The Michigan Wolverines' football team has six participants in this year's Senior Bowl, in left guard Ben Bredeson, viper Khaleke Hudson, tight end Sean McKeon, safety Josh Metellus, quarterback Shea Patterson and linebacker Josh Uche.
The first day of practices for Saturday's game were yesterday, and one Wolverine in particular made the most headlines — Uche.
Benjamin Solak of TheDraftNetwork.com had the highest praise for Miami native after the first day of action, calling him the best linebacker on the North Team's roster.
"Josh Uche might have been one of the best players on the field for Day 1," Solak wrote. "He dominated tight ends in pass protection drills then hopped over to the offensive line/defensive line one-on-one drills and whopped on a couple of tackles as well.
"He beat UConn’s Matt Peart with speed to power on the right and slipped him with a hesitation outside rush on the left — and Peart didn't lose too many other rushers for the remainder of the day.
"Uche was taking zone drops, covering in man and getting after the passer. He and the flashy player below did everything at a really high level — it was excellent to see.
"Sometimes the versatile players can get lost in the shuffle of practice notes because they don't spend too much time at any one place; that's not the case with Uche. He's shining.
The praise for the former Wolverine didn't end there, however, with Chris Trapasso of CBS Sports also singling him out as one of Day 1's top performers.
"Moving out to the edge, two other hybrids, Wisconsin's Zack Baun and Michigan's Josh Uche, looked perfectly comfortable carrying out the multitude of duties likely in front of them at the NFL level," Trapasso wrote.
"Uche and Baun both consistently won in blitz-pickup drills for running backs then covered well during their unenviable task of trying to stay in front of a back or tight end with no one else involved in the drill. Uche actually had a pass breakup.
"In one-on-ones against offensive tackles, Uche and Baun threatened the corner with speedy outside rushes and the Wisconsin stat-sheet filler demonstrated an awesome swim in to beat a blocker to the inside.
"In an NFL that's going more positionless each season, the versatile Uche and Baun helped themselves on Tuesday. "
The reviews were mixed when it came to Patterson's performance, however.
SportsIllustrated Pittsburgh Steelers writer Donnie Druin singled out Patterson as one of the players who "helped themselves a lot" after Day 1, while Andrew Harbaugh of Coast to Coast Scouting tabbed the signal caller one of five 'winners' from the North squad.
There was also plenty of criticism of Patterson, with Austin Silvey of Evening Sports Page ranking him No. 4 out of the six quarterbacks in attendance.
The harshest criticism, however, came from NFL draft scout Matt Miller, who didn't sugarcoat his assessment of the signal caller.
"I try to find a silver lining about every player, but I have nothing today for Shea Patterson," Miller tweeted. "He struggled with accuracy and had no zip to power through wind when throwing into it. I don’t think he’s draftable."
Highlights/Notable Tweets Involving Wolverines After the First Practice
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