digs at Harbaugh than anything positive Swenson showed, starting with that article by the Northwestern slappy sports writer. I mean, I guess it's cool that in year 4 he finally worked his way into the two deep.
September 2nd, 2019 at 4:42 PM ^
That was 4 years ago? Time really does speed up as you get older. Seems like that was last season or something.
September 2nd, 2019 at 5:21 PM ^
Crawford catching a deflection? Hands must have improved the year he sat. McDoom with a couple drops...ugh. That drop against Sparty...he could have taken that to the house. Had one guy back.
September 2nd, 2019 at 5:37 PM ^
This is really, really interesting, Magnus. Thanks. I'd forgotten about maybe 70 percent of these guys.
And yes, George Campbell must be in his mid-30s by now.
September 2nd, 2019 at 5:39 PM ^
Gonna pass on the link. I root for laundry, not players (old Seinfeld reference).
September 2nd, 2019 at 6:20 PM ^
What about the tight end that transferred to UCLA?
September 2nd, 2019 at 8:47 PM ^
He started but didn't catch a pass.
September 2nd, 2019 at 7:37 PM ^
While reading the list, I still found my self saying "Doooooooooooom!"
Thanks for the update!
GO BLUE!!
September 2nd, 2019 at 7:42 PM ^
McDoom had 0 catches and 2 drops
Some things never change.
September 3rd, 2019 at 1:46 AM ^
Also, Kekoa Crawford actually caught the ball three times, and two of them were for touchdowns.
Seems like Ronnie Bell is dropping passes like Kekoa Crawford. There was hype about Kekoa Crawford like there is about Ronnie Bell. Maybe not as much. But, on a couple of those passes Bell could have caught, I had flash backs of Kekoa Crawford.
On the other hand, I really loved what I saw from Cornelius Johnson!
September 3rd, 2019 at 6:39 AM ^
I think the criticism of Bell has been too harsh, and I'm surprised by it. Some of those balls intended for Bell were really tough catches. I mean, maybe Braylon Edwards would have made them, but I don't really expect a lowly rated second-year player that no one knows outside of Ann Arbor (and Missouri) to make all of those.
September 3rd, 2019 at 11:52 AM ^
I was at the game, so harder to notice everything, but I only remember one Bell “drop,” and that would have been a tougher catch than Nico’s. And honestly Nico’s felt like karma/jinxing after all the talk about how he didn’t drop a pass last year.
September 3rd, 2019 at 12:38 PM ^
The crazy thing for me is how many of those decommits I don’t even remember.