Eleven Wolverines Named To Pro Football Focus' 2019 All-Big Ten Team
Eleven different Michigan Wolverines football players were named to Pro Football Focus' (PFF) 2019 All-Big Ten team today, including five on offense, five on defense and one on special teams.
U-M's senior offensive guard duo of Mike Onwenu and Ben Bredeson earned the highest praise of the offensive players, with the former checking in as the conference's second-teamer at the spot and the latter as the league's third-teamer (Ohio State fifth-year senior left guard Jonah Jackson was tabbed as the first-teamer).
PFF had been higher on Onwenu throughout the first half of the season, with the publication naming him a midseason All-American in mid-October.
Three different offensive Wolverines also earned honorable mention recognition, including freshman running back Zach Charbonnet, junior receiver Nico Collins and senior tight end Sean McKeon.
Charbonnet rushed for 642 yards and 11 touchdowns as a freshman this year, with the latter statistic setting a new freshman record at Michigan (Mike Hart and Tyrone Wheatley had held the old mark with nine).
Collins, meanwhile, led the team in touchdown receptions with seven, while checking in second in receiving yards with 681.
McKeon hauled in 13 catches for 235 yards on the year, with the 66 yards he compiled last Saturday against OSU standing as the second most he had ever recorded in a game.
Junior safety Brad Hawkins earned the highest praise of the defensive Wolverines, with PFF tabbing him as the conference's first-team flex defender.
"Hawkins was one of the most balanced defenders in the BigTen, with grades hovering around 80.0 in run defense (80.6), tackling (83.9) and coverage (80.3)," they wrote.
"The longest catch he allowed on the season went for only 25 yards, and it was the only catch of 20-plus yards he allowed all year."
Senior linebacker Josh Uche checked in as the league's second-team edge defender after leading the team with 8.5 sacks and checking in second in TFLs with 11.5 (Wisconsin fifth-year senior linebacker Zack Baun was pegged by PFF as the top player at the spot).
Iowa fifth-year senior Michael Ojemudia was named a first-team cornerback, while U-M junior Ambry Thomas and freshman Daxton Hill slotted in as the second and third-teamers, respectively.
Like Onwenu, Thomas had also been selected as a midseason All-American in October.
Senior safety Josh Metellus earned an honorable mention shoutout at safety from PFF after he racked up 63 tackles (tied for third most on the team) and picked off two passes this season.
Michigan's lone special teams representative was freshman kick returner Giles Jackson, who was named the league's third-teamer.
He averaged 24.9 yards on 21 attempts, and took one to the house 97 yards in Michigan's 38-7 win at Maryland on Nov. 2.
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