Favorite player that never lived up to expectations
After getting a little excited with the whole Derrick Green hoopla I decided to watch some old hype videos and remembered one of my favorite players that never quite lived up to my expectations…Brandon Minor. I’m sure some will remember some key fumbles. But, I recall being very excited about his bruising style and runs as a freshman backing up Hart(?). And, when his turn finally came I was really excited about the year(s) he was going to have. If memory serves me correct his junior and senior years were plagued by nagging injuries (and Rich Rod), but I still remember some big powerful runs and laying the wood to defenders. It’s a shame there are no highlight videos of him out there because he put his head down and had quite a few nice collisions. Who is your favorite Michigan player that never quite lived up to your expectations?
EDIT: More along of the lines of who you're disappointed with based on what you say in their early days at UM versus based on their recruiting hype.
January 27th, 2013 at 11:53 AM ^
I'm happy he was at the very least productive his senior year, and absolutely wish him the best going forward.
But when he announced M his senior year, and I watched that goofball flex him muscles after putting on the M hat, I hoped this guy would just dominate once here, moreso because I found him to be hilariously entertaining.
The hilariously entertaining part lived up to the hype with how he wore his jersey and his comments from Tampa this year, but man I had high hopes for him.
January 27th, 2013 at 11:54 AM ^
January 27th, 2013 at 11:55 AM ^
January 27th, 2013 at 12:04 PM ^
January 27th, 2013 at 12:05 PM ^
At least that is how it seemed to do.
Also Fargas and Jon Ritchie.
January 27th, 2013 at 12:10 PM ^
January 27th, 2013 at 12:08 PM ^
January 27th, 2013 at 12:09 PM ^
Dan O'neil. Not really a favorite of mine just didn't live up to expectations.
January 27th, 2013 at 12:12 PM ^
Bass for one.
Tate : Headcase
Ryan Mallet: Another headcase but what coulda been with him
Sam McGuffie: Really really wanted to see that kid succeed at Michigan.
Darryl Stonum: another great athlete that couldn't get his head screwed on straight and thus we never saw his true talent.
January 27th, 2013 at 12:15 PM ^
Came in as the #1 running back in the country. Set the freshman running record at UM and then did nothing after that. Came down with a bad case of fumble-itis.
January 27th, 2013 at 12:19 PM ^
January 27th, 2013 at 6:51 PM ^
Mostly because of injuries his junior and senior years. He had 1357 yards and 7.3 yards per carry as a sophmore but because of those injuries and missed games he was never able to top that.
January 27th, 2013 at 1:02 PM ^
I don't remember how hyped he was but Allen Jefferson was a bad ass who didn't pan out much because of a leg injury as I recall.
January 27th, 2013 at 12:15 PM ^
who was unheralded coming in, but exceeded all expectations by the end.
Brian Griese
January 27th, 2013 at 12:41 PM ^
January 27th, 2013 at 12:17 PM ^
Sean Collins
Grady Brooks
Rasheed Simmons
Seth Smith
David Bowens
Scott Driesbach
Justin Fargas
Not a disappointment really but early on I wanted to see Chris Floyd at RB don't know if that counts or not
David Underwood
Max Martin
Demitrius Smith, the 280lb. FB along with Sean Sanderson, another huge FB
John Ames
Antonio Bass
Michigan's recruiting coordinator Chris Singletary was a highly thought of kid coming out of Detroit that never quite lived up to lofty recruiting expectations. Looked like a monster OLB/DE.
Shawn Crable/Prescott Burgess - they started and did ok but I expected them to be superstars.
On the Basketball side
Albert White, Willie Mitchell, Jerod Ward.
January 27th, 2013 at 12:17 PM ^
I really liked Lawrence Reid before he got injured. But he was pretty under the radar so I'll say Matt Gutierrez.
January 27th, 2013 at 12:18 PM ^
Sam McGuffie and Justin Fargas, because I always get irrationally excited for running backs.
January 27th, 2013 at 12:18 PM ^
Hoops: Jerod Ward
Football: Justin Fargas
Yes, I attended in the early 90's.....
January 27th, 2013 at 12:21 PM ^
January 27th, 2013 at 12:47 PM ^
January 27th, 2013 at 12:20 PM ^
January 27th, 2013 at 12:25 PM ^
January 27th, 2013 at 12:59 PM ^
January 27th, 2013 at 12:25 PM ^
Some combination of Max Martin/David Underwood. Coming into the 04 season I thought Underwood was going to take over at RB and we would have two talented freshmen to take carries when necessary. Then Underwood underachieved, Martin never got going, and Hart took over the position. Granted, the whole Hart thing worked out pretty well, but we ran him into the ground. I still wonder, if Martin had panned out could Hart have avoided the injury bug he picked up later in his career? We could have had a backfield similar to Auburn's in that year (OK, probably not as good). And if Hart had avoided the injuries in college could he still be playing in the NFL?
And if we are talking injuries can we just put the entire 2007 season on this list? Hart missed a chunk of The Horror with an injury and still went for like 188 yards. If he had been healthy the whole game I think we win and then who knows with Oregon if Hart and Henne are both healthy. And of course the last two games with a one-armed Henne. That was going to be such a good year...
January 27th, 2013 at 12:26 PM ^
hyping up Agim Shabaj. That ended well.
January 27th, 2013 at 12:29 PM ^
I got Drew Henson. He showed flashes of absolute brilliance while at UM, but ended up being remembered more for getting in Brady's way early and leaving Michigan for the Yankees (which I understand).
He stated recently that he would have come back for his senior season given the choice again. I think he could have gone down as one of the greats had he stayed and concentrated exclusively on football, and would most likely have been a top-five draft pick.
What could have been...
January 27th, 2013 at 12:33 PM ^
January 27th, 2013 at 12:29 PM ^
January 27th, 2013 at 12:31 PM ^
January 27th, 2013 at 12:35 PM ^
January 27th, 2013 at 12:51 PM ^
on Joubert
January 27th, 2013 at 12:58 PM ^
January 27th, 2013 at 12:33 PM ^
I also hated to see John Anes leave after that great freshman season.
January 27th, 2013 at 12:40 PM ^
He had a pretty good career at Stanford as I recall.
January 27th, 2013 at 2:30 PM ^
you are thinking of john ritchie, he is the one that transfered to standford... john anes played afew years later for michigan had an awesome game as a feshman finished out the year and then just left the team...
January 27th, 2013 at 12:34 PM ^
Is it possible to have a favorite player who didn't do anything? I find that hard to believe.
January 27th, 2013 at 12:42 PM ^
A lot of folks have mentioned who they were disapointed on based on their recuriting hype, which is cool because we've had a fare share of those and it's interesting to think back of them and what could have been. But, I was kinda thinking of guys you were dissapointed in based on what you say of them in their early days at UM versus their recruiting hype.
January 27th, 2013 at 12:49 PM ^
I'd say Drew Henson. If not for injuries and leaving town for the cash of big league baseball, I think he didn't live up to the lofty expectations of national championships that were expected with him there.
His time at Michigan also limited the playing time for Tom Brady. Hard to say, but if Tom had been starter for more than one year, he may have done more.
January 27th, 2013 at 7:00 PM ^
He started all of 1998 and 1999. He did split playing time with Henson for the first half of 1999, but Henson played sparingly in the second half of the season. This showed in the final stats; Brady had 341 attempts and Henson only 90.
January 27th, 2013 at 12:52 PM ^
January 27th, 2013 at 12:53 PM ^
Drew Hensen if for only what could've been. He's the only guy who was able to keep Tom Brady from playing full time in the past 15 years. If you watch any games from the 2000 season you can see just how effortlessly he was able to throw the ball and he coupled tremendous arm strength with a nice soft touch. Plus he could flat out run.
That year we lost to UCLA in Cali when he was hurt (welcome to college football John Navare) and then we lost 32-31 to Purdue and 54-51 to Northwestern in a game replayed no less than 1,000,543 times on both BTN and ESPN Classis last month alone. In a way I kinda think the offense we ran that year will be pretty close to what we are projecting to run this year and beyond.
January 27th, 2013 at 12:54 PM ^
January 27th, 2013 at 12:57 PM ^
What about Trevor Pryce?
Looked like he was going to be a stud but got kicked off the team for blowing up toilets with cherry bombs in a dorm or something. Transfered to Clemson, ended up being a first round pick going to a bunch of pro bowls.
January 27th, 2013 at 1:05 PM ^
Gutierrez is #1 for me; he seemed like he was destined for greatness.
Others (in order of disappointment):
- McGuffie
- Grady
- Bass
- BWC
- Fargas
January 27th, 2013 at 1:10 PM ^
I can't decide between Ryan Mallet, Will Cambell, or Justin Turner. All three were highly ranked recruits at positions of need that ultimatly set us back.
Mallet: Kid looked like a taller, more accurate version of Sugar Shane. He played pretty good in his one season with us. However, ultimatly him leaving (or Rich Rod forcing him out) forced us to play a Sheridan/Threet, and then a fresman QB.
Cambell: Big Will looked like a stud. He was blessed with the size and strength to be something special. He should've turned into stud. Unfortanetly that pad level (or lack of coaching in his first three years).
Turner: Looked like a stud in the Army All American game. I remember a lot of people comparing him to Charles Woodson. Was at a HUGE position of need. Ultimatly he couldn't find any playing time despite the worst secondary in Michigan history.
Also, I don't know if anyone established this yet, but Hart never played for Rich Rod.
January 27th, 2013 at 1:37 PM ^
January 27th, 2013 at 1:06 PM ^