mason cole space monster

Previously in this series covering the 2010s: Favorite Blocks, QB-RB-WR, TE-FB-OL, Defensive Line, Linebacker, Secondary, Worst Calls, and Dumbest Plays so might as well do the flipside.

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10. Martin and Van Bergen, Coaches at Large

2012 SUGAR BOWL

Football hmmm… [Eric Upchurch]

The press got word after the 2011 Ohio State game that senior DTs Ryan Van Bergen and Mike Martin had been given the green light by their coaches to make the line calls for each play, including when and how to stunt. That in itself wasn’t highly remarkable; the modern Michigan equivalent of RVB’s position, the Anchor, makes line calls for the defense today. The reason it goes down in the lore of these guys is they got so good at it.

They were also the two who lined up and dove into the A gaps to stop VT’s hurry-up 4th and 1 sneak, called the slant that got Frank Clark in to intercept a screen pass, and the slant that got Jake Ryan inside the tackle then chasing inside out on the ensuing rollouts. RVB was doing it on a broken foot too.

-Seth

[After THE JUMP: Glasgows be here]

A series covering Michigan's 2010s. Previously: best blocks, the aughts.

Of course we would be the last to put out our all-2010s team. We meant to start with this episode but in the process of researching the OL a best blocks list was generated and had to be shared immediately.

Since it's a staff effort we decided these together and split the writeups. Then Brian got to 1200 words on Denard alone and we decided to split it into multiple posts. I'll note the author on each. On the methodology: instead of considering careers we will consider individual years, but the rule is we can only use a player once.

-----------------------------------

FULLBACK

Khalid "Hammer Panda" Hill (2016)

–BiSB

We're told this inspired an entire Warcraft expansion

25 carries. 39 yards. 10 touchdowns. Simply glorious. The Hammering Panda was one of the most effective goal line and short yardage weapons Michigan has ever deployed. Virtually every Hill carry was a dive out of the I-formation. Everyone knew it was coming. And it was unstoppable. It was a simple matter of physics.

When he wasn’t vulturing touchdowns, he was a surprisingly nimble and sure-handed receiving option. He was also a plus blocker, especially in space—his +56/-10 UFR grade for the season has a lot of running in it, but it's also ten points higher than the next best total by a fullback this decade. His 13 touchdowns from scrimmage tied with Fitz Toussaint (2013) for the most scores in a season during the decade (non-Denard division)… on 41 touches.

Second Team: BEN MASON (2018)

If you were a running back for Michigan in 2018, your key was often pretty straightforward: follow Bench. Mason was a devastating lead blocker whose entire raison d'etre was to smash into things as hard as possible. As a ballcarrier, Mason accumulated a Panda-esque 33 carries for 80 yards and 7 touchdowns. He was occasionally deployed as a feature back in the red zone, a cruel decision that forced defenders to make some real choices about how they wanted to spend their afternoons.

Honorable Mention: 2017 Henry Poggi (+48/-20.5), 2015 Sione Houma (+46/-19.5), 2013 Joe Kerridge (+39/-14, person capable of pass blocking)

[After THE JUMP: Many names, few necks]

Last offseason I was making these Michigan All-____ Teams and I didn't get around to all of the ideas. So let's.

Previously:

• Ancient History: 1879 to 1968
• The 5-stars
• The 3-stars
• The Extracurriculars
• Position-Switchers
• Highlights
• All-Numbers Team Part I: The Offense
• All-Numbers Team Part II: The Defense
• The Best of Michigan (the state)
• All-Name Team

Today's Rules: You must be in the bottom quartile of height for your position and get extra points for being shorter than that. Weight doesn't matter as much as height (because most of these guys had to add a lot of it). Also this has to be relative to the players of your era—with a heavy recency bias—because there was a time when a six-foot offensive tackle was considered huge. For example, here's 5'11" Anthony Carter with some of the other 1979 offensive starters (via a Dr. Sap article on MVictors):

I'm going to use my discretion as we go, but if a player wasn't remarkably tiny for his era, even if he would be in ours, he doesn't count.

The problem: Rosters lie, especially regarding these players, because listing a short guy at his real height could depress his pro future. Where I have knowledge of a guy's actual height I'll use that, and beyond that I'm just going to do my best.

Quarterback: Denard Robinson

Last listed size: 6'0"/197 (2012)

[Brian Fuller]

Strangely, 2019 recruit Cade McNamara, at 6'1", is the third-shortest Michigan scholarship quarterback since Bo, with Denard and 2008 proto-Denard Justin Feagin both listed at a straight six. Or maybe that's not so strange because height in a quarterback is so highly valued. In my opinion it's highly overrated; the last two Heisman winners were Oklahoma quarterbacks listed at 6'0" and 5'11", QED. Notably, despite Michigan's clear preference for tall guys, some of their best were all on the shorter side, including Chad Henne and Shea Patterson, both just 6'2". Anyway, the rosters lied about Denard's height, which was probably 5'11" or just under it. I should mention the 2011 roster lists Denard as 5'9", which is wrong but feels right. His height led to a few batted balls, but since his center also appears later on this list (and Ricky Barnum wasn't very tall either), and because defenders in space had to approach warily lest Denard escape the pocket, the % of batted balls from Denard in the UFRs is lower than that for Henne.

Honorable Mention: Dennis Brown (5'10"/175), Tate Forcier (6'1"/190), Harry Newman (5'7"/174), Boss Weeks (5'7"/161) lots of other old dudes. Michigan's first great quarterback (and college athletics' first great athletic director) Charles Baird was listed at 5'6". Michigan's shortest QB on the Bentley database was 1914-'16 bencher Harold Zeiger, at 5'4".

[After THE JUMP: Not who you think]