Michigan Football: Why Chase Winovich should return to Wolverines
Chase Winovich should return to Michigan football for another season. Like Maurice Hurst, it could help his NFL draft stock.
There are a lot of selfish reasons for Michigan football fans to want Chase Winovich to return for his senior season. But the reality is, it’s in his best interest to play another season for the Wolverines.
Here’s why: Currently, Winovich, a defensive standout for Michigan football this past season, doesn’t appear to be a first-round pick in the 2018 NFL draft, not according to recent mock drafts anyway.
Winovich had an outstanding season for the Wolverines in 2017, finishing his redshirt junior season with 18.5 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks. Both of those numbers led all Michigan football players in 2017.
Winovich was also named First-Team All-Big Ten according to multiple outlets, including Pro Football Focus. However, following the Wolverines season-ending loss to Ohio State, Winovich proclaimed himself a free agent, which was somewhat curious.
Here is what the senior told the Detroit Free Press after the loss to the Buckeyes about his future.
“I’m still deciding. In a way, I’m kind of like a free agent,” said Winovich, “I’m a senior, I’m going to graduate in the spring. We’re just going to evaluate all my options moving forward here.”
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Of course, Winovich is going to be senior on the football field only. As he said, he will graduate from this spring. That means he has three options for next season. He can return to Michigan football as a redshirt senior, he can enter the NFL draft or he can transfer to another school.
Because Winovich is graduating this spring, he has the same option available to Wilton Speight, a graduate transfer. What’s nice about that, is that he would be able to play right away for another school. That’s good for the player, not necessarily for Michigan football.
Obviously, the Wolverines would love to have Winovich back in 2018. He was arguably the best pass rusher on the roster and would combine with Rashan Gary to form one of the best edge tandems in college football next season.
Winovich can play a fifth season for Michigan football, just like Maurice Hurst did. If he follows that path, he will have a chance to improve his draft stock, just like the defensive tackle did this season.
While Winovich can’t be found in the first round in any mock drafts, Hurst is coming up in all of them. The defensive lineman had 13.5 TFL and five sacks as a senior. Now, he looks like a lock to go in the first round. A year ago, that wasn’t the case.
Like Winovich, Hurst would have been a high pick, likely a second or third round guy. But he stayed and excelled and now he’s a sure-fire first-rounder. Right now, Winovich is probably a third or fourth round pick. He could go among the top 100 players in 2018, but if he returns, he could find himself among the top-32 picks in the 2019 NFL draft.
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It’s his choice, but another year playing for Michigan football could do wonders for his draft stock. It would also do wonders for the Wolverines and their chances of winning the Big Ten.