Sports Illustrated rolled out its top 100 college football players in the country rankings this week in four different segments, and six Wolverines made the list.
We covered the first four U-M players that were selected in the 51-100 range earlier this week HERE.
They were:
• Junior quarterback Shea Patterson at No. 80
• Junior cornerback Lavert Hill at No. 78
• Junior viper Khaleke Hudson at No. 62
• Fifth-year senior defensive end Chase Winovich at No. 56
Yesterday, the Nos. 11-30 players came out and today, the top 10 was released.
Here are the Michigan honorees:
No. 25 — Junior Linebacker Devin Bush Jr.
What They Said: "This is the year Michigan’s defense has built toward in two seasons under revered coordinator Don Brown, with a starting lineup that returns nearly everyone from last year’s top-10 unit (as rated by Football Outsiders’ S&P+ metric and many others) and could be made up of entirely juniors and seniors. Bush led the Wolverines in total tackles in 2017, a product of his excellent instincts and speed in pursuit. It’s a critical year for Jim Harbaugh and Brown’s futures in Ann Arbor, and the playmaking abilities of Bush within a front seven that also includes [junior defensive end] Rashan Gary, Chase Winovich and Khaleke Hudson could make the difference in the Big Ten East race."
No. 9 — Junior Defensive End Rashan Gary
What They Said: "The consensus No. 1 recruit three cycles ago would be even higher in these rankings if he wasn’t joined by a once-in-a-decade crop of defensive line talent set to dominate college football this year. (Just imagine if he had committed to Clemson, the other finalist in his recruitment, over the Wolverines.) The 6-foot-5, 281-pound rising junior has the quickness to finish plays that stretch near the numbers just as often as he wreaks havoc in the backfield, and the other studs within Michigan’s defense like linebacker Khaleke Hudson and end Chase Winovich benefit from the attention paid to him. Defensive coordinator Don Brown has to hope that Gary’s two sacks in the regular season finale against Ohio State (followed up by a sack in the Outback Bowl loss to South Carolina) are a sign of what’s to come as Michigan braces for a brutal schedule."
Observations
• Michigan has more players than any other Big Ten school in the top 100. Wisconsin has five and Ohio State has four.
• Michigan tied with Washington for the third-most players on the list. Clemson was No. 1 with nine selections and Alabama was second with seven.
• Only Clemson has more defensive players ranked than Michigan. The Tigers have six compared to Michigan's five.
• Shea Patterson is the No. 10 ranked quarterback and No. 2 quarterback in the Big Ten behind Penn State's Trace McSorley.
• Rashan Gary is listed as the No. 2 defensive tackle (behind Houston's Ed Oliver) and No. 5 defensive lineman.
• Devin Bush Jr. is ranked the No. 5 linebacker and No. 1 in the Big Ten, Chase Winovich is listed as the No. 9 linebacker (despite being a defensive end) and Khaleke Hudson checks in at No. 11. No other school has three linebackers listed in the top 62, Alabama has two. If you count Winovich as a defensive lineman, it puts U-M tied for third with Alabama for defensive linemen in the rankings, trailing Clemson (five) and Ohio State (three).
• Lavert Hill is the No. 8 cornerback and No. 1 in the Big Ten.
• The average pick rankings for each of the four schools that have at least six selections are:
Washington: No. 45.83
Alabama: No. 50.71
Clemson: No. 41.33
Michigan: No. 51.67
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