The Michigan Football Mount Rushmore Post 2006

Hutch, Rudock, Denard,.....maybe Peppers or Hurst

Denard because he kept the pulse of the program with his excitement.

Hutch for obvious reasons

Rudock because he was the key cog in restarting in 2015

I'm stuck on the last but I'd always stick with 1st 3

Hutch, Haskins, sairistil, corum

Harbaugh return, Hart, Haskins, Hutch, Corum, Moody, Peppers and the Tunnel for its resolute tenacity. The LCT is looking for the next vanquished team to intimidate.

uofmfan_13 has a good question for us.

Hutchinson for sure. Harbaugh, too, obviously, if we're including coaches.

What are the criteria?

For sustained individual greatness (disregarding team record) Brandon Graham and Denard seem like great choices.

I enjoyed watching Peppers play, especially on punt returns, where I think he's the GOAT for the fielding part, I don't quite see how he was responsible for bringing the brand back to relevancy. But, I'm not sure who'd rank above him.

That's four players. Other guys I'd consider for culture reasons are Hassan Haskins and Ronnie Bell.

It's hard because we weren't very good for a lot of that time.  It's hard to be a "Mt. Rushmore" player on a bad team. 

Hutch--he was dominant.  (Ojabo could have been on here, but he really only had one productive year. The O-JAH-BO sack gives him extra credit)

Hassan Haskins.  I think he just scored another TD vs. OSU.  Corum being hurt for the Game this year dings him.  Edwards almost gets on for the Game this year. 

Denard--he was an amazing player.  Had an 11-2 season. Didn't beat OSU, but had the UTL game. If Gardner had beat OSU with his broken foot he'd be on here.

Sainristril- So many plays this last year I was like, "Is that Sainristril in there?" and it was. He benefits greatly from low expectations and fantastic results.  I think he takes it to another level this year. 

_________________________

Would be on if they beat OSU and/or won a B1G Championship

Chase Winovich--(Rashan Gary should have been here but he was hurt, double teamed and we supposedly didn't use him right.  Winovich benefited from all of the attention Gary got.)  I also confuse Winovich's flow with Jake Ryan's flow so he gets credit for some of Jake Ryan's plays too.

Jabrill Peppers--he was pretty good. 

Devin Bush--He was pretty good.

Mo Hurst--Belly rub gets him extra credit.  Mazi might have been better, but Hurst had a few sacks from dominating the LOS and being fast.

Denard Robinson, Aidan Hutchinson, Brandon Graham, Devin Gardner.

I can accept a lot of other answers, so long as D Rob is in the list.  He was a bright light in a really dark time.

Not worth its own thread, but Ishbia flopped courtside and prompted this haymaker:

: "We’re going to Mount Rushmore! One of America’s greatest natural wonders! "
: "It wasn’t natural! It was carved! "
: "Somebody carved it? Well, that just ruins the whole thing!"

Four profiles of Dave Brandon. 

-Dave Brandon

I can’t pick the other 3 but I do know is that Charles Woodson just intercepted a choice

Denard, Peppers, Hutch, Corum

I would go Hutchinson, Denard, Graham, and the 4th one is tough for me, but I would go Corum.

This is tough.  Some combination of Denard, Gardner, Gallon, Peppers, Hutchinson.  After next year Saintistil could join that group for me, that flag plant was iconic.  There have been too many great DL to choose from, maybe Winovich too?

Jourdan Lewis, Butt, Hutch and Corum.

Not nearly enough love for Devin Bush in this thread....

Denard Robinson QB

Denard Robinson RB

Denard Robinson CB (he mightve played here if he didnt make it at QB)

If he didnt come to U of M to play those seasons can you imagine what it wouldve been like? Nobody, save maybe Barry Sanders, gave you something to look forward to watching singlehandedly like Denard. 

I gotta have Cade on there for leading us to the victory that truly helped this program turn the corner 

Brandon Graham, Hutchinson, Cade McNamara, Jabril Peppers, Rashaun Gary, DPJ, Hassan Haskins... 

There are plenty.

Ben Herbert

Brandon Graham

Aidan Hutchinson

Blake Corum

Peppers should have been a running back, I still stand by that. 

Devin Bush, Peppers (maybe Gary), Graham, Denard

This version of Mount Rushmore may need more than four figures.

The two most obvious to me are: 1) Aidan Hutchinson, and 2) Denard Robinson.   After that - hmmm - maybe or the third - a composite RB with Haskins, Corum, and Edwards.  And, there should be a spot for Ben Herbert to represent the coaching staff - since, I don't think we'd be here without him.

Oh - maybe a little vignette in the background of Joe Moore...

If your list doesn't start with Denard Robinson, then you need to reassess your priorities.  Denard was - by a country mile - the best player on the team each year he was on it.  He was the only player we could count on to show up and give everything he had, every play, every game.  Sure, Kovacs gave everything he had all the time, also, but he only had a small fraction of Denard's talent.  In that last bowl game against MSU (NTMSU), the only player that gave one shit about the outcome - and the way it all looked - was Denard Robinson.  Two (very) different coaches put all of their eggs in Denard's one basket.  He was the face of the program; he was the only reason Michigan had any national advertising/game broadcasts; and he's still in the top 10 in a bunch of Michigan's all-time records, and the camera was constantly on him - and all we kept seeing was that incredible smile.

It starts with Denard Robinson.  Who the other three are I don't really care...  Probably make Hutch #2.  Everyone else seems like a toss-up - a lot of really good players, but none that stand-out so tall among the others.  Personally, I'll add Hassan Haskins at #3 and Ronnie Bell at 4.  Haskins because he just made himself unreplaceable despite so many more 'obvious' playmakers around him (Corum, WR's, TE's).  Bell because of his leadership - his on-field play was top flight, but his leadership while recovering from a knee injury wins his spot here for me.

If we're including coaches, clearly Harbaugh has to be added - but I don't know which of Haskins or Bell I'd replace.  Thankfully, it's a decision we don't need to make!

This is a fun exercise. My list:

1. Denard - he brought excitement to the fanbase during a really bleak period, won a BCS bowl and, had he been used properly, could have been a hell of a RB / wildcat weapon.
 

2. Jim Harbaugh - after 7 years of absolute misery, his hiring along brought back all of the hope, excitement and pride that was lost in our fanbase. Instantly came in and restored credibility with a bunch of 10-win seasons. Following the Covid season, which was just one big asterisk for all of sports, finally slayed the OSU a easy, restored the rivalry and got us to back to back playoffs. 
 

3. Moody - why can’t a kicker be on this list?  The guy broke pretty much all of our records for his position, played a pivotal role in several wins that got us to the playoffs and was pretty much Mr. Automatic. Best specialist in M history. 
 

4. The other 3 seemed obvious to me. This one is much harder.  Candidates include Bush (amazingly underrated and so valuable to some great defenses) Winovich (aside from stats, emotional leader of a great defense), Ronnie Bell (consistent leader over several years) and even Corum (could have possibly won the heisman this year if he didn’t get injured). But I’m going to go with a split between Haskins. Haskins’ performance against Ohio State in 2021 was one for the ages. He literally put the team (and half of Ohio State team) on his back and to secure what was arguably one of the most critical wins in 25 years.  

Jake Long was AA in 2007 -- But we'll leave him out since we're really speaking to post-Carr era.

• Graham
• Denard
• Peppers
• Aidan
• Blake

Denard and Aiden are shoe-ins. After that there are a lot of deserving guys like Graham, Peppers, and Gary... I think that, after they lead us to the promised land this season, JJ and Corum will be there. 

They should find some room on there for Grant Newsome.

If we are looking at post-2006 then we need to consider Mike Hart and Super Bowl Champion Chad Henne who both played in 2007.

It all has to start with Denard. The other three...not so easy. I would think Hutch as a Heisman runner-up and pure unstoppable bad-ass likely gets him on it as well. Just IMO. 

Hutchinson, Denard, Mo Hurst, Corum