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