The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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THE WOLVERINE 2022 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ■ 149 dressed in only a single game and never recorded a statistic over his last two seasons. Donovan Jeter DL 37 C Jeter appeared in 37 games with four starts at defensive tackle during his five years at Michigan. He posted 24 tackles (2 for loss), 2 passes defended and 1 blocked kick in 2021. Jaylen Kelly-Powell DB 20 D+ Spent three seasons at Michigan and played in 20 career games, mostly on special teams and as a reserve. He transferred to Akron ahead of the 2020 season and had 62 total tackles, 1 sack, 1 intercep- tion and 1 fumble recovered during the 2021 season. Corey Malone-Hatcher DE 0 DNP Suffered an Achilles injury in high school that never healed correctly, causing him to medically retire from football in July 2017 before ever suiting up for Michigan. Oliver Martin WR 13 D Martin redshirted in his first year in Ann Arbor, and then caught 11 passes for 125 yards and a touchdown in 2018. He transferred to Iowa before the 2019 sea- son, then moved onto Nebraska in 2020-21. Martin played in eight games with three starts in 2021 and caught 9 passes for 147 yards and a touchdown. He returns for a sixth college season in 2022. Ben Mason FB 45 B+ Appeared in 45 games at Michigan with four starts. He spent most of his career at fullback but was also involved in an experiment that had him playing de- fensive tackle in the early part of 2019. Mason was a team captain in 2020 and a fifth-round pick of the Baltimore Ravens in 2021. Dylan McCaffrey QB 13 D Contributed to 13 games in a reserve role for Michi- gan and opted out of the 2020 season, eventually transferring to Northern Colorado to play for his fa- ther. He had 1,333 yards passing, 5 touchdowns and 7 interceptions in 2021. Philip Paea OL 3 F Paea appeared in two games on the offensive line in 2018 before switching over to the defense in 2019- 20, where he appeared in one game. He transferred to Utah State ahead of the 2021 season and had 14 tackles and 2 tackles for loss in 14 games. Kwity Paye DE 38 A Played in 38 games at Michigan with 20 starts and was a two-time second-team All-Big Ten honoree. Paye was voted a team captain for the 2020 season and finished his career with 100 total tackles, 23.5 tackles for loss and 11.5 sacks. The Indianapolis Colts selected him in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft, and he recorded 4 sacks as a rookie. Donovan Peoples-Jones WR 37 B+ Two-time All-Big Ten third-team selection and ap- peared in 37 games (26 starts) at U-M. He had 2,155 all-purpose yards during his time in Ann Arbor with 16 touchdowns, 14 of which were receiving. Peoples- Jones wound up being a sixth-round pick of the Cleve- land Browns in 2020, where he has posted 48 catches for 901 yards and 5 touchdowns in two seasons. Brad Robbins* P 30 A- Robbins was a Ray Guy Award semifinalist in 2021 and will be back in Ann Arbor for a sixth season. He is a two-time All-Big Ten honorable mention pick (2017, '21) and his 46.3 yards per punt average last fall was the second-best in school history. Josh Ross LB 50 B+ The two-time team captain appeared in 50 career games in Ann Arbor and was a third-team All-Big Ten honoree as a senior. He led the defense in 2021 with a team-high 106 tackles (9 for loss), a shared sack, 2 passes defended and 8 quarterback hurries. Signed with Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent. Cesar Ruiz OL 36 A Ruiz was a fixture on the interior of the offensive line. The second team All-Big Ten honoree in 2019 declared early for the NFL Draft and was a first-round pick of the New Orleans Saints in 2020. O'Maury Samuels RB 15 F Samuels carried the ball only 19 times in two seasons in Ann Arbor. Michigan dismissed Samuels in Dec. 2018 after domestic violence charges were brought against him. He resurfaced at New Mexico State in 2021 and had 202 yards rushing and a touch- down with 12 catches for 72 yards. Drew Singleton LB 7 F Singleton played in seven games before transfer- ring after the 2018 season. He spent the last three seasons at Rutgers, playing in 13 games and making nine starts. Aubrey Solomon DL 19 C Spent two seasons at Michigan and played in 18 games. He was expected to slot into the starting lineup in 2019 but transferred to Tennessee and spent the last three years of his college career there. Solo- mon played in four games in 2021 with 8 stops and half a tackle for loss. Benjamin St-Juste DB 12 D+ Played as a freshman in 12 games before redshirt- ing in 2018. There was debate about his health out- look with the program, which led him to transfer to Minnesota. He was an All-Big Ten honorable mention performer in 2019 before Washington selected him in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft. Andrew Stueber OT 34 A- Stueber saved his best for his last season at Michi- gan, earning All-America honors from the American Football Coaches Association and a first-team All-Big Ten nod at tackle. Fought back from torn ACL in 2019 and also played guard. The New England Patriots se- lected him in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL Draft. Kurt Taylor RB 0 F Taylor never saw the field in two seasons at Michi- gan. He transferred to Iowa Central Community Col- lege in 2019 and played a spring football season with Tennessee Tech in 2021. Ambry Thomas DB 39 B+ Thomas played early and fought through colitis to get back on the field. Started all 13 games in 2019 and finished with 38 tackles, 7 passes defended, 3 interceptions and 2 fumble recoveries. Opted out in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thomas would become a third-round pick of the San Francisco 49ers in the 2021 NFL Draft. Luiji Vilain DE 12 D Vilain did not see the field in his first two seasons at Michigan and appeared in 12 games between 2019- 20. He transferred to Wake Forest ahead of the 2021 campaign and had a breakout season, finishing with 34 total tackles, 10 tackles for loss and 9 sacks. J'Marick Woods DB 27 C- Made 27 appearances and one start in three sea- sons and was primarily a special teams contributor. Woods transferred to Duke in 2020 and spent his final two years of eligibility with the Blue Devils. He had 27 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 3 passes defended and 2 quarterback hurries in 10 games last season. Final Grade: C This was supposed to be the class that put a stamp on Harbaugh's rebuild of the program, but it mostly fizzled out. Eighteen players would wind up transferring at some point in their careers. Much of the blue-chip talent at the top of the board was underwhelming or went elsewhere. It played a part in why the Wolverines were stag- nant in 2019 and massively disappointing in 2020. The class had its share of highlights. Peoples- Jones and Collins became being good, NFL-caliber wideouts. Ruiz was the anchor of the offensive line. Thomas, Ross, Hawkins, Paye, Stueber, Ma- son and Robbins all became fixtures as starters in their own right. However, this was rated the fourth-best class in the country and well over half of its members never finished their careers in Ann Arbor. There were many explanations for why the program went backward in the 2019-20 season, and this class was chief among them. Andrew Stueber earned second-team All- America honors as a fifth-year senior. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL Name Pos. Apps. Ind. Grade Name Pos. Apps. Ind. Grade Name Pos. Apps. Ind. Grade