Had fun watching Michigan's spring game from Saturday. The Wolverines are coming off back-to-back College Football Playoff appearances and began their spring ball in late February.
Who cares about which team won, right? But just so I put it in here, the Maize team beat the Blue 22-21. For those who care, I thought I'd share some thoughts on guys that caught my eye.
JJ McCarthy? Still good
Michigan's starting quarterback wore a white "no touch" jersey and only played the first half. No reason for him to be out there more than that, of course.
Both defenses got the best of the offenses during the scrimmage. It was an alright showing for McCarthy, who completed seven of his 10 pass attempts for 84 yards and one touchdown. He also threw a really bad interception where his pass sailed way over the head of his target, though I couldn't tell if McCarthy's arm was hit on his follow-through.
McCarthy is a stud, and I really liked this completion of his — a frozen rope from the opposite hash:
Alex Orji is mighty interesting
That's Alex Orji, a 6-foot-3, 235-pound quarterback from Sachse, Texas. Orji was a three-star recruit in the Class of 2022 and he appeared in three games last season as a true freshman. I don't think Orji will win the backup job — that will likely be Indiana transfer Jack Tuttle — but, man, I had fun watching Orji run around during the scrimmage.
Orji is very athletic and brings a different dynamic to the offense when he's taking the snap. He's a powerful runner:
Orji has a ways to go as a passer from what I've read, but on Saturday he went 4-of-6 for 47 yards and one touchdown. Here are a couple of his completions, the latter of which went to tight end AJ Barner (an Indiana transfer) on a common underneath mesh concept that former Husker 'backer Ernest Hausmann got caught in the traffic with:
Speaking of Hausmann
Speaking of Hausmann, he had the most tackles of anyone in the scrimmage with eight — four solos and four assists. He's in a loaded linebacker room at Michigan, so it will be interesting to see how much playing time he gets in the fall. His strip and forced fumble of Tuttle caught my eye:
I think Josaiah Stewart is going to be a problem for Big Ten offenses
Stewart was a nice addition for the Wolverine defense from the transfer portal this offseason. The 6-2, 230-pound junior EDGE comes to Ann Arbor from Coastal Carolina, where he was a 2021 first-team All-Sun Belt selection as a freshman and a 2022 second-team pick. He set the school record for most sacks in a season with 12.5 his freshman year.
On Saturday, Stewart recorded five tackles and two for a loss, including one sack. If it were a real game, his stats would be more impressive.
Here's just one example of Stewart harassing Michigan's offensive line:
This below example was pretty fun too, and gives you an idea of what Michigan will probably do with him at times — drop him into coverage and let him read/react as a robber:
Kenneth Grant will be a big part of Michigan's interior D-line
Grant is a 6-3, 356-pound sophomore interior D-lineman who played in all 14 games as a freshman last year and had eight tackles. Power, power, power with this guy.
Grant, who finished with three tackles in the scrimmage, just bull-rushed right through sophomore left guard Andrew Gentry, a 6-7, 312-pounder, on this rep, and it impacted McCarthy's throw, which was picked off but called back due to a pass interference penalty on the defense:
Derrick Moore is another sophomore EDGE too look out for
I also enjoyed watching the 6-3, 279-pound Moore go against the Wolverine O-line. Moore, who had seven tackles and two for a loss in the scrimmage, is a former four-star recruit in the 2022 class who played in all 14 games last year and made eight tackles and two sacks.
Michigan just has EDGE guys who can play, and it seems they come in bulk. Loved this rep from Moore:
That's all I got, everyone. Hopefully someone found this interesting, even though it's not Husker related. Just had fun watching some spring football.
Who cares about which team won, right? But just so I put it in here, the Maize team beat the Blue 22-21. For those who care, I thought I'd share some thoughts on guys that caught my eye.
JJ McCarthy? Still good
Michigan's starting quarterback wore a white "no touch" jersey and only played the first half. No reason for him to be out there more than that, of course.
Both defenses got the best of the offenses during the scrimmage. It was an alright showing for McCarthy, who completed seven of his 10 pass attempts for 84 yards and one touchdown. He also threw a really bad interception where his pass sailed way over the head of his target, though I couldn't tell if McCarthy's arm was hit on his follow-through.
McCarthy is a stud, and I really liked this completion of his — a frozen rope from the opposite hash:
Alex Orji is mighty interesting
That's Alex Orji, a 6-foot-3, 235-pound quarterback from Sachse, Texas. Orji was a three-star recruit in the Class of 2022 and he appeared in three games last season as a true freshman. I don't think Orji will win the backup job — that will likely be Indiana transfer Jack Tuttle — but, man, I had fun watching Orji run around during the scrimmage.
Orji is very athletic and brings a different dynamic to the offense when he's taking the snap. He's a powerful runner:
Orji has a ways to go as a passer from what I've read, but on Saturday he went 4-of-6 for 47 yards and one touchdown. Here are a couple of his completions, the latter of which went to tight end AJ Barner (an Indiana transfer) on a common underneath mesh concept that former Husker 'backer Ernest Hausmann got caught in the traffic with:
Speaking of Hausmann
Speaking of Hausmann, he had the most tackles of anyone in the scrimmage with eight — four solos and four assists. He's in a loaded linebacker room at Michigan, so it will be interesting to see how much playing time he gets in the fall. His strip and forced fumble of Tuttle caught my eye:
I think Josaiah Stewart is going to be a problem for Big Ten offenses
Stewart was a nice addition for the Wolverine defense from the transfer portal this offseason. The 6-2, 230-pound junior EDGE comes to Ann Arbor from Coastal Carolina, where he was a 2021 first-team All-Sun Belt selection as a freshman and a 2022 second-team pick. He set the school record for most sacks in a season with 12.5 his freshman year.
On Saturday, Stewart recorded five tackles and two for a loss, including one sack. If it were a real game, his stats would be more impressive.
Here's just one example of Stewart harassing Michigan's offensive line:
This below example was pretty fun too, and gives you an idea of what Michigan will probably do with him at times — drop him into coverage and let him read/react as a robber:
Kenneth Grant will be a big part of Michigan's interior D-line
Grant is a 6-3, 356-pound sophomore interior D-lineman who played in all 14 games as a freshman last year and had eight tackles. Power, power, power with this guy.
Grant, who finished with three tackles in the scrimmage, just bull-rushed right through sophomore left guard Andrew Gentry, a 6-7, 312-pounder, on this rep, and it impacted McCarthy's throw, which was picked off but called back due to a pass interference penalty on the defense:
Derrick Moore is another sophomore EDGE too look out for
I also enjoyed watching the 6-3, 279-pound Moore go against the Wolverine O-line. Moore, who had seven tackles and two for a loss in the scrimmage, is a former four-star recruit in the 2022 class who played in all 14 games last year and made eight tackles and two sacks.
Michigan just has EDGE guys who can play, and it seems they come in bulk. Loved this rep from Moore:
That's all I got, everyone. Hopefully someone found this interesting, even though it's not Husker related. Just had fun watching some spring football.
