The Wolverine

December 2019

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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62 THE WOLVERINE DECEMBER 2019 BY RYAN TICE T he NFL season has extended past its halfway point, but The Wolver- ine is going to hand out some mid- season hardware to the best former Michigan players in the NFL after the first 10 weeks of the season. MVP QB TOM BRADY, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS Who else could it be but Brady? The 42-year-old gunslinger has the Patri- ots at 8-1, tied for the league's best record. Prior to his bye in week 10, he ranked second in the NFL with 2,536 passing yards, and among passers with at least 300 attempts he checked in fourth in completion percentage (64.8) and fifth in passer rating (93.1). Brady is on pace to lead his team to another AFC East title — which would mark the Patriots' 11th straight and 17th since he entered the league in 2000 — while throwing for more than 4,500 yards and 25 touchdowns. He's also rushed for three scores, his most since scoring three times in 2015 and one off his career high. For at least one more year, Brady looks like U-M's best pro once again. DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR BRANDON GRAHAM, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES It's a tight race between Graham and Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Devin Bush Jr., but Graham gets the slight nod here. His full value has never been displayed accurately on a statistics sheet. For example, Pro Football Focus (PFF) ranked him as the 50th-best player in the league last year despite racking up just 4.0 sacks. However, he is living up to the three- year contract extension worth up to $40 million he inked this offseason and is on pace to have a career year. According to TeamRankings.com, he was tied for ninth in the NFL with nine tackles for loss through 10 weeks, while he was tied for 20th with six sacks. Nobody else on his team had more than 3.5 quarterback takedowns, while he ranked fourth in total stops. Through nine games, he was on pace to break his previous career high of 9.5 sacks (set in 2017) and threaten his previous best of 59 tackles (set in 2016). ROOKIE OF THE YEAR LB DEVIN BUSH JR., PITTSBURGH STEELERS This was a runaway win for Bush. After nine weeks, NFL.com's Dan- iel Jeremiah ranked Bush as the No. 5 overall rookie in the league. The website also polled its experts for midseason awards Oct. 29 and Bush was the only player besides San Francisco defensive end Nick Bosa to receive votes for the league's Defen- sive Rookie of the Year honor. On Nov. 4, ESPN's Bill Barnwell listed Bush as the No. 3 candidate for the same honor, behind Bosa and Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Josh Allen. Bush led all rookies in tackles by 11, was tied for the lead with two interceptions, ranked second with 44 solo stops and checked in third with six passes defended. He ranked 24th among all players for total tack- les and was tied for first with four fumble recoveries. Only five players had made more tackles and passes defended than Bush. "With the Steelers relying on their defense to win games, it's difficult to imagine where they would be without their first-round pick," Barnwell wrote. BREAKOUT PLAYER S JABRILL PEPPERS, NEW YORK GIANTS Though he is now in New York, Peppers is finally starting to make the plays that helped him become a first- round pick of the Cleveland Browns. Through the first 10 games, the Gi- ants' starting strong safety was just eight tackles shy of tying his career high set last season, was tied for 18th in the league for stops and was one of just five players in the NFL that has totaled at least 70 tackles and six passes defended. In addition, he had one interception, which he returned for a touchdown, and a career-best three forced fumbles. UNSUNG HERO G GRAHAM GLASGOW, DETROIT LIONS Glasgow has emerged as one of the most underrated players in the entire league. Prior to missing a week nine tilt with the Raiders due to a back injury, he was ranked as the NFL's ninth-best offensive guard by PFF. "Glasgow has been the club's most consistent offensive lineman this season, and one of its best run blockers," MLive.com's Kyle Meinke wrote Nov. 2. BIGGEST SURPRISE DE TACO CHARLTON, MIAMI DOLPHINS It was shocking that the Dallas Cow- boys made Charlton inactive the first two games, and then perhaps even more surprising that they cut him after that. It didn't take long for him to be picked up by the Dolphins, who hap- pened to be playing the Cowboys in week three. Three days (and only one practice) after joining Miami, Charl- ton came off the bench and recorded a sack against his old team, and has since moved into the starting lineup. In seven games with the club, the   MICHIGAN IN THE PROS 2019 Midseason Awards For NFL Wolverines New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is on pace to throw for more than 4,500 yards and 25 touchdowns while attempting to lead his squad to its 11th straight AFC East title. PHOTO BY DAVID SILVERMAN/ COURTESY NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

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