'Complete, different, impact-making player' JJ Douglas has major upside for CMU pass rush
Douglas came to Mt. Pleasant as a true freshman tight end in 2025 and has become a very promising defender for the Chippewas.
Mt. Pleasant — Seeing him in person, it’s not hard to see why the Central Michigan coaching staff wanted to move JJ Douglas from tight end to defensive end in 2025.
A true freshman arriving at 6-foot-5 and in the ballpark of 235 pounds, head coach Matt Drinkall contends that Douglas could’ve been a very effective tight end for CMU. But his upside as an edge rusher, the way playing defense just seems to click for the second-year defender, made the choice simple for the coaches early last season.
“But he, for whatever reason, on defense, something clicks in his brain and it just makes sense, you know what I mean?” Drinkall said on Tuesday. “And the really interesting thing about him has been, usually when you take those really athletic kids and move them to DE, they're kind of like the stand-up, pretty, I'll line up into the boundary and bracket rush off and go get sacks and that's gonna kind of be my deal.
“JJ is the most violent football player ever.”
