Name: Jaylen Harrell
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 246 lbs.
High school: Tampa (FL) Berkeley
Position: Edge
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #32
Last year: I ranked Harrell #47 and said he would be a backup outside linebacker (LINK). He started four games and made 15 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, and 1 quarterback hurry.
TTB Rating: 84
Harrell may not have had a true breakout season in 2021, but he at least started to crack his shell. Not only did he start for one-third of the season, but he also made some nice plays, including holding the edge against the run pretty well. His starts seemed to be mostly situational, as all four of them were spread across the season, from September 18 against Northern Illinois to December 4 against Iowa in the Big Ten championship game.
One would think that a part-time starter with Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo in the fold would be almost a lock to be a full-time starter with Hutchinson and Ojabo gone, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Word out of camp right now is that if the season were to start today, Harrell would be a backup edge player. While Harrell hasn't really shown next-level pass rush ability yet, David Ojabo had 1 career tackle after two seasons, and we all saw how he turned out. Generally, what we've seen with Harbaugh is that the edge players always seem to be pretty darn good - from Taco Charlton to Chase Winovich to Rashan Gary to Aidan Hutchinson to David Ojabo.
Even if Harrell isn't a full-time starter, he should be a key part of the rotation throughout the season.
Prediction: Part-time starting edge
Edge players at Michigan were good under Greg Mattison, Don Brown, and Oz. It will be seen if Mike Elston can do it too.
ReplyDeleteYou named a defensive line coach, a defensive coordinator, and a defensive analyst. The only common thread is...Jim Harbaugh. Mattison didn't coach up Josh Uche and Kwity Paye, who were the standouts in 2019 and 2020. The defensive line coach in those seasons was Shaun Nua, whom nobody likes around here.
DeleteI thought Josh Uche was 100% Don Brown. I read that Don Brown found him on tape, recruited him, and coached him. Maybe what I read a few years ago was wrong.
DeleteUM assistant coach opinions seem to be very trendy. Sometimes this is sticky even if undeserved (Jedd Fisch) and other times it can flip on a dime (Don Brown). Osborn is the latest meme but he was here for 1 year and got to coach 2 first round talents while Shaun Nua coached the unit that also included Mazi and Hinton. Arguably the best DL since 2017 and restocked the cupboards dramatically during his tenure.
DeleteLike anything it can be hard to pinpoint credit to one guy but Nua can write himself one helluva resume. And not like he's off coaching in some college football hinterlands - dude got a raise to coach at USC.
31 and 36 ranks for 2 of our top 3 returning edges seems very low. I know there's some other options (TJ Guy? Welshof?) and I know there will be rotation but Upshaw and Harrell seem likely to get the bulk of meaningful snaps at one of the most important positions on the field.
ReplyDeleteI keep hearing the Harrell skepticism and am anti-anti-Jaylen. I think he can improve his rushing ability while maintaining his flashes of quality edge play from '21. Upshaw can probably hold onto the starting spot but I would not be surprised if Harrell got the plurality of snaps at WDE.
The edge position is a mess. Maybe not from a performance standpoint, but from a depth chart standpoint. There's talk coming out of practice that about 5 or 6 guys are playing with the first team, including Harrell, Upshaw, McGregor, Welschof, and Morris. I'm inclined to think that if you're talking about 5 or 6 guys who could start, none of them is that far above another.
DeleteI think Harrell gets used in much the same way as last year. Upshaw is behind him. Morris slides inside or out, depending on the situation and interior personal, and Welschof advances as McGregor slides back on the depth chart. McGregor was one of the guys I was focused on in the spring game, and while his family may not like it, and how can you blame them, he looked unsure and a bit slow in the spring game. I think Thunder got it right regarding his physical recovery.
DeleteAnother instance where I would really enjoy being wrong.
Delete@Thunder
DeleteI appreciate the logic and combined with relatively low expectations for the group it makes some sense. Here's my counterargument - the "first team" IS 4 or 5 guys. 4 guys started multiple games last year (Hutch, Ojabo, Morris, and Harrell) and 5 (Upshaw) played meaningful snaps against OSU and other key games (not counting Welshoff since he was a DT). Even in a year where 2 are studs, we needed 5 edge guys to be good players. It's a similar logic to why you need 2 or 3 RBs, 2 or 3 TEs, and 3 or 4 WRs - one guy isn't going to play every down. So in the same way that you would often put 2 RBs in the top 20 when there isn't clarity about who will start (e.g., 2020) I think it's correct to put two Edge guys at each of the Edge spots (big and small, strong and weak, whatever you want to call them) and consider them all starters.
DE/Edge is one of the most impactful positions on the field and Michigan's road to another 10 win season is dependent on a couple guys stepping up to at least honorable mention all conference. Maybe we don't know who that is yet but it doesn't change how important it is.
There's a handful of guys who haven't EARNED a top 25 rank based on their play just yet, but Michigan probably needs them to step up to win a conference championship. It's a bit like Donovan Jeter a few years ago where if it doesn't happen for him, it won't happen for the team. I'm not saying Harrell has to be the guy or should be ranked in the top 10 but he's going to have a pretty big role IMO.
Delete@Roanman
I share the concern about McGregor so I kind of doubt there are as many real options as the fall camp rumors maybe letting on. Welshof is more interesting but he'd have to make a leap and anyway he's not a weakside guy.
They have a month of cupcakes to audition everyone and see who rises up but facing Hawaii and co are very different deals than going up against Maryland's experienced OL and potential top pick LT. Maryland and Iowa will be interesting for our Edge group.
It's a concern for this year and next that Michigan doesn't have more high upside rushers in the pipeline.