The Wolverine

February 2019

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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FEBRUARY 2019 THE WOLVERINE 21 Sports Illustrated tabbed him a second- team All-American, while he was a semi- finalist for the Ray Guy Award, annually given to the nation's best at the position. 20. KWITY PAYE Sophomore, DE Paye proved highly valuable when injuries ramped up along the Michigan front wall. He stepped forward to de- liver a pair of sacks and 5.5 tackles for loss among 29 stops, with two quarter- back hurries, a pass breakup and a forced fumble. 21. JON RUNYAN JR. Redshirt Junior, OT Runyan improved throughout the sea- son in his first full-time starting job at left tackle. In fact, he stepped up enough to be recognized by conference coaches on the All-Big Ten first-team. He'll serve as another key piece of the 2019 puzzle up front. 22. CARLO KEMP Junior, DL Kemp settled into the interior of the defensive line, providing plenty of help when depth became an issue. He earned the team's Most Improved Player Award for defense, recording 2.5 tackles for loss, half a sack and a quarterback hurry among 17 stops. 23. JUWANN BUSHELL-BEATTY Fifth-year senior, OT Bushell-Beatty brought experience and improvement to Michigan's right tackle spot all season long. He got nicked up toward the end and had to sit out the regular-season finale and bowl game, but his efforts helped pave the way for strong rushing totals most of the year. 24. BEN MASON Sophomore, FB Mason continued as a battering ram of a blocker and ball carrier in short-yardage situations. He wound up with 80 yards and seven touchdowns on 33 tries, along with one 15-yard catch. 25. MICHAEL DWUMFOUR Redshirt Sophomore, DT Dwumfour is another interior defen- sive lineman who began to establish him- self for the Wolverines. He played in all 13 games, recording three sacks and four tackles for loss among his 21 stops. He also posted a pair of quarterback hurries and even an interception. ❑ Before And After There's always plenty of movement between the preseason top-25 ranking and the postseason version. Injuries, younger players asserting themselves and many other factors come into play when September rolls into October and November. Here's the complete list of how the Wolverines lined up, one through 25, last August, and where they wound up in the final rankings. Player Preseason Postseason Change Rashan Gary, DE 1 12 -11 Devin Bush Jr., LB 2 3 -1 Chase Winovich, DE 3 1 +2 Shea Patterson, QB 4 2 +2 Khaleke Hudson, LB 5 13 -8 Lavert Hill, CB 6 6 0 David Long, CB 7 4 +3 Karan Higdon, RB 8 7 +1 Tarik Black, WR 9 NR N/A Donovan Peoples-Jones, WR 10 5 +5 Zach Gentry, TE 11 11 0 Cesar Ruiz, C 12 18 -6 Ben Bredeson, OG 13 10 +3 Aubrey Solomon, DT 14 NR N/A Tyree Kinnel, S 16 17 -1 Sean McKeon, TE 17 NR N/A Josh Metellus, S 18 9 +9 Quinn Nordin, PK 19 NR N/A Michael Dwumfour, DT 20 25 -5 Michael Onwenu, OG 21 NR N/A Ben Mason, FB 22 24 -2 Ambry Thomas, CB 23 NR N/A Brandon Peters, QB 25 NR N/A Junior linebacker Josh Uche was not ranked in The Wolverine's preseason top 25, but rose all the way to No. 14 in our postseason listing after he racked up a team-high seven sacks. PHOTO BY BRANDON BROWN

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