Is Olu the greatest transfer in UM history?

Yes - Mike Danna, from CMU.

Je'Ron Stokes.

Zack Charbonnnet without a doubt

Could be Charbonnet, he's been pretty good at UCLA.

Best transfer out I can think of was RB Jon Ritchie, who went to Stanford after two years at Michigan.  Played 7 years in the NFL.

Ryan Mallet was pretty good at Arkansas and parlayed it into a 3rd round pick

Trevor Pryce

Trevor Pryce has to be part of this conversation.

i was today days old 

Nah.

You mean Kentucky Transfer Charles Matthews.  Based on CBB broadcasts, I'm pretty sure that's his full legal name.

i read this thread hoping against hope that i would be the first to post it but i knew in my heart of hearts that i would be beaten to the punch

good on ya

He's in a category by himself, as he's the only JUCO transfer we've taken in decades. He went to a JUCO because he was from a tiny rural high school in Iowa that didn't even play proper 11-on-11 football. He had to go the JUCO route just to get the experience and exposure he would need to achieve his dream of playing major college football. His story is actually pretty impressive.

Part of the evaluation thing, for example with recruits, involves what's driving a ranking. So take a 5* player; there are more valuable, and less valuable, reasons that guy got a 5* ranking.

Athleticism is valuable. You can't teach speed, as they say. Athletic freaks have value, because if they put it together they can do things try-hards could never dream of (Rashan is tough because while his role was certainly valuable in Brown's scheme, it wasn't necessarily maximizing his athleticism, but think of guys like Peppers and Dax and what their freak abilities allowed the defense to do).

Intelligence is valuable, although I'm not sure there are too many 5*s ranked as such because they can process the game at light speed.

But development isn't as valuable. It's something you see especially with QBs, all the more so as specialized and supplemental coaching in high school has increased. Some guys get high rankings because they are very polished (as compared with say, Milton, who had 5*ish tools but was a 3* because he was raw as hell, and still may never reach his potential). That's dangerous because, mentally, you expect that if a guy is this good in high school, he'll get a ton better with college coaching, but some of these guys are already close to their ceiling, and all of a sudden don't look so promising (because their potential was a mirage). That's my pet theory about Tate Forcier. He got an unbelievable amount of coaching in high school (QB coaching became his family's business), came here, was good as a freshman, and then didn't really improve (maturity issues notwithstanding). I think he was already close to his ceiling as a freshman, which made him good compared to most freshman, but less good, comparatively, the older he got.

And the worst is early development. I think the sites are doing better with it now, as every year you see early 5*s drop and drop. But I'm sure some still get through the cracks, and there are at least historical examples, like the Kevin Grady's of the world that were 5*s because they were bigger and stronger than anyone around them, but didn't have actual 5* talent. (There are also the weird cases, the 5*s like Bellville has had recently, who end up going to the Kentucky's of the world because no big programs are interested).

And it goes the same for negatives as well. Lack of athleticism is a big downside. It can be overcome by intelligence, but it puts a solid ceiling on a guy. Again, same with intelligence. Michael Cox (for today's blast from the past) had NFL tools, and indeed was in the league for a few years, but couldn't see the field here because he reportedly couldn't learn the playbook. Or think about players (LBs, QBs, etc.) that process too slow to be useful. Size, not necessarily so much. Devin Bush was an otherwise 5* recruit that didn't climb higher than low to mid 4* range because he lacked prototypical size. Not only did he play like a 5* in college, where NFL size is less important, but it didn't even affect him NFL-wise, as he went #10 in the draft, two spots ahead of unanimous #1 recruit Rashan Gary.

Pro evaluation can be similar, in that oftentimes players are drafted on potential, but don't end up hitting it. E.g. QBs who have the physical tools but can't see the field well enough, or be accurate enough to make their NFL arm worthwhile. You see it in other leagues, too. Neither Houstan nor Diabate did anything last year to warrant being drafted; they were drafted on potential. The question will be whether or not they hit it.

No, he has one more season if he wants it.

And I think the Oline is where UM can mine for top talent that wants a grad year in a pro style system for a shot at the pros. Not many programs offers what UM does for Olinemen.