Even though jersey numbers don't matter much - there is plenty of time for them to change - it's always interesting to see what jerseys the freshmen wear. Here's a rundown of the newcomers:
#0: WR Darrius Clemons
#2: CB Will Johnson (I saw a rumor that he switched to #4, but #2 is on the roster)
#3: S Keon Sabb
#4: WR Amorion Walker
#8: DE Derrick Moore
#10: QB Alex Orji
#12: S Kody Jones
#13: WR Tyler Morris
#16: QB Jayden Denegal
#24: CB Myles Pollard
#55: DT Mason Graham
#55: C Olu Oluwatimi
#60: OL Connor Jones
On another note, Eamonn Dennis has officially switched from cornerback to wide receiver on the roster. Meanwhile, Mike Sainristil is still listed at wide receiver even though he's getting practice reps at nickel corner.
The following depth chart has removed a variety of players due to graduation, departures for the NFL, and transfers.
It also assumes that every currently rostered player and every currently committed prospect will be here in 2022, which is obviously not true. I listed wide receiver Ronnie Bell on the below roster since he plans to return in 2022 after suffering an ACL tear in 2021.
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HIGH SCHOOL Hawkins was originally from Camden (NJ) Camden in the 2016 class, where he was a teammate of eventual Michigan signee Cesar Ruiz. He signed with Michigan in 2016 but had to attend prep school at Suffield (CT) Suffield Academy and reclassify to the 2017 class. In the meantime, he went from being committed as a receiver to then coming in as a safety in 2017. He was ranked as a 3-star, the #66 wide receiver, and #425 overall in that 2017 class.
COLLEGE Hawkins played in all twelve games as a freshman and then started one game as a sophomore in his home state of New Jersey when the Wolverines played at Rutgers. He then became a full-time starter in 2019 and was named the team's most improved player; Pro Football Focus even jumped in and named him their First Team All-Big Ten player at the Flex position, which is reserved for hybrid players, since Hawkins was largely a safety/linebacker hybrid.
CAREER STATISTICS 178 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 1 fumble recovery, 2 forced fumbles, 8 pass breakups 6 kickoff returns for 83 yards
AWARDS Third Team All-Big Ten (2021)
SUMMARY Hawkins is one of those seemingly rare cases of a Michigan recruit who goes to prep school and actually ends up at Michigan. It seems like most recruits who have academic issues just end up going elsewhere rather than working their way into Michigan. Originally recruited as a wide receiver - who spent his prep year also playing wide receiver - it seemed odd that he came in as a safety immediately. I had issues with Hawkins early on because of some stiffness and a lack of top-end speed, but safety is one of those positions where experience really matters. As the years wore on, he made fewer and fewer mistakes. And whether he was just reacting quicker or whether he actually improved physically, he seemed to play faster and faster, to the point where he was a very solid player his last couple years. While he wasn't flashy as a senior (60 tackles, 3 TFLs, 2 FF, 1 FR, 4 PBU) and never made an interception in his career, he was always in the right spot. He did a good job of filling on the run, made some excellent plays when he was supposed to hold the edge, and had very few bad plays in 2021. He's a great example of why freshman safeties make me nervous and why it's nice having veterans on the back end of the defense.
I WILL REMEMBER HIM FOR . . . . . . playing at Michigan forever. Okay, technically it was only five years (2017-2021), but since Hawkins was committed in the 2016 class, too, it feels like he's been a staple of Michigan's program. And that makes sense because he played in 56 career games, an all-time high for a Michigan player. (Due to COVID-19, he was able to play six games in 2020 and still return for a fifth year.) That's a record that's going to be very hard to break.
PROJECTION I was surprised to learn that Hawkins was not even invited to the 2022 NFL Combine. After all, he has to be one of the most experienced safeties in the country, and he played for two high-quality defensive coordinators: Don Brown, who has put oodles of players in the NFL, and Mike Macdonald, who parlayed his year at Michigan into a defensive coordinator job with the Baltimore Ravens. Perhaps teams feel like they have nothing to learn about a guy who has 56 games of tape available, but I have to think the NFL's general concerns mirror mine from earlier in his career, regarding stiffness and overall athleticism. It only takes one team to jump up and draft you, so perhaps he becomes a late round pick. I would have pegged him for a 6th/7th round pick, anyway, but the lack of a Combine invitation makes me think he might just have to go the undrafted route.
The new version of the USFL kicked off its draft on Tuesday night, and the first pick was none other than former Michigan quarterback Shea Patterson. Altogether, the draft was full of names that you either didn't know or were a blip for a bit on the college scene before disappearing, such as former Maryland cornerback/returner Will Likely, Ohio State WR Johnnie Dixon, and Memphis QB Paxton Lynch (who was a high draft pick by the Denver Broncos once upon a time).
The USFL did something unique with their draft: they used alternating orders each round, and each round was for one position only. So the first round was only quarterbacks, the second round was only defensive ends, etc. I think that's a good way to start off the league, so every team gets at least a chance to grab the best player at one position. But because of that, the round in which a player was picked was irrelevant to an extent; for example, defensive tackles couldn't even be drafted until the 24th round.
Below are the players picked from the Wolverines:
Round 1, #1 overall: QB Shea Patterson (Michigan Panthers) Round 2, #10 overall: DE Carlo Kemp (Pittsburgh Maulers) Round 7: OT Juwann Bushell-Beatty (Tampa Bay Bandits) Round 8: CB Channing Stribling (Philadelphia Stars) Round 28: RB De'Veon Smith (Pittsburgh Maulers)
Former Michigan commit Mike Weber, who played his college football at Ohio State, was a 27th round pick by the New Jersey Generals.
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Best Overall Recruit: CB Will Johnson Johnson is a 5-star talent with size, physicality, good athleticism, and a solid bloodline. Any criticism of him is generally nit-picking, and he was supposedly the best cornerback at the Under Armour All-American Game.
Ny Carr - WR - Moultrie (GA) Colquitt: Carr is a 6'0", 170 lb. prospect who's a teammate of tight end Landen Thomas (see below). Carr is a speedy, decent sized athlete without much of a recruiting profile yet, but the offers are going to roll in based on his talent.
Adarius Hayes - LB - Largo (FL) Largo: Hayes is a 6'4", 210 lb. prospect with offers from Alabama, Florida State, Miami, and Ohio State, among others. He's a 247 Sports 4-star, the #6 linebacker, and #73 overall. He probably projects to outside linebacker in Michigan's defense.
Eddy Pierre-Louis - OG - Tampa (FL) Catholic: Pierre-Louis is a 6'3", 320-pounder with offers from Georgia, Oregon, Penn State, and USC, among others. He released a top four of middle-tier schools, but I'm guessing a run of recent offers will make him rethink that list in the near future.
With spring practice starting next week, I think it's time to look at what position changes might occur to benefit the team. With a lot of pieces remaining the same on offense and a similar scheme on defense, we generally know what type of systems we'll see on each side. It's more of a question about which players might slide around a little bit to fill some holes.
Mike Barrett (RS Sr.): OLB ---> ILB Barrett is a former starting Viper in 2020 under former defensive coordinator Don Brown, but that spot was largely eliminated early in 2021 when Michigan played Daxton Hill at the slot corner position. Barrett didn't play much early in 2021 until defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald was forced to make some adjustments. He started just one game last year and made 20 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack, and 1 pass breakup on the year. Now with middle linebacker Josh Ross headed to the NFL, Michigan loses a leader in the middle but returns a freshman All-American in Junior Colson at the other inside linebacker spot. While Nikhai Hill-Green also returns, I think Barrett and Colson are the two most productive linebackers; Hill-Green played okay but his youth showed with some missed reads and false steps. Plus if Barrett is going to have a minuscule role, I'm not sure he can be convinced to stick around for a fifth year. I think Barrett is enough of a well rounded athlete that he's worth keeping around, and his speed and athleticism could be a plus if the defensive linemen and the scheme can keep him clean.
Peyton Bowen - S - Denton (TX) Guyer: Bowen is a 6'0", 185 lb. prospect who's committed to Notre Dame. He's a 4-star, the #4 safety, and #61 overall. Guyer is a powerhouse program in Texas.
T.J. Metcalf - S - Pinson (AL) Valley: Metcalf is a 6'1", 180-pounder with offers from Florida State, Miami, and Penn State, among others. He's a 247 Sports 3-star and the #41 safety.
Isaiah Neal - DT - Baltimore (MD) St. Frances: Neal is a 6'3", 265 lb. prospect with offers from Maryland, Ohio State, Pitt, and West Virginia, among others. He's a 3-star, the #60 defensive lineman, and #451 overall. St. Frances is the former stomping grounds of current Michigan staffer Biff Poggi.
Isaac Smith - S - Fulton (MS) Itawamba: Smith is a 6'0", 200 lb. prospect with offers from Arkansas, Georgia, Notre Dame, and Texas A&M, among others. He's a 4-star, the #19 safety, and #196 overall.
Robert Stafford - CB - Melbourne (FL) Eau Gallie: Stafford is a 5'11", 171-pounder with offers from Florida, Ohio State, and Oregon, among others. He's a 4-star, the #23 safety, and #272 overall. He has some really nice acceleration and explosiveness and looks like he could help in the return game, too.
OFF THE BOARD
Findlay (OH) Findlay offensive tackle Luke Montgomery committed to Ohio State. He had a high interest in Michigan and visited several times, but it was not to be. His younger brother Ryan Montgomery is a 2025 quarterback with a Michigan offer.
Lawrence (MA) Central Catholic tight end Preston Zinter committed to Notre Dame. Zinter is the younger brother of Michigan offensive guard Zak Zinter, but it sounds like Michigan was not strongly pushing for Preston with a tight end already committed in the 2023 class in the form of Andrew Rappleyea.
The fourth annual Polynesian Bowl will be played in Honolulu, HI, in January of 2020. Here are the Michigan participants over the years:
2022 Zeke Berry, S - Concord, CA Mason Graham, DT - Anaheim, CA
2021 J.J. McCarthy, QB - La Grange Park, IL**
2020 Reece Atteberry, C - Aurora, CO A.J. Henning, WR - Frankfort, IL Braiden McGregor, DE - Port Huron, MI** Jordan Morant, S - Oradell, NJ** Kalel Mullings, LB - Milton, MA Gregory Tarr, LS - Romeo, MI
2019 Giles Jackson, WR - Freedom, CA
2018 None
2017 Chuck Filiaga, OT - Aledo, TX Corey Malone-Hatcher, DE - St. Joseph, MI** Dylan McCaffrey, QB - Littleton, CO Phillip Paea, DT - Berrien Springs, MI Joshua Ross, LB - Orchard Lake, MI Kurt Taylor, RB - Loganville, GA
*Scheduled to play in the upcoming game
**Selected but not participating due to injury/early enrollment
Since Graham's commitment came in the middle of my football season, I got behind and never posted about his commitment.
Anaheim (MI) Servite defensive tackle Mason Graham committed to Michigan back in September 2021. He had previously been committed to Boise State since June 2021.
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I meant to post this a few weeks ago but got sidetracked. Anyway, for a trip through the awesome year that was 2021, here are the top 10 most trafficked post of last year:
Michael Hawkins, Jr. - QB - Allen (TX) Allen: Hawkins is a 6'1", 181 lb. prospect with offers from North Carolina State and SMU. He's the son of former Oklahoma cornerback Mike Hawkins, who also played with the Packers, Browns, Vikings, and Raiders after being drafted in the 5th round. As a sophomore in 2021, the younger Hawkins completed 161/249 passes for 2,807 yards, 21 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions; he also ran 104 times for 730 yards and 8 touchdowns.
Brady Prieskorn - TE - Rochester (MI) Adams: Prieskorn is a 6'6", 215-pounder with offers from Arkansas, Florida State, and Penn State, among others. He's the younger brother of Memphis tight end Caden Prieskorn, who graduated from Orchard Lake (MI) St. Mary's. Rochester Adams is the school that outgoing cornerback Vincent Gray attended.
Desmond Ricks - CB - Bradenton (FL) IMG Academy: Ricks is a 6'2", 170 lb. prospect with offers from Florida, Florida State, and Georgia, among others. He's a 247 Sports 4-star, the #1 cornerback, and #2 overall for the 2024 class.
Zina Umeozulu - DE - Allen (TX) Allen: Umeozulu is a 6'4", 210-pounder with offers from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, Texas, and Texas A&M, among others. He's a 247 Sports 4-star, the #2 edge player, and #25 overall. His brother Neto is a 4-star player who signed with Texas A&M in the 2022 class.
This is not an in-depth preview of any sort, but as a football fan, the Super Bowl is the most hyped game of the year. I don't get as antsy about the Super Bowl as a Michigan State game, an Ohio State game, or a meaningful post-season game for the Wolverines, but it's still pretty exciting to see the show the NFL puts on.
I usually root for whichever team has Tom Brady; failing that, I usually pick based on which team has more former Wolverines.
CINCINNATI BENGALS #25 RB Chris Evans Defensive Quality Control Assistant Jordan Kovacs
LOS ANGELES RAMS #36 CB Blake Countess #25 CB David Long, Jr.
Grant Newsome (left, with Chuck Filiaga; image via MGoBlue)
Former Michigan offensive tackle Grant Newsome has been named the new tight ends coach for the Wolverines, replacing Jay Harbaugh, who has moved to the defensive side of the ball.
I think this is my first time creating a second post for a guy whose recruitment I also covered. Newsome was an outstanding offensive tackle prospect in the 2015 class (here's his commitment post). He played in five games as a freshman and then started the first five games at left tackle in 2016 before a brutal knee injury against Wisconsin ended his career. He attempted a comeback, but by 2018 he had retired from football and became a student assistant, working with the tight ends in 2018-2019. He then moved over to help Sherrone Moore with the offensive line in 2020-2021.
This is an internal hire that should pay off with a pretty seamless transition on the field. Newsome has worked with the tight ends and offensive line, and both of the former tight ends coaches - Moore and Jay Harbaugh - are still on the staff. So all that knowledge and experience is still contained within the team. Newsome is also widely well liked and should be a plus recruiter; he's young, intelligent, affable, and loyal to the program.
I won't make a separate post for the finalized staff, so here's how it shakes out for 2022 unless other things change:
There are eight Michigan players who have been invited to perform at the NFL Combine:
CB Vincent Gray
RB Hassan Haskins
S Daxton Hill
DT Chris Hinton
DE Aidan Hutchinson
DE David Ojabo
LB Joshua Ross
OG Andrew Stueber
A few draft-eligible players were not invited, including WR Daylen Baldwin, S Brad Hawkins, and C Andrew Vastardis. I guess this is my time to reiterate how weird it is for Baldwin to have declared for the draft, since he did not factor much into the Michigan attack this past season. It's also interesting that Hawkins was not invited despite being literally the most experienced player in Michigan history (by games played).
Michigan has a new defensive coordinator in the form of Jesse Minter. Minter comes to the Wolverines after spending one year at Vanderbilt as the Commodores' defensive coordinator.
Minter is the son of former Cincinnati head coach Rick Minter, and he played wide receiver at Mount Saint Joseph in Ohio. He then spent time at Notre Dame and Cincinnati as a low-tier assistant before becoming a linebackers coach and then defensive coordinator at Indiana State (coincidentally, where several former Wolverines now coach, including head man Curt Mallory). Minter then moved on to become Georgia State's defensive coordinator in 2013 and was a Broyles Award nominee as one of the top assistants in the country.
Minter was hired in 2017 to be an assistant for the Baltimore Ravens, coaching defensive backs through 2020. After just one season as the primary defensive backs coach in 2020, he was hired away by Vandy to be their defensive coordinator.
Brooks Bahr - DT - Chicago (IL) Loyola: Bahr is a 6'6", 270 lb. prospect with offers from Illinois, Northwestern, and Purdue, among others. He's a 3-star and the #73 defensive lineman to 247 Sports.
Adonijah Green - OLB - Ellenwood (GA) Cedar Grove: Green is a 6'5", 203 lb. prospect who is committed to Louisville; he also has offers from Kentucky, Pitt, and USC. He's a 3-star, the #38 edge defender, and #516 overall. As a junior in 2021, he made 73 tackles, 16.5 sacks, and 1 interception.
Jim Harbaugh came back to Michigan. He did that quite literally by returning from St. Paul, MN, after an interview with the Minnesota Vikings.
I think Jim Harbaugh is such a polarizing figure that anything he does is going to be tweeted out, broadcast, and inspected to an unfathomable degree. This is a guy who took off his shirt at a satellite camp, and the meme has lasted for half a decade.
Michigan offensive coordinator Josh Gattis is headed to Miami to be the Hurricanes' new offensive coordinator under new head coach Mario Cristobal. This is a slightly surprising development for an assistant coach who won the Broyles Award in 2021 as the nation's top assistant coach.
Gattis was at Michigan from 2019-2021, hired away from Alabama. Gattis had so-so success at Michigan, really. His first two years were mediocre, and even in this season of success, his offense was #24 in total offense, #22 in yards per play, and #16 in scoring. That represents a peak in each category during his three seasons in Ann Arbor.
I was often critical of Gattis. His initial #speedinspace mantra turned into . . . well . . . nothing more than a mantra. He did a poor job of getting speed in space during his first two years. When he finally hit his apogee, it was with the heavy influence of newly hired quarterbacks coach Matt Weiss, who brought a lot of elements of the Baltimore Ravens' run game. The condensed sets, the tight end motions, the jet motions turning into lead blockers, etc. are all directly from the Ravens' playbook.
There are various rumors floating around about why Gattis felt his time at Michigan should be over, and I won't get into them. I'll just say that this change might be best for both parties.
I have no insight into who the next offensive coordinator might be, but Michigan has a couple potential internal hires that would make sense in offensive line coach Sherrone Moore and Weiss. That being said, Jim Harbaugh does not always seem to make the most obvious choice, so we'll just have to wait and see.
As for the optics of Gattis leaving Michigan in a huff, well, coordinators don't stick around forever. There are various things that get in the way, whether it's hurt feelings, poor job performance, taking what seems like a promotion elsewhere, etc. Keep in mind that the last Michigan offensive coordinator to stick around for three years was Al Borges from 2011-2013. Since then Michigan has gone through Doug Nussmeier (2014), Jedd Fisch (2015-2016), Pep Hamilton (2017-2018). The last offensive coordinator to stay four years was Terry Malone from 2002-2005.
Flip the Scriptby Bruce Feldman and Ed Orgeron is essentially an autobiographical piece about Ed Orgeron. Orgeron, of course, is the national championship-winning coach for the LSU Tigers. (Or, well, he used to be until he was relieved of his duties in 2021.) Orgeron previously coached in the NFL and was the head coach for Ole Miss and USC. Feldman previously wrote Meat Market about Ole Miss's recruiting when Orgeron was in Oxford, and I would highly recommend reading that if you haven't done so already. Anyway, Flip the Script starts off talking about Orgeron's youth and playing career, but then the second half of the book discusses his experience at Ole Miss. He talks about some of his coaching decisions, personnel decisions, the recruitment of Joe Burrow, and his national championship year in 2019. I know there are questions about Orgeron's overall head coaching acumen, but there's no doubt he's a good recruiter and defensive line coach. It's a worthwhile read if you want to see how some things work behind the scenes at a big-time SEC program and in the coaching world.
The Closers by Michael Connelly is yet another Harry Bosch novel. After having retired from the LAPD a couple novels previously, Bosch returns to the department and works on Open-Unsolved cases (a.k.a. cold cases). This novel revolves around a 17-year-old murder from the year 1988, where DNA evidence is now in play to go back and try to catch the murderer of a high school girl.
The Silver Arrow by Lev Grossman. I've previously written about Grossman a few times. He wrote one of my favorite book series, The Magicians series. Again, I highly recommend that series if you haven't read it. (The show isn't nearly as good as the books.) Anyway, The Silver Arrow is somewhat of a children's book - albeit a 249-page one - about a brother-sister duo named Tom and Kate who go on a train adventure. The train is named The Silver Arrow and it's a magical, talking train that picks up magical, talking animals. Yes, that sounds very childish, but there are some serious themes and more mature-oriented jokes peppered throughout. Grossman - whose vocabulary is outstanding in his other books - cuts down on the intellectual talk to teach a lesson to younger readers. SPOILER ALERT: It essentially turns into a warning about taking care of the Earth and the animals contained therein, but it's a unique way of getting there.
What have you been reading? Tell us about it in the comments.
Dexter (MI) Dexter running back Cole Cabana (image via List23)
Dexter (MI) Dexter running back Cole Cabana committed to Michigan on Saturday afternoon. He picked the Wolverines over offers from Michigan State, Pitt, Purdue, and West Virginia, among others.
Cabana is listed at 6'0" and 180 lbs. He claims a 10.69 in the 100 meters and recently ran a laser-timed 4.31-4.34 in the 40. He also has a 235 lb. bench and a 4.1 shuttle time. As a junior in 2021, he ran for 1,688 yards and scored 28 total touchdowns.
Belleville (MI) Belleville safety Myles Rowser (image via SI)
Sadly, this will be the final recruiting update dedicated to the 2022 class, since National Signing Day took place this past Wednesday. There are still a few uncommitted prospects with Michigan offers, such as Washington offensive tackle Josh Conerly, but any developments with those players will be rolled into 2023 and 2024 recruiting updates.
DECOMMITMENT
Lawndale (CA) Leuzinger outside linebacker Kevonte Henry flipped from Michigan to Oklahoma (LINK).
OFF THE BOARD
Bellflower (CA) St. John Bosco cornerback Tayvion Beasley committed to Jackson State, Deion Sanders's FCS program.
Lake Charles (LA) College Prep running back TreVonte Citizen committed to Miami.
San Diego (CA) Lincoln cornerback Jahlil Florence committed to Oregon.
Lawndale (CA) Leuzinger outside linebacker/defensive end Kevonte Henry committed to Oklahoma on National Signing Day after having been committed to Michigan. Henry committed to Michigan back in June 2021, but the departure of recruiting coordinator Courtney Morgan was a big development. After Morgan left to lead Washington's recruiting department, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that Henry would not be in the class, and Michigan did not pursue him very much over the past month or two.
I gave Henry a TTB Rating of 82 when he committed (LINK). He ended up ranked as a 3-star, the #33 edge player, and #396 overall. I think Henry has a chance to be a pretty good player, but recruiting kids from California is tough because a lot of them get homesick. If Morgan wasn't going to be a part of Michigan's program to give him an anchor, then even if Henry had stuck with Michigan initially, he very easily could have ended up in the transfer portal and closer to home in a year or two, anyway.
Michigan signed a total of 22 players in the class, including a couple defensive end/outside linebacker types in 4-star Derrick Moore and 3-star Micah Pollard.
Players are listed in order of remaining eligibility. With 90 scholarships allotted, Michigan is currently over its scholarship limit by 5. Meanwhile, 17 seniors are scheduled to graduate, so the 2023 class should have at least 17 players.
TOTAL SCHOLARSHIPS ALLOTTED FOR 2022 = 90
Re-added TE Joel Honigford, who is returning for a 6th year.
Re-added P Brad Robbins, who is returning for a 6th year.
Removed CB Vincent Gray, who is entering the NFL Draft.
Removed S Daxton Hill, who is entering the NFL Draft.
Removed QB Dan Villari, who is transferring to Syracuse.
Removed DT Chris Hinton, who is entering the NFL Draft.
Removed WR Daylen Baldwin, who is entering the NFL Draft.
Removed CB Andre Seldon, who is transferring.
Removed CB George Johnson III, who is transferring.
Removed LB David Ojabo, who is entering the NFL Draft.
Removed LB Anthony Solomon (Arizona) and CB Darion Green-Warren (Nevada), who are transferring.
Added transfer center Olu Oluwatimi from Virginia.
Added 2022 commits Darrius Clemons, Amorion Walker, Derrick Moore, Alex Orji, and Keon Sabb.
Removed 2022 decommits Aaron Alexander and Ethan Burke.
Removed RB Hassan Haskins, who is playing in the Senior Bowl and entering the NFL Draft.
Added 2022 commits Zeke Berry, Ethan Burke, and Andrew Gentry,
Removed OG Nolan Rumler, who is transferring to Kent State.
Removed S Sammy Faustin, who left the team prior to the 2021 season
The greatest NFL player of all time is retiring. The nice thing about Tom Brady is that unlike in other sports, the clear GOAT in football is Brady. Nobody else can lay claim to that spot, not after 7 Super Bowl wins, 10 Super Bowl appearances, and 14 conference championship games.
Not after 84,520 passing yards, which is #1 all time. Not after 7,263 completions, which is #1 all time. Not after 624 passing touchdowns, which is #1 all time.
Not after switching teams late in his career and winning the Super Bowl in year one for a previously struggling franchise, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Here are the quarterbacks taken in the 2000 NFL Draft, along with Brady, and their final year in the NFL:
Marshall's Chad Pennington to the Jets (Rd. 1, #18 overall): 2010
Hofstra's Giovanni Carmazzi to the 49ers (Rd. 3, #65): 2001
Louisville's Chris Redman to the Ravens (Rd. 3, #75): 2011
Tennessee's Tee Martin to the Steelers (Rd. 5, #163): 2003
Virginia's Marc Bulger to the Saints (Rd. 6, #168): 2010
Southwest Texas State's Spergon Wynn to the Browns (Rd. 6, #183): 2001
Michigan's Tom Brady to the Patriots (Rd. 6, #199): 2021
Stanford's Todd Husak to the Redskins (Rd. 6, #202): 2000
Florida A&M's Ja'Juan Seider to the Chargers (Rd. 6, #205): 2000
Louisiana Tech's Tim Rattay to the 49ers (Rd. 7, #212): 2007
Notre Dame's Jarious Jackson to the Broncos (Rd. 7, #214): 2003
Georgia Tech's Joe Hamilton to the Buccaneers (Rd. 7, #234): 2004
That shows you just how long Brady outlasted everyone else in his draft. Pennington was a decent QB who had some injury issues, and Bulger had a couple decent seasons with the Rams, but everyone else was a flop. And Brady kept plugging away - no, excelling - for 22 seasons.
Personally, I remember lying on the floor in my living room watching him shred Alabama in the Orange Bowl and being in awe of what was happening. Brady just had that "It" factor where things always seemed like they would turn out okay, and I don't think I felt such confidence in a Michigan quarterback since watching Elvis Grbac as a wee lad.
It's sad to see him step away, but it was fun knowing each and every year that a Michigan man was going to be consistently excellent to watch and root for in the NFL.
The [late] signing period opens up on Wednesday. February's National Signing Day used to mean fireworks, but there won't be many fireworks for Michigan this year, as they signed most of their class back in December.
Here is a list of the uncommitted prospects remaining on Michigan's offer board:
