Tag: Daylen Baldwin

Michigan wide receiver declares for NFL draft

He’s definitely got a lot of potential.

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Tis the season for college football departures, whether it be through transfers or through NFL draft declarations.

Thus far, Michigan football has lost a trio of defenders to transfer, another who has his eyes on the offensive side of the ball, one of its standout edge rushers to the draft, and now an offensive player is on the move.

Last summer, the Wolverines received a transfer from Jackson State in Daylen Baldwin, a Michigan native and the SWAC newcomer of the year coming out of the spring 2021 season. He picked the maize and blue over Ohio State and others, and though he started the season banged up, he got a few starts once he was healthy.

While he still has eligibility remaining, he’s decided to test the NFL draft waters, announcing on Instagram that he’s declaring for the professional ranks.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CYW6gxiLXIN/?utm_medium=copy_link

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Baldwin appeared in all 14 of Michigan’s games, had 17 receptions fro 256 yards and two touchdowns, both from freshman J.J. McCarthy.

With Baldwin moving on, the Wolverines will rely on — quite possibly — everyone else. Barring an NFL draft declaration, Ronnie Bell (who intends on coming back), Cornelius Johnson, and Mike Sainristil are set to return. Roman Wilson and A.J. Henning are not yet draft eligible, Andrel Anthony and Cristian Dixon just finished their first year. The Wolverines also add freshmen Darrius Clemons, Tyler Morris, and Amorion Walker into the fold this next year.

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RECAP: Daylen Baldwin’s first Michigan football media availability

He was maybe the most entertaining interview of the season thus far!

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Sept. 14, 2021

• Daylen Baldwin

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In accordance with Michigan football policy, the media isn’t allowed to upload more than 5 minutes of footage from any press conference. But we found our way around that. Giving you the best of every press conference, we cut out the questions to give you the straight answers, with the most interesting parts of each media availability taking center stage.

WolverinesWire presents our new series: RECAP in five minutes or less. [lawrence-related id=43260,43178,43170]

Topics include:

• J.J. McCarthy’s 69-yard touchdown throw

• What it was like playing for Deion Sanders and the differences between him and Jim Harbaugh.

• His Michigan football journey

• What it was like for him to touch the banner for the first time as a Michigan native

And MORE!

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Daylen Baldwin shares differences of playing under Jim Harbaugh and Deion Sanders

One player who’s been coached by a couple of legendary coaches!

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Daylen Baldwin is on his third school after having played at the FCS-level to start out his career, but he’s played for a couple of legendary players-turned-coaches.

While Baldwin is learning under Jim Harbaugh now, at his last stop, Jackson State, he got a chance to play for none other than Deion Sanders — the enigmatic former Florida State, Atlanta Falcons, Dallas Cowboys and Baltimore Ravens cornerback. When ‘Prime’ took over the Jackson State program, despite it being a small, southern HBCU, it garnered national attention and drew eyes to a school that many wouldn’t have looked at otherwise.

So, what was it like to play for Neon Deion?

“He’s honest. Not everybody can take honesty,” Baldwin said. “He’s gonna give it to you real. That’s the biggest thing about him. He’s a great coach. Great staff down there. I still appreciate those guys until this day. I probably wouldn’t be where I’m at without them, honestly, bringing the attention that they brought me. But he’s gonna be honest. Not everybody can take brutal honesty like that! But he’s gonna be very honest with you. He’s gonna give it to you real and I appreciate that. I liked it and I enjoyed him as a coach.”

Now that he has a basis of comparison, what are the similarities — or in this case, differences — between Sanders, a defensive-minded coach, and Harbaugh, a former quarterback?

For Baldwin, Harbaugh delegates a bit more whereas Sanders gets particularly fired up about what’s happening on the defensive side of the ball.

“It’s not really — they’re like nowhere near the same,” Baldwin said. “Coach Harbaugh’s gonna let you know what it is — boom, boom — get out your way, let coaches coach — boom, boom — let everything go.

“Coach Prime, he’ll yell at you from across the field. You get beat on the slant route from across the field and you’re playing corner, he’ll talk to you about it from across the field that you got beat on the slant route. That’s just how he is! He’s just a louder guy, you know what I mean? And with a reason, that’s just the side he coaches, so I enjoyed it while I was there. That’s not a knock on him or anything — that’s just who he is!”

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The throw: Daylen Baldwin recaps J.J. McCarthy’s gutsy cross-field TD pass

Baldwin’s reaction, now well after the fact, is priceless!

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — If you’re a Michigan fan who was watching the Wolverines Week 1 matchup against Western Michigan and you saw J.J. McCarthy eluding pressure, your first thought was probably, ‘Uh oh.’ And then he reared back, setting his feet, throwing across his body and across the field — a usual recipe for disaster.

This time: ‘UH OH!’

But the ball was perfectly placed, lobbed beyond the reach of the Western defensive back and into the arms of a waiting Daylen Baldwin, who was able to reel it in in stride before jetting down the field for a 69-yard touchdown.

What was Baldwin thinking when he saw the play that ultimately wowed fans of the maize and blue once it worked out to perfection? Well, he wasn’t exactly surprised.

“OK, so I seen J.J. roll out. Think about this – J.J. takes risks,” Baldwin said. “I’d seen him kinda look at me and I’m like, ‘He probably gonna throw this ball!’ So, I start leaning over to go across the field, I’d seen the ball pop on this side, and I said, ‘Oh, this is perfect!’ So I just nodded off of him, caught it and took off.”

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“Yes, it’s the same thing J.J. does in practice! So I was ready for it,” Baldwin later said, adding to the mystique of the former five-star quarterback. So if he’s like this in practice all the time, what does that say about McCarthy? How exactly would the former Morgan State and Jackson State wide receiver describe one of his new signal-callers?

“Playmaker – without a question,” Baldwin said. “Playmaker, energetic. He’s got all of the energy you can have, definitely. Big playmaker. Just using his legs to extend plays, things like that.”

Of course, there’s a fine line between making a play and pure recklessness.

While McCarthy can and does take risks, as Baldwin said, he isn’t taking unnecessary chances, per se. McCarthy does a good job of reining it in when there’s a chance the play could negatively hurt the team.

“He manages well,” Baldwin said. “He just sees himself like, ‘OK, I know what I can get away with, I know what I can’t get away with at the college level.’ He’s doing well in my mind.”

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Full interview: Why transfer WR Daylen Baldwin picked Michigan football over Ohio State and more

Despite growing up a fan of the Buckeyes, he chose the good guys. #GoBlue

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While it’s something of a homecoming, former Farmington (MI) and Waterford (MI) Mott alum Daylen Baldwin didn’t have his eyes set on Michigan when he entered the NCAA transfer portal. In fact, one of Michigan’s chief rivals was his childhood favorite — yet he spurned them to wear maize and blue.

When he made the decision to transfer, Baldwin admits he didn’t set his sights high enough initially, but when the big schools came calling, he realized that much more about his potential, at least at the college football level.

That’s not to say, however, that he doesn’t know what he brings to the table. He’s not shy about wanting to showcase his talents to the world at large. He knows he has skills beyond what many receivers already have.

WolverinesWire spoke with Baldwin about his commitment to Michigan, what it was like going through the transfer portal process, becoming a breakout player this past year, playing under Deion Sanders and what he’s most excited about when it comes to wearing maize and blue.

Here is everything he told us.

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Twitter reacts to Daylen Baldwin committing to Michigan over Ohio State

Michigan football media, national media and Ohio State media all react to the news that Daylen Baldwin is Ann Arbor-bound.

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If you’re a skill position player with an offer from both Michigan and Ohio State, who do you choose?

Of course, a lot of your decision comes down to which team you like best, but given the Buckeyes’ ability to put receivers and corners into the league of late, you’d have to think that, even being from the state of Michigan, OSU wanting you would give you pause.

However, that wasn’t the case for former Farmington (Michigan) and Waterford (Michigan) Mott receiver Daylen Baldwin, the hot name in the NCAA transfer portal who received offers from both Ohio State and Michigan this past week. Baldwin chose to return home after stints at Morgan State and Jackson State — he earned SWAC newcomer of the year at the latter — having pledged his commitment to the Wolverines on Monday.

There were several reactions across Twitter, from Ohio State personalities as well as Michigan ones. Here are some of the best, below.

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Michigan football secures grad transfer WR over Ohio State

Michigan football secured a big grad transfer target who had been targeted by rival Ohio State.

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Michigan football just won a crucial recruiting battle over rival Ohio State as the two schools battled to get an enigmatic wide receiver as a grad transfer.

Both the Wolverines and Buckeyes offered former Jackson State wideout Daylen Baldwin over the past week, and the Southfield native who attended Farmington High School and Waterford Mott had a decision to make: return home or head to ‘the school down south?’

Having originally played for Morgan State — with a one-year overlap with Tyrone Wheatley coaching him — Baldwin decided that returning home was in his best interests. He announced on Twitter that he is committing to Michigan football to finish out his college career.

From Sunday’s writeup on Baldwin:

Baldwin’s first year compiling stats at the receiver position in 2018 wasn’t exactly prolific, as he reeled in 14 catches for 152 yards and a touchdown. But his 2020 season showed significantly more improvement as he got 25 catches for 520 yards and 7 touchdowns, an average of 20.8 yards-per-catch.

At 6-foot-3, 210-pounds, Baldwin could help fill the absence left by Nico Collins, who was drafted by the Houston Texans in the third round of the 2021 NFL draft. Paired with Cornelius Johnson on the outside, adding Baldwin could help add some versatility to a receiving corps that has been getting speedier, but smaller in stature.

The addition of Baldwin marks the third incoming transfer this offseason, with Alan Bowman and Jordan Whittley being the other two.

Highlights

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Michigan football trending for grad transfer WR

Michigan football is gaining some traction with Jackson State grad transfer wide receiver Daylen Baldwin, despite an Ohio State offer.

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Michigan football already has two grad transfers come into the program this offseason, could it be adding another? And one coveted by the Wolverines’ chief rival, no less?

Having hailed originally from Michigan and having played high school ball at Farmington (MI) as well as Waterford (MI) Mott, Daylen Baldwin has split his time between Morgan State (where he played for one year under former Wolverines running back and coach Tyrone Wheatley) before heading to HBCU Jackson State. Though he could stay and play for famed Florida State star Deion Sanders, Baldwin is looking for another opportunity at the FBS level, and he’s getting some big-time offers as he makes the rounds this spring. He recently received offers from both Michigan and Ohio State, but it appears that the former holds some strong appeal.

So much so that Baldwin has received two 247Sports Crystal Ball predictions this week, one coming from national recruiting analyst Allen Trieu and the other from The Michigan Insider’s Sam Webb.

Baldwin’s first year compiling stats at the receiver position in 2018 wasn’t exactly prolific, as he reeled in 14 catches for 152 yards and a touchdown. But his 2020 season showed significantly more improvement as he got 25 catches for 520 yards and 7 touchdowns, an average of 20.8 yards-per-catch.

At 6-foot-3, 210-pounds, Baldwin could help fill the absence left by Nico Collins, who was drafted by the Houston Texans in the third round of the 2021 NFL draft. Paired with Cornelius Johnson on the outside, adding Baldwin could help add some versatility to a receiving corps that has been getting speedier, but smaller in stature.

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