The Underutilized Wolverines: Rookie Prospects to Watch out For

Harbaugh Savior for Michigan? 

The Michigan Wolverines went through a dark time during the Rich Rodriguez and Brady Hoke coaching eras. With Jim Harbaugh coming home, there was hope and a belief that Michigan would finally be coming back to glory. Harbaugh has brought Michigan back to relevancy and even brought them a game away from possible college football playoff in 2016 and 2018.   

 

Offense Under Harbaugh at Michigan 

Talent has not been a problem under Harbaugh, as 4 out of 5 recruiting classes have been in the top 15 in the nation according to 247 Composite Recruiting Rankings. Even with Harbaugh’s 49-22 record, the offense has not gotten on track. There have been multiple coordinators but with lackluster results. He was thought to be the quarterback whisperer, but the offense has only finished in the top 50 in yards per game once and that was at 50.  Part of the problem is the mixing of pro style and spread concepts for the offense. Talented offensive skill players have been wasted by scheme and also below average quarterback play. 

 

Michigan Players in the NFL 

Under Jim Harbaugh, Michigan has started to have more players drafted in the first few rounds of the draft but this is mostly on the defensive side. Because of the lack of production, many of the skilled players have not been evaluated very high for the NFL.

This can be seen by Donovan People-Jones in 2020. He was drafted but in the 6th round of the NFL draft. This is quite a fall for Jones as coming out of highschool he was a 5 star WR and a top 30 player in the nation. In 2020 he has shown promise for the Browns and could point to the beginning of better production for offensive skill players from Michigan in the future. 

 

Michigan Prospects to look out for 

 

Nick Eubanks

                                                                Daniel Bartel/ Icon Sportswire

Nick Eubanks is a very under the radar tight end that will either be drafted in late rounds or be an undrafted free agent. There has been hype on him for the last couple of years but the stats have not looked that impressive. 

With shaky QB play, Eubanks did not see enough targets come his way.  He is a big, athletic tight end that was used on screens and short passes.  He is very good after the catch and uses his size well, even though he could improve on his blocking. 

He will not be drafted in dynasty rookie drafts but is a name to watch out for during training camp and might be worth an add if you have the room your bench. Tight end is such a hard position after the top 5 guys, so you should always be looking for the next sleeper at the position. 

Chris Evans 

                                                                     Mike Mulholland/Mlive.com

Chris Evans, unlike Eubanks did have some good production early on in his career at Michigan. Evans was a 4-star prospect, rated #9 all-purpose back and showed why he was highly rated his first two years. Evans showed good promise with over 1300 total yards, 11 tds and 5.8 yards per carry in his first two years at Michigan.  The only problem is 25 % of that production came in 3 games against subpar competition.

Evans showed flashes throughout his career when he was able to get into the open field. He shows good  start/stop ability and capability to make people miss. Evans will never be known as power back but he shows surprising power to break arm tackles and get extra yards.

Because of his versatility, Evans is comparable to Chase Edmonds; a good complimentary back that excels coming out of the backfield.  With more teams using multiple running backs, Evans could show great fantasy value with the right situation. 

 Nico Collins

                                                                  Mike Mulholland/Mlive.com

The last prospect is the highest rated and most likely to be the most fantasy relevant right away. Nico Collins was a top 150 player coming out of high school and had offers from Georgia, LSU, and Alabama according to 247.  Nico received little playing time his freshman year but was the top receiver for Michigan the following two years with 75 receptions, 1,361 yards and 13 TDs. Nico opted out in 2020 but in 2019 was top 15 in NCAA with 19.7 avg yards per catch.

Nico’s lack of high-end production was due to poor QB play. Per PFF, Nico only had 56 catch % in 2019 but only 4 of the missed targets were labeled as drops. Nico Collins excels in contested catches; he is able to use his body and balance to make up for the lack of separation created from defensive backs. He needs to work on fine tuning his route running, but has good speed for his size and can run a varied route tree.

Although Nico has good speed, his game is not making defenders miss with short passes. Over 98% of his snaps came on the outside, so he will need to go to a team that has playing time available out wide. Collins immediately can be a possession receiver and a threat down in the redzone on jump balls or back shoulder throws. The best comparison is Allen Robinson in the NFL. 

Both have dealt with horrible QB play but still continue to produce with highly contested catches. Robinson was more refined coming out of college, but Nico with time to become more polished can continue to expand his game.