It’s finally NFL draft week and mock drafts are flying out faster than new Drake AI verses.
Since the projections and the speculation won’t stop until 8 p.m. Thursday when commissioner Roger Goodell takes the stage in Kansas City — or even a little after that — we might as well take one last pass through Michigan football‘s various draft hopefuls.
Although there have been some projected risers (DJ Turner) since U-M’s season ended on New Year’s Eve, there have also been some (Mike Morris) who’ve seen their stock take a hit.
Let’s project (in order) which players will get taken, where they’ll go, and why it’s the right fit.
ON THE MOVE: Michigan football’s top special teams player A.J. Henning, R.J. Moten in transfer portal
HARDWOOD DEPARTURE: Michigan basketball’s four-star big man Gregg Glenn III enters transfer portal
CB DJ Turner: Round 2, No. 32 overall (Steelers, via Bears)
For the first time since 2018, Michigan misses out on a first round pick, but U-M fans don’t have to wait long for a Wolverine to get drafted. The Steelers take Turner with the first pick in the second round (Miami’s top pick was stripped, leaving just 31 picks in the first round), which they acquired from Chicago in the Chase Claypool deal at last year’s trade deadline.
Turner has shot up mock draft boards, going from a third-round grade to as high as No. 25 (New York Giants) in recent weeks. His 4.26-second 40-yard time, the fastest at the NFL combine this year, certainly helped him shoot up the rankings despite a few warning signs: He stands just 5 feet 11 and only had three interceptions for the Wolverines over two seasons.
That said, Turner was one of the smartest defenders for coordinator Jesse Minter last season and would seem to fit well under Mike Tomlin in Pittsburgh.
“Turner … has the tools to be great,” wrote ESPN’s Matt Miller after he mocked Turner to the Cincinnati Bengals at No. 28 overall. “He dominates at the line of scrimmage in press coverage and has the speed to run in-phase with the best receivers.”
DT Mazi Smith: Round 2, No. 38 (Raiders)
Physically, nobody from Michigan is more NFL-ready than Smith, whose stock will be a true test of whether NFL evaluators value stat production or game disruption.
He finished his career with just 88 tackles, six tackles for loss, half a sack and one forced fumble, but was still named first-team All-Big Ten as the anchor of one of the top five run defenses in America. The upside with Smith is obvious: He’s a true run-stuffer whose combination of speed and strength allows him to play in either 3-4 or 4-3 schemes.
While his lack of pass rush success sets him up as a first and second-down lineman, the 6-3 tackle has slimmed down to 323 pounds, hoping to boost his endurance. He was pegged as a first round selection (No. 29 overall) by CBS Sports’s Josh Edwards.
TE Luke Schoonmaker: Round 3, No. 101 (49ers)
Schoonmaker forced his way onto the field in Ann Arbor by blocking. Then he earned his way into a role in the passing game by showing a soft touch.
And while it might not seem to make sense for the 49ers (who have one of the NFL’s top five tight ends in George Kittle) to add to the tight end room, this is a spot the team can afford it. San Francisco doesn’t have any picks in the top 98, but it has three of the next four (No. 99, No. 101 and No. 102), thanks to compensatory picks, and six total picks in Round 3-5.
The tight end class is deep and Schoonmaker isn’t at the top, but he’s a prospect who could grow into a starter with the right team. Hard to imagine a better fit than San Francisco where the team could play him when it wanted to, rather than when it needed to.
Per CT Insider, the 49ers are one of six teams Schoonmaker had met with as of last Wednesday, along with the Detroit Lions, Buffalo Bills, Denver Broncos, New York Jets and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
K Jake Moody: Round 4, No. 116 (Packers)
It’s a total changing of the guard in Green Bay — the Aaron Rodgers era is over and the Packers are turning the page. Although Mason Crosby has been a much smaller part of the Packers’ decade-plus of success, the Packers are also searching for a replacement for him after he departed as a free agent.
Enter Moody, the best kicker in U-M history and the surest leg in this year’s class. The 2021 Lou Groza Award winner has shown NFL teams everything they could want, from accuracy — he never missed an extra point in five years — to leg strength, hitting a 59-yarder in the College Football Playoff semifinal against TCU.
He’s used to battling the elements and has a unique mindset that allows him not to get rattled. It feels like he could be a franchise kicker for the next decade, and Green Bay would be wise to make him theirs.
OT Ryan Hayes: Round 5, No. 159 ( Lions)
A two-time All-Big Ten selection, Hayes played in 40 games (29 starts) at U-M and served as the quarterback blindside protector the past two seasons.
Both offensive lines were named the the nation’s best while the Wolverines won back-to-back outright league titles for the first time since 1991-92. The Lions have one of the better lines in the NFL, but it got that way by dedicating draft resources to it.
OL Olusegun Oluwatimi: Round 5, No. 169 (Cowboys)
It’s not yet clear which interior line position Oluwatimi will play at the next level — he has the mental capacity to excel as a center, but offensive concept and depth will determine where he’s best suited — but he could be part of the Cowboys’ next era of its offensive line.
There seems to be concerns about his skills at the next level, but his career at Michigan proved he could be dominant: He allowed just four quarterback hurries, five hits and no sacks in 834 snaps across 14 games for the Wolverines after transferring from Virginia.
WR Ronnie Bell: Round 6, No. 182 (Rams)
The Rams are caught between reloading and rebuilding — despite a Super Bowl win in the 2021 season, the team has a handful of bad contracts and is a shell of itself from two years back, with many of its stars (such as Matthew Stafford, Aaron Donald and coach Sean McVay) seemingly close to winding up their time in L.A. — but the roster at wideout which gets thin after Cooper Kupp, who missed most of last season with an injury.
Should this come true, Bell would be the 12th consecutive U-M wide receiver drafted in the third round or later. Over the past 25 NFL drafts, only Braylon Edwards, No. 3 overall in 2005, and David Terrell, No. 8 in 2001, have gone in the first two rounds.
DE Mike Morris: Round 6, No. 199 (Ravens)
There was another U-M player who was drafted No. 199 overall a few years back. His career worked out OK, didn’t it?
That’s not to put any pressure on Morris, the Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year, who we have finally hearing his name called on Day 3. At one point last season, he was seen as a potential second-round selection, but injuries at the end of the season plus underwhelming performances at the NFL combine and U-M’s pro day have Morris among U-M’s largest draft drops.
Still, this would be a pretty nice landing spot for Morris: Reuniting with former U-M defensive coordinator Mike McDonald under coach Jim Harbaugh’s brother, John, in schemes he’s highly familiar with. If that happens, the Ravens could get another one of their typical draft-day steals.
Contact Tony Garcia at apgarcia@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @realtonygarcia.