Michigan Thursday: Draft Day and My Take on The ESPN Layoffs

Today is a huge day for a couple of Wolverines.   Peppers might have punched his ticket out of the first round by having the diluted sample.   I don't know if he was just pounding waters or made a dumb decision and smoked a little weed before the combine.   Either way, he is going to outplay his draft position.   We know what he can do on the field and Pep will make some team better whether he is picked in the 1st or 2nd rounds.    (On a side note, I'm wondering how many calls Jimmy has taken this week in Rome from NFL people asking about Pep and if he ever failed a drug test while at Michigan).

I'm very happy for Taco.  He played well his senior year and excited that the NFL scouts see him as a 1st round talent.   He has the body and we know he has been coached well from Coach Mattison.   At this point he seems like the only Wolverine lock in the first round.  

I expect to hear the rest of the Wolverine crew on Friday or this weekend.   This day has to be a little bitter sweet for Jake Butt, who before his ACL in the Orange Bowl might have been a good bet to been in the 1st round. 

Other Michigan Players expected to get drafted include:  Chris Wormley, Jake Butt, Jourdan Lewis, Amara Darboh, Jehu Chesson and Ryan Glasgow.  

These guys are on the bubble:  Delano Hill, Channing Stribling, Ben Gedeon and Erik Magnuson.  

These guys are expected to sign as free agents:  Jeremy Clark, Ben Braden, Kyle Kalis, DeVeon Smith, Kenny Allen, Matt Godin and Dymonte Thomas.


ESPN Layoffs

The world of sports is changing folks.  Fox will start covering Big 10 football this season and ESPN has lost 12 Million subscribers in the last 5 years due to cord cutters.   ESPN yesterday had a layoff that hit a lot of on air talent.  

The cost to cover the NFL, NBA, MLB, NCAA and other sports has sky rocked into the billions of dollars and the loss of subscribers has now cut to the bone for the World Wide Leader.   What does this mean?  It means ESPN will have to do more with less and we will continue to see more on-line providers providing cable like content at a margin of the cost. 

Many Michigan fans were cheering that Danny Kannell lost his job after he ripped Peppers for the diluted sample and not playing in the Orange Bowl.  His take was incorrect (for the Orange Bowl) but I never cheer when people loose their jobs.   His afternoon radio show was also struggling after he tried to fill the spot left by SVP. 

I expect this situation to continue as ESPN tries to find the balance between cable and online content.   I also predict the Big Ten Universities will start seeing less money from the BTN as this situation will hit that network at some point as well.   (The BTN charges cable companies a lot less then the ESPN/Disney buddle).

• Michigan took to the field today for the first time for a practice in Rome. 

• Charmin drops off a truck load of its product to Jake Butt.

from The BIG HOUSE Blog http://mbighouse.blogspot.com/2017/04/michigan-thursday-draft-day-and-my-take.html