The Michigan football team’s postseason journey may be over, but many former Wolverines are still vying for championships in the NFL Playoffs, which are currently in progress with this week’s divisional round games.
With nine Wolverines’ teams ousted from the NFL playoffs last weekend (more on them in the second half of this story), 14 former Michigan players are still alive. Eight of those players are expected to start in the games this coming weekend.
View the seasons of all 23 players below, along with predictions for this weekend’s games.
Nico Collins has had an amazing breakout season, much like his squad. After beginning his first two seasons with a healthy 927 receiving yards and three scores, the former Michigan standout made waves across the country with 80 receptions, 1,287 yards (seventh in the NFL), and eight touchdowns (also eighth). Among them was a standout effort in week 18, when he caught nine passes for 195 yards and a touchdown.
Together, he and the Texans (10-7 overall, 1-0 in the postseason) have won four straight games to go to the divisional round. In Houston’s 45-14 victory last week, Collins made his postseason debut by catching six passes for 96 yards and a touchdown. He also added a four-yard run.
Three former Michigan players are on the Ravens roster, but none are presently anticipated to participate in the postseason. Before missing the remainder of the season due to an ACL injury, Ojabo participated in three games this season and recorded six tackles, one sack, and one forced fumble.
Ross and Mason are on the practice squad and are not anticipated to participate in the postseason. In Baltimore’s Week 18 loss to Pittsburgh, Mason made his NFL debut with 20 snaps (19 of which were on special teams). Mason has only played one game this season. This autumn, Ross participated in three Ravens games and logged 69 special teams snaps.
Both teams, on both sides of the ball, will have former Michigan standouts in this Saturday night’s matchup. Starting positions on both sides of the ball will be filled by players who were successful Wolverines before becoming important members of the Green Bay Packers’ current and future squads. With 44 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 9.0 sacks, two forced fumbles, two pass breakups, and 44 quarterback pressures, Rashan Gary leads Green Bay’s defence at the edge position. In the victory over Dallas last week, he recorded one tackle, two pressures, and one fumble recovery.
Jon Runyan Jr., the starting guard for the Packers, is having a great season for the third time in a row. This season, he has started every one of the Packers’ 17 games and accounted for 85.5 percent of the team’s offensive plays. Last week, he was involved in 61% of the offensive snaps for the Packers.
With three recent Michigan graduates on its active roster, the NFC’s best team during the regular season is likely to use all three of them in some way following the 49ers’ bye week last week. Jake Moody, a Lou Groza Award winner and All-American at Michigan, will start at kicker for the 49ers. Moody, a third-round selection in the previous spring draft, has hit 21 of 25 field goals this year, including 2 of 3 attempts from 50 yards or more and 6 of 9 attempts from at least 40 yards. In addition, he is 60 for 61 on bonus points.
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