Name: Daylen Baldwin
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 210 lbs.
High school: Waterford (MI) Mott
Position: Wide receiver
Class: Fifth year senior
Jersey number: #85
Last year: Baldwin caught 27 passes for 540 yards and 7 touchdowns at Jackson State.
TTB Rating: N/A
NOTE: The transfers and whatnot have thrown off the countdown a little bit, so there will be some A/B situations.
Baldwin transferred to Michigan after a spring season in which he caught 27 passes for 540 yards and 7 touchdowns for a Deion Sanders-led Jackson State program. He led the team in receiving yardage, receiving touchdowns, and yards per catch, and he was tied for #2 on the team in receptions. Originally coming from the metro Detroit area, he played at Morgan State and then Jackson State, so this is his third stop.
I know some Michigan fans got very excited when a 6'3", 210-pounder committed to the team, but I have some concerns about how well he will fit into the plan for 2021. Two quarterbacks (Cade McNamara and J.J. McCarthy) spent the spring learning the playbook and getting their timing with the already established receivers, and there were no departures from the young receiving crew from 2020. Meanwhile, Baldwin arrived in Ann Arbor after his own spring season, and he has to compete against other talented wideouts now where his combination of size and speed won't necessarily always win the day. I think Baldwin will get a fair number of snaps this season, but I do not think he will be one of the top three guys.
Prediction: Backup wide receiver
He's already more talented than Ronnie Bell. So maybe a few games into the season as Cade McNamara gets used to him, he will be looking for him on pass plays. And he may end up a starter by the end of the season, really, if not from the beginning of the season.
ReplyDeleteA guy I read, that had insider information, said Baldwin could have either went to Ohio St or Michigan, and that Ohio St said he would likely be the #5 to #7 receiver on the team, and Michigan told him he would likely be the #1 to #2 receiver on the team. So he chose Michigan.
Ronnie Bell looks so limited to me. He can sure leap and catch a pass on a short nickle. And he seems to look to get the attention of the QB when a play breaks down, so the QB can get rid of the ball and get some positive yards, like a receiver is supposed to do when things go awry on a pass play. But I don't see him having anything else. It is easy for me to say Baldwin will be moved ahead of Ronnie Bell.
Roman Wilson will probably be moved ahead of Ronnie Bell too. What a great talent Wilson is. So fast, such great hands, probably the best hands on the team. And man, what great attitude he has. He only lacks experience.
And I don't want to take the time to type out about Sainristil.
Baldwin on the team might make all the WRs work harder.
The only question I have about Baldwin is, can he produce the same type of play at Michigan that Dieon Sanders got out of him?
Ronnie Bell has been the leading receiver at Michigan for two straight years, and his 758 receiving yards in 2019 are the third most in the program during Harbaugh's tenure, behind Amara Darboh (2016) and Jehu Chesson (2015).
DeleteIf you think an FCS transfer is going to come in and relegate Ronnie Bell to the bench, I strongly disagree.
I didn't say Ronnie Bell is going to the bench. You made that up.
DeleteI don't know if stats equals talent. If so, then you will have to say Ronnie Bell is better than Nico Collins and Donovan Peoples-Jones.
If Daylen Baldwin isn't going to start he would have been better off going to Ohio St. He would have gotten much better WR coaching there. Or even staying at Jackson St where Dieon Sanders was getting a lot out of him.
DeleteI don't get this being down on Daylen Baldwin. And I don't get the Ronnie Bell thing either. He is able to make himself seen by the QB when plays broke down. And I wonder if it was plays breaking down a lot at Michigan that made QBs go to looking on the fly for a receiver, or the lack of ability in the QBs to throw to the primary targets on plays, and having to resort to doing things on the fly. I think it was the QBs inability because of sub par QB coaching and play design.
I have seen Ronnie Bell play. He is clearly not the most talented WR on the team. I can think of 5 receivers on the team right now that are more talented than him. Maybe even 6 with Andrel Anthony.
@ Mego Torsten 8:56 p.m.
DeleteIt seems like you've missed a lot of plays that were designed to go to Ronnie Bell. He's not just a scramble drill target. They throw him slip screens, bubble screens, RPO's, slot fades, etc.
Maybe he's not the #1 most talented guy...but I'm not sure what that means when he's the one catching all the passes.
Fun fact: Ronnie Bell has more production in three seasons at the Big Ten level than Daylen Baldwin has at the FCS level in four years.
I never said all his yards came on scramble plays.
DeleteI'm not ok with QBs, and offensive coordinators, who were unable to get the ball to Nico Collins more, and everyone else that is more talented than Ronnie Bell. It was criminal how little Nico Collins got the ball.
I think you and I have a different view of Ronnie Bell. I don't think we will be agreeing. I'm not against him. And I'm not for him. He has a place. All players have a place. And I hope this year things will be more in focus on the offense. Obviously things have not looked good on offense at Michigan for a couple years. I hope there is much more of a well oiled machine this year, much more consistency, with things making sense.
It seems you have some sort of attachment to Ronnie Bell that makes you want to defend him more than he probably should be.
@ Mego Torsten 12:01 a.m.
DeleteI'm not attached to Bell any more than some other receiver. But he's been the leading receiver for two years running, even when Michigan had Nico Collins and Donovan Peoples-Jones. Now you said in this thread that an FCS transfer and a sophomore who has 9 career catches are both going to move ahead of him.
Michigan had more talented running backs than De'Veon Smith, but by the time his senior year came around, I realized he wasn't going to be replaced. That's kind of where we should be with Bell. He's not the biggest or the fastest, but when he's out-producing NFL players in Collins and Peoples-Jones, then that's a pretty big sign.
What it signals to me is the offense hasn't been designed and run very well since 2016. And QBs have not played as well as they did in Jim Harbaugh's first two years. The evidence that there was a drop off in offense and QB play from 2016 to 2017 was all the blows in 2016 to all the struggles in 2017. Look at how Wilton Speight looked in 2017.
DeleteYou say there's a sign. The sign I see is the offense has had real problems. They struggled to beat Army, the ugly losses to Michigan St. The blow out losses to Ohio St where Michigan didn't look strong at all on offense.
There has to be serious overhaul in the offense so it gets more balls to the DPJs and Nico Collins that are at Michigan. Cornelius Johnson and Roman Wilson are the next in that line. Daylen Baldwin too. Collins, DPJ, Johnson, Wilson, all would very likely been used in the Michigan 2016 offense more than Ronnie Bell.
We probably are not going to agree on these things.
omission:
Deleteall the blows in 2016 should have read all the blow outs in 2016
I get what you're saying, because I'd feel much better about our chances knowing fast & talented guys are leading this team. I'm sure DCs would much rather prepare for Ronnie Bell than peak Collins, DPJ, or the speed of Wilson, Henning, etc
DeleteBut the fact is, Bell keeps put producing these guys. He gets open, he catches the ball, and gets extra yards. Like in any other industry, always take the production
Don't blame Bell. Ask why those other players aren't stepping up, or why the coaches can't seem to get more out of them. Sh:t, I wish we had more exceed expectations like Ronnie Bell
"Michigan had more talented running backs than De'Veon Smith, but by the time his senior year came around, I realized he wasn't going to be replaced. That's kind of where we should be with Bell."
DeleteMaybe this is true. But I see more by the way of limitations in him than strengths. I don't think he's going to be in the NFL. But De'veon didn't get drafted. Fact is stranger than fiction sometimes.
@ je93July 27, 2021 at 5:33 PM
DeleteI have been making it clear I am not blaming Ronnie Bell. I am mainly focusing on the coaching. Let me try to say it this way. I will post WR stats from the year Jim McElwain was here coaching WRs. I hope this makes is clear.
Donovan Peoples-Jones: 47crec, 612 yds, 8 TD
Nico Collins: 38 rec, 632 yds, 6 TD
Ronnie Bell: 8 rec, 145 yds, 2 TD
Oliver Martin: 11 rec, 125 yds, 1 TD
Those numbers make sense. No coach on offense in the 2 years since Jim McElwain has been here has been his equal. I wish he had been the OC here since 2017.
This was a good pickup. I'm not sure he'll be a starter either, but I feel better about our receiver room with another outside type guy
ReplyDeleteHopefully we get more out of Baldwin than our 3d (or even 2d) TE 😉
Of course I hope he's a superstar in hiding but I also have modest expectations for Baldwin. Part of it is just that I feel pretty good about Bell, Wilson, and Henning. I think Johnson and Baldwin will both get plenty of opportunity because of their size, though.
ReplyDeleteIf all these guys can play then maybe we'll finally see more 4 WR sets, as TE doesn't like a strength area for this team. We'll see.
-LANK
Four WR sets? I'm sure it will happen some, but I don't think it will be in any more significant amount than the past six seasons.
DeleteYeah - I think you're probably right about that.
Delete-LANK