NFL Roster and UM's struggles

Submitted by massblue on

To see why UM has struggled in recent years, take a look at the LIST of UM players who are in the NFL or trying to make it.  Outside of Brady, Lewan, Funchess and may be Harris, there are no real star players and many are fighting to make teams as backups.  JH is changing it quickly, I think,

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HipsterCat

August 30th, 2016 at 5:19 PM ^

Brandon Graham is had a bit of a break out last season got a 4 year deal in the offseason and Schofield started on the superbowl winning broncos last year and will start again. But I would agree with the premise that our talent hasnt been developed well enough over the last couple of seasons, just look at Rawls doing well at western and blowing up with the seahawks last year

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I Like Burgers

August 30th, 2016 at 5:31 PM ^

Its more than just not developed, its that we really haven't recruited much NFL level-talent in a decade or two.  Sure we've had a few guys here and there make it, but the last batch of great Michigan NFL players from those late 90s teams are either out or all on their last legs in the NFL.

Hopefully the 2017 draft class is the first step towards reversing that.

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HipsterCat

August 30th, 2016 at 5:48 PM ^

"havent recruited much NFL-level talent in a decade or two".... wut???

I know it feels like a long time since we have had impact players in the NFL but its not been a 2 decade long drought. Hall, Woodley, Harris have all been pro-bowl players in the league, Jake Long too, and was the #1 draft pick, until injuries caught up with him but he's still getting tryouts and kicking around. Lewan is a starting LT, Jake Ryan played some solid snaps for GB last year (didnt follow the packers too closely myself so not sure how much), Funchess and Frank Clark were both decent players. Maybe we havent had the ELITE nfl talent like a Woodson or the depth we had before but we have always had NFL players 

http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/072208aaa.html 

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rainingmaize

August 30th, 2016 at 5:20 PM ^

No doubt Harbaugh is going to change that and has already helped, but some credit has to be given to to Brady Hoke. He was an overall bad to mediocre power 5 coach, but all of these guys we are about to put in the 2017 NFL draft are all guys he recruited.

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OwenGoBlue

August 31st, 2016 at 12:01 AM ^

Hoke is a really good DL coach and effective recruiter; I just see that more as a continuation/restoration of the norm at Michigan (which he also gets credit for being part of previously) than a uniquely special skillset. I remember quite a few other nasty DL units in the 90s through the mid aughts. I'm probably splitting hairs out of a distaste for "guru" in general. Obviously Matti is one of the best in the biz.

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Bando Calrissian

August 30th, 2016 at 5:23 PM ^

Considering the scarcity of NFL roster slots and the sheer number of college football players pursuing that path each year, it seems counterproductive to judge the health of a college program based on how many NFL players it produces. The point of a college program is not to place guys in the NFL--it's to win football games at the college level. What's more, a guy's ceiling very well could be dominating the college game.

So, really, I don't get the handwringing over how many players a program has in the NFL. It's a page in the recruiting material, nothing more, nothing less.

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stephenrjking

August 30th, 2016 at 5:28 PM ^

One of the best ways to win college football games is to recruit and develop great players, though. Those players tend to be good enough to play in the NFL. Ohio State and Alabama and LSU do not have this issue, because they recruit and develop great players.

And when Michigan was "elite" or at least consistently good in the pre RR years, we didn't have this issue either--Michigan players dotted rosters all over the League. There is not and should not be some kind of award for having the most players, but players making NFL rosters is a good sign that talent is coming through a program.

It's telling that a significant proportion of Michigan's NFL talent consists of elite players left over from the Carr era. There are a few guys from the RR/Hoke years, of course, but nothing like what we used to produce.

It's not like it's anything to worry about. Michigan has a number of future NFL players on its roster right now, and if Harbaugh continues to succeed we will see a lot more. This is all just a symptom of other problems.

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UMxWolverines

August 30th, 2016 at 9:39 PM ^

Why? OSU has gone 50-4 in the last four years and produced the most NFL players in a single class ever. Alabama had a stupid number of picks in the first round last year I believe. Miami and USC were churning out the most NFL players during the early 2000s and mid 2000s respectively. It's obvious there's a correlation.

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kurpit

August 30th, 2016 at 5:30 PM ^

I think you have this backwards. Michigan hasn't struggled because it hasn't had NFL talent. It has struggled because it couldn't produce NFL talent. When you're bad, your players are less likely to go to the NFL because they haven't received good coaching.

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Richard75

August 30th, 2016 at 8:36 PM ^

Exactly. Too often this is looked at like destiny—as if a guy who makes the NFL was always going to make it no matter where he went to school, and those who don't weren't. For some this is true, but you don't miss on as many 4-stars as U-M did without development being the problem.



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PeterKlima

August 30th, 2016 at 5:40 PM ^

Where did this come from randomly?  Is there a point here? 

There is a strong correlation to NFL players and how good your Power 5 team has been performing recently.  Michigan struggled recently and has slipped a bit with producing NFL stars.  Not really something that seems worthy of a topic.  Its just a statement.

Now, if you want to go back and forth over recruiting and player development and which has caused the struggles at Michigan (and on NFL rosters) that is a tired, but somewhat intersting debate.

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UMProud

August 30th, 2016 at 5:43 PM ^

Michigan hasn't had full roster talent development...we have had remarkably good talent considering what we've been through between Carr and Harbaugh. Players lucky enough to play for Michigan now have coaches who run an NFL system and will make them very desirable NFL recruits...and very wealthy.

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1974

August 30th, 2016 at 6:26 PM ^

Look at the number of future NFL players in the 2004 recruiting class and the ones before it. 2005 marks a turning point. (I don't care how high Rivals rated the class.) It appears that 2012 may mark another turning point. Whether it was poor identification of talent, poor development of that talent, or some other reason, is up for discussion.

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Zarniwoop

August 30th, 2016 at 6:26 PM ^

I'll be really surprised if someone cant find a use for both Jarrod Wilson and Ojemudia.

I think they won't make the teams they signed with, but they're too good to not play somewhere.

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turtleboy

August 30th, 2016 at 6:39 PM ^

While it is rather obvious that we haven't put Charles woodson, ty law, or Tom Brady in the NFL in the last 7 years, we have still put a number of good players in, and could still conceivably field an all Michigan team. That team might not be loaded with all pro talent like it was maybe 5 years ago, but it's more than a lot of schools can say.

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bronxblue

August 30th, 2016 at 9:34 PM ^

I mean, it's sort of true, but this tends to happen on teams that go through a bunch of coaching transitions.  And in fairness to Hoke, he recruited all of these guys who are going pro in 2017.  So basically, it was RR's tenure that really "hurt" UM in terms of NFL guys if you go by raw numbers, plus the natural degradation toward the end of Carr's era.  But this is still a program that produces a decent number of NFL players, and I assume this downturn will be a mere aberration going forward.

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Yo_Blue

August 31st, 2016 at 8:51 AM ^

Don't forget our "other" pros - Devin Gardner and Jeremy Gallon (or as the Nojima Sagamihara Rise website calls him, Jeremy Garons - you can't make this stuff up).  Devon went 21-37 for 282 yards with one TD and one pick with 27 yards on the ground and one TD.  Gallon had 10 receptions for 80 yards and one TD.  The Rise lost on a missed extra point.

Devin rocking the 98.

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