Stellar, Standard & Subpar: Cameron McGrone In 2020

Cameron McGrone is one of the brightest stars on Michigan's defense.

Author:
Brandon Brown
Publish date:
Aug 6, 2020 2:20 PM EDT

We continue our series as we look at each potential contributor on Michigan's roster in numerical order and look at what would be a stellar, standard and subpar season in 2020.

We're on to No. 44, redshirt sophomore linebacker Cameron McGrone.

McGrone appeared in just one game as a true freshman but got his shot last year when Josh Ross went down with an injury. He shined in the starting role and flashed great speed and athleticism from his linebacker position. Now, he's one of the best players on a defense that should be very solid in 2020.

The 6-1, 236-pounder finished the 2019 campaign with with 66 tackles, including 9.5 for loss, four sacks, five quarterback hurries, one forced fumble, and one pass breakup. As a day-one starter, but with only 10 games, what kind of season could McGrone have in 2020?

Stellar

In 2020, McGrone is never going to come off the field so I think you can take some of the better seasons by linebackers at Michigan, scale them back a bit to account for the shortened schedule, and come up with very high, yet attainable marks, for the talented backer.

A player would have to make 150 tackles to crack the top ten all time at Michigan for stops in a season, and while I think McGrone is talented enough to do that, it won't happen in 2020 because of the abbreviated schedule or in today's spread heavy offensive approach. Still, McGrone is going to be in on virtually every defensive snap and should be better at reading and dissecting plays in his second year as a full time contributor. If he can finish the year with over 110 tackles, including 8-10 for loss and two or three sacks, that would definitely be a stellar season.

Standard

I think a standard year for McGrone, production wise, would look a lot like his 2019 season albeit in two less games. If he can finish the season in the 70-tackle neighborhood with 7-9 tackles for loss and a few sacks, that would be a great accomplishment in 10 games. If he can make a splash play or two, that would be even better and would begin to approach stellar status.

Subpar

Barring injury, I don't see any scenario where McGrone is on the sidelines during meaningful snaps so the production is going to be there. Last year, McGrone made a little over five tackles per game, so anything less than 50 tackles for the 2020 season would have to be viewed as somewhat disappointing. With that number would come less tackles for loss — probably somewhere in the 4-6 range — and less sacks. If he finishes the year with less than 50 stops, five tackles for loss and a sack or two, that would fall short of where most people believe he should be as a third-year player.

My Thoughts

I think McGrone is a can't miss defender for Michigan's defense in 2020. Making 10 tackles per game is tough, but I think McGrone has the speed, instincts and drive to do it. That would put him in the stellar range and would probably land him on some mock draft boards heading into the 2021 calendar.