The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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JUNE / JULY 2022 THE WOLVERINE 45 MICHIGAN FOOTBALL 2021, is U-M's other transfer addition since the conclusion of last regular sea- son. Goode announced his pledge April 22 via his Twitter account, after taking an official visit to Ann Arbor earlier that month. The 6-foot-2, 315-pounder chose Michigan over Vanderbilt and Syracuse, two schools he also visited. He also received interest from Notre Dame and others. The former three-star lineman out of Washington (D.C.) St. John's started his career at Virginia Tech, redshirting in 2018 before playing the past three sea- sons at UCF. He was the No. 605 overall player in his recruiting class, according to the On3 Consensus, and he has two years of eligibility remaining. Goode notched 23 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, 4 forced fumbles (which ranked 12th in the nation) and an inter- ception in 13 games during the 2021 cam- paign. The solidly built tackle's numbers in- creased in each of his three years with the Knights. He recorded 3 solo tackles and 6 assists in 2019, and had 12 solos with 7 assists in 2020. He also added 3 sacks two seasons ago. Goode graded out as the 10th-best de- fender on UCF's team last season (70.4), according to Pro Football Focus. He played in all 13 games with three starts and saw action on a career-high 431 de- fensive snaps. He generated 11 pressures in pass-rush situations. Goode had a prior relationship with Michigan third-year sophomore running back Blake Corum, who's also from the Washington, D.C., area. He was also a high school teammate of Michigan red- shirt sophomore defensive back Quinten Johnson. Now, Goode will help bolster a group of defensive tackles that lost Christopher Hinton, who surprisingly declared for the NFL Draft before going undrafted. Goode could play either nose guard or three-technique. The majority of his snaps came at the latter position last season (246 out of 431, per PFF). Sopho- more Kris Jenkins is the favorite to start there, but first-year position coach Mike Elston is known for rotating along the defensive line, so both should see sig- nificant time. — Clayton Sayfie THREE MICHIGAN PLAYERS CHECK IN ON PFF'S 2023 NFL DRAFT BIG BOARD Michigan has had at least one of its players selected in all 84 NFL Drafts, and the streak will likely continue next sea- son. Several Wolverines are on the 2023 draft radar, with three residing in the top 100 of Pro Football Focus' early 2023 big board. Sophomore running back Blake Corum slotted No. 47, leading the way, followed by graduate center Olusegun Oluwatimi at No. 69 and redshirt sophomore cor- nerback DJ Turner at No. 92. Corum checked in sixth among run- ning backs. For comparison's sake, the sixth running back taken in 2022 went with the second pick in the fourth round, so Corum could find himself in that ter- ritory next year. If Corum hadn't suffered a high-an- kle sprain in Michigan's 2021 campaign, forcing him to miss two games, he likely would've joined Hassan Haskins as a 1,000-yard rusher. Haskins was the 10th player off the board at his position, a late fourth-round pick by the Tennessee Ti- tans. Corum racked up 952 rushing yards and 11 TDs despite missing two contests, and he flashed his big-play ability even at less than 100 percent health by ripping off a 55-yard run against Ohio State and a 67-yard touchdown dash in the Big Ten title game against Iowa. A 2021 Rimington Award finalist, Olu- watimi is projected to be one of the top interior offensive linemen in the 2023 draft. PFF ranked just three centers — Minnesota's John Michael Schmitz, Olu- watimi and Ohio State's Luke Wypler — with U-M's newcomer slotting second in that group and fourth among interior offensive linemen. That could land Olu- watimi in the first round, with four inte- rior offensive linemen having been taken in the opening round in 2022. Turner went from backup in the first half of last season at U-M to the No. 13 cornerback on the board, which is sig- nificant given that more than 30 players at that position were picked in 2022. Turner was Michigan's top coverage player last season, recording two inter- ceptions and posting a team-best 83.3 PFF coverage grade, with 26 receptions, 267 yards and two touchdowns allowed on 59 targets. — Clayton Sayfie Sophomore running back Blake Corum was listed at No. 47 in Pro Football Focus' early 2023 NFL Draft big board. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL