Hello, fan of an NFL team. MGoBlog excruciatingly scouts every Michigan play, and scores them to inform our coverage. Since mi atleta es su atleta now, here we share what we're sharing. Previously: RB Hassan Haskins, OL Andrew Stueber, DT Chris Hinton, DE Aidan Hutchinson, DE David Ojabo, LB Josh Ross, S Daxton Hill Quickly: Brainy, sure tackling safety who's been with Michigan as long as Harbaugh. Not fast. Leader. Draft Projection: Undrafted free agent. NFL Comp: Tony Jefferson. UDFA who was a highly rated CB out of high school but didn't have the speed to stick there. Linebackerish strong safety who gets by on smarts, has helped a lot of very good defenses. What's his story? If you start looking at Twitter for Brad Hawkins takes you'll surely come upon a genre of "Brad Hawkins is so old…" jokes. They're all true: Hawkins committed to Michigan before Harbaugh had ever coached a game, and played in more games than anyone in history, quite an accomplishment when you consider Michigan is the only FBS program still around from the time before playing careers had term limits. Also if you search MGoBlog history you'll quickly learn that "boring" is one of the nicest things we say about safeties. Hawkins was a novel recruit for Michigan: the first guy in 50 years to commit, miss qualifying, then go to prep school and still make it to Michigan a year later. Dude was serious (and proved over an exceptional academic career that Michigan needn't have worried). Over the year he also watched a metric ton of receivers commit to Michigan, arriving in the 2017 class with Nico Collins, Donovan Peoples-Jones, Tarik Black, and Oliver Martin, plus the three guys (Kekoa Crawford, Eddie McDoom, and Nate Johnson) from Hawkins's original 2016 class. Hawkins came in as a safety, and joined the safety rotation with Tyree Kinnel and Josh Metellus in 2018. The first game proved a bit ominous for the former receiver's ball skills, as Hawkins, in position for a pick, gave up Notre Dame's winning touchdown to a walk-on who jumped over his head. Fans were nervous when Hawkins assumed a starter's role in 2019, but he was fine…boring even! But there were bad blips, and not many big plays to make up for them. Michigan fans chanted "Ron-nie Bell!" at the receiver who dropped the winning touchdown against Penn State in 2019, but were far less understanding when Hawkins got caught rolled down on KJ Hamler, then burned. There was also that one time in 2018 when Isaih Pacheco dusted him. For some reason those plays stand out more than the million good tackles at 8 yards that could have been so much worse. Hawkins ceased being boring in 2020, forgetting simple things like how to set an edge during the odd late Don Brown transition to two-high zones. He was hurt before he could get comfortable. His 2021 season was a return to solid, with Hawkins directing traffic in the backfield and usually coming in slightly in the positive with two glaring exceptions: Michigan State, and Ohio State. The latter, okay, those receivers just went next to the guy they chased out of Columbus in the 1st round. The former…okay, MSU had a couple of skill players who were pointed right at Hawkins. But if you're wondering why coaches and PFF loves him and Michigan fans seem ambivalent, it's a question of all plays versus things that fan brains store away. Positives: Doesn't bust—twice last year Hawkins gave up TDs to ineligible receivers the refs missed and he was pointing at, and those were the only two "coverage busts" he had all year despite Michigan completely changing its coverages. His two missed tackles were at the hands of Treveyon Henderson and Kenneth Walker III…understandable. Negatives: Below-average speed: The first thing Michigan fans will tell you, thanks to a handful of bad memories, is Hawkins isn't fast. His Pro Day forty time was 4.57, where 4.55 is the NFL average. The below-average acceleration might be more of an issue. Weirdly below-average ball skills for a former receiver: dropped so many interceptions at some point I stopped counting and switched to saying "He'll get one." Was a magnet for bad calls. Rough performances in rivalry games. [After THE JUMP: What others say, scheme fit, grading, video, conclusion]