The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Wednesday, September 23, 2020 — 19

Report: Jalen Mayfield hoping to

opt back in for 2020 season

When Michigan begins its season 

on Oct. 24, it will do so with one of its 
top prospects for the 2021 NFL Draft.

On 
Friday 
afternoon, 
Rivals 

reported that offensive tackle Jalen 
Mayfield was hoping to opt back 
into the 2020 season after originally 
declaring for the draft in August. 
Mayfield seemed to confirm the news 
on Twitter shortly afterward with a 
shoutout to quarterback Joe Milton.

Offensive coordinator Josh Gattis 

also tweeted about the development. 
“Let’s go!!! This season will be special 
for you!!!” the tweet read.

Although Mayfield has expressed 

his desire to return now that the Big 

Ten has reversed course and decided 
to play this fall after all, he and 
receiver Nico Collins will still need 
approval from the NCAA to play. 
According to Albert Breer of Sports 
Illustrated, Mayfield signed with an 
agent after opting out, which would 
normally render a player ineligible. 
Attorney Tom Mars has expressed 
that players like Mayfield would 
likely have a good argument to be 
reinstated given that the Big Ten 
originally said that their decision 
to postpone the fall season would 
not be revisited. According to The 
Athletic, Mayfield is still enrolled in 
online classes for the fall semester, 
which would clear another eligibility 
hurdle.

Mayfield is not the only Big Ten 

player who originally declared for the 

draft who is now hoping to opt back 
in. Minnesota wide receiver Rashod 
Bateman is also hoping to gain 
eligibility. A statement put out by the 
Golden Gophers’ football program 
today indicated that Bateman has 
been allowed to practice with the 
team, but they are still working to get 
him cleared by the NCAA to play.

Before news broke of Mayfield’s 

intention to return, Gattis expressed 
on Twitter that players like Bateman 
and Mayfield should be able to opt 
back in if they so choose.

“Players who opted out to prepare 

for the NFL should all be reinstated 
without penalty regardless of what 
they accepted it’s not a competitive 
advantage,” 
the 
tweet 
read. 

“However these agents offering these 
young men money to leave school in 

the fall show they don’t have a post 
NFL plan for you!”

If the Wolverines can get Mayfield 

back, it will be a boon for a team that 
looked like it would have to break in 
five new offensive linemen this fall. 
Mayfield, who started at right tackle 
in 2019, held his own against Ohio 
State’s Chase Young. He is widely 
considered one of Michigan’s top 
draft prospects and ranked in the top 
50 of CBS Sports’ Big Board. Should 
Mayfield be ruled eligible, his skill 
and experience will help anchor the 
young unit.

It remains to be seen whether 

the other Michigan players who 
have opted out — cornerback Ambry 
Thomas, Collins and running back 
Christian Turner — will choose to 
opt back in.

ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Writer

How Michigan will fill voids

left by departures

When the Michigan football 

team takes the field the weekend 
of Oct. 24, it will do so without a 
handful of key pieces.

Cornerback 
Ambry 
Thomas 

declared for the NFL Draft last 
month, leaving the Wolverines 
without their top cornerback. 
On 
Wednesday, 
mere 
hours 

after news broke of a unanimous 
decision to begin a Big Ten 
football season, Sports Illustrated 
reported that senior wideout Nico 
Collins signed with agent Drew 
Rosenhaus and the Detroit News 
reported that redshirt junior 
quarterback Dylan McCaffrey has 
opted out of the 2020 season and 
intends to transfer.

With three marquee players no 

longer in the fold, The Daily broke 
down how Michigan can fill the 
voids this fall:

Replacing Nico Collins
Perhaps the Wolverines’ most 

dangerous 
offensive 
threat 
a 

season ago, Collins’s decision to 
sign with an NFL agent leaves 
Michigan without its top vertical 
threat. 
Collins 
recorded 
37 

catches for 729 receiving yards 
and seven touchdowns as a junior, 
including 
a 
165-yard, 
three-

touchdown 
outburst 
against 

Indiana in November.

The Wolverines’ wide receivers 

room already took a hit when 
Donovan Peoples-Jones declared 
for the NFL Draft following his 
junior season, and with Collins 
now gone, it appears the team’s 
top returner will be junior slot 
receiver Ronnie Bell. Behind him, 
sophomores Giles Jackson, Mike 
Sainristil and Cornelius Johnson 
showed flashes of potential as 
true freshmen last fall.

Without the 6-foot-4 Collins, 

offensive coordinator Josh Gattis’ 
emphasis on speed will only 
become more important. Jackson 
and Sainristil are two of the 
fastest players on the team, while 
the Wolverines will also welcome 
a pair of four-star burners in A.J. 
Henning and Roman Wilson.

Replacing Ambry Thomas
When 
Thomas 
announced 

he’d be returning for his senior 
season in January, it provided 
some much-needed experience 
for a cornerbacks group that lost 
Lavert Hill to the 2020 NFL Draft. 
Thomas started all 13 games at 
cornerback last year, recording 38 
tackles and three interceptions en 
route to a third team All-Big Ten 
selection.

Without 
Thomas, 
the 

Wolverines’ top cornerback will 
be redshirt sophomore Vincent 
Gray, who appeared in all 13 
games last fall. Candidates to start 
opposite Gray and in the nickel 
include redshirt freshman D.J. 
Turner and true freshman Andre 
Seldon, neither of which have any 
in-game college experience at 
cornerback. Redshirt freshman 
Jalen 
Perry 
and 
redshirt 

sophomore Gemon Green could 
also carve out roles.

In Thomas, the Wolverines also 

lose an explosive kick returner. 
Jackson, who returned a kickoff 
for a touchdown against Maryland 

last fall, figures to handle the 
majority of return duties this fall.

Replacing Dylan McCaffrey
After 
totaling 
242 
passing 

yards, 166 rushing yards and 
five total touchdowns across 13 
career appearances, McCaffrey 
will finish out his remaining two 
years of eligibility elsewhere. 

By all accounts, McCaffrey’s 

decision to opt out and transfer 
is an indicator that the starting 
quarterback 
job 
belongs 
to 

redshirt sophomore Joe Milton. 
With Milton and his cannon of 
an arm under center, Michigan’s 
offense 
unlocks 
another 

dimension of verticality. Milton 
showed 
flashes 
of 
potential 

against Rutgers last September, 
completing three of his four passes 
for 59 yards and a touchdown.

As 
Milton 
slides 
into 
the 

starting role, redshirt freshman 
Cade 
McNamara 
becomes 

the presumptive backup. The 
Wolverines also added three-star 
pro-style quarterback Dan Villari 
to their 2020 recruiting class last 
December.

DANIEL DASH
Daily Sports Editor

ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily

Wide receiver Nico Collins is one of three major departures for the Michigan football team, the others being cornerback Ambry Thomas and quarterback Dylan McCaffrey. 

Casey Phinney flips commitment 
from Michigan to Boston College

On 
Saturday 
morning, 
the 

Michigan 
football 
team’s 
2021 

recruiting class lost its second 
member in as many weeks when 
three-star inside linebacker Casey 
Phinney flipped his commitment to 
Boston College.

Recruited by defensive coordinator 

Don 
Brown, 
the 
Marshfield, 

Mass. native originally committed 
to 
Michigan 
over 
Army, 
Yale, 

Georgetown and Princeton, among 
others, on Apr. 3. Phinney is a high 
school teammate of four-star 2021 
offensive lineman Drew Kendall, one 
of offensive line coach Ed Warinner’s 
top recruiting targets this cycle.

Ranked the No. 1,189 overall 

prospect in the 2021 class, Phinney 
was the Wolverines’ lowest-rated 
linebacker commitment and the 
third-lowest overall player in the 
class, according to the 247Sports 
composite. 
Following 
Phinney’s 

departure, the Wolverines’ 2021 class 
now ranks No. 10 nationally in the 
247Sports team rankings.

With Phinney no longer in the 

fold, Michigan is now left with three 

linebackers in its recruiting class: 
four-stars Junior Colson and Jaydon 
Hood and three-star Tyler McLaurin. 
Whether or not the Wolverines 
pursue a fourth linebacker at this 
point remains to be seen.

Earlier this month, Michigan’s 

recruiting class also lost three-star 
wide receiver Markus Allen. Without 
Phinney, the Wolverines’ 2021 group 
is down to 20 total commitments.

DANIEL DASH
Daily Sports Editor

MICHIGAN
FOOTBALL

2020 SEASON
SCHEDULE

WEEK 1 | OCT. 24
@ MINNESOTA

WEEK 2 | OCT. 31
VS MICH. STATE

WEEK 3 | NOV. 7
@ 
INDIANA

WEEK 
4 
| 
NOV. 
14

VS WISCONSIN

WEEK 
5 
| 
NOV. 
21

@ 
RUTGERS

WEEK 
6 
| 
NOV. 
28

VS PENN STATE

WEEK 7 | DEC. 5
VS MARYLAND

WEEK 8 | DEC. 12
@ OHIO STATE

WEEK 9 | DEC. 19
VS B1G WEST

