Name: Semaj Bridgeman
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 225 lbs.
High school: Philadelphia (PA) Imhotep
Position: Linebacker
Class: Freshman
Jersey number: N/A
Last year: Bridgeman was a senior in high school. He made 27 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 1 sack, and 3 recovered fumbles (1 returned for a TD).
TTB Rating: N/A
Bridgeman is a thumping middle linebacker prospect who committed to Michigan just over a year ago, on July 1, 2022. He ended up ranked as a 4-star, the #26 linebacker, and #301 overall in the 247 Composite rankings. In many years we might be talking about him as an early contributor, but with the way things have played out at linebacker, he might be in line for a redshirt.
Bridgeman was not entirely happy when linebackers coach George Helow was replaced by Chris Partridge, and perhaps for good reason. Not only was Helow the guy who recruited Bridgeman, but Partridge has seemed to show in the 2024 class that he likes guys who can run, and Bridgeman doesn't really fit that profile. Though he's not slow, speed and quickness are not his strong suits. Elsewhere on the team, Michigan returns Junior Colson and Michael Barrett - both of whom have a lot of starting experience - and have added Nebraska's Ernest Hausmann, not to mention the up-and-coming Jimmy Rolder, who played quite a bit as a freshman last season. That's a pretty solid group of four linebackers to take most of the snaps this season, so breaking into any kind of meaningful rotation would require a couple of injuries. Bridgeman is probably headed for a redshirt, but 2024 could be a big year with Barrett gone and possibly Colson off to the NFL after his junior year.
Prediction: Redshirt
It's getting late early ;)
ReplyDeleteExactly!
DeleteFor all I know this kid is going to be a future starter at some point but even if somebody like him doesn't have what it takes, they can still benefit substantially from spending a single freshman year at Michigan. Just by watching, learning, getting elite coaching and strength training, and experiencing college football at an elite level they will benefit. Even if they don't play a single down in AA, there is some cachet in being a "University of Michigan linebacker" that a young guy can use to his advantage. In the new transfer-friendly NIL world somebody like this can just turn around and transfer to a Florida or a Nebraska or an MSU with more value (and likely more NIL money) than they had coming out of high school.
ReplyDeleteI would speculate that we'll see a lot more kids using UofM as a stepping stone - not only to the NFL, but for lesser players who might not have that in their future - to leverage for a better opportunity and more NIL earning at the college level.
Think about it from Purdue's perspective -- would you rather have a generic 3-star LB straight out of high school or a generic 3-star LB who got trained up by Michigan for a year after their freshman season?