drake harris nice hamstring

Wassink is highly fun for a pocket guy [Bryan Fuller]

[Author Note: Prior to his leave of absence Ace and I agreed I could take over his weekly film breakdown of the upcoming opponents feature with the jejune name so he could refocus on basketball. So now it's mine and no more author notes.]

The film: This was not an ideal game for this. Syracuse's defense plays soft, bend-and-usually-break Tampa 2 and gets most of its pressure from the DTs. Also WMU went down 34-7 before the 2nd quarter was half-way over, then exploded in the 3rd quarter, getting back within 6 points. Then WMU quarterback Jon Wassink threw an interception to begin the 4th quarter, Syracuse scored again, and the rest was fireworks in garbage time.

That's a little more useful than it might otherwise be, however, because Western Michigan still has that P.J. Fleck bomb-it mentality, which was on full display for the comeback. Wassink was a little back-footed to start the game but by the final drive he was flinging dimes into Hornibrook windows.

Personnel: My diagram that's sure to start arguments about Michigan's stars and shields despite those being unchanged from last year:

So many Broncos were hurt last year if OSHA wasn't the NCAA of regulatory agencies they would have been all over Tim Lester's program. Among the reanimated zombies are QB John Wassink, and X receiver Drake Harris, meaning I get to bring out my X-Files poster one last time. The running backs are not returning starters--WMU graduated the school's all-time leading rusher Jarvion Franklin--but they're experienced: RB Levante Bellamy is the tiny-ass playmaker on the team. RB Jamauri Bogan has averaged 5.7 YPC and notched 27 TDs in 459 carries since 2015, and is best described as Mike Hart but Slow. Freshman RB Chase Brown has been siphoning snaps and is hard to bring down.

The defining feature of the Broncos offense is—prepare to sigh—the best offensive line in the MAC, especially C John Keenoy and RG Luke Juriga, both of whom are likely to be drafted eventually, though Juriga plays a bit light in the run game. Syracuse didn't have much pass rush but RS sophomore LT Jaylen Moore, who replaces third-rounder Chukwuma Okorafor, is the same kind of athletic tight end convert Frey might have turned up. He'd probably start for half of the Big Ten; that's not saying much. The other side is a half-by-half rotation between RS soph RT Mark Brooks, who is tackle-shaped, guard-stiff, and "crafty" (IE dude gets away with more blatant holding and cheap shots than anyone not named Allen in East Lansing)  and a multi-year starter, RT Zach Novoselsky, who got exposed a few times but did play most of that second half when WMU was trying to bomb its way back into a blowout.

The tight ends are a pair of extremes. Starting H-Back Odell Miller is more of a 270-pound fullback and lines up in the backfield. "Y" (inline) TE Giovanni Ricci is a recent wide receiver convert who's still shaped like a receiver, and blocks like one, but can't catch: he dropped all three targets that hit him on the hands and picked himself instead of his coverage a Mesh route that was thrown where he should have been.

Outside, Harris is the same guy you saw at Michigan—fades in his direction tended to fall out of his reach. The rest of their receivers are Maryland-ish, IE tiny but effective. Z receiver D'Wayne Eskridge had a career day against Syracuse's stiff, soft, Cover 2 secondary—they like to put him in the twins slot on two-TE drives where he's a dangerous slot fade merchant, but he runs good routes underneath too. Lavert Hill is going to be a whole new kind of test. Slot receiver Jayden Reed is a true freshman but already possesses a sweet nickname—"Bird"—and passed 2017 starter Keishawn Watson to such a degree that Watson, who had 374 yards and 7 TDs last year, didn't get on the field last week.

[After THE JUMP: I want to believe]

You break out or I will. [Bryan Fuller]

The Question:

You get a magic wand to anoint any Michigan player an instant all-Big Ten, except an offensive tackle else we'd all just be naming backup OTs.

Brian: This might be dumb.

Ace: We’re all gonna go with CBs, right?

Brian: I'm going with Quinn Nordin?

Ace: Never mind.

The Responses:

Brian: I mean, #collegekickers, right? And if Nordin can hit them straight you've got four years of NFL range and accuracy plus kickoff returns that amount to "lol no".

Is that crazy?

Adam: I was going with Ron Johnson because please someone anyone D-line depth. and it'd be nice to have a guy that can play SDE and 3T.

Brian: I feel Ron Johnson is an invalid selection since to be All Big Ten you have to have some opportunity to play and TBH he does not.

An instantly playable James Hudson could give Michigan a solid two-deep at DL.

Adam: But who are the backups?

Brian: Dwumfour and Solomon.

Ace: In terms of value added over another position on the roster, Nordin isn’t crazy. Dropoff from his ceiling to the backups is bigger than most any other spot on the roster.

Brian: Yeah, I mean it would be nice if Devin Bush was ABT but I'm not stressed if he isn't.

Adam: I'm going more for the principle than a specific player but I really haven no idea who the backup 3T will be. Marshall? Hudson? DIB?

Ace: I’d guess Hudson. He’s outrageously strong.

David: Maybe Gary if they can find snaps for a freshman at anchor?

Ace: Gary might slide inside on some obvious passing downs but he’d be better utilized on the edge. I think that’s a last resort that won’t be needed.

Seth: Kemp is the backup at anchor. Of all the backup DL that’s the spot I’m least worried about.

[Hit THE JUMP for more of us ignoring the offense because you really cut our legs out with this tackle rule.]

Previously: Podcast 7.0. The Story. Quarterback. Running Back.

[NOTE! This section uses the UFR catch chart. Passes are rated on a three point scale for catchability. 3: routine. 2: moderate. 1: difficult. There's also a zero for times when the player was thrown to without any chance of a reception.]

Depth Chart

WR	Yr.	WR	Yr.	SLOT	Yr.	Flex	Yr.
Amara Darboh	Jr.*	Jehu Chesson	Jr.*	Grant Perry	Fr.	Jake Butt	Jr.
Moe Ways	Fr.*	Drake Harris	Fr.*	Brian Cole	Fr.	Ian Bunting	Fr.*
Jaron Dukes	So.*	Da'Mario Jones	Jr.	Jabrill Peppers	Fr.*	Khalid Hill	So.*

[NOTE: though flex tight ends are listed above since they will fill some of the WR snaps they are addressed in the TE & Friends post, not here.] 

Last year's WR corps was a bit like the famous Braylon/Avant/Breaston trio if those guys had been coached by a potato and inserted into a disaster of an offense and gradually lost their will to live and halfway through the season they accidentally left Breaston in Piscataway and Breaston had to fend off a pair of cartoonishly dumb burglars with a series of elaborate traps.

artist's impression via Seth

This year's WR corps is down the Braylon and Breaston equivalent-type-substances, leaving only a substantially more unproven version of Avant, Jehu Chesson, and a bunch of guys who have seen maybe six snaps between them.

But Drake Harris maybe? Shh. You'll spook the hamstring. Let's be nice to the hamstring. Good hamstring. Does hamstring want a treat? Yes it does. Nice hamstring.

OUTSIDE RECEIVER

Rating: 2.

[Patrick Barron]

As soon as Devin Funchess declared for the NFL draft, AMARA DARBOH became this year's presumptive #1 wide receiver. Normally that would be met with mild optimism since Darboh is a touted recruit entering his redshirt junior year with decent production. Also he did this:

But in the crater left after last year's offense got done with our brains it's hard to be positive about anything in the micro. (The macro, of course: HARBAUGH.)

In the tortured analogy above, Darboh is our substantially more unproven Avant. Avant was of course a quality possession receiver and slant merchant who is not much of a threat to take the top off a defense. When Darboh had a catchable ball come his way, he looked fairly similar:

He is not likely to be as good as Avant because Avant is 100 out of 100 in certain skills. Darboh might be very good and still a standard deviation below that level of performance.

[After THE JUMP: DON'T ALARM THE HAMSTRING]