never forget

Can't turn you loose. [Patrick Barron]

The pads are on, we have final decisions from 2/3 opt-outs, and there are a few canisters of hype to unload, but we have to lead off with some incredible news:

We stopped sending people to pressers recently which is a shame because there was nobody there to ask the obvious follow-up questions. Rest assured, audience, we know this is important to you and we will get answers. About butts.

GUYS AVAILABLE/UNDISCUSSED: Over the course of camp the coaches have been mentioning players they're "just getting back," or who "weren't available for a time." Other names we expected to be in the mix are being left out of rundowns. Historically when a coach isn't saying a player's name it's a bad sign. In some cases it might be. But keep in mind there might be another reason this year a player might not be with the team for 14 days, a reason that they don't want to say out loud. I emphasize this is NOT from any insider information.There are many reasons other than the 2020 reason for players to be sidelined—after so much time off it would be weird if there weren't a few strains—and coaches are loathe to share those. The point is it's more foolish to speculate on absences this fall.

Quarterback

image

Always two there are. [Patrick Barron]

What we want to hear: A definitive reason McCaffrey is leaving.

What we're hearing: The quarterback battle is dead, long live the quarterback battle. We've spent the last two podcasts talking past each other about whether that's a good Milton thing or scary thing. Balas posted something in a recent ITF($) that's nearly word for word what an insider emailed me:

First off, the Joe Milton hype is now off the charts. Yes, he's dropping dimes on the long ball. And yes, he's made huge strides.

No, he isn't perfect, and people shouldn't expect him to be. He'll still miss the occasional crossing pattern, etc. But he has made huge strides, and he's got the confidence and leadership that make his teammates around him trust him and want to win for him.

The next step in the program's playbook is to pump up Cade McNamara as the new McCaffrey. And so:

"He’s made as many big-time throws as Joe," Gattis said. "Probably about the same number. There's some 'wow' plays." …

"I think Cade will appreciate this: the first four days that we came back, Cade was in a little bit of a funk," Gattis said. "He was more so in freshman mode where he was used to being on the scout team last year, not necessarily getting a lot of the full-speed reps. It took him about four or five days and then literally about day five, I saw him make a throw in practice and when he hit it, he kinda nodded his head three times like he was playing a song in his head.

"And ever since then he’s been on fire."

Harbaugh's line was "Put a talented guy out there and see how it goes," on Jansen's podcast. He also said "We're testing negative and staying positive" which would make a good bumper sticker. Don Brown has been less diplomatic:

“Great leader,” Brown said. “Here’s what I’ll tell you about Joe Milton: Joe and I have a great relationship. Joe will come into my office and ask me about coverage. … He’s reaching out, he’s trying to get better every day, he’s trying to be smarter with concept.”

“He’s another one of those infectious guys, got a smile on his face all the time,” Brown said. “Ready to go to work. And I have never seen a young man with a stronger arm than this guy. He can let it rip.”

Gattis seems to be feeling the Milton Experience:

"When we see a ball travel like that, 70 yards, it’s very hard to track a ball that long and still get pinpoint accuracy on each one of the throws," Gattis said. "I’ve got to the point now where I’ve told the receivers 'don’t stop running.'"

Ronnie Bell, who spent the offseason training with Milton, is also feeling it:

I talked about it with one of the guys about a week ago, and this is the best I’ve ever seen Joe. … he’s just lights out right now. It’s just very exciting to play alongside him.

What it means: Joe Milton is the quarterback, was probably looking good enough that McCaffrey bolted. The other quarterback, who isn't a true freshman late low-3* pickup because their QB of the class medically retired, is the other quarterback, and an offseason always needs two.

You Might Remember This Position Group from Such Former Seasons As: 2012 after Denard got injured. Do you remember Devin Gardner running around lost in the backfield as Wildcats swarmed around him, then he somehow got the ball out? Do you remember that pinpoint bomb to Jeremy Gallon against Minnesota? Do you remember how if anything happened to Gardner it was Russell Bellomy and air? Do you remember that at the end of all of that the numbers were actually pretty incredible? Strap in.

Depth Chart: 1. Milton, 2. McNamara

[After THE JUMP: Introducing the Michigan Secondary Panicometer. It is pronounced like thermometer]

It's still offseason, so I'm still coming up with ways to turn my spreadsheets Michigan fan bar arguments into content. This one asks which class did the best job of loading up per position. We'll do the units too at the end.

Rules: Since 1990. Transfers count for the year they joined the team. Contributions at that position (but not at others) count. Underrated/Bust is a measure of what we got versus what people thought of the class when they signed. Janus is the Roman two-faced god, for the class with the highest highs and lowest lows.

More All-Michigan [Blank] Teams: 5-Stars, 3-Stars, 4-Stars O/D, Pros O/D, 1879-Before Bo, Extracurriculars, Position-Switchers, Highlights, Numbers O/D, State of Michigan, Names, Small Guys, Big Guys, Freshmen

Quarterback & Running Back

image

Only controversial to the haters. [Upchurch]

1st Team: Class of 2009

Give Rich Rodriguez this: his first full class was everything we thought Peanut Butter Jelly Time would be. Denard Robinson accrued over 10,000 yards at Michigan: 6,250 (8.4 YPA) passing and 4,495 (6.2 YPC) rushing. There were 49 touchdown passes that ended with #EATING motions, and 42 touchdown rushes that ended with a kneel. Classmate Tate Forcier flamed out in the end but not before the Year of Moxie and bailing Denard out of some holes in 2010; we'll always have 2009 Notre Dame.

And that was just the quarterbacks. Fitzgerald Toussaint has a good claim for best back at Michigan since Hart, even if we had to add "Poor Damn" to his later career. Vincent Smith was a part of some of the most memorable plays of his era (including those that aren't about Clowney), and has a spot on any team as the perfect third down back.

Those guys left little for tiny Technician Teric Jones, who moved to cornerback later in his career.

[After THE JUMP: Biggest Bust, Most Underrated, Biggest Janus, etc.]

Cloning was the answer. [Bryan Fuller]

Our ongoing series covering Michigan's 2010s. Previously: Our Favorite Blocks, QBs, RBs, and WRs, TEs, FBs, and OL, Defensive Line, Linebacker, The 2000s.

Methodology: Going by individual years but only one per player can be nominated. We discussed them and decided together, then split the writeups. There will be a special teams and then we're taking requests on offbeat editions to fill the long offseason.

SAFETY: Jordan Kovacs (2011)

Blessed Order of St. Kovacs

Today, even after Michigan has exhausted the eligibility of an entire generation of Glasgows, we call the walk-ons who emerge into draftable players members of the "Blessed Order of St. Kovacs." Secondaries of the rest of the decade would be filled with top-100 types whose natural abilities contributed to top-five defenses. But to get there first Michigan had to survive Never Forget plus three years of Rich Rod and Tony Gibson.

In 2009 I made a sad depth chart to introduce a series—The Decimated Defense—about the recruiting and attrition that led us to the program's defensive back nadir. On said depth chart, all walk-ons, including a redshirt freshman student body one that then-DC Greg Robinson had recently mistook for Matt Cavanaugh, were represented by suicidal cats.

Corner Safety Safety Corner
NFL-ready junior guy (Donovan Warren)

(Jordan_Kovacs)

Current Infinite Safety Disaster, who is worse than the walk-on (Michael Williams) Legacy who is halfway decent and was our FS until a few weeks ago (Troy Woolfolk)
Dust mite true freshman who was a running back until a few weeks ago (Teric Jones)

(Floyd_Simmons)

True freshman recovering from knee surgery who can't be that great if he hasn't seen the field (Vladimir Emilien) Redshirt freshman with clear talent deficiency to be serviceable (JT Floyd)

Cats were all the rage on the internet back then, as was abject failure in Michigan's secondary. Many players who might have helped plug the holes abandoned Michigan. We even had a banner.

image

But then a funny thing happened that we did not expect. In 2011 Michigan was suddenly getting impact safety play from the unlikeliest of creatures: a Hobbit.

And then there's Kovacs. That is a record-shattering performance for a member of Michigan's secondary and it is absolutely deserved. Kovacs led the team in tackles, only half-missing a couple of those. He led ballcarriers into other defenders, which is why Western had to go on long marches—they couldn't bust it past Kovacs. He annihilated Carder on two sacks, one of which produced a game-sealing fumble. While Mattison got him those runs at the QB, his execution was flawless. On the first, he had the agility to slash back inside of Herron and the technique to put his helmet directly on the ball. And he added two PBUs for good measure.

His Kovacsian limitations made him not the guy you want carrying a future NFL slot receiver down the seam—particularly in 2012 when they slapped a Legends jersey on him to honor three historic linemen and Mattison tried to get away with some Ed Reed crap. But even in 2010 Kovacs thrived as a two-high box safety who could come down and play a Viper-like role, and in 2011's patchwork secondary those edge blitzes were a feature.

Also a feature: busts in the front seven that never, ever, ever, ever led to a gain of 40 yards. Remember this was a defense playing high-risk up front because the serviceable depth chart was guys Lloyd Carr recruited and Jake Ryan. After the afore mentioned WMU game Mattison was asked if having a guy like Kovacs allowed him to do more with the defense. Answer: "Well… he allows you to call it without wincing."

This was the Kovacs you had to be a bit of a wonk to fully appreciate, but over the course of 2011 the Kovacs who was ALWAYS THERE when that guy was supposed to arrive was the main thing giving viewers a sense of peace they hadn't felt since the days of…Jamar Adams? Marcus Ray? Tripp? When an option pitch went outside the last defender on the screen, it was Kovacs who appeared, already at top speed, at the perfect angle to end it at the sideline. When a linebacker went the wrong direction on a stretch run and you braced for a long chase, Kovacs came. He was our binky.

We could go with 2011 or 2012; we chose '11 only because there was more Alex Carder annihilation, and because that's the year, at the moment everything was about to fall apart, it didn't, because Kovacs was always there.

-Seth

[After THE JUMP: The Old, the Boring, and the Cat-like]