Quantity, Depth Will Make U-M's NFL Class One Of The Best It Has Ever Seen
Recent prognostications have predicted anywhere from seven to 11 Michigan Wolverines football players being selected in the NFL draft later this month, with 13 being the absolute best case scenario.
Though at least two or three of those 13 are bound to go undrafted, this year's U-M class is still bound to go down as one of the best in school history nonetheless.
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It's not top-heavy like last year's was when both linebacker Devin Bush and defensive end Rashan Gary came off the board within the first 12 picks (Bush went No. 10 to the Pittsburgh Steelers and Gary went No. 12 to the Green Bay Packers), but this 2020 Michigan crop is known more for its quantity than quality.
Dane Brugler of The Athletic (one of the most knowledgable forecasters in the industry) released his annual, 246-page NFL draft preview today, and projected 10 Wolverines to hear their names called come April (left guard Ben Bredeson, cornerback Lavert Hill, linebacker Khaleke Hudson, tight end Sean McKeon, safety Josh Metellus, right guard Mike Onwenu, wideout Donovan Peoples-Jones, center Cesar Ruiz, left tackle Jon Runyan and linebacker Josh Uche).
The three U-M hopefuls he pegged to go undrafted were defensive end Michael Danna, linebacker Jordan Glasgow and quarterback Shea Patterson. Brugler's prognostication was on par (or perhaps slightly more optimistic) with what a few of the industry's other major outlets have been predicting, with both Matt Miller of Bleacher Report and David Howman of Blogging the Boys each projecting nine Wolverines to be selected in their mock drafts last week.
Granted, the NFL draft has undergone plenty of changes and adjustments since its inception in 1936, but it's still worth noting that U-M has seen nine or more of its players go in a single draft just four times in history.
If Michigan does indeed see nine of its athletes selected in two weeks, it will give head coach Jim Harbaugh two of the program's five best draft classes in school history, with the Michigan-record 11-man crop of 2017 being the other.
Twenty-one different Wolverines have heard their names called during the four drafts Harbaugh has been a part of, equating out to an average of 5.2 selections per year. Former coach Brady Hoke (2011-14), on the other hand, only saw 11 players taken from the 2012 draft through the 2015 edition, which comes out to an average of just 2.7 per year.
The numbers were unsurprisingly worse for Rich Rodriguez (2008-10), who only saw seven athletes selected (2.3). Lloyd Carr (1995-07), meanwhile, churned out NFL talent at an impressive rate in Ann Arbor, with 61 of his players being chosen from the 1996 draft through the 2008 edition (4.6 per year).
Though this year's draft class seems destined to fall just short of matching the record 11-man haul of 2017, it's feasible it could tie 1972 and 1974 (10 selections each) for the No. 2 spot on the school's all-time best classes list.
Michigan's Five Best Draft Classes in History:
• 2017 — 11 players taken
• 1972 & 1974 — 10
• 1975 — 9
• 1948 — 8
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