Blue By Ninety - PFF MAX CHADWICK & MICHIGAN HOOPS

Episode Date: February 22, 2023

PFF College Football Analyst Max Chadwick joins the show to run through some of Michigan Football's highest rated players. Michigan Hoops on a one game win streak.

This is a presentation of Blue by 90. Find us on Twitter at Blue by 90 and shop the merchandise at Blueby90shop.com. This is the University of Michigan. Touchdown, Michigan! That's the beat of Michigan ball! And they're going extra fast. And it goes to the wind!

The three-pointer by Jordan Poole! Down the sideline! Peebles-Jones! Touchdown, Wolverines! All right, welcome back to Blue by 90. I'm Justin, joined by Tanner today. Right now, we are going to talk a little basketball later on, but right now we've got from PFF, Max Chadwick joining us today to talk a little college

football spring practice in Ann Arbor started today. I'm like, I wish it was August. Honestly, I wish, I wish it was real fall practice training camp starting, but we'll settle for spring practice. Get the boys back in pads. I was in the facility today and like they all have. So the equipment guys just like put their uniforms and stuff in their lockers for them. And they all were getting there, getting practice. They're like, shit, we have pants like right away. We're not even just going shells and shorts today. So they are right back in it. But, Max, appreciate you for joining. How are you doing today, man?

I'm doing awesome, guys. I appreciate you guys are having me on. I know Dave Sofaro, who you guys know, Major Blue, one of the most blue guys I've ever met in my entire life. He's a legend. He goes blue wherever he goes. I'll tell you that. He's ultimate blue, man.

It's unbelievable. He's awesome, though. And unbelievable he's awesome though and he you know when he brought you guys up to me i was like hell yeah i would love to go on it and talk some michigan football so i'm excited to talk to you guys awesome man awesome well um yeah give i mean give a little uh background for the people on on what you do at pff and all that yeah so i'm a college football analyst uh at pff right now i'm putting out a lot of different lists, mock drafts. I had a mock draft today where it was like every college football player is eligible.

What would the draft look like? And I put that out. I put Will Johnson, actually, as a top ten pick in that draft. He's a stud. He's a superstar. I love him. But, yeah, I'm a college football analyst for PFF and basically living the dream right now.

And that is like a dream job for me. So I'm kind of just doing as much as I can with it. Max, that just completely stole my thunder. I wanted to talk about Will Johnson. I know you guys had him graded as the highest corner man last year. But that kid, I'm glad to hear you say that because I think he's going to be a top five pick and he's going to continue that run of Detroit DBs. know he had Sauce Gardner he had some other guys in the past that have gone to Michigan and some other schools and he is just he's special he he's unbelievable man you know I

Dave actually pointed him out to me early in the season it was like hey I knew of him as like a top 20 recruit so I like I knew of him um but then Dave was like hey he's balling out right now I checked him out he is insane man he kind of reminds me a lot of like it's a lofty comparison but patrick's for tan a little bit where it's like a bigger corner at six foot two who's gonna lock you down and press man coverage like there's nothing you could do about it like i said highest graded uh man corner in the power 5 91.1 grade two interceptions and man coverage as well. I mean, he was an absolute superstar. I ranked him as the third best corner in the country heading into next year. And for that, as a true sophomore, it's a very good corner group coming back.

True sophomore, already a top three corner. I think he's – in that mock draft, I put him as the number one corner in that mock draft just because I think the sky's the limit for that guy. And I really think he's going to be the best corner of the country coming back next season as well. So it's kind of scary that he's got two more years. Yeah. I was going to say he, he is huge. I'll say that I'm six foot three and like,

he comes up to me and he is eye to eye. So he is all of six, six, two plus which, you know, that is, that's really not, it's pretty rare for a cornerback, right? I think that's what sets him apart from a lot of these guys. And then that that's what Michigan has been missing. I think a lot in their secondary previously is when you have a big dude that, and they obviously struggle with this at some points of last season too, but when you have a big receiver, they they've been, you know know having guys just able to go up and get the ball well will johnson's now that guy that they

just go have shadow the the big receiver on the other end and honestly like you guys i mean i hate to bring up this game because i know it's probably a sore point for you guys but that tcu game when he was matched up against quentin johnston i know he had a great game quentin johnston did but when will johnson was on him he was locked down and it wasn Johnston, I know he had a great game, Quentin Johnston did, but when Will Johnston was on him, he was locked down. And it wasn't until, like, they started getting him away from Will Johnston and steaming him away, that's when Johnston really, you know, torched you guys. But Will Johnston, I remember that one pass breakup he had was like, man, that's the number one receiver in the draft

against a true freshman corner in a college football playoff, and a true freshman is manhandling him right now. And that, to to me was like, holy cow, this guy is, is something special. Well, that wasn't something new for him either.

The, the big 10 championship, Charlie Jones for Purdue, who had a hell of a season transfer from Iowa to Purdue was kind of torching Michigan. And then they put will on them and he got, he, the one thing about him too,

is his, his hip fluidity, which is so important for corners to be able to break and stay with receivers. There was one where he ran the route for Charlie Jones to get an interception in the red zone. That was just an unbelievable play. But he seems to step up to the occasion. We didn't hear his name against Ohio State, which is a good thing.

When you're playing against Marvin Harrison Jr., Emeka Ibuka, all those different players, to not hear his name means that he played pretty good for the first time in a number two versus number three game the like highest uh rated uh game in a decade like pretty insane yeah he came on he came on in a big way too down the stretch early on it was getting figured he got burnt in the first game against Colorado State I think I don't know if it's miscommunication or just not knowing what his role was but yeah the kid the kid is a freak and he could tackle too I mean he's he's a total package at corner the one thing I wanted to sorry to interrupt the one thing I wanted to say too about that TCU games he a lot of people don't know he actually did hurt his foot in the second half

and so he went out which is I think why Quentin Johnston all of a sudden went off and you can just, all of a sudden you can tell when he's not on the field and that's nothing against the rest of Michigan secondary. Obviously we love those guys, but I think he is very impactful and I I'm excited and expecting to see him next year is like, all right,

who's the number one receiver no matter where they are in the field he's going to be on that guy there there is not a single player versus player matchup that i cannot wait for this upcoming season then marvin harrison jr slash emeka buka honestly against will johnson like that is the type of tape that you're going to turn on for harrison too like when you turn on the tape and say okay i want to see him go against the best of the best you're going to turn on the tape of Harrison against a true sophomore and Will Johnson like that's how good this guy is and I ranked Harrison and Igbuka as the number one and number two returning receivers in college football obviously Michigan's got their hands

filled with both of them but Will Johnson man I hope they put them shadow either of those two guys hopefully Harrison because I think that that tape is going to be unbelievable. I can't wait to watch that. Max, would you say, and I was going to ask you this, but since we're already kind of talking about it, for me Michigan's one weakness is the corner opposite Will Johnson. And it's a weakness because it's an unknown. They were after the kid from Ole Miss who ended up, unfortunately,

transferring to Ohio State, unfortunately for Michigan fans. Double whammy, right? You don't get him, and he goes to your biggest rival, who their corners kind of stink. So if they can get some help there, that's less than ideal. But is that the one thing that you're looking at with this roster as an unknown, where if they can find a guy, and they've got some guys who are becoming true sophomores

and are coming off injury that are highly promising, but is that the one thing you're looking for in Michigan in 23 if they're going to make that next-level run again and get beyond just making it to the playoffs? It's going to be that second corner? Yeah, that's probably the spot that I was looking at. And we mentioned, you know, you look at Ohio State. It's like, okay, well, Johnson's got one of those two guys.

But, man, you got another guy in Emeka Ibuka. And you know what? Emeka Ibuka plays a lot in the slide, and a lot of the best receivers in college football now play in the slide. Mike Samer still is still a guy I love in that slide. I think he's an phenomenal player. He barely missed the top ten returning corners list for me. It's hard for a slot.

I only had one slot corner in it, and that was Javon Bullard from Georgia. And that's how good you have to be. And I think Mike Samer still is a phenomenal slot corner. I love Rod Moore at safety, too too i think he's a stud he's also like i started but in there again but like i look at rod moore and mikey sanderson super undersized super under recruited and it's like i it's just two guys that you would never expect to be at the top of those lists if you looked at them obviously not mikey sander still because he started out on the other side of the ball but like even him switching

over like you would never expect them to even be in that convert and be in that conversation well yeah will johnson's not surprised you know it's like yeah he's a top 20 recruit yeah you'd be like yeah you should have been a top five recruit um but yeah it's it's still like not surprised like yeah samer still like came over from the offensive side of the ball. Rod Morton, not a very big safety at all. But, yeah, they're balling out in this Michigan defense. But that outside corner spot opposite Will Johnson, for sure. That is definitely one of the few question marks I would say you guys have.

I think it's next season. I want it to be known before anybody hops in the comments. I did not forget about Mike Sanger still. But his role is a little different than the one. I want it to be known before anybody hops in the comments. I did not forget about Mike Sanders still, but his role is a little different than the one that I'm referring to, that other outside corner who's going to be playing more towards the field opposite Will Johnson. So Michigan fans, I know Mike Sanders still is a stud. I've been on that hype train for a minute.

He's a dog. I'm glad to hear that he's kind of on that fringe because he could play himself into maybe a second-day pick with a really really good fifth year oh for sure and something i love about his game and obviously a lot of slot corners need this but he's one of the best at it he's a great coverage guy for sure he is a hard nose run defender he's not like your typical db that's not afraid that's afraid to stick his nose in there like mike samuels still is a guy that i i personally would be afraid of running against. He's one of the best run-defending corners, I think, in the country.

So he's a guy that can do it all. He has some good pass-rushing snaps for you guys this past year too. He's a very versatile corner. Like I said, I think he's a top two- to three-slot corner in the country heading into next year. Well, all right, before we get to some other returners that are on your list, I want to ask you one thing how much does looking cool uh affect your list because i do think will part

of will johnson's game is just looking fresh as fuck honestly it does look fresh as fuck i'm not gonna lie um yeah listen i'm gonna you know sit say, oh, it's all about the numbers and tape for me as a PFF guy. I'd be lying if Kool-Aid McKinstry's name didn't play a little bit of a part in me putting him in the one. He was phenomenal. I think he deserves a number one ranking. But, yeah, I think looking cool is definitely something that Will Johnson has, and it helps him, man. When you watch the tape and you see that guy, you're like, that's PS2. PS2, one of the coolest quarters in the

league that's ps2 right there i think whenever i watch will johnson he's got the look of it for for sure for sure so tanner you got something yeah no i think with will too it's i think it's just it's the eye test he looks like an nfl corner at 19 years old he's the way like when you watch him in warm-ups the way he he flips hips, and it's such a weird thing. My wife always laughs. Last year when they were talking about Aiden Hutchinson at number two to the Lions on draft night, they were talking about hand-fighting and hand-slapping,

and she thought it was the funniest thing ever. So some of the turns we use are hilarious, but the ability for him to be able to kind of stay with the receiver at the turn of a dime and be able to flip his hips in whatever direction he needs to go, he does just look like an NFL corner. And it's that length and it's that athleticism but he's also got the knowledge his dad played at Michigan I mean he he's got he's the total package it's honestly you know I thought he'd be a stud but I didn't think we'd be talking about

him in this light going into his second year yeah that's that's the thing man is like you mentioned the fluidity I'm glad you brought that up because it's like yeah it's that's the thing man is like you mentioned the fluidity i'm glad you brought that up because it's like yeah it's insane for a true sophomore one two it's insane for a 6-2 corner like 6-2 corners usually unless there are superstars like ps2 and and will johnson they're kind of clunky out there sometimes and will johnson is not like that you watch the tape um from like the from the high up angle on the all 22 and you're like oh that's probably like a 5 10 corner with how fluid he's moving then you look up you know how big he is and you're like holy crap this guy's six foot two and he's a true freshman so

yeah i know this is kind of turning to the will johnson show but he deserves it man this guy is a i love we're we're 12 minutes in and we've talked about one guy. I love it. All right, let's flip to the offensive side of the ball for a minute. Who else? I have a feeling there may be a couple guys, at least one guy in the backfield that we're going to talk about here. Yeah, so Blake Corum, dude, he's the man. And I actually was like the biggest Blake Corum supporter, I would say, this past year because I wrote an article saying, you know, he should have won the Heisman Trophy.

And I believe that. I think he should have won the Heisman Trophy. I think if you're saying who's the best player in college football, Blake Corum is the best player in college football. To me, that's what it was. He had a 96.2 grade last year. Highest we've ever given out to a Power 5 player. Now, OK, i've seen that

like circle i know dave and you guys have put that out on on your socials for sure um dave i love dave when he's putting out michigan stuff because i just know it's propaganda but i eat it up anyways um and and uh but i want to like ask you like, okay, when, when he's, when you say he's the highest rated and it comes out as that 96, what, what all goes into that? Like what, what makes him the best running back in college football and the best grade that you guys have ever given? It's interesting because I think there's an argument to be made that, yeah, your offensive line was so ridiculously good and they want their back-to-back Joe Moore award winners for a reason. But at the same time, yeah, your offensive line was so ridiculously good. And they want their back-to-back Joe Moore award winners for a reason.

But at the same time, yeah, they're making holes. But Blake Horner's vision to me is ridiculous, man. You know, it's like this guy is never getting tackled behind the line of scrimmage. And he's terrific at breaking tackles as well. So, listen, I thought he was the best player in the country, you know, in terms of our wins above average metric, which we try to determine the value. He was actually more valuable than all the Heisman finalist quarterbacks. It's shocking for a quarterback, which is usually the most valuable Blake Corham was up there. So I think it's, it's tough when it's like people

are making the argument like, Oh, he's not that great because Donovan Edwards, you know, ran for 200 yards a game whenever he was, when Corham was hurt. It, no, no, no, that just means Donovan Edwards is also a superstar. We don't have to think about this in a different way. The offensive line is terrific. I'm not going to deny that. But Blake Corham I thought was the best player in college football. And, again, I would have given him the stiff-arm trophy. It's the second time in a row I would have given a Michigan guy a stiff-arm trophy.

I thought you guys got stiffed last year when Aidan Hutchinson didn't win it. And I was like, that's the best player in college football. So I told you guys before, I'm a Penn state fan michigan fans have kind of been behind me and i'm like i don't this is weird to me you know defending you guys this and i have to be objective in this job unfortunately and i think quorum and hutchinson both were wrong yeah the the thing is that uh the the thing is that the the offensive line has told me in private and they've said it publicly like blake makes us look really good even when we suck he's like they they literally have said it they're like we go and look at the film and we miss assignments and blake still and this is what haskins did in 2021 as well is they still get positive yardage. Like, I mean, I'll go back to that.

I believe it was in the Indiana game where there's five guys around him and he goes for what should have been a touchdown. And it's like, those are the runs that he had. And I actually, I've said this on the pod before, but like, I thought the TCU game was the first time we really felt like we missed Blake Corum because we missed it like we missed Blake Corum because we missed it. We missed that vision that you were talking about.

He, they had that second linebacker in the three, three, five, and it was Donovan Edwards trying to go a hundred miles an hour headfirst and it wasn't working. And Blake would have, you know, found the hole and he'll find the smallest little hole. And even when the play's blown up, he'll at least get three, four yards. And so that's why, honestly, it's felt like the success for Michigan in 2021 and 2022 was based on Hassan Haskins and Blake Horm both never getting negative rushes because they never played behind the sticks. Yeah, I mean, how many times in that TCU game was it second and 12

or third and 14? Michigan does not operate well when they are behind the sticks. And Blake Corham's biggest asset outside – because he does everything so well. The only thing that I think he might lack, which is crazy to say because as a sophomore I thought he had it, but he put on probably 10 pounds. He doesn't have that breakaway top end speed anymore necessarily. I mean could still take it to the house but there's been some times where he got caught but i think his biggest asset is being able to fall forward three or four yards which is the funniest thing because going into 2022 max all we were saying is michigan fans like how are we

gonna get third and four how are we gonna get third and two we could just give it to ask is you fall forward and that's what Corbin does now. We're so worried. But it's so funny too because he's like – he's so little that he just like dives forward and it's like – I don't know. It's the weirdest thing. It has to be so frustrating for a linebacker or a D lineman because he just like squeezes by you. Yeah, and honestly, man, I mean – and you guys know better than me,

especially being around the program he seems like the best guy in the world like this guy just seems like the best you know i saw you know right after i heard he was doing the thanksgiving drive delivering turkeys i'm like dude you're neat you're a bum knee right now like what are you doing uh he's a he looks like a terrific guy i think it rules that he's returning next year i think that's an awesome uh factor i think he's currently my heisman pick for next year because i thought he got returning next year. I think that's an awesome factor. I think he's currently my Heisman pick for next year because I thought he got robbed this year. But, man, it's a special backfield you guys have next year in Corum and Edwards.

All right. We got to talk about JJ. I thought he obviously had a coming out party in 2022 as a whole, but I thought the second half of the year he really came into his own um you know i think there are a lot of people out there that are still unsure of what the top tier jj mccarthy is is it heisman level is it like above average qb is it average qb what are you saying i don't i think it's close to heisman level the only problem is you guys have two heisman candidates next to him and and quorum and and edwards and it's like we're not anymore probably

with edwards with quorum coming back but like man it's gonna be tough because i think hardball is gonna emphasize the running game once again this year and as he should honestly especially the offensive line i think it's still really good coming back uh jj i like a lot though and i think um some people are a little too harsh on and I think um some people are a little too harsh on him I also think some people are a little too high on him I think he's a very good college quarterback I had him eighth in my top 10 returning quarterbacks in college football he's terrific outside of structure man I saw one Fran Tarkenden actually tweeted about him and I'm not gonna pretend like I watched Fran Tarkenden when I was a kid but I watched the highlights

as a Steelers fan and I'm like okay like, I kind of see a little bit of that, you know, it was like a little bit of a smaller quarterback, just running around back there outside of structure. He's one of the best in the country at five passing touchdowns outside of the original play design that was tied with Drake May and only trailed Caleb Williams and Bryce Young. So like when the play breaks down, JJ McCarthy is one of the best in college football.

It's just, you know, he's got some plays on there we were like man what were you thinking there JJ you know and I think those those definitely helped you know came away in the second half of the season but it even showed up a little bit in that TCU game the two pick sixes come to mind there and I was like man you know you just gotta you gotta be better than that especially when you know Edwards is not having the game, Corum is not there. That's when you need your five-star quarterback in J.J. McCarthy to step up and play like it. And I don't think he's – he hasn't been bad.

Again, he's a top-ten returning quarterback in the country. I just don't think he's the elite of the elite. I think that's a pretty good – that's a pretty good analysis there because I see the TCU game as like almost the nutshell of what jj mccarthy was last year you saw the worst of them and you saw the best of them all at once and you can see like what people see in him that's why he's the five star right is like holy shit he can run he can throw he can do it on on the move all that stuff but then you still see and i think he i give him a little bit of a pass because he's still 19 or he was that you know during that game and so i think

it's you know he was still super inexperienced and that was the biggest michigan game in the past decade plus right so like for a 19 year old for the, the game to be on his shoulders, because of what you said to your Heisman, uh, finalists out your Donovan Edwards, not having the best game. Like I'll give him a little bit of a pass, but I, you know, ultimately at the end of the day, if you want to be the guy, you got to be the guy sometimes as well. I have some thoughts. All right, let's go. Here's the thing about the TCU game. Obviously, you have the two pick sixes. But the thing that is so frustrating, and we have a group chat of all the

Blue By 90 folks, and we go back and forth about this. The game plan was not great. TCU, you don't beat TCU by going straight at them, right? They run a 3-3-5. You think, oh, they're soft. No, no, no. You get out to the edges, and you put them in conflict like Kansas State did. That's how Kansas State beat them.

The moment in the third quarter when they finally let J.J. McCarthy run, that offense opened up. And that's what I think we expected to see. And the fact that he had the two pick sixes, obviously those are bad. We get that. But he had that team. He had the ball with like 40 seconds left. I mean, he had to go 80 yards, and obviously they didn't.

They had the targeting not get called, and it was a fourth down play and all that. But some of the plays that kid made in that game were unbelievable. The ball to Roman Wilson was a tad underthrown, which is why he didn't land in the end zone, but it was still a terrible call. He had a throw to Ronnie Bell. I think Ronnie Bell tried to stretch out to the one, but it was on a deep post that was on the money. And the thing that I don't know if this is you know

super widespread but he hurt his shoulder in the offseason max i'm sure you're probably aware that just we're all college football nerds but for the you know general public he hurt his shoulder in the offseason he didn't play in spring bowl and he didn't throw with his guys until august and and we all know how important those reps are in spring over the summer. So I don't think you're wrong necessarily, but I do think his ceiling is maybe higher just because of the fact that he's coming into this year with a fully healthy off season. He's going to get those 15 practices in spring camp. He's going to have summer and he's going to have fall and he's going to have a

year of experience under his belt as the starter. So I think he is a first round pick ceiling, but he has to get there. I completely agree with that. I think that's a great point is that, you know, like I mentioned, he was hurt before. And it's like not only is he hurt before, which hurts him going into the season, he's a new quarterback. You know, it's not like he's a returning starter for Michigan.

Just to, like, show how rollercoaster he was, it's like, yeah, he threw two pick sixes and any other quarterbacks game, two pick sixes in a playoff game. You're like, yeah, that guy lost the game for them. No, I actually still think James McCarthy had a pretty damn good game against TCU, which is just like, man, you take away those, you know, two to three plays. You're like, what the hell are you looking at? Right.

This guy could be a top quarterback in college football. And I think that Jim Harbaugh, who I think is a terrific quarterback whisperer he's probably gonna you know with a full offseason with JJ as a starter because you gotta remember like Kate McNamara was battling him all last year too so it wasn't like JJ was getting all the first team reps correct I tend to think hey man JJ is a guy that yeah I put eighth in my list he could be a lot higher than that he certainly has a talent to be a lot higher than that and also it i i never thought about this until just now but like let's look at the other quarterbacks that were in the college football playoff it is stetson bennett

who's 28 and it's max duggan who is very you know he's he was was he a senior or fifth year uh he was like he was like a redshirt junior, I think. Redshirt junior? He had another year. Okay. And then you have C.J. Stroud who was, you know, he's in his third year. And so, like, J.J. was still playing really well alongside all of those other QBs who are all way more experienced than him. I mean, let's look at the

average, like the experience of all three of those QBs is, is pretty high, you know? So I, that's where I, I don't want to say give them a pass, but like, I think there's a little bit of wiggle room there when you're, you can't quite put them in the same category as those guys. Now, if, if JJ McCarthy is a junior or a senior and he's making those mistakes in a big game like that, then we'll have some conversations. And honestly, I wouldn't be surprised. I still think you guys are going to be heavily relying on the run game,

so maybe we won't see him fully unlocked. I wouldn't be surprised if, say, Corum and Edwards declare for the draft, which I think is a possibility, even with Edwards being the number two back. I wouldn't be surprised if Harbaugh goes to JJ and goes, hey, man, right now you're maybe a day two pick, maybe early day three because you just didn't do much for this offense. This is your show next year. You're the guy next year in this offense.

I wouldn't be surprised if he's a guy that comes back for the 2024 season. I know it's kind of looking ahead way too far ahead, but maybe if JJ is not a first round pick, like you guys saying he could be, and I think he could be too. Maybe if he's not that, he might say, Hey,

you know what? Now it's my show. Now I could show, Hey, I can lead this team to the promised land. And I don't know, maybe he's a guy that I have to put on my top 10 returning quarterbacks for next season as well.

Yeah. Go ahead, Tanner. I was going to say, I think, you know, Roman Wilson coming back is going to be huge. I was going to say, I think, you know, Roman Wilson coming back is going to be huge. I thought he had a big TCU game. He didn't make many big plays in the Ohio State game, but on that touchdown that JJ threw off his back foot

to Cornelius Johnson, if you've seen the film, Roman's wide open. He burnt that corner off the line. And I think Roman really played extremely well in that TCU game. So I think Roman Wilson as a senior, I think you have some younger guys coming through the program. Darius Clemens was a big time recruit who's coming into his true sophomore year. Tyler Morris is a really good slot guy who was, I think a top 200 recruit. So I think the receiving room might actually be better. Like there were some opportunities that were missed by the receivers and you

have Cornelius Johnson coming back for his fifth year. Like there's a lot of playmakers that I think maybe necessarily didn't step up last year. We had some guys, Andrel Anthony transfers to Oklahoma, but he had some opportunities that he missed to make big plays. So I'm hoping that the offense is going to be better because you have such a dynamic running back room, but you also have potentially a higher ceiling for the receiving group, which is crazy to say because last year everyone thought that was the strength.

They kind of struggled a little bit in 22. Absolutely. There's one guy – it's pretty funny. I put up my – I did my top ten returning tight ends list too, and Michigan fans came at me for no Colston Loveland. And, like, people love that guy. And I was talking to Dave about it, and I'm like, man, I couldn't really put him on the list because he had 200 yards but Dave's like dude this guy is going to

be a freaking stud and everyone that I've talked to I'm sure you guys are going to hopefully tell me too but everyone I've talked to around the Michigan program is like yeah look the stats aren't there yet this guy's going to be a superstar and you know he's the guy that I'm very excited to see next year in the Michigan offense he he definitely i mean he was incredibly raw with with zero experience and he had no idea he was going to play this year whatsoever you know and so i think that like again with the full off season of him and jj getting a connection going like i'm really excited to see that and then to go back to your uh your piece about jj you know he he has made it uh not clear but like he's said some things that he might stay for that senior year and if you look at this 2024 draft class you know you got caleb williams

drake may shidur standards jayden daniels quinn, like it's deep. And so I would not be shocked either, Max, if JJ is back after next season too. In that mock draft I put out where everyone was eligible, the first two picks were Caleb Williams and Drake May. Like that's just like how good those two are. And it's like I would be – Quinn Ewers has the potential. He did not play well this year as a starter for Texas, but he's got the potential to maybe join them. right now i mean it's like those two and everyone

else is kind of the argument right now so yeah i can see that jay should be like i mean it's again this is ridiculous to be talking about the 2025 draft but it was something i did already but there hasn't been there wasn't a true freshman quarterback like caleb williams was in his oklahoma year we were like that's the guy right there like You could tell immediately he was the guy. There really wasn't a true – like, Kate Klubnick I liked. He was still raw. There hasn't been a true freshman quarterback that's impressed me enough to be like, oh, that's the 2025 guy right there,

where I knew Caleb Williams was that guy. You knew Trevor Lawrence was that guy too. So, I don't know. Again, it's way too early for 2025 talk, but J.J. McCarthy could look at that and be like, oh, you know what? I could be the guy then for 2024 or 2025 for that. Yeah. Yeah, Max, and kind of rounding out the offense,

I've got a question for you. I don't know how involved you are in individual analysis and the rating. What was PFF's logic to rank Drake Nugent above Olu Oluwatimi, who won the Outland, who won the Remington, who I understand Olu's not maybe as athletically gifted, so he probably won't be drafted as high in the NFL. But as far as college centers go, for Michigan, the best center that they've had since David Bolk, who won the Remington in 2011. What are your thoughts? And maybe give some

insight into where that ranking came from. Because if he's better than Olu, I'm jumping for joy. So, again, something I always want to emphasize in any podcast I know of is, like, the PFF grades, as much as people think they're the end-all, be-all, they're not the end-all, be-all. That's speaking as a guy who's from PFF. So we have many other stats out there. I think Olu is better than his grade indicated. I thought he was easily one of the best centers in college football. I't know if i would have given him uh the outland trophy i think joe alls the notre dame tackle was phenomenal too um but he look olu was i was fine with it when he won that award but you mentioned drake and eugene i put out you know the top 10 interior line list

he was my number one center and it was like that that. So it's kind of unfair. Again, I'm a Penn State fan. It's unfair when it's like, okay, A-gap, B-gap football. You got Olu blocking for Blake Corham and Donovan Edwards. It's like, all right, Corham and Edwards come back, but at least Olu's gone. And all of a sudden they get the top center in the country in Drake Newton. And both are guarding back too. And add like four pieces for depth on the O-line.

It's going to be another pretty pretty damn good old line in ann arbor it's pretty crazy honestly it's pretty crazy um all right and who else on the defensive side of the ball then uh do you have your eye on i know they've got to replace a decent amount on that d line but chris jenkins coming back i think is a huge piece uh and then i mean junior colson who was a freshman all-american i think is a huge piece uh and then i mean junior colson who was a freshman all-american i think is a big piece as well yeah i was just going to mention chris jenkins he's one of my top 5d tackles coming back he's an awesome run stuffer like an amazing run stuffer uh his 31 run defense stops were tied for the most in the nation among all interior

defensive linemen um he was phenomenal effort in the middle of Michigan's defense this year. So he's a guy I love. To add, sorry, to add to him too. I was told by an NFL agent that if he would have went this year, he would have been first off the board for Michigan, which is like, I, I mean, obviously NIL was a factor, but still it's he, he's come out and said his mom would have killed him if he didn't get his degree, whether that's true or not. I do think he's a mama's boy from talking to him.

Really good kid, but, I mean, for Michigan to get him back there is pretty awesome. He is phenomenal. You mentioned Junior Colson. He's a guy that in my top ten returning linebackers, I hated leaving him off. Like, there were so many great linebackers coming back. Actually, like, that's one guy that in my top ten returning linebackers, I hated leaving him off. Like there were so many great linebackers coming back. Actually, like that's one of the deepest positions I think coming back to college

is linebacker. Leaving him off hurt me. Not only him, I love Michael Barrett, dude. Michael Barrett is a star. He's one of the most underrated players for Michigan. And he was a guy that like with Colson, I don't want to, you know, I don't know how I ranked the top 15, but like they would be in that top 15 and they would probably be near that

top 10. Both of them were like one of my final cuts for this list. So even though I didn't put either of them in my top 10 returning linebackers, that doesn't mean, I don't think Michigan has one of the best linebacking course in the country heading into next year with those two, because I think they do. And Michael Barrett, I mean, Junior Colson gets all the love and deservedly so. Michael Barrett, I think, is a stud that nobody talks about.

He's in the Mike Sainer, still Rod Moore conversation, right, of like undersized, underrated. And he was so important for Michigan to run that defense because Junior is not that guy. He's not outspoken, but Mike and Mike's actually pretty quiet too, but he helped a ton. And then the crazy thing is you didn't have Nikai Hill green all year long, who was a stud with junior in 2021. And then, and you add Ernest Hausman. So add an Ernie to the, to the, and it's like,

my God, the depth at the linebacker position is crazy as well. Yeah, dude, it's unfair. You know, we talked before where it was like, okay, Ohio State loses Stroud. It loses a couple other guys, especially on the O-line. And you guys lose a lot of guys. And I thought you guys were going to lose a lot of guys. And now it's just like, I thought Penn State maybe could steal the Big Ten

next year with a new quarterback and a lot of superstar returning players. But Michigan's roster, top to bottom, man. Like, I put Georgia as the number one team in the country heading into next year. Am I way too early? Top 25? But you can make a serious case that roster-wise, I don't know if there's a better one than Michigan. Like, there's so few question marks on this Michigan team heading into next year. You have to put georgia number one because of the back-to-back champs like you can't put them any lower and the schedule yeah oh my god people talk shit on michigan's schedule but come

on let's talk about sleepwalk to the playoff next year but it's just like when you look at the roster though then it's like man michigan might have them beat roster wise and i think it's like, man, Michigan might have him beat roster-wise. And I think it's close, but I think the gap between Georgia and Michigan is a lot closer than everyone else thinks. Yeah, and they have – we talked about Ernest Houseman, who I think – I don't know if you guys did rankings for the transfer portal, but I know 24-7 had him initially as the number one player in the portal in 2022, and then I think he maybe slid a little bit as guys entered. But I know 24-7 had him initially as the number one player in the portal in 2022. And then I think he maybe slid a little bit as guys entered, but I know 24-7 is extremely high on him.

They also got Josiah Stewart, who I know you guys loved in his true freshman year. He was the guy that I believe is friends with Mike Sander still. They're both from the New England area, and that's kind of how he was initially recruited by Don Brown, decided to go to Coastal Carolina, has a great first couple of years, and now he's coming to Michigan. Do you have any thoughts on him and maybe his plug-and-play ability on the defensive line?

It's funny that you mentioned him because he was a guy that I completely forgot about until right now. And it was like, that's another guy where I'm like, dude, they're loaded. Yeah, he was a guy that I loved. I mean, we put out transfer portal rankings. He was one of our top edge defenders in the transfer portal. And he's just a guy that I think will contribute both as a really good run defender and a really good pass rusher of course the coastal carolina you know going from the sunbelt to the big 10 big

jump but we've seen other guys do it before and i think he's a guy that has the talent to at least contribute in the big 10 will he be as dominant as he was at coastal carolina no of course not but i still think he'll be a really, really good edge defender for you guys and a guy that I could see potentially starting on your defense next year or at least being one of your top edge defenders in rotation. Again, I completely forgot about him until right now, and it's kind of terrifying thinking that they got Josiah Stewart too. I mean, yeah, his pass rushing grade and his pressures were both top 20 among group of five

edge defenders this year. So you look, you have Aiden Hutchinson, David Ojabo, Quiddie Paye. I don't think Josiah Stewart will be near those guys, but I still think he'll be a really, really solid contributor for you guys next year. We haven't even talked about Mason Graham. That's how, that's how deep this, that's how deep this entire team is. We haven't talked about Mason Graham. We haven't talked about Jalen Harrell. I mean, we haven't talked about Derek Moore or Kenneth Grant

who are rising sophomores who are going to be ballplayers. I mean, it's truly astonishing from where this program was in 2020 to where it is now, the complete overhaul and how loaded they are. I think the only question mark that I really have is that corner. Yeah. And I guess we'll see how we do replacing Jake Moody and Brad Robbins at kicker and punter. Otherwise, I'm like, I'm kind of chilling.

I hate you guys right now. And we're talking about the kicker and the punter. Although Moody was his thought when I was talking to the NFL. Yeah, dude, it's funny that, like, we just – we went, what, almost 40 minutes and didn't mention Mason Graham. And I think that guy could be potentially an All-American next year. It's just like you go 40 minutes and usually, like, we went, what, almost 40 minutes and didn't mention Mason Graham. And I think that guy could be potentially an All-American next year. Like that, it's just like you go 40 minutes and usually like you say, oh, you know, a potential All-American is one of the first guys to bring up for a team.

Mason Graham is just another guy in that defense, man. It's just, he's a guy, again, I barely left off my list. Dave actually was pretty mad at me when I left off the content. It's pretty funny. He sent me a video of him, I think, dunking a basketball. And it's like, dude, what the hell is that, man? Like what kind of freak athlete is that? I was with him the other day and he's like, here's the thing.

He's not like fit. He's not trim. If you look at him, you would be like, this is the guy that's dunking a basketball. But I do think he's somehow grown like three inches in the last like three months because I don't remember him being that tall. But he's like six to now. And I don't know. It's it's crazy to me that, like you said, we've we almost forgot about him until almost 40 minutes in here, but I want to end it here with like the, is it crazy to say that like Michigan has the best chance in the next three years of like taking over the big 10, the same way Ohio state had done for the past decade. Dude,

it seems like you guys have, it's dangerous to say this and I don't want to take you guys, but it seems like you have their number right now. And it's kind of insane that we've kind of switched so much. And I don't know, you know, Ryan Day, if he loses again to Michigan, he's going to be tough. And maybe Ohio State pushes from another Big Ten school in Wisconsin, get Luke Fickle back there.

Because I don't know, man. But you mentioned, mentioned like the future and i know we said jason mccarthy could be the quarterback even next year i i mean dude you guys are in the running for jayden davis who's a top quarterback recruit in 2024 as the number one quarterback in 2025 bryce underwood seems to be a michigan lean right now um again it's it's it sounds creepy when we're you know talking about high school sophomores and where they might be going to college. But it's like that's the nature of the game, man. And Michigan is in the running for both those guys.

And it's like, yeah, I mean, of course you guys are going to always be a run-heavy team with Jim Harbaugh. But you guys are going to have J.J. McCarthy maybe for one, at least maybe two years, and then maybe Jaden Davis, and then maybe Bryce Underwood. It's going gonna be tough and especially with Ohio State losing Dylan Rayola who's the number one guy in 2024 who I think is fantastic losing him is tough and I'm looking at it right now like man Michigan has a couple

quarterback recruits that they're not committed yet I'm not saying they're committed to Michigan but right now it seems to be leaning Michigan for both those guys. And, yeah, they could start a little dynasty in the Big Ten a little bit. Hey, man. Max, we appreciate you coming on. Tell the people where they can follow all your stuff at. Yeah, of course. You can follow me, Twitter, chat underscore Max. I do a little bit of TikTok, too, chat underscore Max.

And, of course, pff.com, putting out articles. Offseason, I think it's like three times a week four times a week now i'm aiming for so yeah a lot of cool stuff i got planned uh for the off season but like you guys said before i mean i cannot freaking wait for august man the national championship ended and i was immediately like oh shit you know we got we got some months we got some months ahead of us now and xfl is just not really filling that void like i thought it would. So, yeah, I'm definitely excited to get my heart broken by Penn State when we play for you guys again.

Love it. Love it. Well, yeah, we're going to have – like right now for the next month, we're just like straining for any spring football info and news that comes out. Like who's that freshman that made a sick catch today you know like who's gonna be that guy what what did how how far could jj throw the ball today uh so that's where we're at but hey you know what august and september will be here soon enough and we'll be we'll be talking about it all but hey man we appreciate you coming on uh and uh yeah go follow max and check out all the stuff at pff all right thank you to max chadwick for coming on and talking to us

for probably a little too long about michigan but there are just too many people to talk about we were 40 minutes into it and forgot about mason graham so um good uh good conversation with him though go check him out jack is on with tanner and i now to talk a little hoops uh unfortunately we'll start off on a bad note here the women's team just dropped a home one to ohio state man that's tough 27 turnovers you said yeah that's what the graphic showed on uh on the screen and they had 27 against them last time they played them ohio state just got a really good full court press they run and michigan was just struggling with it man you mean you mean michigan can struggle against ohio state when they get in your face and play extremely aggressive on defense that's crazy i've never heard of that before that is is true. Usually when they press you, you just run right by them.

Yeah. It's a much better outdoor team, Michigan is. Not in hockey, unfortunately. We can talk about that too. That's tough. No. But it gives you an opportunity to make the joke that they finally beat Michigan in a football stadium.

So, like, you know. When you win the football games, it's like you can do whatever you want. You can say whatever you want. It's so true, though. Like, it's literally whatever happens, you just go back to 45-23. Absolutely. Which is – I would get super annoyed when they would do that, but now that the tables have turned, it's like, yeah, it's kind of awesome.

Nothing they can say. Also, I just love you saying they finally beat us in a football game. It had been a while, man. It had been pre-covid 2012 to 2021 never happened i mean it had been since 2019 we're talking pre-covid man i mean that's yeah this is a whole new decade pre-vid bro like i i really i i live in the current decade that we're in i don't know yeah that's yeah yeah if you just if you just go based on 2021 to present and just like make it fit your narrative you can we could just ride that

all day long that's what some fan bases do i mean they you know cut certain time frames and that's fine yeah i agree i do live in the past decade for basketball though. That's true. Shout out to the 2013 team coming to Ann Arbor. Franz Wagner was at the women's game. How about just hey, you have three days off of your NBA schedule and you're going to spend it all in Ann Arbor

in February. He lives in Florida. Solid recruiting pitch. Solid recruiting pitch. Yeah. Like, he could go to Disney. He's like, no, I'm going to Ann Arbor. That's the most magical place on earth, truly.

Yeah, that's true. But Saturday night, I got to give it up to the Maze Rage and everybody in Chrysler. That felt like it was, like, back in the beeline days ofeline days of awesome basketball in Ann Arbor. Dude, yeah, you could hear the crowd going crazy. Even for – got to give props to the Sparty fans that showed up. It almost sounded like a neutral site game. Obviously, Michigan was a little bit louder.

But the energy throughout the game was incredible. Like you said, it was a fun be like, beeline era type game that happened. And they closed it out in the end. Beautiful. Yeah. It felt like those Michigan-Michigan State matchups with, like, you know, Izzo and beeline I thought were some of the best college basketball games I've ever watched.

And they were always, like, top 15 games for like big time, big time movement in the, in the big time conference standings and everything. And so I, it felt like that. And it was just awesome. Saturday night. Can we please have more Saturday night, 8 PM games? I mean, it's like, holy shit. Yeah. Give me, give me Friday and Saturday night games. We talked about it last podcast we were on, man. Let me go to Ann Arbor. Let me get some food, you know, go to some bars, whatever.

Let's do that instead of Wednesday night tip-offs at 9 o'clock. Like, who needs that? Or a Monday 1 p.m. game. Yeah, no, absolutely. Saturday was awesome, man. You know, obviously, I don't know how much we want to talk about the unspeakable tragedy that happened to Michigan State and their campus last week. It really kind of changed my tone and my mood.

I have a lot of Michigan State friends. If anyone sees me on Twitter, we go back and forth, but I appreciate a lot of those guys. And so Saturday, weirdly enough, it was kind of a weird one. I don't know how you guys felt going in, but I was honestly pretty okay with how back and forth the game was. I was glad that it was an extremely competitive game. I was really glad to see the two fan bases come together.

For the most part, I think there was some bickering on Twitter, as there always is. But I just – it was one of those games where I was extremely happy to win it. But, you know, some things are bigger than sports, like not trying to be funny. And, like, it was really cool to see, you know, Michigan do all the things that they did because they didn't have to do it. Right? But it was cool to see.

And then to still be able to kind of have the crowd get fired up and the teams go battle it was like – like maybe even all the sweeter right like of all the pregame festivities i would have been really bummed if michigan state was just like you know and rightfully so if they were just like i'm just not in it man like my heart's not in it and so the fact that that both teams battled their ass off just like made it all the sweeter that mission was able to get the win and just just a great basketball game i mean these guys were just making buckets back and forth. I mean, the first half was like lightning fast, up and down the court, hitting threes, hitting twos, you know, hitting deep jumpers, some crazy dunks. Like, it was an awesome basketball game.

I was so happy to see that after everything that had transpired the week prior. Yeah, I mean, honestly, like, I don't want to – not that I'm playing that Michigan's the victim here at all, but I felt like Michigan was in kind of an awkward situation, right? Like you honor the other team and it's like – it's kind of weird if you win that game, right, I guess a little bit, but it did feel like it was like the best outcome, that it was back and forth in battle. And then obviously as a Michigan fan, you're happy that they won.

But, I mean, ultimately at the end of the day um you know I hope that that game for Michigan State fans was like and Michigan State students specifically was like a little bit of a two-hour escape from everything that they've had to go through for the past week you know I feel like that's what sports are for in my in my opinion you know we all put you know some of us live it more than others that's for sure um but i think it's an escape from from the real world a lot of times so i hope that michigan state fans and students were able to go through that i mean the one thing that i always go back to is like i think a lot of us just kind of have gone on with our lives since last week um but there

are a lot of students in the families of those victims that like, I mean, they're going to go through it forever, right? And so I want to keep those people in our thoughts throughout this and make sure that we do keep supporting even beyond just this one game and everything like that. So I would say keep that in mind when you're on social media and when you're dealing with Michigan State fans. I know that we've had some back and forth even since then

about whatever happened in that game, but I just want to put the rivalry aside for two seconds and let's be people, let's be people let's be human beings um but let's uh let's move on to this uh this basketball team now with what what the heck are they gonna do going forward is it i i don't know are we are they reeling us back in to let us down one more time or or where are we at i think again they're hot one game one game we're on a winning streak kind of fun man uh schedule is coming up so we got at wisconsin nope we got at ruckers wisconsin at home at illinois at indiana i don't have high hopes huge opportunities though you can see it as opportunity or tough schedule

it's both you have to look at it as an opportunity I mean you think you gotta get if you want to get in as an outlaw you gotta get 3 out of 4 and then maybe win 1 or 2 in the Big 10 tournament I think Ruggers

one of their good players, I can't remember his name. One of their guards potentially is going to be out for Thursday, but it's Monday as we're recording this, so a lot can happen in 72 hours when it comes to injuries and all the advancements in technology and medicine that they

have. Who knows what it'll be three days from now. I think the thing that's so i think i think the thing that's so frustrating is you see the potential you see when this team plays together i mean doug mcdaniel on on saturday night was awesome i mean he had what he had like seven points in the first few minutes i mean he had he had a deep two and a three immediately to start the scoring and was like like his shot his i don't know if else notices, but I feel so confident when he puts the ball up now compared to two months

ago, like his shot is almost kind of changed to his form. Looks better. His form looks better. The ball touches the moon and then comes back down. I love it. But like, I mean, I think for Doug McDaniel, I wasn't expecting him to be a shooter at all. I thought honestly, he was more like Frankie Collins,

even though he's small, it's like get to the a shooter at all. I thought, honestly, he was more like Frankie Collins, even though he's small. It's like get to the rack type of guy. But if he can shoot, that changes everything for us. You know, and I thought Michigan, I wouldn't say it was like great basketball Saturday, but it felt like it was smooth basketball. We were getting the ball to everybody. It wasn't just feed Hunter Dickinson a hundred times. It was like we're getting the ball to everybody it wasn't just feed hunter dickinson a hundred times it was like we're moving the ball we're in transition and guess what we're playing defense holy shit what a concept yeah they had they had i think five or six guys getting into

double figures they had a couple guys with you know cheddar had Terrace had eight, and Jace was the only player who played that didn't score. They only went eight deep. They only brought three guys off the bench. I'm not going to trash any college basketball players. I'm just saying this is something that I think needed to happen, unfortunately, because seems like a great kid,

but they needed to shorten the bench, and they needed to make a change in the starting lineup. This is the thing that gives me hope because they didn't really have any possession. I mean, look, you're going to miss shots. You're gonna turn the ball over, but there was no possession that really stuck out where I was like wasted opportunity. Yeah. Right. Like obviously you missed some shots,

maybe take a bad shot, but it was never any glaring, egregious bad decision type of play that sometimes was happening earlier in the season. Or like, what are we doing here? Like, that's what – how many times have you said that this year? Like, it's like, what was the plan there? I don't know what – you know, usually it's like, all right, he made a dumb mistake, but you saw, like, what the possible plan was. There have been too many times this year where it's been like,

I don't even know what they were trying to do.urday it felt like we had a plan and we stuck to it and executed well and so if you know again maybe they're a they're a late season uh program under juwan howard and we can see some things happen here um i wouldn't say i'm like incredibly confident there but you never know you never know there's some opportunity and the crazy thing is i mean the standings in the big 10 are still outrageous we have an opportunity to be like the third or fourth team in the big 10 after almost going 500 in the league it's wild man i do love i mean i feel like hunter i was saying this to uh i think i was seeing it saying it to patty when i was at otf man i felt like as the season

was kind of going on i was getting more and more frustrated with hunter and like watching him play but this past game i feel like i saw some improvements with him getting the ball at the top of the key and he's making, and he's getting to the rim. He's not just backing guys down anymore. He's getting the ball, and he's making a move right away, which is something that I feel like is newer to see with this team right now. I feel like normally you see him catching it down to the post, wait for the double team, and then finally get a ball out.

But to see him just make a move right away, and Cheddar had some nice moves down too in the post. I mean, to see you guys be able to do something in the paint it's it's fucking awesome and it just one gives more room for shooters the one play where hunter was that like the elbow made one spin move and went i was like and went up with his right was right where did that come from i was like but you know honestly here's where i was pretty pumped with michigan is hunter went 5 for 13 from the field that's not a good game but michigan was able to do it in other spots usually when hunter has a bad bad game the team has a bad game and so i was pretty pumped to see everyone else like step up doug included i mean kobe is just an absolute dog. Can we talk about Kobe Buffkin? You stole my thunder. Thank you.

I'm sorry. Go for it. No, no, no, no. I just wanted to bring up Kobe. You know, had 17 second leading scorer for Michigan behind Doug with 18. The shot that he hit was ice cold. He like juggled it. Yeah. You know, continues to remind me of Jordan Poole, just with his ability to be a playmaker, get to the rim, you know, similar build, similar body type, similar play style, in my opinion. And I just think, man, you know, we got a lot of time left this season.

I mean, four games and you've got the Big Ten Tournament. Like there's still – you've got to win a lot of them, but there's still the opportunity, right? But it's hard not to think about a potential backcourt next year with those two. And you bring Llewellyn back as a veteran guard. Like, I think the things that have really frustrated me about Jawan Howard's coaching this season have been some of the minutes, some of the lineups, you know, some of the lack of effort type of things. But even with the losses to Indiana and Wisconsin, I think those things have started to improve and have me excited about the potential for the 2023 season and beyond

just because of how the backcourt's playing and how they have improved. I think one of the things where I was like, man, it just seems very stagnant. No, they have gotten better. So I'll say hand up on that one. I think, you know, it's proven me wrong a little bit. And yeah, I mean, they're spreading the wealth. Right. Like, you know, five guys in double figures, a couple of guys, seven, seven and eight points. Like they played really well on Saturday. It was really fun to watch. And it does give me a glimmer of hope that they can go and snag at least two of the next four.

I think you need to get three. But if they can go 500 on those and then maybe win two or three in the Big Ten tournament, I don't know what Andy Katz is going to say or any of the bracketologist guys. Not real jobs, by the way. I don't know what that's going to look like. But I think they'll at least give themselves a puncher's chance come Selection Sunday. Yeah, I mean, it's crazy that I feel like I was actually talking to somebody today and they were like, I feel like it's been five times now where we've lost a game

and been like, all right, that's it. We're out of the tournament conversation. And then, like, we win one or two, get ourselves back in, and I don't know. I do think Joe Lin lennardi's just putting us on his paper just to like get more clicks from thousands of michigan fans i i think there is conspiracy theories in that but like man i i don't know if if they can make a run man that would be fun to watch i do think it's a little bit putting a Band-Aid on maybe some bigger issues with the program right now.

And honestly, maybe Kobe doesn't need to be playing this well so that he doesn't play himself into a first-round draft pick. He's already getting mocked there, by the way. I saw him at 28 by some sports writer from the Athletic. That was pre-MSU, by the way, too. This is turning out to possibly be like worst case scenario where we have two first round picks and a former preseason all-american still don't make the tournament and they all leave that's tough yeah

i i i don't know and and honestly that's where you start questioning some stuff um but you want to know let's we want to know who we want to talk about moving forward? Terrace Reed. Him and his big ass, according to Justin. Love that ass, dude. Hey, man. That ass is huge. Pause.

But I was listening to – I don't know why, but I was on my phone the last pod we did together, and that was one of the first things I heard was like, you guys can say pause after this, like terrence reed has a huge ass i was like i mean we can't list it immediately on the pod big boy use that body hey man 10 boards eight points uh i thought he played phenomenal was huge in the second half uh he had the and one and he did i think he made that free throw to tie it up or at least bring it within one i can't remember but phenomenal like what is free i i'm sure i could look this up but what's his free throw percentage over the past like 10 games i don't know it feels gotta be 70 since nebraska yeah like since he missed a bunch in a row and then i don't know what happened if he's just been you know shooting

500 free throws at practice or something like that. But, man, he's definitely picked it up. I just see a ton of potential in him, man. He definitely doesn't have the moves and all that quite yet, but you can see how big he is in not being weird. Seriously, he is a large human being with a lot of raw talent in the month of february 71.4 percent from the strong wow beautiful that's incredible wow i mean we'll take that all day long dude from our big guy yeah but dude like you said man he just seems so raw

he's got so much potential he's so athletic he can move well for a big guy like he's gonna be a monster defensively he is a monster yeah like he is uh it's funny i saw we talked about you know michigan michigan state fans on social media but one of the things i did see from a michigan state fan was like like you got to be shitting me that you know there's their backup is is legit too like even whenever hunter leaves like we still got to deal with with this with this guy at the five and um you know know, once he has a full offseason of development, it's always tough to project centers nowadays because the NBA's game is so different than it was when I was kind of growing up. It kind of could be like, oh, well, that guy looks like he's probably like a top ten pick.

Like the dude from Kofi Coburn from Illinois like 15 years ago, top ten pick. Oh, yeah. Right? And so that's where I'm like with Terrace, it's like, does he have the ability to stretch the floor? So he may be a guy like Hunter who's, you know, could potentially be in Ann Arbor for a few years, which would be awesome. But, like, projecting him out, definitely all Big Ten type guy, I think.

I think definitely a double-double average season in him for sure, which is awesome to kind of think about to have you know the big man of the future moving forward um i'm very excited for his development growth what do we think about the twin towers uh lineup keep it keep it i mean it seems like the most efficient weirdly enough it's like one of the most efficient lineups that they've had i mean we tried it it's like i don't know the only thing is like we've tried it for two years now with Musa and Hunter last year. And it's like, it's very spotty.

But I do think, I mean, to your point, as of recent, it's been when they go best. And, you know, just roll with what works. I don't know. I mean, at this point, you're kind of – at this point of the year with the season that they've had, you're kind of like grasping for whatever is working. And you almost don't ask questions like why it works,

but just if it works, run with it. Yeah, I mean, I don't know why it works. I really don't. You would think the spacing would be terrible and they'd get clogged up in the lane, but I don't know why it works. I really don't. You would think the spacing would be terrible and they'd get clogged up in the lane, but I don't know. It's like it's – I really – I would love to see the numbers since they really started playing this rotation more heavily because I have to imagine it'd probably be one of the most –

one of the top two or three most efficient lineups, at least offensively. Defensively, I mean, Terrace is a game changer. Like, I may be getting ahead of myself, but I think Terrace might end up being a better defensive player at Michigan than Moussa was. I mean, we just – Why not? We had a small dosage of Moussa, so –

I know, it's not fair, right? Like, true freshman year and he goes, but – I mean – I mean, he – near and he goes but i mean i mean he in this lit in in terrace's limited time he is very much made an impact on the defensive side of the ball at almost on almost every possession right like i mean you can't go near the rim without him uh impacting the shot, he definitely affects it. So I, I do love that. And you know, the other thing too, like Hunter doesn't have the leg strength to keep a guy out of the post. Terrace just doesn't let anybody back him down. So they're never inside the post. And so I think it's a very

different, uh, it's a very different way that you uh check like you go up against terrace than you would a hunter yeah he roams the paint and uh doesn't let guys back him down and once he starts to learn how to say to fall trouble i think i think we got something here i really do i think he's gonna be uh i think he could be an all bigBig Ten caliber player moving forward. Maybe he's like the spark plug of this last run. He's the glue, man. You know? And Joey Baker. And Joey Baker.

I do love Joey Baker. Got to have a couple guys that can shoot as your glue guys. I mean, Joey Baker is a perfect glue guy. Off the bench, white, shoots threes, doesn't really do much else. But it works. Honestly, though, I'm saying that facetiously. He started to have some really solid takes to the rim recently. Dude, he drives to the rim well.

He's been finishing pretty well. He finishes really well, yeah. He's more than just a shooter. Yeah, and I thought Cheddar – More of a Nick Stauskas type as opposed to – Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. I think Cheddar got abused in the first half defensively, but then it wasn't as glaring in the second half.

I haven't rewatched the game or anything like that, but I thought the moments that he had when he was able to go and get a finger roll layup, I think it was right before a TV timeout, the crowd was fired up. I thought he played really well outside of those first few minutes where Hauser was just taking his lunch money. That's a tough matchup for Will Cheddar. Hauser can go inside and out.

Cheddar is way too raw to be – And he's a crafty veteran, right? I know we joke about that kind of stuff, but there is something something to he's probably played over 100 college games in his career fifth year guy like just knows what to do to get open and to be able to you know make shots like that's sometimes that's that's why you see those upsets happen in march even with those guys that aren't as talented it just put a lot of basketball together you know and sometimes that's what it takes is just that experience level. Yep, absolutely. I also want to say too, from an MSU perspective, like what do you do with Matty Sissoko?

Like just unbelievable athlete. Maybe should have played tight end. I was, yeah. Yeah. Get inside and it's, you know, Gates style. I, I, I just don't know. Like I've watched him over the years and you're just like waiting for him to make that next step and i just don't see it happening and maybe it's

in his fourth or fifth year or whatever but like man they they just don't have that big man that they used to have that is like dominant their guard play is is good though. Tyson Walker is a stud. I think Aikens is sweet. Aikens is nice. Hogard is very good. I mean – I love that Hogard is just like a little chunky dude that can like hoop. Like it just gives me hope, you know. Is he the one who had a nasty yam in that game?

Aikens. No, that was Aikens. Okay. Did you see actually – Somebody said like what was the best play of the of the weekend and one of the options was akins and jet retweeted it and said like akins because it was on jace there's a dunk on jace that's awesome by the way i i really i hope uh jace or sorry i hope jet is good with that ankle that didn't look great

yeah did anything come out from that any news i haven't really heard it real weird on it i've not heard anything on it um but we'll see we'll see so um hey man a lot of opportunity i like you're just i think the same with Matty Sissoko. We've been waiting for this team to, like, put it all together for multiple games in a row, and here's the opportunity. So, tough stretch here, but, like, you got to nut up and go for it if you want it. Yeah, I think you got to win the next two.

Like, I think with Rutgers and some of the injuries they have right now, I know the RAC's a tough place to play, but so are both assembly halls, and that's what you finish with at Illinois at Indiana. But the thing is Michigan hasn't played Illinois this year, so I don't know how they match up. I don't know how much of the Indiana-Illinois game you guys watched. Fantastic basketball game on Saturday. It was just awesome.

You know, I think it was only in the 60s, but it was like every shot was huge. Really fun game to watch. So both of those teams are really strong. They've been tested, so Michigan's going to have their work cut out. But I think if you can win the first two against Rutgers, got to get the one against Wisconsin at home. Should have had it in the Kohl Center, but you can't let that linger. You got to get it at home this Sunday coming up on the 26th.

And then you got to split one of the last two. Got to split them. That Wisconsin game is a super winnable game too. To go back to your Indiana-Illinois, like, dude, college basketball this time of year is just so, so much fun. Oh, my God. The Oklahoma-Texas game was incredible they went to overtime after i thought texas was going to win and then they hit a three for ou and then in overtime i was like it was like 84 77 and then oh you had a chance to take the lead with

you know the last shot it missed and texas won but just awesome basketball right now like you said i mean the michigan michigan state game obviously was an awesome game so this is while you know we're talking about missing football after our conversation with Max and talking through the boys in Shem. Like this is some of the most fun times to be a sports fan is right now. Like from this stretch through like all the way to the finals for the NBA and NHL, like there's so many awesome events. You've got the Masters and like March Madness, obviously.

You just have so much going on. It is a lot of fun. Yeah, absolutely. All right. Well, this is a long one. This is a long one. Sorry for the rambling. If you made it through, I'm proud of you and we appreciate you. If you didn't,

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That was beautiful.