Higdon, who sat out bowl to prep for draft, goes undrafted
This grated on me at the time, but I thought, “I guess he has to do what’s best for him.” But now to see him go undrafted, this bothers me even more. He is now an UDFA signee of the Texans.
As I see it, he had another chance at the bowl game to lead his team and improve his draft stock. Instead, he abandoned them. And for what?
I don’t know how anyone can be behind his decision any longer. I don’t find the “Well, if he got hurt than he might never have even been an UDFA signing” reason very persuasive.
While perhaps the bowl game might not have gone well anyway, I feel that part of the reason they lost was because the overall team effort was low due to poor morale. Morale and leadership is just the kind of thing a captain is supposed to provide. He could have provided that. NFL scouts would appreciate that. And a great performance on the field would certainly have helped his draft stock.
But when your captain jumps ship, a poor performance is to be expected. I wonder how many NFL teams thought worse of him for on personal level for being a captain who left his team, than they were impressed by any additional preparation he had for the Senior Bowl and NFL combine.
While I hope some players would learn a lesson from this, I think it will only get worse.
In other disappointing news, Zach Gentry, who had a poor bowl performance, but still left early, goes in the 5th round to the Steelers. Good for him I guess, but I wonder if he couldn’t have been a 1st or 2nd round pick in a year or two in this new offense. This one is more about players needing compensation in college, so they don’t have to jump earlier than necessary.
I rarely post here but read often, so I guess this just shows my frustration with these choices.
He likely sat out his last chance to play competitive football for the rest of his life. No biggie. Not worth freaking out over. Let a man make his own decisions.
But... he played "competitive football" in the Senior Bowl right after, and will play "competitive football" as he fights for a roster spot with Houston. Dumb take.
I'm like 70% sure you're being sarcastic.
He’s saying Higdon may never play a game that counts. There’s no guarantee he ever makes a team. He looks like a complete fool
If Higdon never plays in the NFL, playing in the bowl game wouldn't have changed the fact that the game against OSU was the last game he played in "that counts."
April 29th, 2019 at 10:20 AM ^
This just isn't true. Go around the country in last year's bowl games. Very few players sat out and a lot of teams gave big-time efforts to compete is games, some even in games far less prestigious than the Peach Bowl. A lot of people around here have turned to this take because we have shit the bed in 3 straight bowl games and had players bailing left and right last year. That is not an "everybody thing." That is a Michigan thing and one I hope is addressed and comes to an end as quickly as possible.
April 29th, 2019 at 10:22 AM ^
You didn't watch it then? It doesn't count in our record? it didn't affect our final ranking? If your attitude is that anything less than the title is meaningless, you are going to have a frustrating life as a fan.
April 29th, 2019 at 11:41 AM ^
Your take, it is bad
I have ZERO problem with him sitting out the Bowl game. Young man has to do what is best for him and his career. I support his decision 100%.
What I think is a shame is him saying that he wasn't drafted because people were scared of his injury / injuries. Butt was drafted after a torn ACL. Willis McGahee was drafted after his knee exploded in a Bowl game. Karan wasn't drafted because people didn't think he was talented enough to be drafted. That's it. Nothing more.
It's always his call but it's hard to say that it worked out well. I just wonder what he was hearing, and from whom, at the time that he made the decision to sit the bowl.
You never know how things will work out. He could have blown out a knee in the bowl or could have piled up 200 yards total offense.
Many things could have happened and yet he could have got drafted in the exact same position, given his skill set. It's all what-if's.
And regardless, I wish him well.
McGahee might not be a great example here; he was still drafted in the first round even after that injury.
Higdon is probably kidding himself here but it is different for more marginal players, though. Somebody who might get drafted in the 6th or 7th round is generally going to drop out of the draft entirely if they have injury problems. Teams are willing to take a chance on a guy like McGahee with first round talent or Butt with second round talent; if they recover then the team has won a gamble.
An injured player with 6th or 7th round talent is not a good gamble as anything other than an undrafted free agent.
April 29th, 2019 at 11:50 AM ^
Harbaugh should require all Captains play in the Bowl game. If you don't intend to play, don't accept the honor of being chosen as a leader. You can't lead when you are absent.
April 28th, 2019 at 10:51 PM ^
Who are you and what have you done in your life to be so high and mighty? Karan Higdon doesn't owe you a fucking thing.
Did he owe the team though?
Yeah, he did. If you want to sit out games to protect yourself for the NFL, fine. I don't like it, but fine.
Just don't be a team captain. Tell your teammates that you might be sitting out and decline the title.
This is where I sit. If you want to "do what's best for you and your career", fine. But that doesn't reconcile with a captaincy. Leadership means not always doing what's best for you and your career.
Right - if his was an individual sport, fine. But, when you are part of a team and there is a game, I feel you stick with it and give it your all. I hope that shouldn't be considered old school.
I'm confused. Are you responding to my comment? Because your response makes it seem as though you didn't read my comment very closely or you meant to respond to someone else.
Oh yeah, I forgot we live in 2019, a time when you can't have a discussion about anything without someone putting words in your mouth, calling you names, making assumptions about you, because it takes far less intelligence to call someone evil than to have a rational discussion. My bad for forgetting that part.
You probably buy into that whole "The Team, the Team, the Team" mantra that that one guy who used to coach here was trying to peddle.
"No man is more important than The Team. No coach is more important than The Team. The Team, The Team, The Team, and if we think that way, all of us, everything that you do, you take into consideration what effect does it have on my Team? Because you can go into professional football, you can go anywhere you want to play after you leave here.
You will never play for a Team again. You'll play for a contract. You'll play for this. You'll play for that. You'll play for everything except the team, and think what a great thing it is to be a part of something that is, The Team. We're gonna win it. We're gonna win the championship again because we're gonna play as team, better than anybody else in this conference, we're gonna play together as a team."
Everyone make note, MH20 is the only person allowed to have an opinion and if you dare disagree with his, you are a piece of shit.
April 29th, 2019 at 12:19 AM ^
“Let a man make his own decisions”. It seems that only works when they make the decisions that best align with the choices the board wants them to make. Free will is only a choice if your choice is one I agree with.
I love the hand wringing over these choices, this is like the 3rd thread it’s been a major discussion of the comments. Yesterday there were posts saying forget about Jake Butt, they know the risks, but disagree with mitigating the risk.
I actually searched the board and did not find a single post criticizing Jake Butt for coming back for his Senior year when he had a 2nd round draft grade after his junior year. I find this odd as these posters only want to make the choice that is best for the athlete.... Jake has little upside opportunity to come back for his senior year but he still wanted to do it. Again, the sanctimonious critics only agree with choices that are best for the team and totally disregard what their servants, scratch that, I mean the players.
Finally, all of the criticism is directed at the players. You could almost wonder (but not here) if there was a greater reason a higher than average amount of players sat out and those that didn’t played poorly in the bowl game.... Players have free will and get to make the choices they feel are best for them, maybe the whining from that can just stop.
PS. What’s the difference between Higdon who’s is now an UFA and Mike Webber who was taken in the 7th round? Karan got to choose his team, that’s the biggest difference. Any late round pick or UFA has an uphill battle to make the team. Stop the mental gymnastics to make a case that a bowl game would have made any difference in his chance to be on a teams roster this year because it simply doesn’t.
PSS fun fact - a marginal player who sits a bowl game can 100% focus on training for the combine and not practicing for a game in January. Anyone want to guess as to which one would add draft value more: 1. Having another game on tape to add to the years of already existing tape or 2. Improving your measurable at the combine.
All the back and forth is very entertaining and for the most part well articulated (sometimes with great emotion) as I would expect...but not much on the reality of life after college sports insight. We have roughly 100 guys on the team, about 20-25 seniors. 5 (I think) we’re drafted, a few more were signed on as UDFAs. Hopefully all of them were prepared in their stay at Michigan, for life after college athletics, because as we see in the percentages, all but the very very best need to rely on their witts for their livelihoods, not the shuttle times.
April 29th, 2019 at 12:49 PM ^
This is my gripe as well. The fans are selfish and want the players to be unselfish with their futures on the line. An example that came to mind this weekend was GRIII in basketball, he came back to "develop on the wing" just to get stuck playing power forward for team needs. How many fans were worked up about that? He got shafted as an individual player in that scenario. Fans dont care about that though because they don't care about HIM or any other player as an individual. They only care about what he could possibly do for them by way of "the team". It's selfishness disguised as something else.
Hell, look at how players like Jabrill and Rashan got talked about for the important role they played in our defense! Lack of production this, lack of production that. Playing out of position for the team but get picked apart as an individual. The fans never have an issue with that. Its bs. Players dont get drafted as a team. They have to look out for themselves individually, too, doesn't make them lesser teammates.
I'm pretty sure Rashan was asked to play more DT and didn't want to. That's on him. Also Peppers was not playing out of position...he was meh as a defensive back so they put him at Viper where he could make plays closer to the line of scrimmage.
Re: PSS fun fact - the bowl game was in December, not January. Want to guess if it would add more draft value to play extremely well in the Peach Bowl AND then prepare for 2 months for the combine?
He skipped the bowl game to avoid injury, and that's his choice.
April 29th, 2019 at 11:43 PM ^
The end of December vs Jan 1, that’s your rebuttal? Not playing in the game gave him a full extra month to train for the combine. Of course the primary reason was to avoid injury, an additional benefit is having an additional month to train. It was pretty clear imo, which part are you struggling to grasp? The players didn’t have an issue with it, why do you?
I must have missed it, who denied who the right to make a decision?
That bowl game was not competitive! Michigan got smoked!
April 29th, 2019 at 11:28 AM ^
Too bad their starting running back didn't play. Might have helped.
Have we forgotten about Jake Butt this quickly?
Apples and oranges. Jake Butt was a sure pick in the first 2-3 rounds. Higdon was not. I could see Butt not playing. He had something to risk.
Higdon’s stature among draft prospects was so low that it outweighed the risk of injury. Just my take.
And, yes, I realize hindsight is 20/20. But my opinion wasn’t hindsight when I thought it 4 months ago.
I agree with you Imjesayin. I think this also speaks to, and it is no fun to acknowledge this as a huge Michigan fan that wants nothing but success, our substantial lack of talent at RB.
If Charbonnet doesn't instantly make an impact, we are left with mediocre Big10 running backs. Nothing more. Some are crazy optimistic about Turner. If Turner is going to be All B10 (as some have proclaimed on this board), then that means a 4th string running back last year is going to outplay a running back that didn't even get drafted in Higdon. Is that possible....yes. Is that probable...No.
April 28th, 2019 at 11:51 PM ^
Turner was 1st string after Bowl practice and started ahead of Evans and Wilson. Calling him 4th string does not represent the talent and potential. It does not account for his injury status and the learning curve of weekly game practices. It’s a misrepresentation of what’s real.
if he is healthy he is the most likely back to the most carries behind the best o-line in the Big Ten. Michigan’s top running back should make at least All Big mention every year. If Zach wins the job it’s because he’s really good.
Help me understand how Turner being at best 4th String last year doesn't speak to his talent? A player is 4th string because his talent is deemed so by the coaching staff. Physical talent and mental talent (learning the play book, picking up blitzes, etc.). If he was plagued by injuries last year I am ignorant to that fact.
Furthermore, here is what your claim of "Turner was 1st String after Bowl Practice" means. Higdon wasn't an option. Evans wasn't an option. So essentially Turner was the starter over Tru Wilson to be 1st String. I don't see how that fact points in any direction that Turner is going to be a stud of a player.
April 29th, 2019 at 11:36 AM ^
Turner is going to be a good player this year. He is not going to be a game-breaker at running back but they don't need him to be. Turner is a guy much like Hart, Higdon, etc. that will get tough yards which you need out of a feature back.
Charbonnet may end up being the starter by the end of the season, but Turner is going to get a ton of carries as long as he is healthy. I have no problem with that.
To knock his talent is ridiculous. They guy was behind two upperclassmen with loads of experience in fall camp as a true freshman. He would probably have beaten out Wilson but for being injured.
https://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/christian-turner-possibly-injured
April 29th, 2019 at 12:25 PM ^
I'm not knocking his talent, I'm trying to paint a realistic picture to his talent. Turner isn't competing agains a stacked talent pool at RB. Higdon was a very solid back, but Evans and Wilson were nothing special. They aren't going to scare any DC, nor is any DC gonna have to scheme for them. Turner was behind those 3. That should be an indication of Turner's talent last year.
2019 is a different year for Turner. Maybe the S&C program has helped him big time. Perhaps he has the playbook down cold now. But to suggest, by some, that Turner is gonna be All B10 is an incredible stretch. Could that end up being the case...sure. Just not probable.
Turner was being talked about in Fall camp as a fast riser. He then got injured and was fighting injury pretty much the 1st half of the season. Once you get into the heart of the season you typically go with the guys who have been proven in live action.
Bowl season gives the coaches a chance to look at younger guys outside of the “game prep” routine. You know that. Turner won the job over two fairly experienced backs.
Evans played in the bowl averaging 2.9 vs 4.6 for Turner. Turner, a freshman, had passed them. Turner was the best back on the roster in very limited experience at the end of the year
Higdon was 1st team this year and the line will be better next fall. Michigan’s starting RB, many expect Turner, should at the least make an All Big Ten mention. In fact they should at the least every year.
But you did knock his talent in multiple posts, including this one. An injured freshmen did not pass two established running backs...so he must not be that good. Michigan does not need Turner to be Saquon Barkley to have a good running game; they need Turner to be a guy that can follow his blocks (vision), pass block, and grind out tough yards. Those are all qualities Turner should have, and I think a lot of people are high on him because they saw flashes of what he brings to the position last season.
I want a running back who can take advantage of what should be a good offensive line, at least on the ground. I want a guy that turns 2 yards into 4 yards. If you pair that with explosive guys like Charbonnet, Giles Jackson, and Sainstril as well a real running threat in Shea then we should have diverse and capable ground game.
This clip from last year's Nebraska game shows Turner's skill set.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfO_rP3b1ZA
Ummmm....no...I'm not knocking his talent. Unless your definition of "knocking his talent" is not proclaiming him to be the next All B10 RB.
I think your assessment is probably spot on. He will probably be a decent back that will get the job done, but not be a dynamic player / someone that can take it to the house and scare opposing DC's.
Evans practiced and played in the game. Passing two proven veterans after coming off injury says something other than “4th string back” You’re misrepresenting him.
April 28th, 2019 at 10:43 PM ^
This. Agree 1000%. Higdon isn't Jake Butt, completely different situation. He had nothing to lose, he should've played. And this isn't hindsight, I said it at the time.
He didn't get drafted because he isn't fast or shifty enough. And it didn't help that as a team captain, he chose not to play in the bowl game. It may not have hurt, but for certain it didn't help.
You're right about one thing - they were in two different situations.
However, I think you've got them backwards. Jake Butt was such a good prospect he was able to get drafted and make a roster anyway. someone in Higdon's position actually had EVERYTHING to lose. If Higdon had blown out his knee, he wouldn't even get a look from a team. No free agent deal, no practice squad, nothing. The difference between signing an NFL contract and not seems like a lot to lose to me.
People also forget that Karan has a child, and that changes your decision making. Like others have said, Butt was likely to be drafted highly, with or without injury. Karan clearly needed all the boost he could get, and an injury would devastating to his career, and thus his family. Sometimes there's more there than fans can ever know. Let's just wish him well in his future!
So, My Homie...what you're saying is:
This isn't the first poor decision with "poor" timing that Higdon has made. He also made the decision to have a kid before finishing school and solidifying his career path.
GOTCHA BRA...
April 29th, 2019 at 12:02 AM ^
Hopefully this will serve as a lesson for future decisions. It seemed like the “sit out the bowl game” momentum was so strong it didn’t surprise anyone. Hopefully the pendulum can swing back to playing in the post season being a benefit.
April 29th, 2019 at 12:25 PM ^
Higdon was projected as a 4th or 5th round pick pre-draft. He also has a child. So saying he had nothing to risk is foolish
Karan could have blown out his knee and been drafted in the exact same spot. Lol
True. However, had he blown out his knee, he wouldn't have signed with anyone after the draft. People neglect this aspect. Maybe it didn't improve his draft stock, but maybe it also didn't hurt it. A bowl game performance may not have gotten him drafted but a torn ACL almost certainly doesn't give him a shot.
For every instance of a "Jake Butt scenario" there are literally hundreds of others cases, every year, where potentially draftable guys played in post season games amd nothing bad happened to them (in fact, many improved their stock). Jake himself has even said he would do it again if he could. Stop cherry-picking.
1) Hindsight is 20/20.
2) The players don’t owe you a bowl appearance.
3) Feelingsball.