gemon green

[Patrick Barron]

Hello, fan of an NFL team. MGoBlog excruciatingly scouts every Michigan play, and scores them to inform our coverage. Since mi atleta es su atleta now, here we share what we're sharing.

Previously: NT Mazi Smith (1st round, Dallas), TE Luke Schoonmaker (2nd round, Dallas), CB DJ Turner II (2nd round, Cincinnati), K Jake Moody (3rd, San Francisco), DE Mike Morris (5th, Seattle), C Olu Oluwatimi (5th Seattle), OT Ryan Hayes (7th, Miami)

QUICKLY: Outside cornerback with ideal height, good speed and athleticism, terrible ball skills

DRAFT RESULT: Signed as an undrafted free agent by NY Giants. Projected to the 7th round or undrafted free agent.

NFL COMP: Jeff Okudah. They're hardly the same prospect coming out of college, so this is a comp to the Okudah who just got dispensed with for a late pick, and a projection that the version of Green that sticks in the NFL will resemble (there's no point in making comps to guys who don't play in the NFL). Like Okudah, Green's potential is in his great athleticism for his size, and in how you can go a string of games where you think he's putting it all together just for it to unravel again. Despite plenty of experience, the technique and ball skills to translate just haven't sunk in.

WHAT'S HIS STORY? Struggling to compete for the elite cornerbacks, Michigan in 2017-'18 changed their strategy, targeting raw, skinny, tall prospects, and trusting their superior nutrition, s&c, coaching and development, plus a deep focus on man coverage, could recreate a five-star's production. It worked well enough with Channing Stribling, and 2017's Benjamin St-Juste was showing promise. The 4-star version of this guy was St-Juste, or Green's 6'3"/173 classmate in 2018, Myles Sims. The low 3-star version of that guy was 6'2"/180 Vincent Gray, who signed a reserve deal last year with the Saints. The guy who most embodied the 2018 tall-and-skinny turn however was borderline 3*/4* Gemon Green. Texas had shown interest, but Michigan came in hard, and included Green's 2-star twin brother German, whose athleticism had been sapped by a high school injury.

As of the second game of 2020, the Green strategy looked like a total bust. While Gray got on the field first (Sims was quickly gone) as Michigan's third corner in 2019, Green was forced into the starting lineup when star CB Ambry Thomas, at risk because of previous health issues, opted out of the COVID season. Gray was victimized more, but Green was also present for Ricky White Day, when MSU's half-sacked QB could just loft no-look fades downfield and Ricky White would either come down with it or draw a penalty. Except when we totaled it up, Gemon was actually in the positive. There were times when he would run a guy's route for him. There were also times when he'd commit a boggling PI. And times when he'd run a guy's route for him, look back for an interception, then mistime his jump and give up most of a touchdown. A move to Cover 3 midseason, necessitated by injuries and depth issues at safety, undid a lot of the good. He was still, by far, Michigan's best cornerback, and we predicted good things for 2021.

It wasn't hard to root for the twins either, especially for fans who interacted with the lady with the "GREENS MOM" jersey, a self-appointed ambassador for all things Michigan, and the recipient of a pair of giant, sweaty hugs just outside the players' tunnel immediately after every home game.

Green also presented a problem for our scoring, because he was actually in position to break these up, then just didn't make the play. Grading by likelihood of a PBU instead of actual results had served us well in the past—it predicted Gray's problems when PFF had him one of the top-performing corners in 2019, for example. That should have presaged a Green breakout, but into 2021 the disparity between should be/was continued. He also struggled with the move to Cover 3/Pattern-matching—remember his attributes were all supposed to make him a superior man coverage guy for a defense that ran 80% Cover 1. The infuriatingly constant trickle of first yards down the field on 8-yard hitches was mostly on Green playing off coverage with a constant fear of getting Ricky White'd again. When DJ Turner II emerged, Green was relegated to 3rd corner, then was rumored to be injured.

Returning for a 5th season, now with Gray moved on, Green again drew into the starting lineup. He wiped out Hawa'ii and UConn, and was so thoroughly prepared for Maryland's (very good) receiver I suggested Gemon might have a career as a WR coach after this. He was mostly avoided until MSU managed to Moss him twice, opening the door for freshman Will Johnson. After the game Green was assaulted by Michigan State's players while trying to get through the tunnel to administer the weekly hug, thrown up against a wall and attacked with a helmet. The resulting concussion kept Green out of the next game, and Johnson used the opportunity to once again relegate Gemon to second string. He still played plenty, and performed well down the stretch. Michigan tried to convince him to come back for a 6th year (as German plans to), but when you're an athlete peddling upside, sticking around in college into your mid-20s isn't going to help your case.

POSITIVES: Height and length are ideal. Solid tackler, physical at the line of scrimmage. Fluid hips and good speed for his size. Experienced in every type of coverage. Great attitude—"football guy"—and family who try to make themselves assets to their organization. When comfortable can absolutely dominate routes.

NEGATIVES: Ball skills. Overly conservative. Often loses his feel for the game. Doesn't get off receiver blocks.

[After THE JUMP: What is the It factor?]
[Patrick Barron]

Bad NFL. This Instagram post says Green is declaring for the draft:

Green came a very long way in five seasons at Michigan; staying with receivers was never a problem, but he had to work very hard on his ball skills when the pass arrived. His rare combination of size, speed, and athleticism should see him test well and land in a good spot. A lot of NFL teams run base Cover-1 switch defenses, and you'd be hard pressed to find someone better prepared for that than a Don Brown cornerback who spent the last two years running Michigan's complicated, Ravens-esque coverages.

Michigan had hoped to get back one of its starting corners to pair with Will Johnson next year. Instead they're going to have to find one from what they have on campus or hit the portal.

OPTION 1: ELEVATE A CORNERBACK

The next guys on the depth chart last year were walk-on Keshaun Harris and Gemon's twin German, but neither's played any significant snaps. Jalen Perry, who was backup at nickel, has, but not since 2020 MSU. In younger options, Ja'Den McBurrows lost 2021 and 2022 to injury; the program has hinted he's another DJ Turner. RS freshmen Kody Jones and Myles Pollard, and true freshmen Jyaire Hill and Cam Calhoun will get their shots, though I need to warn you, not for the last time this offseason, that Michigan's complicated coverages were hard enough to pick up that it took most polished freshman of all time Will Johnson most of the season to get it down, and Hill played free safety in high school.

OPTION 2: MOVE SAINRISTIL TO CB, ELEVATE A SAFETEY

This would almost certainly mean drawing RJ Moten back into the lineup and moving Rod Moore to nickel (lifting Moten or Paige when they go 4-3 or 5-2). This is probably the default option. Moten was reportedly practicing with the linebackers, but that was after they moved Mullings to RB; Michigan's LB situation is about to get a lot more depth. They also redshirted three excellent safety prospects in Zeke Berry, Damani Dent, and Keon Sabb, all of whom seem more likely to challenge for playing time than the cornerback options I listed.

OPTION 3: PORTAL!

Plug & play portal options are slim since the first wave of stay/leave decisions has come and gone. Top CBs in the transfer market like Fentrell Cypress (UVa->FSU), Duce Chestnut (Cuse->LSU), Tony Grimes (UNC->A&M), Marquis Groves-Killebrew (A&M->L'ville), and Storm Duck (UNC->PSU) have already found homes. A few plausible names remaining:

  • Iowa Jr/5th Terry Roberts. Backup CB who started a few games in 2022 but has lost a lot of time the last two years to injury. Originally from Erie; PSU was recruiting him but just got Duck.
  • LSU freshman Jaelyn Davis-Robinson. Track star Brian Kelly was recruiting under the radar to Notre Dame and followed him to LSU, played in 3 games but preserved his redshirt.
  • ECU Jr/Sr Juan Powell. Played safety & cornerback. Left his team at halftime of the bowl game.

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FLAG. PLANTED. [Patrick Barron]

I have watched football for a long time. Not as long as most of the people who will read this because I am 23 years old. But still, plenty long enough to have a massive sample size of football games to draw from. I'm sure there may be a more extreme example somewhere in the reaches of my memory, but as I sit here now in the aftermath of Michigan's decisive 45-23 victory over Ohio State, I am not sure I can recall a game with a more stark difference between the first half and the second half. Ohio State pushed Michigan around in the first half, outgaining the Wolverines by over 100 yards and whipped them routinely on a down-to-down basis. Michigan got to the break only down three thanks to two massive plays through the air, but it felt like Michigan was fortunate not to be down by more.

The second half? Total domination. Michigan outgained OSU by nearly 140 yards and outscored them 28-3, turning a game where it felt like Michigan was hanging in there into one where they ran the Buckeyes off their home field entirely. The big plays just kept coming, more success was found on the ground, Ohio State's offense was kept in the yard, and several key miscues (penalties and questionable punt decisions) by the Buckeyes had the effect of shooting themselves in the foot. The game began slipping, the Scarlet & Gray got even tighter, and turned it over twice late. A game that was tense only a half-hour earlier suddenly was a three score blowout. Remarkable. 

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[Patrick Barron]

Michigan won the opening toss and deferred to the second half, allowing Ohio State's vaunted offense to take the field. The Buckeyes looked to establish themselves on the ground and got better results than some may have expected. Giving carries to both Miyan Williams and half-LB/half-RB Chip Trayanum, the Buckeyes gained chunk yards through the rushing game by targeting the weakside of Michigan's defense. Toss in a beautiful contested catch by Marvin Harrison Jr. on a 3rd & 1 and the Buckeyes quickly drove into the red zone. After Michigan got stops on the first two plays, Ohio State was faced with 3rd & Goal from the four. Michigan's defensive alignment paid additional attention to Harrison and left Mike Sainristil isolated on Emeka Egbuka. Egbuka had inside leverage against Michigan's slot corner and CJ Stroud delivered an accurate ball for a TD. 7-0 Bucks. 

The first Michigan offensive possession was a big test for Blake Corum's health. His first carry went for four yards. His second one went for just two yards and he appeared to lack explosion and the ability to jumpcut on his bruised left knee. Michigan yanked Corum off the field and that would be the end of his day. The Wolverines would be without their best offensive player the rest of the way. On 3rd & 8 from the Michigan 43, JJ McCarthy faced pressure, rolled to his left, and hurled a ball for an open Ronnie Bell down the sideline and Bell held on. 33 yards and Michigan was moving. Unfortunately, on the very next play a blitz from OSU got home and McCarthy was flagged for intentional grounding and a loss of 10 yards. The Michigan offense had no answer after being backed up and settled for a long Jake Moody field goal attempt. The steady veteran kicker banged it through from 48 yards away and Michigan was on the board. 7-3.

Ohio State got right back in the groove on offense. A 17 yard passing play to Egbuka on first down got it going and a Junior Colson facemask penalty tacked on moved the Buckeyes into Michigan territory right away. Miyan Williams remained effective on the ground, picking up a 3rd & 3 a few plays later, and Ohio State was right inside Michigan's red zone again. Jesse Minter's crew knew they needed to be bend-not-break and this time, they did not break. A first down screen to Xavier Johnson was blown up, a Miyan Williams rush was stuffed and on 3rd & 9, Stroud's pass for Egbuka fell incomplete as the receiver got tangled up. Ohio State settled for a 32 yard Noah Ruggles field goal to make it 10-3. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: The better part of the game]

Shine on you crazy diamond.

michigan state has been possessed by a fey mood

Satisfied bolded alter ego is just weird.

Gemon Green is apologized to. The first Mazi Smith game.

it's all happening 

I'll take one more NFL corner out of nowhere please

get all your defensive updates here! (And special teams!!)

A beatdown at the Big House

John Donovan's secrets are revealed.

and another thing: im not mad. please dont put in the newspaper that i got mad.