Michigan Tuesday: Talks Dunn

Last week, I did a post on Derrick Green who was the #1 RB and a 5 star recruit who never seemed to find his footing in Ann Arbor.   A similar story is Bri'onte Dunn at Ohio State. 

Let me take you back to the 2012 recruiting class.   Michigan already had a commitment from 5 Star DB Dymonte Thomas from Ohio and had their sights on OH 4 star RB Bri'onte Dunn.   Dymonte and Bri'onte are cousins and had talked about playing together at the next level.    Bri'onte was really torn between playing with his cousin at Michigan or going to his dream school Ohio State.   In November 2011, Urban Meyer considered himself healed and took the Ohio State job.  He quickly convinced Bri'onte to come to C-Bus. 

Dymonte's and Bri'onte's career in college seemed to be on a similar path as both had struggled to see the field.   Dymonte only had 3 starts before his junior year but started to find his role in the Michigan backfield in 2015 and will play a major role this season.   Bri'onte in his entire OSU career had run for a total of 291 yards and 3 touchdowns.   Mostly seeing time at the end of blow out games. 

This season was setting up to a big one for Dunn who was competing for the starting RB role with Detroit native Mike Weber, who was also tied in a recruiting battle between the two rivals.   Mike is coming off a torn meniscus last season.  Last night, Urban Meyer threw Dunn off the team for breaking team rules.   He is a senior and has a couple of weeks to find another team.  He did graduate from OSU in May and can play right away if he finds another school.  

This is another case of what might have been.   Michigan has had a hard time finding a full time running back before DeVeon Smith grabbed it last year.   Could have Bri'onte had different result in Ann Arbor? We will never know.   It will now be interesting to see what happens with Mike Weber who picked Columbus over Ann Arbor on signing day when Michigan signed Florida RB Karan Higdon.  If you remember, the OSU RB coach that convinced him to come to C-Bus took an NFL job the next day. 

• Have you given any thought on how good Michigan's DL could be this year?   It was pretty good last year and the Florida offensive line compared it to Alabama's after the Citrus Bowl.   Now let's add the following:  starter from last season Ryan Glasgow who was a clear difference maker before getting injured, Taco who showed to be quick off the edge to the QB in a limited role last year, Bryan Mone who got injured in camp but was considered one of Michigan's top players before getting injured and the #1 recruit in the nation Rashan Gary.    Jourdan Lewis is already impressed:

“You should see Rashan move,” Lewis said this week. “He’s very, very light on his feet. He and (nose tackle) Bryan Mone, it’s crazy. You should see them on the ladder drills. Oh my goodness, it’s unbelievable. At that size, you can’t teach stuff like that. It’s mind-blowing.”

Mone is listed in the spring roster at 6-foot-4, 320 pounds, while Gary is 6-5 and pushing 300 pounds.  The ladder drill develops footwork and quickness.

“It’s about how clean you are, and they barely touch that ladder,” Lewis said. “They are really fast on the ladder, and it’s really crazy.”