Hello, fan of an NFL team. MGoBlog excruciatingly scouts every Michigan play, and scores them to inform our coverage. Since mi atleta es su atleta now, here we share what we're sharing.

QUICKLY: Powerful and versatile OLB/DE/Rush DT.

DRAFT PROJECTION: 4th-5th Round.

NFL COMP: Chris Wormley. Even if Wormley hadn't played at Michigan this would be the comparison, since Wormley was drafted by the Ravens, and picked up by the Steelers, to play the same position in the same system as Morris.

WHAT'S HIS STORY? The position was called "Anchor" and we trusted Don Brown knew what he was doing whenever he offered a prospect there. Kaleb Ramsey, Harold Landry, and Zach Allen did it for him at Boston College. Chris Wormley, Rashan Gary, Kwity Paye, and Aidan Hutchinson all starred in turn at the role, a kind of strongside DE-plus whose job it was to soak up attention from the tight end and tackle so the system's safety-sized SAM (a Matt Milano, Jabrill Peppers, or Khaleke Hudson) could spend an extra beat in coverage then fly down to collect what spilled.

With Brown's hit rate at the position already well established, nobody batted an eye when Brown raided FSU for the high-3-star son of former Seminoles star (and recruiting coordinator) Mike Morris. Junior had been committed to the Noles since his freshman year of high school, but Texas A&M had purchased Jimbo Fisher, FSU's interest was partly a courtesy to his father, and Morris had expanded to a reported 6'6"/250, stalling his projections as schools wondered if he was maybe more of a tackle. An offer to play an outside tweener position was too good a fit to pass up. On our end the recruiting comp was slam dunk Chris Wormley because,

Wormley was a jumbo strongside end with the ability to play three-tech. He was a premiere tight-end mauler and superior run defender as an anchor; as a rusher he was useful but not explosive.

Since the tight ends had Paye and Hutchinson to deal with, Morris was put into development. Another son of a pro, Taylor (son of Reagan) Upshaw, drew into the lineup over Morris when the stars were both hurt in 2020. Since Upshaw was a B run stopper with absolutely zero pass-rushing ability, that reflected poorly on the rest of the depth chart. The few backup snaps that Hutch allowed to slip by him in 2021 were split among several candidates, Morris among them, but grading suggested the job should be Morris's only. He was also carving out a niche as Michigan's quasi-DT in Mike Macdonald's 5-2 sets, averaging 25 snaps a game and altogether starting to look like another Don Brown hit.

Mike's name shot to the tip of Michigan tongues in spring 2022. For one, Hutchinson had been joined in going pro by breakout rush Edge David Ojabo, and "Who's going to rush the passer?" became the program's #1 panic point. For two, Mike was the younger brother of Mimi Bolden-Morris, the first female GA at any Power 5 program. The consensus was Mike Morris was going to replace Aidan Hutchinson, and while he wasn't going to be a gamebreaker, he was clearly a team leader, an effectual pass-rusher, and one of Michigan's best players. Had he not been the only good option at edge, Morris probably would have also been able to keep that 3rd DT job, which went to Upshaw. It played out pretty much how it was scouted: Morris was excellent against the run, effectual, though mostly a bull-rusher, on passing downs, and several notches above anyone else. He also began demonstrating an uncanny knack for timing bat-downs.

This was a Problem until mid-November, when Morris, still inexplicably on the field in garbage time Nebraska, got his ankle rolled trapped under Upshaw. Fortunately for the Wolverines, While Morris tried to go in the Fiesta Bowl, he was clearly playing hurt, and had to come off the field. That shouldn't be held against him, but when you're only the starter one year and you miss Illinois, Ohio State, the B10 Championship, and the Playoff game, it's going to be.

Like last year's son-of-a-pro/classmate Chris Hinton, there was a strong consensus outside of the program that Morris should put another year on film, and as with Hinton that conflicted with vibes from a program treating him like they were already on borrowed time. Morris clearly made a mistake in trying to compete in the Combine while clearly still injured. A smart enough GM shouldn't have trouble identifying what Morris is, though. He's the Anchor.

POSITIVES: Powerful and very quick-witted 3-4 DE who can dominate at the point of attack and make life easy on his linebackers. High motor, team leader, scion of a football family who carries himself like a pro. Versatility to play DT, could be a plus NFL pass-rushing 3-tech as well as a 4i or 5-tech. Great feet and length destroy stretch zone blocking. Can drop into coverage. Height and vertical contribute to a lot of batted passes.

NEGATIVES: Was miscast as Michigan's best pass-rusher (out of necessity). Can play outside but needs to be a bull-rusher and back-protector. Tweener who's more valuable to 3-4 schemes. End of the year injury robbed NFL of the tape they most wanted to evaluate, and was clearly still hampered at the combine.

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WHAT OTHERS SAY:

NFL Draft Buzz liked him more than most, especially as a pass-rusher, where they gave Morris an 81% grade:

STRENGTHS

• A savvy, versatile and instinctive edge rusher who did a little bit of everything, Morris was especially effective getting to the quarterback.
• His hand use is excellent; he’s strong in the upper body and consistently swats away blockers.
• Has the long arms and hand strength to win at the point consistently; strong throughout the upper body and has good agility for his size.
• Morris explodes off the line with a quick first step, with agile feet to counter inside and closing burst to finish plays.
• Adequate change-of-direction agility and straight-line speed to contain.
• Has the pursuit skills to stay in the action. Anticipates the snap. Country strong and very physical; seeks contact.

WEAKNESSES

• Never out of a play, but can get out of control and work himself away from the action.
• Plays tall and gets upright off the snap. Wins with upper-body strength and needs to focus on leverage
• Plays high and with poor balance and power. He’ll lose ground at the point of attack, and Morris doesn’t get the full benefit of his length.

Yes, yes, yes, and yes. Who's doing the scouting? They nailed it. Also their editor came along afterwards to say the combine numbers disappointed.

Morris was expected to put up excellent athletic testing numbers at the combine. He didn't... not even close. His forty was near to 5 seconds and his vertical was in the 5th percentile. He really hurt his stock. Prior to the workout, he looked like a third-round selection, he looks like a late round pick right now.

NFL.com's Lance Zierlein projected him in the 5th round, overplaying the combine and completely disagreeing about the hands.

We won’t dismiss the production, size or the athleticism Morris shows on tape, but his disappointing NFL Scouting Combine testing should force teams to reevaluate him. He needs to crank up his intensity on a more regular basis, but his ability to take on blockers and create advantages flashes in every game. His run defense will trend ahead of the pass rush until he becomes more skilled with his hands and at creating angles of entry. Morris could have the versatility to play in odd or even fronts, but it might take a couple of years for him to hit his stride.

Zierlein's criticism of Morris's motor demonstrates the problem with only seeing Morris against the scrubs. How much motor can you summon for UConn? How much did Michigan want him to hold back when he was the only playable DE for much of the season.

Draft Network got what Michigan was trying to do, specifically how they used the heavy DE to cave in an edge.

Against the run, with full arm lockout and extension, Morris sets hard edges. He does well to win and maintain outside leverage. Morris flashes his colors to either force the ball carrier to bounce the play out wider than designed or cut back inside to the teeth of the defense. I appreciate the way he leverages gaps or running lanes from the defensive end position. He squeezes the ball into smaller creases to prevent gapping lanes. He can be a handful when aligned head-up to tight ends. His power and arm length can overwhelm tight ends in one-on-one instances. … Morris has the makings of a three-down defender. Continuing to develop his pass-rush plan will be key to how he develops in the NFL.

Another site that gets what Morris is about is Steelers Depot, one of my favorite NFL team blogs that embeds video to show you what he means:

He's not the flashiest pass rusher, nor the most explosive, but I really like the way he's able to convert speed to power in his game. [Clip against Maryland] … That motor runs pretty hot when he's on the field. He's constantly chasing plays down, whether that's against the run or taking advantage of strong coverage on the back end to try and get a coverage sack. …

He's a sound run defender overall, one that can set the edge, has a great feel for when to slide down the line and take on pulling blockers, and had great backside pursuit to make splash plays in the backfield at times. As a pass rusher, Morris is still coming into his own, but he's shown the ability to create soft edges and turn the corner at times with his speed, and can have an impact with speed-to-power against big tackles that he's able to get up underneath. That said, he still has a long way to go overall.

Josh Carney did worry that Morris is "not an overly explosive, twitched-up defender on tape" and cited the combine. He also came down on the negative side re: Morris's hands. Note that Carney was mostly looking at Morris as a Rashan Gary-type OLB, not a guy with his hand in the dirt, which is an effect of Michigan's weird scheme that plays its heavy edge outside-in.

Pad level was another concern echoed by a lot of these guys. it was the top thing to Draft Dive:

The biggest concern that I have surrounding Mike Morris’ game is his pad level. When the ball is snapped he has a tendency to get too vertical very early in the play. This really takes away his ability to be explosive off the snap and knock blockers back at the point of attack. It also takes away his ability to bend the edge and get around the blocker.

Charlie Campbell started his scout with "Not physical playing the run" and embedded the OSU game Morris barely played in, which was the last straw I needed to block Walter Football from coming up in my search engine from now on.

OUR SCHEME/BEST SCHEME: The reason people are looking at an almost 290-pound dude at OLB is 1) Because Rashan Gary is making it work in the NFL, and 2) That's what Michigan does with their edges. Morris may have been recruited as a spill-type 5-tech, but now we use the Ravens 5-2 system and keep the general concept in nickel sets. For Morris that means setting the edge and caving it in, forcing everything back to the meat-grinders inside. He's going to be more of an anvil than a hammer on pass-rushes, or would have been if Michigan had anyone to play the hammer last year. He reshaped his body to be leaner and it seemed to work for him.

I think a 3-4 team (Steelers, Packers, Ravens) would love him because of the versatility he can give them up front—you can make him your 3-4 OLB and have him play his college role, but he's got the right build when teams go spread and you respond with your 4-2, and then on 3rd and long you can use him as a pass-rushing DT as well. He'll fit a 4-3 team's needs too, but the ability for a 3-4 team to save a roster spot by having Morris filling so many roles gives him extra value there.

GRADING

Our defensive line grading expects DEs to come out positive. Our grading system starts on the assumption that a play result should be worth a certain number of points (zero points would be a gain of 3.5 yards on 1st and 10), and then we hand out points for events that got us there until it adds up. A +1 for a DE is doing something that will make that 2 yards; a +2 is something that stuffed it; a +3 is a crazy play that blew that up into a big loss. Negatives points get handed out the same way.

By Play Type:

By Game:

You can virtually cut things off after the Nebraska game, but in the middle of the season Morris was putting up performances to match a normal day at the office for Hutchinson. Michigan State's godawful offensive line coaching did them no favors, but Morris was eating those guys alive so much that MSU had to give up on running his way entirely.

VIDEO OF ALL VARIETIES: (Collection)

Don't you *ever* try to kick me.

Split zone is still trying to kick me I said don't try that.

Responsible edge; surprising speed vs dangerous running QB (this is Sean Clifford):

One-arming bad tackles file:

Too heavy to one-arm, if your OT can't get in front of him it's Dead QB.

Developed a plus inside move that worked great until tackles decided to set up for it and live with his outside rushes instead.

Maybe that's not the best idea either.

Legs generate the power for his pass rush.

Interior pass-rusher file:

Was tried at DT as a RS soph, but didn't have the bulk to stand up to Wisconsin doubles.

Only caught one for the batted passes file but it was an Important one.

Also catches them:

Great feel for rollout timing and angles.

Outside linebacker? Okay, I see it.

Sometimes I wonder if our team doesn't know what a zone read is, defense edition:

The Sports Report highlight reel:

Nine. Zero. Chonk Chonk.

SUMMARY AND PROJECTION

It was sure nice to have Morris after Hutchinson graduated, and being behind THAT GUY is enough for NFL people to understand why Michigan only got one year of starting. What you're getting is in line with all of the other edges that Don Brown recruited, though without the insane athleticism of Rashan Gary. First and foremost he's going to be a plus run defender. There's more develop here as a pass-rusher, though he's probably going to be one of those guys who puts a hard clock on the quarterback to get rid of the ball more than a guy who puts a whuppin' on the left tackle.

To treat his combine as the last word is unfair given Morris was trying to play through an injury he obviously should not have a few weeks before. You can however question the competition on his film—I'm not a fan of how Michigan State teaches their OL, Maryland's OTs got exposed by faster guys all year, and if you're using film of Indiana's OTs last year it's because you're learning why Walt Bell ran screens to his receivers. We were robbed of a full day of Morris against Paris Johnson Jr. We also saw Purdue and TCU sling the rock better than any previous Michigan opponents, and part of that had to be the quarterback not getting a tackle planted in his lap after 2.5 seconds.

People were talking about Morris as a potential 3rd rounder before the combine. He's a solid pickup in the 5th round, and great value afterwards. There's also some potential to be an impact edge down the road, though he's more of a solid floor, medium ceiling guy. As a 5th rounder he should be inexpensive and bring way too much value to a two-deep to not stick on the roster.