Week Nine Stock Report: Ranking Michigan Football's Top 25 Players
Michigan is 6-2 (3-2) after a dominating win over Notre Dame in Ann Arbor last weekend. The first half was played in a downpour making passing difficult but Michigan was able to run the ball with ease against the Irish and also dominated the Domers on defense. With eight games in the books, here's WolverineDigest.com's Stock Report based on in-game performance.
Sophomore defensive end Aidan Hutchinson was No. 2 last week but is back up to No. 1 after a solid game agains the Irish and a pedestrian performance out of now No. 3 Nico Collins. It's not that Collins had a bad game but the weather certainly limited the wide receivers. Hutchinson only had a few tackles but he made a tackle for loss and also batted down another ball. He's just been really good all year long.
Another week, another climb for redshirt freshman linebacker Cameron McGrone. He's now at No. 2 after leading the team with 12 tackles and he also pressured he quarterback at least once. He continues to flash the speed and athleticism that has everyone excited to watch him for the rest of the year.
Senior offensive tackle Jon Runyan Jr. is still the highest ranked offensive lineman at No. 7 after stacking several solid games in a row together. He did great job against Yetur Gross-Matos and Shaka Toney during the Penn State game and was even better against Khalid Kareem and Julian Okwara from Notre Dame. The O-line really got it working on the ground against the Irish and Shea Patterson has been kept pretty clean for the most part. It can sometimes be tough to pick out which linemen is performing the best, but Runyan has been as consistent and any of the big boys up front.
In fact, all five linemen are now on the list with Ben Bredeson at No. 12, Jalen Mayfield at No. 22, Michael Onwenu at No. 24 and Cesar Ruiz at No. 25. As the offensive line continues to jell, the offense as a whole should be more and more effective. The Wolverines piled up 303 rushing yards agains the Irish and really seems to have found something over the last six quarters.
Hassan Haskins made the biggest jump of anyone on the roster up to No. 13 from No. 21 after his 20 carry, 149-yard rushing performance against the Irish. In fact, Haskins might be U-M's best back right now, with Zach Charbonnet also playing very well. Charbonnet is the touchdown getter, but Haskins has showed a ton of burst and has really come on over the last couple of games.
Are there any rankings you don't agree with? Does anyone else need to be on the list? Comment below!!!
