babies
Pads on.
— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) March 30, 2017
Time to hit. #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/gFtvGl9RGL
You gotta love how they’re so used to Gary wrecking things by now that only one person whoops. Also Carlo Kemp looks ready. We have mixed feelings on Mason Cole murderating Winovich. More discussion is in the thread.
CHOPPING LIVERS
[Bryan Fuller]
A couple of all-star diaries were posted this week from user matt D on 2017 hoops recruit Isaiah Livers. We front-paged the offensive one on Monday. Here’s the defense one, and a taste:
Helpside Defense/Rotations
Inconsistent. Shows ability to make proper rotations at times, but too often is caught stagnant and doesn't rotate at all. Needs to improve reaction time on helpside rotations, has ability with athleticism and size.
The posts include films cut up by the OP where you can see what he’s seeing. The ability is there but there’s still a lot of defensive development.
While we’re on the subject of basketball’s near future, AC1997 made us a diary trying to project who will play next year. AC’s not expecting a 10-man bench—and thoroughly demonstrates why—and challenges the reader to find two regulars off the bench from Brooks, Poole, Livers, Teske, and Davis. I’m guessing Brooks comes into minutes later in the year like Simpson did, and that we don’t see a lot of Poole or Livers. Teske and Davis will be normal backup centers, with one getting 30% of minutes and the other 10% or so.
SO ABOUT FOOTBALL: WE GON’ BE GOOD?
Well…
…Ecky Pting did some S&P+ analysis versus things we know about our opponents and it still looks like 3rd in the Big Ten East, and that or 4th in the conference. Michigan at Penn State will be the difference between an excellent season and, like, a Citrus-y one. Ohio State is on another level.
WHAT’S A 5-STAR RECEIVER?
Bones032 stole my thunder a bit since I have an article coming up on DPJ comps. But he also made my job way easier by finding every 5-star receiver since 2000 and tracking their freshman production. Conclusions:
That means 59 players played their freshman years.
21 had over 500 yds receiving
19 had at least 5 receiving TDs
21 did some return duties
Also just 1 in 5 was a freshman All-American. This seems consistent with the 5-star-to-NFL rate, which is about 50% will be pros, 20% will be 1st rounders, and that’s more than double the rate of 4-stars.
The Mathlete is working on something similar right now by % of total position starts taken by year in program. Everyone shoots up as juniors, but it does seem the larger the human, the more slowly you develop.
[After THE JUMP: everything you need to know about parenting a child to 18 hours]
YOU ARE ALL TINY, TINY PEOPLE. Emailer sends something titled of "MGoBlog's biggest fan" and I'm like oh boy here we go this will be sort of depressing and then I get this:
This kid is seven months weeks old. You people need to eat. Also: nice hail, kid. You'll do fine at the alma mater.
Send in the clowns. This quote didn't make it into the Free Press's article about how Michigan State certainly doesn't cheat or nothin':
Dantonio told his players Sunday the importance of a game like this and its meaning is why he prefers to recruit Midwestern players. They tend to appreciate a week like this more than others, he said.
"When you work 85, 90 hours a week to prepare for one single moment, you tend to remember those things," Dantonio said. "This will be no different.
"We'll come ready to play, I can assure you that."
You might say "that's because it didn't exist yet, Brian," to which I say "what is wrong with you and why are you smaller than a seven-week-old child? Be silent before I eat you."
Inverted veer option. Coming up later today I'll mention Indiana's adjustment to the thing I'm calling the "counter dive" that gashed Michigan's first three opponents; the opponent's response requires a response, which I'm sure we'll see this weekend. Smart Football has a terrific look at a different spread look that TCU used to good effect against Clemson, the "inverted veer option":
Instead of reading the backside end you read the guy right in front of your face and shoot it upfield when he hops out on the RB. Pretty cool. Further explanation at Smart Football. I wonder if Michigan might pull this, or something like it, out against Michigan State.
Actual video. So MVictors spruced up its "Harmon and the Drunk" video for Harmon's 90th birthday. It remains, as always, hilarious:
Even better, the insanely comprehensive Wolverine Historian has posted video of the actual play:
Nice moves.
Etc.: Shouldn't Tebow sit against LSU and maybe a couple additional games? (Comes with—gasp—link to EDSBS.) Ohio State has a "Woody Hayes Chair in National Security Studies." Former Michigan great Joe O'Donnell has his high school's field named after him.
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