What are realistic expectations for Mike Danna?
Per PFF, Danna is the top returning edge defender in the country. I've seen several posters here predict that he will add depth, and likely not start. But isn't it possible with Winovich now in the NFL, he could lock down that WDE spot?
Size-wise he's slightly shorter than Winovich and a couple pounds heavier (Danna is 6'2" and 257 lbs per Freep while Chase is listed on mgoblue as 6'3" and 255 lbs).
Obviously there is a difference between playing in the MAC and the B1G but with the stats he put up at CMU I'm hoping he can be a force on the defense. Is that realistic?
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Fairly simple. Stats. That's why. Competition level is why he's predicted to be a backup. Power 5 football is different from MACtion.
Correct, this is why no one from the MAC ever gets drafted or signed in the NFL. The NFL scouts don't bother watching tape because the lower level of competition means their performance on that tape would be a mirage.
On 9/6/2018 there were 71 former MAC players in the NFL.
1.) I think he was being sarcastic.
2.) Even though there are players who make it from MAC to NFL, I believe it is still *unlikely* for any individual to translate well. I believe there are a few who lie outside the normal distribution -- lets call them outliers. That does not mean that I believe the distribution is BS.
Not exactly true.
MAC First-Round NFL Draft Selection History (since 1998)
2017, WR Corey Davis, Western Michigan, Tennessee (5)
2014, LB Khalil Mack, Buffalo, Oakland (5)
2014, DB Jimmie Ward, Northern Illinois, San Francisco (30)
2013, OT Eric Fisher, Central Michigan, Kansas City (1)
2011, DT Muhammad Wilkerson, Temple, NY Jets (30)
2009, DE Larry English, Northern Illinois, San Diego (16)
2007, OT Joe Staley, Central Michigan, San Francisco (28)
2004, QB Ben Roethlisberger, Miami, Pittsburgh (11)
2004, DE Jason Babin, Western Michigan, Houston (27)
2003, QB Byron Leftwich, Marshall, Jacksonville (7)
2000, QB Chad Pennington, Marshall, NY Jets (18)
1999, OT L.J. Shelton, Eastern Michigan, Arizona (21)
1998, WR Randy Moss, Marshall, Minnesota (21)
2017 NFL Draft Selections (11)
1 – Corey Davis, WR, Western Michigan (5)..............Tennessee Titans
2 – Taylor Moton, OL, Western Michigan (64)............Carolina Panthers
3 – Tarell Basham, DE, Ohio (80)...............................Indianapolis Colts
3 – Kareem Hunt, RB, Toledo (86)…….....................Kansas City Chiefs
3 – Kenny Golladay, WR, Northern Illinois (96)……...........Detroit Lions
4 – Michael Roberts, TE, Toledo (127)……........................Detroit Lions
5 – Blair Brown, LB, Ohio (148)…..........................Jacksonville Jaguars
7 – Treyvon Hester, DT, Toledo (244)……...................Oakland Raiders
7 – Keion Adams, LB, Western Michigan (248)…….Pittsburgh Steelers
7 – Pat O'Connor, DL, Eastern Michigan (250)……............Detroit Lions
7 – Mason Schreck, TE, Buffalo (251)…....................Cincinnati Bengals
But I get what you are saying. The competition level is a few steps down from B1G play.
I think first round picks is a limited window.
JJ Watt played for CMU before Wisconsin.
Thomas Rawls played for CMU.
Antonio Brown played for CMU.
Joel Smeenge played for WMU.
Three of those guys are all stars.
I think it is telling that Mike Danna grad transferred instead of going pro. That said, if he's anywhere close to as effective as he was at CMU even with fewer snaps, he's going to be a beast.
You realize almost half his sacks were against FCS Maine along with almost 20% of his solos. He had big tackle games against Toledo (7-6 game was over at half), EMU (7-6) and Ball State (4-8). 6 solos and 6 assist with no sacks in his 3 games against power 5 opponents. He also may have benefited from having two early entrant CBs (one that got drafted before Long) that locked down WRs.
He seems like a good athlete and should supply depth, but I honestly have no idea what to expect from him production wise. Expecting him to be a beast may be wishful thinking.
Did not realize that. If he has the numbers he had at CMU without FCS Maine, I would be very happy.
Does anyone know how fast he is? His hello post says he isn't super fast/explosive, but I can't find a 40 time anywhere. He can squat [630?] pounds and vertical 42 inches, so he has to be somewhat explosive.
Yeah, but these stats can also be misleading. For instance, it’s also possible that he’s pretty good and yet had 0 sacks against P5 teams because they had the luxury of double teaming him most of the time because his DL teammates only have MAC-level talent. I’m not saying that’s true or not because I honestly don’t know.
But it’s a good example that demonstrates that stats in a vacuum can’t tell you everything.
Rotational piece to help spell Paye (he's slotted at EDGE right?).
The rush package that I think they'll trot out (somewhat like last year) will be Hutchinson/Paye/Dwumfor/Vilain. Danna might fit in there if he has the goods to get to the QB if Vilain isn't yet up for it.
Couple dozen tackles, maybe a handful of TFLs, and 2 or 3 sacks if he gets into that rush package.
Replace Hutchinson with Uche and you might be on to something
O yeah, duh.
Uch/Paye or Hutchinson/Dwumfor/Vilain or Danna
LaMarr Woodley, but he can grow wings and fly to the QB.
Literal death from above
I think he will play a significant number of snaps and that they will rotate between him, Paye, and Hutchinson freely. I also think that will be a boost to performance as none of them have to be iron-men like Chase was. As much as we like Paye and Hutchinson, the fact is that they have done almost nothing of significance in a Michigan uniform yet so who's to say whether Danna will be behind or ahead of them?
I think having the three DEs plus Uche to rotate is going to be a bonus and whoever is playing well given the circumstances will get more playing time. I'm excited to have him aboard!
I think he could be a good piece of the rotation. But expecting anything beyond that probably isn’t fair. The level of competition in the MAC is a few steps down from what he’ll see in the Big Ten.
Especially when he lines up across from Wisconsin and OSU. Could be pretty good, but I sure as hell am not counting on him to be the next Khalil Mack.
Khalil Mack single handedly kept University at Buffalo in the game (for a half) against OSU when they met. Guy is a beast.
College Football Hall of Fame
Well I think he should be pretty good. But I also thought the last 2 dbs were going to play alot more. But I do like PFF rankings so if he is the top returner then hopefully he an give us double digit tackle for loss and close to 10 sacks.
My wild prediction he is second team all big ten.
He'll be a rotation guy who will have moderate success against most teams and probably struggle against the elite linemen. PFF has a weird system sometimes in their analysis, seemingly applying the "he does X really well, which we sorta believe is more important than Y, even if it's hard to quantify" with guys from smaller programs.
He won't be a Chase replacement, but if he can hold up a bit on the edge and give them something resembling a push I'd be happy.
I'd say three to five sacks on top of that maybe six or seven tackles for loss as a rotational player would be a great senior year pick up
Plenty of players light it up at shit schools and then go on to kill it in the nfl. I hope he’s someone like that.
If D-linemen are ready you play them. Occasionally you get a guy who comes on slower and you are luck to have them for a 5th year. Hurst is a great example of that. Winovich is another who was here for 5 years partially because of 3 position switches. Usually 5th year guys on the D-line look more like Lawrence Marshall and Bryan Mone. If they are ready to go like Hutch was last year, you get them in the rotation.
I love these predictions here that assume he will ride the bench.... imagine the same people saying the same thing had JJ Watt transferred to us... "oh, well, hes a MAC player etc and will play sparingly here". One thing is for certain, CMU does have some good talent evaluators... some recent players come to mind...
WR Antonio Brown
DE JJ Watt
SS Louis Delmas
the past decade we haven't had any better positional players than those... oh..and the OT they had that went 1 overall.
So lets not assume he isn't starting, nor assume he is riding bench.
I agree. A lot of “I think” going on. PFF states one thing and this board states another. I’m unsure of which would be true, but it’s fair to say that no one knows (besides the coaching staff) until he makes it onto the field for game day. Who knows, maybe the dude’s talent translates into the power 5?
Board opinions are highly influenced by BPONE.
Nobody is saying that Danna can't be a solid addition to the roster, nor that CMU doesn't recruit well enough to get a couple of those diamonds in the rough.
But when he played against higher-level talent (MSU, Kentucky, BC, Syracuse, hell even Kansas), he recorded...3.5 TFLs and 0 sacks over 6 games. Guys like Brown and Delmas simply showed more against top-level teams in college, and Watt was a damn TE at CMU before he wound up on the defensive line at Wisconsin.
I absolutely want him to be a great addition to the team, and I agree he's not tracking as a bench guy. But there are some question marks.
Consensus All-American.
What fun are realistic expectations? I expect him to ride in on a unicorn, post 17 sacks, 69 tackles (35 for loss) and surf out of Michigan Stadium on a wave of Buckeye tears on 11/30/19.
I feel like he's almost certain to be at least a partial starter at WDE because of his experience, and because he's got good technique. I wonder if Hutchinson will start at anchor and rotate with Paye there, because Paye sometimes doesn't offer that much in terms of pass rush.
Is he playing "anchor" or WDE?
If anchor, then he'll probably have 0 sacks, as the Gary apologists would have us believe that Pony's defense doesn't want or need sacks from that position.
To me it's really hard to say, it's not often you see someone with those stats transfer up to a power 5 team. You would think he would have gone pro if he was the next JJ Watt or Khalil Mack, but I do think he looks good enough to play in the Big 10.
Excited to have him on the Team! However, MAC level of competition is a tad less elite than the B1G.
I could see Paye starting WDE and Hutch SDE but Danna eventually starting over Paye and Paye being the primary back up for both end positions.
Read in the comments that Paye is the most versatile Dlineman we have had in a while
ARE YOU SERIOUS
two words RASHAN GARY. dude played DT in HS and DE in Michigan, now he's at OLB in Green Bay. One of the most talented players to come to Michigan. Paye is great, yes, but I would not be surprised if Danna steals his show. We're talking about young adults here, they are unpredictable.
Realistic expectations? After he sees how good the competition is during Michigan's fall practice . . . transfer portal.