 |
| Wayne Lyons |
Hit the jump for a rundown on Lyons:
Lyons is a 6'1", 193 lb. corner. He was originally recruited by Jim Harbaugh to Stanford, and he was also recruited by Rich Rodriguez and Michigan in the 2011 class. Coming out of Fort Lauderdale (FL) Dillard, he was a 247 Composite 4-star, the #5 safety, and #98 overall. He chose Stanford over offers from Florida, Michigan, Nebraska, Notre Dame, and UCLA, among others. He was also a U.S. Army All-American Bowl participant in 2011. Here are his senior highlights:
I also happened to write a scouting report on him back in December 2010 (LINK). It's interesting to look back at a little over four years later. Stanford played Lyons at corner as a freshman before he broke his foot, garnering a medical redshirt for the 2011 season. He made 25 tackles and 1 interception as a redshirt freshman backup corner in 2012. As a redshirt sophomore in 2013, he made 69 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 2 interceptions, 2 forced fumbles, and 2 pass breakups; his 2 interceptions came late in the fourth quarter of a win against Notre Dame (starting at 2:33 in video below). He started at corner in 2014 and made 30 tackles, 1 forced fumble, and 3 pass breakups. He has not quite lived up to his billing as a top-100 player, but he has been solid.
Michigan is pretty solid with their starting group of defensive backs right now, so bringing in a ringer to start is not absolutely necessary. As mentioned above, Lyons could play virtually any position in the defensive backfield right now. With the starters looking like cornerback Jourdan Lewis, cornerback Blake Countess, free safety Jabrill Peppers, and strong safety Jarrod Wilson, Lyons is a bit of a luxury. He can play in the slot, which is where Peppers has been rotating in nickel situations this spring. With Lyons on the roster, that might allow the Wolverines to keep Peppers at safety and bring in Lyons off the sideline. From what I've seen out of him so far, I think Lyons is a bit behind Lewis and Countess (at least the 2013 version of the latter) but ahead of Channing Stribling in the cornerback pecking order.
Most of all, this gives Michigan options at defensive back. Lyons can play safety if the need arises, or he can play corner if that's where he fits best. If it were up to me, he would be the nickel corner because he's physical enough to stop the run and blitz, and he's good enough in coverage to handle the duties in the slot.
Lyons's arrival was foretold by the fact that Jim Harbaugh hired his mother, Gwendolyn Bush, to be an advisor to the players at Michigan. This alleviates some of the issues from Michigan's lack of depth at the corner position after they had two talented corners (Shaun Crawford, Garrett Taylor) decommit during the 2015 recruiting cycle. Michigan was looking for an instant-impact guy, and they signed only Keith Washington, a project from Alabama who was mostly a quarterback in high school. Obviously, Lyons is only a one-year fix and Michigan has a strong need for corners in the 2016 class with Countess and Lyons both graduating this coming year.
Michigan is now up to 85 scholarships for 2015, which means that any additions to the roster will require some attrition, putting someone on a medical scholarship, or taking away a scholarship from one of several walk-ons (Graham Glasgow, Ryan Glasgow, or Joe Kerridge). Weber State punter Blake O'Neill is supposed to join Michigan's roster by the fall, so someone is on the "chopping block."
The University of Michigan football program does not often receive transfers. In the past decade or so, they have been limited to:
- Orchard Lake (MI) St. Mary's cornerback Grant Mason, who also attended Stanford right out of high school before playing for Michigan in 2004 and 2005
- Butler Community College linebacker Austin Panter, a rare JUCO transfer, who played for Michigan in 2007-2008
- Adrian (MI) Adrian quarterback Steven Threet, who attended Georgia Tech briefly before transferring to Michigan in 2007. He sat out the 2007 season under Lloyd Carr, started part-time in 2008 for Rich Rodriguez, and then transferred to Arizona State before retiring from the sport due to concussions.
TTB Rating: 77 (ratings explanation)
I see more depth which is always a good thing. I doubt we go the entire year without a secondary injury. Look what happened last year with Peppers for example. I like adding experience and am looking forward to the fall camp and the competition. Going to be a good fight for the starting slots. The D will need to improve and lock down some games while the O slowly comes around.
ReplyDeleteDepth is always a good thing. Maybe I'm wrong, but there seem to be fewer injuries in the secondary than at other position groups. So I'm hoping we can stay healthy back there. I think one injury can be handled well, but two or more could be problematic.
DeleteWith an injury, the quality of backfield would've dropped significantly without Lyons. I hope Harbaugh gets an offensive lineman grad transfer, too.
DeleteDid you forget Marell Evans? He didn't play after transferring back from Hampton, but was definitely on the team in 2011.
ReplyDeleteEh, Marell Evans was never academically cleared to play football after coming back from Hampton. He was essentially a walk-on/practice squad player at that point.
DeleteDid Marell graduate from Michigan? Claims to be Alum. Works as fireman in NYC now. Glad those Big Blue recruiting $ spent right. 😉😉😉
DeleteI'd be delighted if this kid can jump in front of Stribling, put and keep him on the bench for a subsequent Redshirt.
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing Channing Stribbling would likely be significantly less enthused, but I'm a big picture kind of guy.
Mid-career redshirts are rare. I doubt that Stribling will redshirt this year unless someone gets injured. If Wayne Lyons plays in the slot, then Stribling is essentially your backup corner on the outside.
DeleteThunder,
ReplyDeleteCan you explain the types of things that would make you prefer having Lyons cover the slot receiver in nickel as opposed to sliding Countess there and letting Lyons play outside?
I personally like Stribling as a backup corner but the Lyons pickup is great for exactly the reasons you mention.....depth and versatility. None of the backups have really proven themselves yet (Hill, Clark, Thomas, Stribling, etc), Countess struggled last year, and we are still clinging to mostly practice hype with Peppers. Lyons is a wonderful insurance policy.
AC1997
From what the coaches have been saying, they're going to be playing a lot of man coverage. I think Countess is quicker than Lyons, so I would rather have Countess on the outside matched up against a standard wide receiver. I also think having Lyons in the slot makes him a factor against the run or as a blitzer, because I think he's more effective in those types of roles than Countess.
DeleteI just got around to reading Zordich's presser. It pleases me to no end to see this staff coming around to my way of thinking as Watson is now schooling with the CB's and Kinnel who has always looked like a corner to me, is now labelled "a safety that likes to play corner" ..... it's a start.
ReplyDeleteThere's two guys with some size and speed spending time outside. Now, let's go out and get us some Safeties to come in and play Safety.
Stanford looks good in their whites.
ReplyDeleteNike!
Did you give a TTB numerical rating to Lyons somewhere?
ReplyDeleteI hadn't thought about it until you asked, so I'll add one momentarily.
DeleteThanks for your Paypal donation!