With the onslaught of transfer portal entries in college football, it's inevitable that Michigan will face some more departures this off-season. Three players have already announced their intentions to transfer, and one (Cade McNamara to Iowa) has already found a landing spot. Tight ends Erick All and Louis Hansen are both headed for, ahem, greener pastures.
McNamara and All are both somewhat unique cases of players who played a lot but felt slighted in some way, but Hansen is a more typical case of a player buried on the depth chart who wants to see some light at the end of the tunnel. This post explores several players in similar situations who may find greener pastures elsewhere:
DISCLAIMER: This post is speculative in nature and not intended to encourage/discourage any player from leaving Michigan's program. The reality is that college football is now a lot like unrestricted free agency from year to year.
RB TAVIERRE DUNLAP
Why he should stay: Every Michigan starting running back during his tenure has turned in a 1,000+ yard season, but they had to wait three or more years to do it. Hassan Haskins and Blake Corum have both turned in star performances after waiting their turn. Dunlap has done well when given a chance, averaging 6.1 yards per carry.
Why he might leave: Opportunities are limited when you're the third string back or lower, and there's no reason to expect much of a change in scenery for 2023. While Corum is likely headed to the NFL, Donovan Edwards is a bona fide star in the making and freshman C.J. Stokes already has many more carries (55) in one season than Dunlap has in two (16), and walk-on Isaiah Gash (19 carries, 101 yards, 2 touchdowns) even topped Dunlap in touches. When it came to the Big Ten championship game and Ohio State, Michigan decided to use a big back at times . . . but that back was the 6'2", 232 lb. backup linebacker Kalel Mullings instead of Dunlap (6'0", 217).
Hit the jump for more.
WR CRISTIAN DIXON
Why he should stay: There may be departures this off-season from the wide receiver group. Cornelius Johnson and Ronnie Bell are probably headed to the NFL, and those are the top two wideouts. Roman Wilson and Andrel Anthony have combined for just 27 catches this season and have not proven they can be #1 guys, but even if they do step up, there will be a void as complementary pieces.
Why he might leave: Dixon played in just one game in 2022 and has 1 catch for 7 yards in two seasons at Michigan. The wide receiver group suffered some injuries over the past couple seasons to Bell and Wilson, but Dixon was never the next guy in. In fact, he saw freshmen like Amorion Walker and Darrius Clemons shoot past him on the depth chart.
WR A.J. HENNING
Why he should stay: Just like Dixon, there are going to be changes in the wide receiver room in 2023 and chances for other receivers to step up, play more, and produce. Michigan is losing five (5!!!) playable tight ends from the 2022 unit in All, Hansen, Joel Honigford, Luke Schoonmaker, and Carter Selzer; perhaps one effect of having a less experienced tight end group would be to play more slot receivers next season. Henning also seems to have a pretty solid stranglehold on the punt return job (26 returns, 185 yards, 1 touchdown) and led the team in kickoff returns (8 returns, 163 yards).
Why he might leave: Henning had just 10 total offensive touches in 2022, including just 2 (1 rush, 1 catch) after week six. That came after having 19 offensive touches in 2021. His offensive role was cut in half from year two to year three. Also, the kickoff return job mainly belonged to Wilson whenever Wilson was healthy.
OL JEFFREY PERSI
Why he should stay: Michigan won the Joe Moore Award for college football's best offensive line in 2021, and they're one of two finalists in 2022. In other words, the coaching is proving to be outstanding. With left tackle Ryan Hayes moving on to the NFL after this season, there is an open starting spot available.
Why he might leave: Michigan almost has too many quality offensive linemen to keep them all happy. The expectation appears to be that Karsen Barnhart - who has been Michigan's sixth lineman for a couple years - will slide into Hayes's role at left tackle, and a healthy Trente Jones will return to start at right tackle in 2023. Meanwhile, Michigan got a commitment from Arizona State transfer LaDarius Jefferson - who could play guard or tackle - and they like what Giovanni El-Hadi and Andrew Gentry have to offer. Even if guards Zak Zinter and Trevor Keegan both opt for the NFL, Michigan has five starter-quality players in Barnhart, El-Hadi, Henderson, Jones, and center Greg Crippen. (There are also rumors that Michigan is looking at Stanford transfer Myles Hinton as a potential addition on the offensive line.) As a fourth-year player, does Persi want to sit around waiting for an injury or does he want to go somewhere else and potentially start for the next two seasons?
OL REECE ATTEBERRY
Why he should stay: Ditto on what I said about Persi above in regards to the quality of the coaching. Also, Zinter and/or Keegan could be departing for the NFL, which would open up both guard spots.
Why he might leave: There's been no real indication that Atteberry is being groomed to play. He played in eight games in 2021 but just three in 2022. Even when Michigan went through some injury issues with Hayes, Jones, and Keegan, Michigan chose not to throw Atteberry in there. As strictly an interior lineman, he appears to have been passed up by El-Hadi and Crippen, not to mention the incoming Henderson. He seems like a player who probably would have moved into a starting spot for Michigan's offensive lines of the early- to mid-2010s, but now the position group is loaded with talent.
A guy who will be back pretty much for sure is On3 Freshman All American Mason Graham who has decisively proven me wrong and can absolutely be thought of as the next Eddie Vanderdoes. He might be better. While he doesn't have the remarkable quickness and power that Vanderdoes has/had, he is way strong and understands and uses leverage as well or better than anybody I've seen going back to maybe even Alex Karris. Just an awesome D lineman. E.J was right, I was wrong.
ReplyDeleteCan anybody think of a team with three Freshman All Americans in the same season. I don't think that's ever happened before. What a recruiting point. I wish the university would get their ... together and get the NIL thing working as good as the other kids have it going on. It's starting to make me crabby.
Right about The Game tho. I just might ride that thing right up to and beyond insufferable.
Roanman
Delete"who has decisively proven me wrong "
Deletenot the first time you've been wrong, hey sir?
I thought you were pretty high on Graham? My memory may be faulty but I think everyone was feeling pretty optimistic about Graham from the day he committed. He was "underrated" then and the hype continued as he arrived on campus.
DeleteI loved him, I just didn't think it possible that he was as good as Eddie Vanderdoes who I thought to be one of the two or three best high schools linemen I've ever seen.
DeleteI am very seldom wrong, but on those very few occasions where I am, upon evidence, I change my mind and immediately become right ... again.
Makes people nuts.
Sort of fun.
Congrats on your many successes.
DeleteI'd hate to lose Persi. He's just a real nice combination of long and athletic. Showed a little mean streak in the spring game. I would think he could get real mean against guys he doesn't like so much.
ReplyDeleteRoanman
Yep, before Jefferson, I thought Barnhart would be inside, and Persi would be our LT ... I could see NIL tempt him to move on
DeleteThis is the name I found most dubious above. It could happen for the reasons Thunder outlined but Michigan is giving starts to about 8 OL a year. Persi started this year. Next year, we're probably going to lose 3-4 starters so even if you have 1 or 2 backfilling, Persi's prospects are improved.
DeleteWhile he may not have an optimal situation for 2023 (i.e., being handed a full time starting spot) he should be a starter in some form. At a minimum he's in good shape for a Jumbo/extra OL spot. If he's in a rush to get to the NFL than a move could make sense. But there's not a lot places in college football for an OL than Michigan right now and Persi is all the way on track. Sure - he could transfer to a place like ASU and grab a starting job -- but Henderson just made the opposite move - coming to Michigan to compete and win. That should tell us something.
And again, I like Cade McNamara, but his exit interview was about as bonehead as anything I've seen in a while. I can certainly understand being butt hurt about how things went, but shut up, he was golden and would have remained golden around here for the rest of his life. All he had to do was demonstrate a little grace and he could have owned two university communities. Dumb ... and sad.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand the particulars in All's complaint, was he hurt that bad? Not that bad and passed? I'm missing details in his story.
Roanman
THIS ☝🏽
DeleteA piece of advice to any young person reading this: it's rarely of benefit to burn bridges, even if you have no intention of ever going back over that bridge again. There are only downsides, and never upsides to doing it. Doing so creates an impression upon other people, and through that forms an impression of you, which can linger for years. McNamara did a foolish thing by conducting the interview as he did. If he didn't feel he could contain his emotions, he should have declined the interview. As it is now, he has put increased pressure upon himself to do well at Iowa. A reputation of being the type of person that undercuts a team or organization is not easily overcome.
DeleteI watched the interview
DeleteHe did nothing to burn bridges in anything he said. he did NOTHING wrong.
You people starting all these inflammatory straw men about him need to STOP!!!
Hi Roanman,
DeleteCade McNamara did NOTHING wrong in the interview. Your eyes saw things that did not happen. You have a hard bias against McNamara. I saw it all this season. And now, you've exceeded everything I saw up to this point with this MINDLESS AND BOGUS attack on a very good man.
You are a typical rah rah sports fan. You are part of the turn against Cade McNamara echo chamber.
You could have at least shown some concern over his misdiagnosis by the Michigan team doctors.
Yep. This is no different than leaving a job. Sure you can complain and unload all the things you didn't like and made you look elsewhere and get it off your chest. It'll feel good in the moment, maybe. Or you can just thank the people who you worked with for the opportunities and focus on the things that were good. Which one is more likely to help you in the long run?
DeleteThe only difference is that Cade had a chance to have a second home with tens of thousands of people and the rest of us connecting with far fewer people. Cade had a place where people will buy you a drink at least for the next 20-40 years.
It's a mistake. Can be explained by youth. What can't be is the privilege Cade displays. The total lack of appreciation for all that he was handed. Not saying he didn't put the work in but having McCaffrey and Milton transfer away and being paired with an elite run game, OL, and near elite D was all any QB could really ask for. Somehow Cade thinks he got a raw deal when the exact opposite is true.
Being mad about JJ is understandable but the negativity towards the program is not. Not when you spent 4 years there, graduated from there, and acknowledge "the highest of highs" that happened there.
It's a dumb move and Cade comes off poorly for it.
he came off looking bad IN YOUR EYES, and the eyes of anyone predisposed to seeing him that way.
DeleteHe did nothing wrong in the interview
The Michigan fans that turned on him are the ones in the wrong.
Your opinion is that he said nothing wrong, my opinion is that he said nothing right. If he had an ounce of sense, he would have gone out the door doing nothing but blowing smoke up Michigan fannery's ass. "This has been just the best experience of my life, I am eternally grateful to Coach Harbaugh, I'm the football player and man that I am because of him, he's a great coach and a better man. I have a tear in my eye for the whole place, everybody has been so kind, etc, etc, ad nauseam. Any other approach with anybody other than his immediate family is bonehead. this is true for every person on this earth leaving any situation, good, bad or indifferent.
DeleteI left 8 companies over the course of my career. Nobody other than my parents, my wife or my kids ever heard me do anything but gush about how great it was, or how much I learned there. Even if I had to lie like hell.
Cade's interview was dumb and sad, and added absolutely no blessings to his existence.
It was Bonehead.
Anon is right and mcnamANON will not be able to refute the benefits of leaving a situation on good terms. Even if you don't want to lie your A-off you can at least observe the golden rule and just not saying anything at all (e.g., Peters, McCarthy). Even that approach offers value relative to Cade's airing of grievances or tacit endorsement of his buddies criticism of "the other guy".
DeleteThere's no value in Cade making enemies or creating friction in this case. Not to him and not to Michigan. So who benefits? The podcast hosts.
You should have had Darrius Clemons on this list. With how minuscule he saw the field this year I don't see any reason for him to stay.
ReplyDeleteAs for AJ Henning, I still remember Jim Harbaugh talking just before the season about how good he thought AJ Henning is, and that he had to "find a way to get him more involved". Though I don't know where he could transfer to that he would be a feature WR without him falling out of the National spotlight at some small school.
Clemons is probably going to play a lot next year. He played in eleven games this year, but it was mostly on special teams. A lot of times, that special teams experience leads to more involvement.
DeleteHenning may have some work ethic issues. My son sends me IG & Twitter posts from players, and AJ seems to clown on guys who are "try hards"
Deletei had read that Clemons was in the dog house with Jim Harbaugh, and that's why he was given only 1 target all year.
DeleteMaybe, but he still played in 11 games. With this wide receiving crew, the freshmen were never going to get a long look. Freshmen receivers rarely do.
DeleteAndrel Anthony had a huge breakout freshman season in 2021...and he had 12 catches.
DPJ and Collins seem to be doing well in the Pros. Michigan can sell that - as a counterargument to the concern about number of catches you have NFL and team success.
DeleteI think whoever sticks around from the WR corps is going to be in line for a much bigger role with Bell, Johnson, and likely a few others out the door. The TE room is going to dramatically thin out too so that should help things.
Is Michael Barrett coming back?
ReplyDeleteThere are rumors that he will come back, but it hasn't been announced yet.
DeleteMan that would be HUGE. That would address one of the biggest roster questions.
DeleteI don't know if Michael Barrett would make the pros right now
DeleteIt's like he's on the borderline, so close, but the pros are so hard, he might not have the quickness
I saw someone on twitter, a football analyst, say Purdue attacked Michael Barrett, and that's why they had a really big day moving the ball with passing
but it was cool when they went near Will Johnson they paid for it.
Do you see a place for Barrett in the NFL?
Cade clearly forgot his cliches
DeleteWith Miles Hinton commiting, we should expect both Zinter & Keegan gone, and perhaps some younger guys to leave
ReplyDelete