Tag: Brad Hawkins

Which DB has frustrated Michigan WR Ronnie Bell most in fall camp?

It’s not who you’d think. At all. #GoBlue

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — You would expect that Ronnie Bell, Michigan’s best wide receiver yardage-wise the past two seasons, would say that the best defensive back he’s seen in fall camp of his senior year would be someone like cornerback Gemon Green or one of the safeties in former five-star Daxton Hill or mainstay Brad Hawkins. However, that expectation would be wrong.

With five practices now completed en route to the Sept. 4 season opener, it’s George Johnson — the high school quarterback-turned-wide receiver-turned-cornerback-and now maybe-safety — who is turning some heads. “George Johnson still looking — is he corner, is he safety? Still looking,” Harbaugh said at Big Ten media days about his position at the moment. And while he may be up for a few different roles, he has Bell rattled when he finds himself going up against him in practice.

“You never know what you’re gonna get out of George,” Bell said. “George is a very unpredictable and very good DB.

“His technique, how he plays the game, he doesn’t necessarily do it like the rest — he doesn’t play like the rest of them. So it’s either misleading or it’s — he can catch you off-guard because he’s unorthodox.”

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Johnson has been on campus since arriving from Stuart (FL) Martin County in 2019 and now has had three position switches in that time. Apparently, now that he’s finding his footing in the secondary, it’s paying some dividends, his teammates say.

Of those teammates is fifth-year safety Brad Hawkins, who says he’s taken Johnson under his wing since he joined the defensive backs group.

“George is coming along,” Hawkins said. “He’s very aggressive. He’s a great player. He’s a great defensive back. He’s gonna also continue to learn — that’s somebody I took under my wing as an older guy. He’s somebody that’s growing every single day, getting better every single day and he’s going out there competing.”

As a recruit, Johnson was a three-star dual-threat quarterback, listed at 5-foot-11, 180-pounds. He’s now up an inch to 6-foot even and is listed at 186-pounds — down seven from his 2020 listing of 193.

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Michigan veterans give first impressions of early-enrollees in spring ball

What the seniors think of the Michigan football early-enrollees through one week of spring practice.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — One of the most intriguing parts of spring ball every year is who of the early-enrollees will get enough of their college role down to be factors come fall.

Michigan football has brought in several of their key signees from the 2021 recruiting class as mid-year prospects, allowing them to see the field for months before the rest arrive. Given that many are skill position players, it will be interesting to see who can cement their status as potential early contributors once the 2021 season arrives this fall.

Fifth-year safety Brad Hawkins seems to have taken with those offensive skill players after a week-plus of spring practice, noting that two of the receivers and former five-star quarterback J.J. McCarthy have made an early impression on him while they’re playing against him.

“(Andrel) Anthony, receiver — he’s doing a great job,” Hawkins said. “(Cristian) Dixon, doing a great job. (Junior Colson) is doing a great job. They’re all impressive. J.J. (McCarthy) — he’s doing a great job. They’re all doing great jobs. They’re still learning. Offensively, J.J.’s doing a great job, Dixon’s doing a great job, like I said. Anthony’s fast. He can get open.

“So yeah, I’m definitely looking forward to covering those guys, teaching those guys. Just being a leader and being a vet here. They’re doing a great job. I hope they continue to improve and learn from everybody in the building.”

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But, of all of the players that the Wolverines brought into the fold in 2021, there’s one who almost assuredly can see early playing time: five-star running back Donovan Edwards.

Michigan lost three tailbacks from last year, as Zach Charbonnet and Christian Turner opted to transfer while Chris Evans moved on due to graduating. That leaves starter Hassan Haskins and second-year running back Blake Corum as the available returning options. But Edwards has a skill set that all but demands that he sees the field early and often.

After a handful of practices, Haskins agrees that he has what it takes to break into the rotation in just his first year.

“Donovan — yeah, I like him,” Haskins said. “He’s been doing excellent. He’s been running well, he’s been learning plays, offensive plays, stuff like that. He’s been doing everything right. He can play early.”

Michigan started spring ball at the end of February and will continue to install new aspects of scheme on both sides of the ball through March and into April.

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Michigan defender announces 2021 return

The Michigan football safety will return for his fifth year of eligibility.

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Once upon a time, Michigan football received a commitment from a promising four-star wide receiver in 2015 for the 2016 recruiting class. However, he didn’t arrive until 2017 as a defensive back.

The player was Brad Hawkins, who required a prep year, moving from Camden (New Jersey) to Suffield Academy in Connecticut.

Thrust into action in the 2018 season opener when Josh Metellus was ejected for a targeting call, Hawkins has been something of a mainstay on the Wolverines defense since. And he’s not done.

Though he’s played every season since arriving in Ann Arbor, first as a kick returner before getting his turn on defense, with the NCAA counting 2020 as a free year, any player who want an extra year of eligibility can get one. And Hawkins, who has played for four years, is opting back in, announcing he’s returning in 2021 for his fifth year.

Hawkins has appeared in 28 games for Michigan football defensively and has 118 tackles including four for loss. He’s a two-year starter at the safety position.

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5 Michigan football starters appear to be out vs. Penn State, some return

While some injured players return, it appears Michigan football will be without multiple players against Penn State.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — There were a lot of questions about who would or wouldn’t take the field for Michigan football in Big Ten Week 6 against Penn State on Saturday.

Two Wolverines left last week’s contest with injury in Brad Hawkins and Cam McGrone, with the latter having been carted off and needing an MRI in the game’s aftermath, per head coach Jim Harbaugh. Harbaugh was mum in his weekly press conference about either’s availability after having sustained ailments at Rutgers.

However, on the other side of the ball for Michigan, not only were the maize and blue without offensive tackles Jalen Mayfield and Ryan Hayes for the third-straight week, but center Andrew Vastardis also missed the game with injury. OL coach Ed Warinner noted that the tackles had returned to practice this week, so there’s some potential positive news on that front entering Saturday’s game.

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So who at least dressed for the game? At the stadium, we saw DE Kwity Paye, LT Ryan Hayes and S Brad Hawkins in uniform during pregame warmups. However, though unconfirmed by a team spokesman, WR Giles Jackson, K Quinn Nordin, LB Cam McGrone, C Andrew Vastardis and RT Jalen Mayfield are out due to injury.

Michigan football and Penn State are set to kick off at noon EST.

Update: The above has been confirmed by a team spokesperson.

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With No. 13 Wisconsin up next, Michigan feeling a sense of urgency

After two-straight losses, this Michigan football team needs to right the ship — and fast.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — With No. 13 Wisconsin coming to town on Saturday night, the Wolverines can’t afford to be inconsistent.

Things haven’t exactly gone as planned the past two games, as most would have expected Michigan to be sitting at either 3-0, or, at worst, 2-1, to open the Big Ten 2020 season. However, at 1-2, either the maize and blue have to step it up or risk the season spiraling out of control.

Though the players and coaches are adamant that it’s just small fixes that need to be done, it appears to be more than that. Perhaps its the abundance of mistakes that the team is making, but given that the Badgers destroyed the Wolverines a year ago and come in with a top-rated defense and high-flying offense — though, it has had two weeks off due to a COVID-19 outbreak — small mistakes could result in a lopsided loss.

With that in mind, this team is going into Saturday with a heightened sense of urgency, given how another loss would affect the shortened season.

“This is a must-win game, of course, for us,” senior safety Brad Hawkins said. “We want to win this game. Going into this week, just laying it all on the line.”

“We have one (a sense of urgency). We’re determined now, and our mindset is just we have to – we can’t lose,” sophomore wideout Giles Jackson said. “We’re gonna turn the notch up in practice every day – every day this week, Monday through Friday. We know we have to get the job done, because the team’s gonna rely on us to score points and that’s what we need to do in big situations.”

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What we saw from Michigan from Week 1 to 2-3 is something of a 180. The defense has gotten little pressure on opposing quarterbacks the past two weeks and the secondary has been the worst since Rich Rodriguez was the head coach. Offensively, the team has looked solid at times, but lost in others. The scheme occasionally looks unnecessarily complicated, and opposing defenses have taken advantage of some miscues on that front.

On that latter side of the ball, Jackson enumerates what needs to be done if the offense is to have any success against the nation’s current No. 1 defense.

“We have all the potential in the world,” Jackson said. “If you watch our film, if you really analyze it, it’s just the little things we need to do to make us from an OK offense to a great offense. I’d say continuing blocks, running the full route, getting the full signal of the route. Just little minor mistakes. Those little minor mistakes kill us in the game. When we watch the film from Saturday – we watched it yesterday – it’s just the little things that hurt us. If we just do those, we’ll be good.”

That said, despite the issues plaguing either side of the ball, Hawkins doesn’t feel like the team is any less motivated.

Sure, you could point to the mishaps and miscues and the win-loss column and say this is a broken team. It could become that if it doesn’t handle business on Saturday, assuredly. But this is a group that isn’t hanging their heads, and still remembers what it’s like to be on the winning side of things as it has in the relatively recent past.

Now they just have to go out and prove that its capable of winning a big game — just like it did in the first week of the 2020 season.

“We’re going with the mindset every week to win,” Hawkins said. “We practice hard, we work hard. We do everything we’re supposed to and just going with the mindset to win. We don’t ever go into no week thinking we’re gonna lose. We just go into the week preparing like we do with any other team, 110%, running to the ball – everything. We just preach that every week. We just keep going and what happened, just let it rip.”

Brad Hawkins bullish on new-look U-M CB room: ‘I have faith in them’

A veteran defensive back shares why he has faith in the new-look Michigan football cornerbacks group.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The biggest unknown for the Michigan football team as it’s set to embark upon the 2020 Big Ten season is how will the Wolverines cornerbacks fare?

With Ambry Thomas and LaVert Hill both having departed, there will be new faces running with wide receivers — a daunting task right out of the gates with Minnesota coming up on Saturday.

But one person who has full confidence in the group is safety Brad Hawkins, the converted high school wide receiver entering his fourth year. With one player who the coaches have loved since he arrived as a freshman, Hawkins is sure that the new-look cornerbacks room will be up to any task put in front of it.

“Those guys, they come out there every day, they work hard,” Hawkins said. “Of course there’s a lack of experience due to Ambry leaving, Vincent (Gray) rotating last year. Of course that’s something that people see. But those guys are working very hard. They’re coming along, all of them. I have faith in them – I believe in every single one of those guys. I can’t wait to go out there to battle with them on Saturday.”

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At this juncture, Vincent Gray is the only known that the Wolverines have starting at cornerback — and there’s been no indication as to who will be the No. 2 guy out there.

Head coach Jim Harbaugh has frequently mentioned Gemon Green and Sammy Faustin — the converted safety — but many had anticipated that DJ Turner would be the next man up once Ambry Thomas opted out.

Regardless, Gray is the leader in that room now. So what has Hawkins seen from him this offseason and in practice?

“Just making big third down stops, being a leader in the corner room,” Hawkins said. “Just being that older guy, that guy with experience that’s been out there in the battle, been out there in wars – things like that. He’s definitely shown a lot of poise, and everything he knows is just coming together for him as well. He’s gonna be a great player. I’m definitely looking out for him on Saturday as well.”

Gray will have his work cut out for him right away, as he’ll be tasked with facing likely first-round NFL draft pick Rashod Bateman with the Golden Gophers.

Michigan and Minnesota kick off on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. EDT at TCF Bank Stadium.

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Multiple positional moves in Michigan secondary highlights versatility

Michigan football head coach Jim Harbaugh broke down the depth to both safety and corner, noting multiple position switches.

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Michigan’s secondary is in an odd state heading into the 2020 season opener at Minnesota.

While the safety position returns two starters in Daxton Hill and Brad Hawkins, with Lavert Hill graduating and Ambry Thomas opting out, Michigan will be breaking in two new starters at cornerback.

Speaking to Jon Jansen on the Inside Michigan Football radio program, head coach Jim Harbaugh broke down both positions, starting with the safeties. And with Hill returning, he feels like he has a special player — if not the Wolverines’ best, overall.

“It’s been a high-level, really,” Harbaugh said. “The talent – he might be our most talented player on the team, arguably. Very, very trusted, very good communicator in the backend. Really knows the safety position and also the nickel position. He’s really, really good. Playing both safety and covering in the nickel slot. He’s been really good.

“Brad Hawkins, he is playing his best football since he’s been here, too. He’s a returning starter, so that’s saying something. Doing extremely well. Makari Paige, Hunter Reynolds – those two have been really good.

“Compliment both the Green brothers – German Green playing safety and special teams and Gemon Green is competing for the staring corner position alongside Vince Gray. Been happy with both safeties. Caden Kolesar, also playing safety and special teams. Those are the ones that are right there in the mix at safety and doing a really good job.”

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While that’s a bit of depth at safety, though Harbaugh touched on it, what more does he see at corner?

It’s evident now that third-year in-state defensive back Vincent Gray has secured on position, and while Gemon Green is competing for the other, who else could contend for playing time this season?

Harbaugh notes another player who’s switched positions during fall camp in Sammy Faustin, who’s been drawing rave reviews from defensive coordinator Don Brown the past few months.

“Corners, there’s battles going on,” Harbaugh said. “Vince Gray – who’s starting. Who’s on the other side of Vince? You got Gemon Green — Sammy Faustin has moved from safety to corner. He’s doing a really nice job the last week since he’s been there. Also: I mentioned George Johnson and DJ Turner, Eamonn Dennis, Andre Seldon. All guys that are competing very strongly at the corner position.”

There had been rumblings of Dax Hill moving to corner, but it appears, according to Harbaugh’s Monday night appearance and Don Brown’s the previous Monday, that he’s sticking with safety and nickel back. On Monday, he touched on Faustin’s move as well as George Johnson’s transition from wideout to defensive back. Hunter Reynolds is a former corner who converted to safety last season.

With all that in mind, Harbaugh is enthusiastic about having so many players who can take on multiple roles. With the variable position switches, he says it gives Michigan the best chance to succeed.

“Versatility is always a good thing, no doubt,” Harbaugh said. “The players that are the most talented and give the most effort, the cream rises to the top and I think we’re seeing that. It does allow Coach Zordich and Don Brown the ability to — when a player has versatility to do the best things for our team and get the best matchups, et cetera. I think all those things are a big bonus.”

We’ll get to see just how that versatility pans out in less than two weeks, with Michigan traveling to Minnesota for the Oct. 24 Big Ten season kickoff. The game will be nationally televised in primetime, with ABC putting it in its 7:30 P.M. EDT slot.

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Power Ranking: Michigan football future NFL draft potential

Where we envision the current crop of Wolverines to be drafted as of today if not much changes between now and next year.

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The 2020 NFL Draft is firmly in the rearview, but that means we can start taking a look towards the 2021 draft for the potential of those currently on the Michigan team.

The Wolverines had a tied second-best haul this past April, sending 10 players to the league — behind only LSU, who had 14. Could 2021 see even more of the maize and blue hear their name called by Commissioner Roger Goodell?

It’s certainly possible, even though Michigan is reloading on both sides of the ball. But, one could argue, that Jim Harbaugh is building a program more adept at sending more players to the pros.

So, we took all of the starter-quality players — and a likely starter, hence we’re not prognosticating a quarterback or a player who’s not the obvious winner at his position — who are entering their third year or beyond to estimate as of right now where they could go in the 2021 NFL Draft.

It’s a feature we very well could update during the season as it progresses.

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Future NFL draft Power Rankings:

1. Jalen Mayfield

Unsurprisingly, the top guy we picked is the one that ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. foresees as a future first-round draft pick.

2019 was Mayfield’s first year as a starter, but he already has the body to be an NFL caliber tackle, and he’s shown his prowess on the offensive line, helping contain Ohio State’s No. 2 pick overall in Chase Young in The Game this past November.

Linemen from either side of the ball from Michigan are more likely to be early-round picks, as evidenced by some of the latest first-round picks in the Jim Harbaugh era: Cesar Ruiz, Rashan Gary and Taco Charlton. Yes, Jabrill Peppers and Devin Bush Jr. were also first-rounders, but when you also look at the other early rounds, that’s where we’ve seen players like Josh Uche, Chase Winovich and Chris Wormley picked.

Given his upside and the fact that he’s only played one year as a starter and is looked at so highly at this juncture, Mayfield has the ability to potentially capitalize on an early departure if predictions hold true.

Where we see him as of now?

We’re going with Kiper and slating him as a first-round pick if he does choose to leave early, assuming he continues his level of play in 2020.

NEXT: An early-round wide receiver off the board?

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Don Brown: Michigan veterans, young and old, stepping into leadership roles

There’s a fringe benefit to the pandemic, in that the Wolverines are finding more leadership from players younger and older.

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Things have been different across the country beyond as far as college football is concerned. But the college game was just starting to ramp up for spring ball as the coronavirus pandemic hit, which changed the game considerably.

Instead of players getting their chance as returning starters, new starters or vying for a bigger role than they had previously, they were relegated to their homes. Meetings moved from the Schembechler Hall meeting rooms and the field at the Al Glick Fieldhouse, everything has taken place this spring in the confines of players’ own homes. So there’s been something of an adjustment.

However, it’s not all negative.

Don Brown discussed the adjustments with Jon Jansen on the In the Trenches podcast released on Tuesday, and noted that given that the system has remained mostly the same, it’s allowed with a strong level of familiarity. Thus, as they’ve made their usual set of changes that comes with every offseason, the younger players have benefitted from the tutelage of the upperclassmen.

There’s a reason why this is a great situation for Michigan right now.

“I also think another feature for us, and I’m certainly telling our guys, is we’ve been in this system for four years and obviously we’re tweaking it every year to a certain degree,” Brown said. “But at least in the commonality, our guys really know it. More importantly, our upperclassmen know it like the back of their hand so they’re able to work with the young guys and teach them the concepts. Because obviously, the best leadership comes from within.”

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So who’s been stepping up as leaders?

Most of the names aren’t particularly surprising. Of course, Carlo Kemp is one of them, given that he was a team captain a year ago. But it’s not just the fifth-year types or the seniors who are taking the mantle.

Brown notes a couple of younger players who have also worked to help the younger players along.

“The nice thing is you don’t have to lean on (the upperclassmen),” Brown said. “That’s happening on a day-to-day, week-to-week basis. You mention Kwity, you mention Carlo – Aidan Hutchinson is another guy that comes to mind up front. We have Josh Ross, but we also have a veteran in Cam McGrone now who knows the concepts well. So that’s a big help.

“And then on the back end, Ambry Thomas, who’s just such a solid leader. Brad Hawkins. Daxton Hill a year older. Vincent Gray a year older. We feel like we can hit the ground running as long as our conditioning allows us to.”

This offseason, as mentioned by Josh Gattis to Jon Jansen, Michigan also brought in a Navy SEAL captain who’s worked with the team to help enhance their leadership capabilities.

As Brown said, ‘the best leadership comes from within.’ Despite ‘leaders and best’ being in the fight song, a renewed energy as such might be the one thing that Michigan had been missing.

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Bob Shoop breaks down Michigan’s safety group heading into spring

The newfound Wolverines safeties coach shares his thoughts on his personnel and what he expects of them.

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Michigan had a pair of defensive departures this offseason, but it replaced them with two capable former defensive coordinators who are now position coaches.

Among them is Bob Shoop, who spent his last 12 years in college football as a defensive overseer, but now he’ll be attuned to the safeties position, as vacated by Chris Partridge, who left to be Ole Miss’ co-defensive coordinator.

While Shoop says that he intends to be a much more active recruiter than he has in the past, as he shared with Jon Jansen on the In the Trenches podcast, he was fortunate that he didn’t hit the trail immediately upon arriving in Ann Arbor. Instead, he got to stay in Schembechler Hall, getting to know his group and the lay of the land, learning exactly what he has at the safety position.

“When I first got here – Coach gave me an opportunity rather to get out on the road recruiting, to get in the office,” Shoop said. “During the day, I got to interact with the GA’s and quality control and I got to watch any projects Coach wanted me to watch – Coach Brown – and I watched all the games. I watched all the coverage cut-ups, along those lines. And then interact with those guys.

“And the thing about watching the game film and the cut-ups and things along those lines is really there’s only three guys that have a significant – three guys that played a lot at safety last year as Josh Metellus obviously is gone. Brad Hawkins is a guy that played a fair amount, brings a tremendous amount of experience. Obviously missed the end of the year against Indiana, Ohio State and Alabama. We need to get him back and healthy, because I think the expectations are he’s gonna be one of the leaders of this unit.

“And in Dax Hill. I knew Dax a little bit when I was at Mississippi State because I had him in the 2019 recruiting class as the top safety in that class. We went back and forth between Alabama and Michigan in the recruiting process. And really to have the opportunity to work with him here, I’m very, very excited about watching his development and taking him to the next level. But the experience he gained last year was really, really valuable. And I thought he did a really solid job in the Ohio State game, the Indiana – where he got an interception – and the Ohio State and Alabama (games) where he got thrown into the trenches against some explosive offenses.”

As Shoop explains, those are the two known commodities, but what about the depth behind them?

He says there’s a lot of expected contributors heading into next season, but he only has a certain amount to work with this spring, as freshmen RJ Moten and Jordan Morant don’t arrive until summer.

Still, he likes what he has and shares who should be impact players once they hit the field.

“The issue, really, as we head into spring is finding some depth there,” Shoop said. “I’ve gotten a chance this spring to work with some of the other guys and there are guys who there’s some expectation for. Sammy Faustin, German Green, Caden Kolesar, Tyler Cochran – those guys played on special teams. We have an early-enrollee in Makari Paige. Just – I’m really, really excited to work with those guys. Quinten Johnson. Guys I don’t know enough about, because I haven’t seen them on the field, but I have seen them work with Herb in the weight room and I have seen them work with Herb in winter program. They seem to have a great work ethic. They have great passion, great toughness. Seem to have a team-first mindset. They encourage one another and they have a great deal of pride as a position unit. So I think there will be a great amount of competition this spring.”

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