5 Things we learned from Michigan Football’s loss to Penn State

There’s a talent development issue

Michigan has been able to recruit good players under Jim Harbaugh, at least according to recruiting rankings but you are starting to really see the issues with player development.

Think about some of the five-star recruits who have played at Michigan under Harbaugh: Rashan Gary, Daxton Hill, Donovan Peoples-Jones, Aubrey Solomon and none of them really panned out. Gary did but he wasn’t utilized as well as he could have been.

But really the same could be said for all of those guys. Solomon transferred and boy, it would be nice to have him in the middle of the run defense right now.

But Charbonnet is another top-50 recruit who looks like he will transfer. Milton turned into a flop after getting compared to Cam Newton and even Tarik Black and Nico Collins disappointed.

And really, since Greg Mattison left for Ohio State, the quality of the defensive lineman has gone way down. Even before Paye and Aidan Hutchinson were down with injuries, they weren’t making that big of an impact and Chris Hinton hasn’t looked much like a five-star talent either.

It’s just frustrating to see programs Michigan routinely out-recruits such as MSU, Northwestern, Wisconsin and Iowa win more games and do things Michigan can’t.

There is an old adage that a great coach can beat you with his players, then take your players and beat you with them too.

But right now, Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan staff are so clueless, they could probably take Ohio State’s roster and find a way to finish third in the Big Ten East.