Michigan kicker Jake Moody and punter Brad Robbins often joked about wanting to get drafted by an NFL team as a package deal.
That didn’t happen, but both players were drafted during the three-day NFL Draft. Moody went to San Francisco in the third round and Robbins heard his name called Saturday as the last pick of the sixth round, No. 217 overall, to the Cincinnati Bengals. He’s the first punter since 2009 the Bengals have drafted, and Robbins grew up about 100 miles from Cincinnati in Westerville, just outside Columbus.
“He’s got a chance to make it in the NFL,” ESPN NFL Draft analyst Mel Kiper said of Robbins after his selection.
It was a busy fifth round of the draft for Michigan players. In a span of four selections, the Seattle Seahawks chose two former Wolverines. Mike Morris, the edge rusher who earned Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year last season, was taken 16th in the fifth round (151st overall). Three picks later, the Seahawks chose center Olu Oluwatimi, the transfer from Virginia who anchored the Wolverines line that was named Joe Moore winners as the nation’s top offensive line for the second straight year.
Ryan Hayes, Michigan’s left tackle, was picked in the seventh round (No. 238) by the Miami Dolphins. Receiver Ronnie Bell, a two-time captain who led the Wolverines in receiving three seasons — he missed the 2021 season with a knee injury suffered in the opener — also went in the seventh round and was selected by San Francisco (No. 253).
“They’re not wasting this pick,” Morris told Seattle reporters after his selection. “I’m going to give them everything I have. They’re getting a monster.”
Michigan had four players selected in the first three rounds of the draft with defensive tackle Mazi Smith going in the first round to the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday night. Tight end Luke Schoonmaker (Dallas) and defensive back DJ Turner (Bengals) were selected in the second round on Friday and Moody was taken in the third.
There were no Wolverines picked in the fourth round.
It was unclear where the 6-foot-5, 295-pound Morris would go in the draft in part because of a high-ankle sprain suffered late last season, and the lingering effects of the injury hampered him during the NFL Combine. He did not blow away scouts with his combine performance and Kiper referred to him as an “enigma.” Morris ran a 4.95 40, benched 22 times and had a 28.5 vertical.
Since the combine, Morris added 20 pounds and will play defensive end for the Seahawks.
“I’ve got a big chip on my shoulder,” Morris told reporters.
Oluwatimi graduated from Virginia where he started three seasons, and then the 6-3, 307-pounder made the move to Michigan, which he described while at the NFL combine as “the perfect marriage” and started all 14 games. He left Michigan with plenty of hardware, too, winning the Rimington Award as the nation’s top center, the Outland Award as the nation’s top interior lineman.
“I’m deliberate and intentional about my work,” Oluwatimi told Seattle reporters when asked what he brings to a team. “I’m a hard worker.”
Robbins held on field goals for Moody. Both were invited to the combine, and Robbins said scouts asked how he’d rate his hands as a holder.
“They’re like, 1 to 10, and I’m like, ‘10,'” Robbins said at the time. “‘You really think you’re a 10?’ Well, yeah. I held for a Lou Groza winner and a Lou Groza finalist for two years in a row and didn’t have any mishaps, and I played four sports. I feel like a 10.”
Robbins had to adjust last season after the Wolverines’ Big Ten road opener against Iowa when long snapper William Wagner and Caden Kolesar, the team’s top punt coverage player, were lost for the season with torn knee ligaments.
“We changed our whole scheme to where the snapper doesn’t block and it’s like spread,” Robbins said at the combine. “We have three offensive linemen in the backfield for shield and they pretty much told me to hit it high. We weren’t capitalizing on the tools that we had, but it was more so preventing the negative play, because you saw what happened at Rutgers and there was the blocked punt. It was limiting return yards and getting a lot of fair catches was kind of the name of the game.
“Reading stuff online as us players do, it’s like, ‘Man, he doesn’t have a leg anymore.’ I’m like, ‘Well, not really. I’m just doing what I’m told, man.’ The whole scheme changed around that. It stunk for Caden, stunk for Wags, but hopefully they’re going to be back at this year and capitalize on that because I feel like that’s a huge part of our team, the special teams in general, especially the punt phase.”
achengelis@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @chengelis
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