Michigan Football, the 2020 Abbreviated COVID Season

[lineygoblue]

Now that we are playing, time to start talking about the actual team again (I know, right?)

Joe Milton has supposedly pulled a 2010 Denard Robinson and by all accounts is way out in front for the starting job. Sounds like he has more drive than Shea Patterson. McCaffrey is rumored to be looking at transferring. Per Michael Spath, Nico Collins is sitting out. That will leave lots of mediocre receivers unless there are some young guys who really step up. I haven't heard whether Mayfield can change his mind, but it seems unlikely.

It sounds like a 7 game season with BCG on December 12. If we get Penn State at home then I could see us going 6-1, with Harbaugh running the table and then getting assraped and humiliated in Columbus again.

I'm interested in seeing the actual schedule.

I do have some curiosity as to how Joe Milton will pan out. My fear is that he will be Devin Gardner 2.0. Great arm, some decent running ability, but bad decision making. If he came from basically the 3rd spot last year and snatched the starting job, then hopefully that means he made real improvement. Now, I guess we'll all see.

Ronnie Bell, Mike Sainristill, and Giles Jackson still give Michigan a decent corps of receivers, even with Tarik Black sitting out. At RB they're looking pretty decent with Charbonet, Haskins and Chris Evans coming back. Not bad. Mayfield's decision to leave hurts on the OL.

The defense should be pretty good, but will look like a bad HS JV team when they go to Columbus, as usual.

Will all of Michigan's home games be played in AA, or will some be transferred to Ford Field? That was the rumor, earlier on.

[Hannibal]

What was the purpose of moving them to Ford Field?

[lineygoblue]

What was the purpose of moving them to Ford Field?

I think the consideration was for when the cold weather hits. Any time from mid to late November on is a horrible time to schedule football in Michigan.

And, .. the conspiracy side of me now sees why Ford Field is not available on a Friday/Saturday in the first week of December for the MHSAA state finals.

[Cody_Russell]

McCaffrey transferring.
Very sad about it. Thought McCaffrey would be a star given his family and high school tape... even thinking McCaffrey could be a 1st round NFL QB one day.
Nope. Oh well. Milton is still pretty exciting and McNamara backs him up.
Hell of a lot more to look forward to than the early Harbaugh years QBs.

If McCaffrey transfers to Purdue, that will be the greatest thing.

[lineygoblue]

McCaffrey transferring.
Very sad about it. Thought McCaffrey would be a star given his family and high school tape... even thinking McCaffrey could be a 1st round NFL QB one day.
Nope. Oh well. Milton is still pretty exciting and McNamara backs him up.
Hell of a lot more to look forward to than the early Harbaugh years QBs.

If McCaffrey transfers to Purdue, that will be the greatest thing.

Yeah, I'm disappointed too. McCaffery has all the tools, and when he came out of HS, all he lacked was some meat on his bones. He has definitely bulked up, and I felt that he handled the job well, in the limited action he got. I felt that he deserved to come in at times when Shea was struggling. But, Harbaugh doesn't believe in removing his QB in the middle of a game, no matter how much he is sucking.

At least its not a repeat of the Henson departure thing. Milton, I believe, will be an excellent QB, and McNamara is pretty much a repeat of McCaffery. Those two, along with McCarthy coming in next year leaves the QB spot in pretty good shape, even with the loss of Dylan.

I just hope Dylan doesn't end up somewhere where he comes back to haunt us. Maybe he'll head out to the Big 12 or Pac 12 where his brother Christian went. There could be a good number of schools wanting him. Depending how the NCAA rules on this Covid thing, he will have at least 2 seasons left, and if I understand this "Covid extra eligibility" thing correctly, he could have as many as 3 seasons available. I doubt he'd use all 3, because he'll opt for the NFL before that, but it could be a factor depending on where he ends up.

[Hannibal]

Ambry Thomas is probably gone too. That would be three key starters (likely All B1G) who would have played a twelve game season, but not an 8 game season. I'll bet that OSU loses zero.

[Whitley]

Ambry Thomas is probably gone too. That would be three key starters (likely All B1G) who would have played a twelve game season, but not an 8 game season. I'll bet that OSU loses zero.

Ambry and Mayfield have already declared for the draft. OSU has lost a couple players already too.

[lineygoblue]

OSU has lost a couple players already too.

Yea, but they've got 4 star guys waiting for their shot on their 3 deep, so the opt outs won't hurt them nearly as much as it does us.

It is, what it is. When we are fighting for recruits with the likes of Boston College and Wake Forest, you get what you get.

[iam416]

1 one of the opt outs opted back in. Wade is still up in the air.

[Mike]

Kwitty Paye opting back in! Would really like to see Ambry and/or Mayfield come back too. I don’t really understand why you wouldn’t if there are games to be played....

[lineygoblue]

Ambry has made an inquiry to Harbaugh as to whether he can return or not. He has signed with an agent, but its unknown if he's accepted any money or benefit from signing with the agent yet. We may be hearing more about this in the next couple weeks. It would obviously be nice to have him back. Haven't heard anything about Mayfield other than he has also signed with an agent.

We'll likely see if McCaffery has any hard feelings soon. If he goes anywhere within the conference, there was hard feelings.

[THE_WIZARD_]

shaddup

[lineygoblue]

Devin Gardner gives his observations on Joe Milton.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/2020/09/17/help-devin-gardner-university-michigan-joe-milton-starting-quarterback-role/3480429001/

[Cody_Russell]

Mayfield returning. Huge!
Starting to get excited about the B10 season...

[lineygoblue]

That's good news for M. We were already losing a lot of good people on that OL, and losing Mayfield made that situation even worse. He's a solid OL, and will likely be a first round NFL pick in the draft.

Also, 24/7 is saying that Nico Collins may be reconsidering his departure. He is said to be close with Mayfield, and would likely come back if Mayfield did.

So, we'll see, I guess.

Michigan needs its experienced veterans back, as many as possible. Michigan does not have the depth that many of its opponents have.