Michigan football transfer already emerging as one of the team’s best players

Last weekend, with a number of the Wolverines’ defensive backs banged up for the team’s season opener against East Carolina, new Michigan football transfer Josh Wallace — a late transfer portal addition for Jim Harbaugh — got his chance to shine. While his impressive interception was ultimately called back, he emerged as one of the defense’s top performers, ranking as the No. 3 defender on the team, per his Week 1 Pro Football Focus grades.

New Michigan football transfer shines in Week 1

Over the weekend, when East Carolina came to town for the Wolverines’ Week 1 opener, new Michigan football transfer portal cornerback Josh Wallace had a chance to show the nation what he can do. While Wallace played for UMass in years past, he is already catching on fast in Ann Arbor and emerged as one of the team’s top defensive players last Saturday against ECU.

Coaching staff — including Jim Harbaugh — praises Josh Wallace

In the first half, Wallace had an incredible interception that was called back, and many were left wondering why. After the game, Jesse Minter gave us an explanation.

“Yeah, so the receiver made contact with the ball while he was out of bounds first before Josh (Wallace) really had control of it,” Minter said. “So because he was touching out of bounds and the ball — Josh was actually in bounds, but it was deemed out of bounds because the receiver was touching it while he was out of bounds.”

Following his explanation, defensive coordinator and Week 1 interim head coach Jesse Minter gave us more insight into how Josh Wallace performed against the Pirates.

“Yeah, I thought Josh did a great job,” Minter said. “I was confident in him, and he stepped up to the challenge. I thought he and Keshaun Harris both — just steady, consistent. Pretty sticky coverage overall. I thought Mikey set the tone early with a great interception, something we want to try to get more of. And so I thought Mikey led the group, and I thought the rest of the guys really just fell in line and played capable the way we needed them to play.”

Additionally, on Monday morning, Jim Harbaugh added, “… Josh Wallace — I thought he played a great game. Tough technicality of a rule on an incredible interception.”

PFF grades pin Michigan football transfer portal cornerback as a top-3 defender thus far

According to the Week 1 Pro Football Focus grades that I mentioned above, Josh Wallace was the No. 3 graded defender for the Wolverines last weekend. He ended up with a defensive grade of 75.6, a run defense grade of 70.2, a tackling grade of 73.5, and a coverage grade of 73.7.

While there were some preseason concerns about the Michigan football cornerback room, it appears that Josh Wallace and others are stepping up, and have the Wolverines’ defense in good hands heading into Week 2 of the 2023 season.

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