Michigan football stock watch: Career day has linebacker trending up, top WR moving down

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Free Press sports writer Tony Garcia breaks down the Michigan football players who helped or hurt their stock after Saturday's 52-17 victory over Rutgers:

3 up

LB Michael Barrett: Barrett had the best game of his career on Saturday, recording the first two interceptions of his college career, helping change the momentum of the game. His first interception came midway through the third quarter when, in zone coverage, he read the eyes of Rutgers quarterback Gavin Wimsatt, jumped in front of Sean Ryan and returned it down to the Rutgers 10 yard line. On the next defensive snap — after the Wolverines scored their second touchdown in 90 seconds — Barrett picked off another pass and ran it back 31 yards for the first career touchdown. He was Michigan’s highest graded defender by Pro Football Focus (91.8) overall, finishing first in pass defense and second in run defense. He finished the game second on the team with four tackles.

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RB Donovan Edwards: While Blake Corum gets most of the attention, Edwards has shown the past three weeks he can be every bit as explosive. The Wolverines sophomore tailback went over the 100-yard rushing mark for the second time in his career, running 15 times for 109 yards including a game-best 46-yard scamper when he showed great patience, hesitated in the backfield to allow Max Bredeson to get a lead block and exploded through the hole. He was also a weapon in the passing game, catching three passes for a team-high 52 yards which included a 14-yard touchdown strike on third-and-6. His 161 yards from scrimmage led all players in the game. He has 439 yards from scrimmage over the past three weeks.

DB Will Johnson: The true freshman from Grosse Pointe South got the first start — in for Gemon Green who did not play after suffering from concussions symptoms from last week’s postgame melee, according to his attorney — and was solid. He did miss one tackle, on a third-and-8 which led to Rutgers’ longest play of the game (48 yards) and ultimately its lone touchdown drive. But it was the only completion he allowed in six targets. He also had an interception, high-pointing a jump ball down the right sideline late in the third quarter, and returned it 29 yards, setting up another short field for the Michigan offense in what was a 28-0 blitz in the third quarter.

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3 down

WR Ronnie Bell: It’s been tough sledding for the wide receiver corps for quite sometime and since Ronnie Bell’s big game against Indiana, the senior receiver has been relatively quiet. Bell caught a 35-yard pass on a corner route on the game’s opening play; he was wide open after the defense bit on a play-action. But he caught just one more pass for 8 yards and even with just the two catches for 43 yards, he led all wide receivers. Bell hasn’t had a touchdown catch in Big Ten play (he did run one in against Iowa five weeks back) and has just one receiving score on the season, which came in Week 2 against Hawaii.

K Jake Moody: After perhaps the best two-week stretch of what could be the best kicking career in Michigan history, Jake Moody had an uncharacteristically rough night. While he did connect on 7-for-7 extra point attempts, he went just 1-for-3 on his field goals. Both of his misses came in the second quarter, both from 50 yards. On his first try with just less than five minutes remaining, Moody’s tried to draw the kick right-to-left, but instead it knuckled and stayed wide right. He overcompensated when he tried nearly the exact same kick as time expired in the first half, but this time he yanked it wide left. He did finish the day with a 29-yarder in the fourth quarter, but Saturday marked the first time he missed multiple field goals in a game since Oct. 24, 2020, when he went 0-for-3 against Minnesota.

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DB DJ Turner: Turner was without two of his fellow starting defensive backs (Green and Makari Paige) yet Rutgers attacked him early and often on Saturday. Turner had a tough time with Ryan, the Scarlet Knights' most explosive player in the passing game. Ryan was targeted five times with Turner as the primary defender and caught four of the passes for 54 yards. One of the receptions went for 37 yards, two of them moved the chains and one was a touchdown, the only offensive touchdown Rutgers scored on the day. Turner, who is generally sound, allowed an NFL passer rating of 134.7 on the six passes he defended.

Contact Tony Garcia at apgarcia@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @realtonygarcia.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Three players up, three down for Michigan football after win over Rutgers.