NashvilleBLUE

April 25th, 2024 at 3:49 PM ^

In the swirling currents of collegiate football, he found himself swimming against the tide on the depth chart; realizing he might flounder if he didn't navigate new waters, he decided not to clam up or mullet over any longer. He dove in with a porpoise, he wasn't casting about aimlessly—he knew it was time to skate to a new pond where he could truly make a splash, hoping not to find himself in any more murky situations but to eelectrify his career with a fresh crew.

GoBlueSMB

April 25th, 2024 at 2:02 PM ^

Attrition on the o-line was bound to happen at some point as many of these guys want to see the field.

We have done a great job over the years with transfers coming into our program and being key contributors.  However, can anyone name someone that left transferred out of our football program that actually became a star/big contributor somewhere else?   I mean, we complain when we lose a football player to the transfer portal, but I can't recall the last time that player really made a name for himself after leaving.

ShadowStorm33

April 25th, 2024 at 3:14 PM ^

Hudson (if he would switched to OL here), Filiaga and St. Juste all had chances to start. It's crazy to say re Charbonnet, who is easily the best of those players, but that's what happens when you have Haskins and Corum already on the team (crazy to think we had Haskins, Corum and Charbonnet all on the same team in 2020)...

GoBlueSMB

April 25th, 2024 at 3:06 PM ^

Thank You, I was honestly drawing a blank!  Now, what I would say, is really none of those players were just "amazing" after leaving.  Milton was meh at best for UT and frankly was passed on the depth charge by Cade.   Zach was the headscratcher when he left but with him leaving, we got Corum, Haskins and Edwards.

So, maybe I should restate my questions, has anyone left and been better than who replaced them here at Michigan.  I think clearly, that answer is no, is that fair?

AuJusBlue

April 25th, 2024 at 6:45 PM ^

This is a good point. There are 15 portal-out guys this year, 14 last year, 12 the year before, 22 the year before that. These include guys like Charbonnet, Erick All, RJ Moten (all 4-star transfers to 247, for what's thats worth) and also plenty of high 3 star transfers (A. Anthony, Cade).  Each of these guys probably would have or could have been useful in some role here during this year or some previous year, but I don't look back on 2021 (2022, 2023) and think "If we'd only had Giles Jackson (Chuck Filagia, RJ Moten, Erick All, etc.) there!". Even in the NIL era, I just don't think a larger program with an outlook for a pretty successful season loses the big difference-makers--you cover the top guys, and spendier rivals grab your depth guys or grab folks competing for starting positions.

The concern to me is having a room raided or suffering repeated depth losses. With one experienced corner returning, it's frustrating to lose 3 in one year (Calhoun, Walker, Waller). Even if Jyaire Hill was just gonna outright seize the other spot this year, you'd want more guys to grab the other next year. Even if Morris/Moore/Morgan were clearly the top wideouts this year, you want functional reserves (English, Clemons). The safety room seems fine this year, but losing Moten and Saab in back to back years creates further work down the road. 

On this blog, one idea has been that Michigan tries to exploit recruiting inefficiencies via development/scouting. I wonder how well that synergizes with a "pay based on performance" strategy in an era when other squads can pick off your high potential guys or  guys competing for a position but without previous production to warrant bigger money. I think it places a bigger premium on forecasting (and rewarding) future impact accurately--those high ceiling, high variance guys are yet bigger risks if you have to pay to hold on to them when they aren't ready.

njvictor

April 25th, 2024 at 2:12 PM ^

I know people are on edge, but besides the Waller portal entry, the Beasley and Herring entrances aren't that concerning. Beasley is a true freshman who maybe just wanted to go somewhere else and Herring is a sophomore at a very deep position

lhglrkwg

April 25th, 2024 at 3:51 PM ^

I'd go as far as to say Beasley and Herring aren't concerning at all. I didn't even remember those guys names before today. Wish they could've stayed but as others pointed out, usually when guys have transferred out it becomes apparent they were probably being passed up because very few who have left would've ever started for Michigan

Cdat33

April 25th, 2024 at 2:48 PM ^

Was never that high on Henning. I'm not scout but I watched him play a few times in high school and that entire offensive line got by on being big. This site always points out that olineman are hard to evaluate and clearly he was getting passed on the depth chart. Good luck kid.

massblue

April 25th, 2024 at 2:53 PM ^

I have started to hate this thing.  Some of it was good, but what we have now will hurt college sports, especially football and basketball. 

There is only one fair solution: Renegotiate a lot of contracts to save money, pay players directly through a pool managed by a single entity, and restrict transfers to only one time.

Goblueman

April 25th, 2024 at 2:54 PM ^

2024 UM  Football portall rranking 103..Before the " tow the company line " crowd chimes iin with ttheir coaching change excuse MSU is #16 per 247.

iMBlue2

April 25th, 2024 at 3:33 PM ^

I don’t get freshman transferring like unless you know the other guys are that much better and there’s no way you could develop and overtake the competition.  

MJ14

April 25th, 2024 at 7:25 PM ^

5-10 guys leaving, especially after losing 80% of their coaching staff, is completely normal. I’m actually surprised we haven’t seen two names yet. I mentioned last year both of these guys were potentially looking for new spots and they ended up sticking around. The guys knew there was something special about the roster last year so some stuck around that normally would have left. You’ll still see a few more guys go and it’s for the best for everyone. Some dudes want a chance to contribute at the college level and they will not get that here.