Former Michigan Wolverines football defensive end Michael Danna became the fifth Maize and Blue player to hear his name called in this year's NFL draft, coming off the board at No. 177 overall (fifth round) to the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.
The four U-M prospects who preceded him were center Cesar Ruiz (first round to the New Orleans Saints), linebacker Josh Uche (second round to the New England Patriots), offensive guard Ben Bredeson (fourth round to the Baltimore Ravens) and linebacker Khaleke Hudson (fifth round to the Washington Redskins).
"This year when you watch this defense for Michigan, he didn’t really jump out to me," NFL.com analyst Daniel Jeremiah said on the broadcast. "I wasn’t really all that impressed with what I saw on the fall tape, then I go down to the East-West Shrine Game and he looked like a different player.
"He was dominant during the week of practices there — they used him on the edge, they also let him rush inside over the guard. He’s not tremendously long, but he’s got some real knock-back with his hands.
"He has an outstanding push-pull move — he’ll push you forward, pull you down and get past you to make plays. He helped himself down there at the East-West Game."
Danna's story is a short one at U-M, seeing as how he only spent one season in Ann Arbor (2019) after transferring in from Central Michigan as a fifth-year senior.
The Detroit native appeared in all 13 games in 2019 and made one start along the defensive line, compiling 38 tackles, three stops behind the line of scrimmage, three sacks and a forced fumble.
His best statistical outing in a Wolverine uniform occurred in the Nov. 16 beatdown of Michigan State, when he posted a season-high six tackles, one tackle for loss and one sack.
It's also worth noting he was not one of the Michigan prospects who received an invitation to the NFL combine in in late February/early March.
He did, however, participate in January's East/West Shrine Bowl and put on an impressive performance by playing 30 defensive snaps and chipping in half a sack.
Danna put together an impressive resume during his time with the Chippewas, concluding his career in Mount Pleasant with 151 tackles, 28 stops behind the line of scrimmage and 15 sacks.
The defensive end's best statistical campaign occurred in 2018 as a redshirt junior, when he accumulated 66 tackles, 15 TFLs (tied for fourth most in the MAC) and 9.5 quarterback takedowns (third in the MAC).
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