josh jobe

I, state your name, do solemnly swear to let Michigan have something nice for a change. [Alabama photo/Kent Gidley]

Previously: Offense

Resources: My charting, Alabama game notes (Michigan's still not available—I bet not doing your homework is why you had to go to an SEC school, you amateur SID), Alabama roster, CFBstats

The film: Still Iron Bowl.

Personnel: My diagram:

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PDF Version, full-size version (or click on the image)

So you guys I figured out where all the defensive tackles and cornerback-ish safeties have gone to. Every damn one of them is on the lying depth chart for Alabama:

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DJ Dale hasn't played much since suffering a leg injury two months ago, and not at all in the last two games. They're lately starting superstar DE/DT Raekwan Davis (+13/-2) next to unexciting NG/DE Phidarian Mathis (+4/-4), and rotating in RS freshman NG Christian Barmore (+13/-8) liberally. As the scores suggest Barmore is a young Willie Henry: ludicrously strong and disruptive—especially as a pass rusher—but once he gets there it's 60/20 if he'll run past the play or fall on his face. True freshman SDEs Byron Young (+1/-3) and Justin Eboigbe (+3/-0) split the scant snaps available to them, but Bama played half their snaps with just two down linemen, and a handful of the three-down snaps with the group from the paragraph above. Young's –3 was all from one very freshman play when he chased after a zone-read running back like it's 1999.

The OLBs are quasi-defensive ends. They call the weakside one the JACK, where Anfernee Jennings (+12/-2) is closer to a traditional DE, but an extremely strong and athletic one who's expected to be drafted the first day this spring. More of an edge setter than edge rusher, Jennings is murder on any zone read run to his side. Normal SAM Terrell Lewis (+11/-2.5) has chosen to sit out the Citrus Bowl, and while that's totally understandable given his injury history, losing his 16 QB hurries is a big blow; nobody else on the team has more than half of that, and his backup, SAM Chris Allen, has barely played, though he generated some unwarranted practice buzz two springs ago.

The inside linebacker spots were already hit hard in preseason, forcing Bama to play with a pair of freshman in place of likely All-American MLB Dylan Moses and longtime backup WLB Josh McMillon. Instead they get two big true freshmen. MLB Shane Lee (+2/-4.5, +2/-3 in coverage), who played for Biff Poggi (and came up for the BBQ) last year, is the one with his head above water; WLB Christian Harris (+3/-6.5, +0/-4 coverage), a supposedly athletically gifted player who's not quite ready to be on the field, finally forced me to cyan him before going out with an injury in the 4th quarter. He was also caught jogging more than once when a sprint was necessary; I wonder if the later injury wasn't so later. Replacement WLB Ale Kaho (+2/-0, no coverage events) is a true sophomore and a good 30 pounds lighter. Everybody's swimming.

[After THE JUMP: Defensive backs Don Brown wanted]

[That’s not the usual author note: Ace is off today for a family thing so you get me.]

Ol’ Doyle Rules

Yes we found a second quarterback for the class, and lo Kevin Doyle already has a prospectin’ name: a commenter in Ace’s Hello post suggested “Ol’ Doyle Rules” and this somehow got past the Sandler-hatin’ boss so it’s official. We also got a handful of post-commitment takes to share, no thanks to longtime/beloved Ireland striker Kevin Doyle who chose to muddy up recent news searches by retiring from soccer yesterday.

INSCMagazine’s Evan Massey posted an interview yesterday with Doyle (the quarterback) where he shared what Michigan liked:

“He has said that he thinks I am a very good quarterback and have played well this year against very good talent (we have played three to four games against Top 25 talent: #4, #7, #14). He said that I have shown very good signs of knowing the game cerebrally.”

He fits the pattern. Doyle described his game as a cross between Aaron Rodgers and Alex Smith, two quarterbacks who tend to keep plays alive. Elsewhere, Rivals Adam Friedman on the apparent lack of offers:

He had his heart set on going to a Top 25 program and waited for one of those schools to come calling. In doing so, many of his earlier offers dried up.

Brandon Brown named offers from Iowa, MSU, Ole Miss, Nebraska, and West Virginia, FWIW. Also Yale and Princeton. In the first link Friedman also listed some areas for improvement:

He needs to consistently throw accurate passes and consistently get the ball out of his hand quickly," Friedman explained. "Those are things he's able to do early in games but it seems to fade late in the third and fourth quarters.

[Hit THE JUMP for what’s a guy gotta do to get a receiver offer, and some ill news from the southern front]

Chris Hinton Slides Into Your DMs

ESPN released their initial Junior 300 for the 2019 class, and they're a major outlier for Michigan's top commit, five-star defensive lineman Chris Hinton. They rank Hinton, who's no lower than 14th overall and 2nd among SDEs on the other three sites, at 97th overall and 9th among DTs, with the rationale that they believe he's a better prospect on the offensive line:

Highly touted Hinton should switch to offense

Defensive tackle Christopher Hinton is the son of a former All-Pro offensive linemen. The younger Hinton should follow in his father's footsteps and switch to OL. The four-star Michigan commit is a stout run-defender, but defensively he would be more of role player and run stopper. As an OL, he possesses good flexibility, feet and a frame that can support more size and on that side of the ball, by contrast he can be an excellent, "full-time" player.

Many prospects would ignore this perceived slight or lash out at the site in question. Hinton chose a different tack and went straight to the source to see how he could improve:

That's certainly not how High School Me would've handled things.

Meanwhile, Michigan still did well in ESPN's rankings. The rest of the commits:

  • OH OG Nolan Rumler: #3 OG, #48 overall
  • KY DE Stephen Herron: #11 DE, #82 overall
  • IMG ILB Charles Thomas: #3 ILB, #250 overall

Two players in the top three at their position and two more in the top 100 overall. Not too shabby for a four-person class.

[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the roundup.]