This is a more significant one. Rotation edge Taylor Upshaw, who moonlighted as the Racecar package's rush DT this year, is hitting the portal as well: Michigan edge player Taylor Upshaw is in the transfer portal as a grad transfer. Upshaw had 12 total tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and two sacks this season. Tom VanHaaren (@TomVH) January 3, 2023 Though he didn't generate many stats, Upshaw was the most responsible of Michigan's edges, started two games, and contributed 271 snaps spread out over the lot of them. Though not much of a pass-rusher, Upshaw was solid against the run, trustworthy enough that he rarely got out of his lane, and present for many of the season's highlights. At the start of this season we used the "Taylor Upshaw Line" to mean "Replacement Level." By the end of the season it meant "Guy who makes the game-sealing interception at Ohio State." …unless it meant "Guy who makes the sack to seal a Big Ten champio
While we've been waiting out Harbaughwatch 2023, Michigan's depth chart of German mogul skiing factory workers who create incredible 1980s workout videos just took a 100% hit: Michigan defensive end Julius Welschof is in the transfer portal. Welschof was a 2018 prospect who signed with the Wolverines out of Germany. He played sparingly, but is a 6-foot-6 edge player now in the portal. Tom VanHaaren (@TomVH) January 3, 2023 Welschof, affectionately referred to as "Juice" around these parts, stuck around for five years and tried several roles, ultimately landing on special teams. His largest contributions and the majority of his 300 career snaps were as a depth DT during the middle of 2021. He redshirted in 2018 and everybody got 2020 for free, so he has one year left to play. Recruited as an Anchor prospect, Don Brown tried to turn him into a defensive tackle, and Welschof emerged in early 2020 as a rush specialist at the position. In mid-2021 he passed the walk-on
Portal! NEEDS The portal is a different game than recruiting high schoolers and for a team like Michigan they're generally looking for a few key plug and play pieces, especially since they've historically struggled to get undergrad transfers in. There does seem to be some movement on that front given a number of confirmed undergrad transfer offers, but we'll see how that actually plays out. Michigan does not seem to need anyone at QB, WR, DT, LB, or S at the moment. With the addition of OL LaDarius Henderson I would imagine that Michigan is pretty set there as well if they are able to keep the guards out of the NFL draft with NIL money. That leaves the following spots as ones of interest, ranked in approximate order of need: Cornerback. If DJ Turner and Gemon Green both go to the draft Michigan will be looking for a CB very hard. They will return Will Johnson and Mike Sainristil but they have nobody else who's seen a snap and no seemingly sure thing amongst the othe
Portal! NEEDS The portal is a different game than recruiting high schoolers and for a team like Michigan they're generally looking for a few key plug and play pieces, especially since they've historically struggled to get undergrad transfers in. There does seem to be some movement on that front given a number of confirmed undergrad transfer offers, but we'll see how that actually plays out. Michigan does not seem to need anyone at QB, WR, DT, LB, or S at the moment. With the addition of OL LaDarius Henderson I would imagine that Michigan is pretty set there as well if they are able to keep the guards out of the NFL draft with NIL money. That leaves the following spots as ones of interest, ranked in approximate order of need: Cornerback. If DJ Turner and Gemon Green both go to the draft Michigan will be looking for a CB very hard. They will return Will Johnson and Mike Sainristil but they have nobody else who's seen a snap and no seemingly sure thing amongst the othe