The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1242051
Perfect Fit: OG Ben Bredeson — The Baltimore Ravens have adopted a blue-collar, hard-working mentality during head coach John Harbaugh's tenure in the Charm City (since 2008), and no Michigan prospect in this year's draft personified that mantra better than Bredeson. The no-non- sense offensive guard started 46 of the 50 career games he appeared in at Michigan, and showed incredible du- rability by earning the starting assign- ment in every contest but one (missed the 2018 Outback Bowl loss to South Carolina with injury) from Oct. 8, 2016, of his freshman season on. Bredeson took home U-M's Toughest Player Award in 2018, while earning two-time captaincy as a junior and senior (one of only 14 players in Michi- gan history who can lay claim to that feat). John Harbaugh has become quite fond of drafting the athletes his brother, Jim, has produced in Ann Ar- bor, with Bredeson's selection being the third Wolverine the Ravens have chosen since 2016 (defensive linemen Willie Henry in 2016 and Chris Worm- ley in 2017 were the previous two). "I could read the text my dad gave me," John Harbaugh said after taking Bredeson. "I remember it started out with, 'You're going to love this guy.' Jim said the same thing — [he is a] leader by example, no nonsense, all football all the time, really motivated and a very competitive guy. "He's got a photographic memory, too, so he's a really smart guy. They said he's everything you want in a football player and a person. I think that went a long way, and I think those are the kinds of guys [Ravens general manager] Eric DeCosta likes to draft — smart, tough guys who are going to come to the building and be all in, all the time. That's our kind of guy." Biggest Steal: WR Donovan Peo- ples-Jones — Most mock drafts pegged him to be anywhere from a third- to a fifth-round pick, with no major outlets expecting him to still be available in the sixth round. Peoples-Jones posted underwhelm- ing statistics as a junior at Michigan in 2019 (just 34 receptions for 438 yards and six touchdowns), but wowed evaluators during the NFL Combine at Indianapolis in February, when he posted outstanding numbers. He ran a 4.48-second 40-yard dash and re- corded a 44.5-inch vertical jump, the latter of which was the second-best mark for any wideout at the event since 2006 and just 1.5 inches shy of the all-time combine record. Cleveland finally ended the free fall and snatched him up with the eighth pick of the sixth round (No. 187 over- all). ESPN's Matt Bowen called the Browns' selection the best pick of the sixth round, while Vinnie Iyer of Sport- ing News tabbed it as one of the eight best late-round steals of the entire draft. "He is a guy who really has tremen- dous athletic ability, as far as being able to take the ball out of the air and adjust to the badly thrown balls," ESPN NFL Draft analyst Louis Riddick said. "He runs some really nice speed cut routes — the deep overs, the slot fades, where he's making contested catches. He can really contort his body and make some circus-type catches. "Peoples-Jones also has return abil- ity. I just really think all his good foot- ball is ahead of him, because I think the offense at Michigan didn't really feature him — and the quarterback play wasn't good enough. All of it is ahead of him now. Hopefully he can get with the program in Cleveland and they can really highlight his strengths, which is making some of the tough catches down the field." Drafted Higher Than Expected: DE Michael Danna — The Kansas City Chiefs' selection of Danna in the fifth round was arguably the biggest sur- prise surrounding the Michigan pros- pects in the 2020 draft, with most ana- lysts expecting him to go unselected heading into the event. The former Central Michigan Chip- pewa (played there from 2015-18 be- fore transferring to U-M as a graduate student in 2019) didn't even receive an invitation to the NFL Combine, with Danna and linebacker Jordan Glasgow standing as the only two of U-M's 13 draftable prospects who did not head to Indianapolis in February. Both of them would have had an op- portunity to showcase their abilities in front of NFL scouts at the school's pro day March 13, but that was canceled due to the coronavirus. The defensive end did, however, par- ticipate in the postseason East-West Shrine Game for graduating players Michigan Draft Superlatives saw four front-five members drafted. Some confusion and controversy sets in, however, when considering play- ers oftentimes played multiple posi- tions in those years and what their official spot was can be debated. The best example of this surrounds Jim Brieske in the 1948 draft, who was officially tabbed as a center by the school, but also served as the team's placekicker and is often listed as such by other outlets. Regardless, there have only been five other draft classes ever at Michigan outside of 1944, 1948 and 2020 that have seen three offensive linemen come off the board (1993, 1982, 1978, 1957 and 1949). Prior to this year, center Steve Everitt, tackle Doug Skene and guard Joe Cocozzo in 1993 were the most recent Wolverine bunch to complete a trifecta. In the modern era, it's believed only one other program has ever had four offensive linemen selected in a single year (Oklahoma, 2019). ❑ 22 THE WOLVERINE MAY 2020 2020 UNDRAFTED FREE AGENT SIGNINGS CB Lavert Hill, Kansas City Chiefs TE Sean McKeon, Dallas Cowboys Lavert Hill was expected to be selected, but he went undrafted and immediately signed with the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL