Exit Aubrey Solomon
This is Not Good:
Former five-star defensive tackle Aubrey Solomon has asked for and received his release from the Michigan Football program, 247Sports independently confirmed on Monday morning.
Solomon was probably in line to start at nose tackle this year until an injury knocked him out for the first half of the season; he missed another game due to an illness and never seemed quite right. He was an almost certain starter next year at a spot that Michigan is suddenly extremely thin at. Mike Dwumfour might move over but he was a very bad run defender last year; Donovan Jeter is entering his third year and should be playable. That concludes NTs currently on the roster. If you were to pick a player to be the most damaging transfer he'd be high on the list.
So that's fun.
December 17th, 2018 at 2:15 PM ^
What the actual fuck.
December 17th, 2018 at 2:21 PM ^
What he said ^^^^
Any inside info as to the WHY?
Direct line to start next year...I don't get it.
December 17th, 2018 at 2:30 PM ^
Weird shit. Solomon, Hudson, Singleton, all guys that were by no means scraping the bottom of the depth chart.
December 17th, 2018 at 2:36 PM ^
Asiasi and Wheatley were two guys getting tons of snaps that also transferred. You just don't see that anywhere else.
December 17th, 2018 at 2:38 PM ^
Except when we had Rich Rod...
Too soon?
December 17th, 2018 at 2:41 PM ^
Wheatley got passed up by younger guys. He wasn't getting snaps. He should have moved to OT.
December 17th, 2018 at 2:53 PM ^
This isn't true. He was our best blocking TE by some margin.
December 17th, 2018 at 2:59 PM ^
Wheatley barely played in 2017 and they actually told him he would have to play OL when he reported at 300 lbs this year.
Stop living fan fiction.
December 17th, 2018 at 4:17 PM ^
From the 2017 Wisconsin UFR (last one before he transferred):
Still mostly Gentry/McKeon at TE, with a number of 3 TE formations that also had Bunting.
The game before that, 2017 Maryland, Wheatley did not chart in the blocking:
https://mgoblog.com/content/upon-further-review-2017-offense-vs-maryland
I'm not going back any further because I know what it's going to show: Wheatley was passed up by every TE and you are wrong.
December 17th, 2018 at 4:32 PM ^
I think he was injured most of 2017.
December 17th, 2018 at 4:56 PM ^
In 3 seasons he had 6 career catches.
2017 TE receptions:
McKeon 31
Gentry 17
Wheatley 3
If he stayed, he would have been behind Eubanks.
December 17th, 2018 at 2:44 PM ^
"you just don't see that anywhere else" sounds a lot like "no fan base has suffered as much as ____" and "no team has drafted as many busts as ______"
December 17th, 2018 at 3:07 PM ^
I am not one of your many critics on here (see below where I actually defend a few of your other comments in this thread).
With respect to this comment, however, you are partially right, but partially off base. It's not that you don't see guys who are returning starters or in line to play a ton transferring elsewhere (including other top schools). You do. Other schools have likely-starters leave. The issue is that you don't see it AS MUCH as we have seen it. We seem to be having something of a tailspin of issues on the team all of a sudden.
The issue is compounded by the fact that while we have recruited fairly well as a whole, we have not been able to lock down top talent consistently. When some of the highest-rated guys leave, it really stings.
December 17th, 2018 at 3:56 PM ^
I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that the problem with the original comment isn't that it's partially true and/or off base - it's that it is based entirely on anecdotal evidence. I'd be fine exploring the possibility that there is "something" wrong if someone can show me some actual data. Until then it is just another worthless #skyisfalling#letspileon#firePep "hot takey" comment.
December 17th, 2018 at 3:10 PM ^
Asiasi was homesick, I thought that was pretty well known.
December 17th, 2018 at 3:20 PM ^
And it sounds like probably similar with Solomon.
I wonder what the normal rate of transfer is for out-of-region guys from cold weather schools. Does ND have this problem?
December 17th, 2018 at 3:44 PM ^
Homesick going into his 3rd year? I don't know man. I've heard being in this program is very demanding and you really need to love football. Maybe he doesn't love football enough to enjoy his time here. Not speculating on his reason for leaving, but this is probably a common reason many kids across blue bloods transfer out in this type of unexpected fashion.
December 17th, 2018 at 3:12 PM ^
Wheatley transferred to Stony Brook, a .500 FCS team. He wasn't getting a lot of snaps at Michigan at TE, which is a big reason why he left.
Asiasi was getting some good run before he left, but that (by all accounts) sounds as much a personal/family thing as a football decision.
Also, guys leave all the time. Mike Weber just declared for the NFL draft as a backup at OSU despite having nearly 900 yards on the ground last year. Off the top of my head, Davis Webb was the starter at Texas Tech, was passed by Patrick Mahomes, then transferred to Cal where he was a starter and an NFL pick. This literally happens all the time, everywhere.
December 17th, 2018 at 3:24 PM ^
All-the-time is probably an overstatement.
The two examples you used were of guys that were passed up on the depth chart - one of which (Webb) at a position that doesn't rotate and the other of which was at a position where guys tend to be what they are and need to strike while they're young (RB).
This is bizarre because Solomon was poised to be the unquestioned anchor of the DL next season. Could not have been a football decision at all.
December 17th, 2018 at 4:43 PM ^
I mean, it could have been a football decision. He struggled with injuries this year and maybe was unhappy with how he was deployed. He also never seemed all that happy to be at Michigan, or at least I've heard rumors of him possibly leaving for some time now. And the whole "Fuck Michigan" thing.
Wheatley was passed on the depth chart, but Devin Asiasi was behind Butt but was otherwise in line to get decent playing time; he played in all 13 games as a true freshman. That probably wasn't a playing decision.
December 17th, 2018 at 10:41 PM ^
All-the-time is an overstatement all-the-time.
December 17th, 2018 at 3:40 PM ^
My Ole Miss buddy told me that Paterson left because he was passed by another QB. (I don't think it's true; I think he left because of the overall Ole Missprogram)
Players leave all the time. It was big news when two upper class/highly rated QB's left Bama after some freshman QB was declared the starter. It happens, programs adjust.
December 17th, 2018 at 5:48 PM ^
Exactly. Players are now transferring more often and surprisingly early. Players are sitting out bowl games often. This doesn't seem like a particular Michigan issue. It definitely doesn't seem like Solomon is a playing time issue but it happens. It wasn't just Harbaugh talking about the team being close. You heard it a lot on the Inside Michigan Football shows from players. Sucks for sure though.
December 17th, 2018 at 3:31 PM ^
You just don't see that anywhere else.
Have you actually tried to verify this?
Every program loses some transfers, and it's not always due to playing time.
December 17th, 2018 at 3:45 PM ^
You left out the important context before that.
December 17th, 2018 at 4:45 PM ^
That context being your incorrect assumption that two guys (one of whom was decidedly not getting a lot of starting time and was asked to move to a different position, the other who moved back closer to home and made it clear that was a big reason) were getting a ton of time and must have left for nefarious reasons?
You're wrong. You are wrong in many different ways, which is commendable.
December 17th, 2018 at 4:57 PM ^
So then no?
December 17th, 2018 at 3:31 PM ^
seems like it happens literally everywhere.
December 17th, 2018 at 5:06 PM ^
check out Asiasi's record at UCLA this year
there is usually more under the surface; this is none of our business
nonetheless, opened the site looking for a story on flip of another Solomon, only to find this
I haz sad
):
December 17th, 2018 at 2:39 PM ^
Somebody accidentally sent him a thank-you card for beating Ohio State. /s
December 17th, 2018 at 3:51 PM ^
oh man. oh. man.
December 17th, 2018 at 3:20 PM ^
Not only would he start but a big year puts him in the draft which seems to be high on his goal list. Why sit out a year and potentially delay that goal.
Something does not add up. Hope he is ok.
December 17th, 2018 at 10:10 PM ^
I mean, this.
I hope the guy is okay, really that's about it.
Having to sit out a year is not going to help his career, and he was so on the verge of total domination next year. I remember being 19 too...
December 17th, 2018 at 10:09 PM ^
Does Aubrey have a father around to give advice? I ask because in situations like these my father would always challenge me. I hated it at the time but he was always right and it made me a better person. I don't see how wasting an extra year or two in college helps Aubrey, not to mention the possible loss of millions of dollars. Best of luck to him.
December 17th, 2018 at 2:22 PM ^
I can't even...
December 17th, 2018 at 2:30 PM ^
We are a basketball school
December 17th, 2018 at 4:41 PM ^
Someone should do some unfunny parody about that statement. It'd be a real hoot.
December 17th, 2018 at 2:59 PM ^
Whatever happened leading up to, during, and after OSU...that loss looks like it was program-derailing.
Murmurs of disenchantment from current players, top recruits flipping to rival schools who aren't even EXPECTING them, and some highly regarded backups with CLEAR stardom in their future leaving the program in WTF manner.
Let this sink in: somehow, in a 10+ win season, our 3rd in 4 years, we're trending in the wrong direction.
December 17th, 2018 at 3:05 PM ^
You think Alabama is our rival?
December 17th, 2018 at 11:13 PM ^
You think Alabama is our rival?
On the recruiting trail...
...absofreakinglutely!
December 18th, 2018 at 8:53 AM ^
You wish.
December 17th, 2018 at 3:05 PM ^
Yeah I don't think that people can really just chalk this up to "it happens everywhere players just transfer sometimes." You combine this with Daxton Hill, the players reportedly sitting out the bowl game, something is amiss.
December 17th, 2018 at 3:10 PM ^
I had the same thought. Seems like in the week or so leading up to OSU, something we wrong with the juju of this team. We didn't look right against Rutgers, and the malaise continued the following week against Indiana. After the way we played in the run up to the end of the season, we should have destroyed those teams, but we seemed lethargic and lacking any intensity. Then, against OSU, we all know what happened. Is OSU the better team? Yes. After struggling mightily against some of the crap-tastic Big Ten teams, are they that much better? Um, no.
I just don't know what happened.
December 17th, 2018 at 3:20 PM ^
To me, there are just little odd things that Harbaugh does and/or is doing that I don't understand. Each one taken alone may not raise eyebrows, but they start to add up and it is hard not to question whether he really knows what he is doing. One example to point to is the backup quarterback situation. Why did he not give meaningful time to either Milton or Peters against Rutgers? Seriously, what was that about? And if Hudson had been genuinely hurt but was dressed and ready to go, why did he lose his place in the rotation to Stueber? I know I could get negged out of a cannon for this take, but I don't know. He seems to play a lot of games with players and I think that players may just get sick of it and peace out.
December 17th, 2018 at 3:33 PM ^
i guess if you start with the assumption that something is amiss with the program, then literally every thing that happens becomes further evidence of exactly that.
December 17th, 2018 at 3:43 PM ^
I'm not looking to jump to any crazy theories or go Diagonal Blue, but:
1) OSU scores 62 points on us, the #1 ranked defense in the nation
2) Dax Hill decommits, no explanation given
3) Rumors abound that possibly 6 or 7 starters, including both team captains are not playing in the bowl game
4) Chase Winovich does his awkward best to address the media regarding the OSU game, the bowl game, and the future because the head coach is decidedly NOT doing that
5) Aubrey Solomon, a slam dunk starter next year transfers out after not playing against OSU
I don't think I am going out on a limb here when I say that things look a little shaky right now.
December 17th, 2018 at 4:11 PM ^
This is priceless--juuust priceless.
Shaky??? Seriously???
3 weeks from now this is water under the bridge and its next man up. As it should be.
What you're witnessing is a dynasty in the making. It can be ugly at times early on--but the process is almost complete. Just a few pieces to be worked out.
Go ahead and roll your eyes--like I did when I saw this. We'll see how it works out from here.
Go Blue
December 17th, 2018 at 4:33 PM ^
I hope so. That would be fantastic.
December 17th, 2018 at 7:35 PM ^
I want a Championship for all the $ on the table. That is it. Guess it may be in Bball.
December 17th, 2018 at 8:32 PM ^
Username checks out
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