Staff believes Benny is back in the fold, WMU LB a likely transfer
Matt Dudek and some of the current defensive staff believe they have Benny back in the fold. Additionally, they have already been in contact with WMU's Treshaun Hayward (I believe Treshaun family actually reached out to Michigan to get the ball rolling) and it sounds like it's more of an admission issue than anything else, but he is also likely coming.
PS: All of the players are back home, spoke to Joey Velazquez last night, both him and Eric All believe Don Brown is gone, but they have not been told that directly. JV is very frustrated with the way the team fought this year. "It's like we don't know how to win". He is now preparing for baseball, and says there is no chance he quits or transfers, even if DB is fired.
Cheers
December 18th, 2020 at 7:02 AM ^
Appreciated info.
Sounds like things are coming together.
December 18th, 2020 at 8:35 AM ^
Getting Benny, a 4* DT, would be very welcome news. Adding Rooks would be huge.
December 18th, 2020 at 8:47 AM ^
It would, and Benny is a good enough athlete to give them options with what to do with him.
I played DE in a 3-4 defense back when that was all the rage (started out as a 3-tech in a 4 man front until we made the switch). We had a fat slob playing NT whose job it was to hit the center and make sure it took 2-3 OLinemen to move him.
When I coached, that’s what I wanted, whether in a 2 DT line or a 3. Hell, if the tuba player in the band was the heaviest kid in the school, I could teach him how to bend his knees and fixate on only one thing after the ball was snapped. I loved defenses with guys like Casey Hampton, Ted Washington, Kris Jenkins, etc. manning the middle. I still think there’s a place for that in the modern game.
Brown & Co want two guys who can penetrate the line in the middle of the defense. I think with the pass happy spread offenses we’re seeing, you need 1. But I also would prefer a huge body in the middle, knowing he can’t get to the QB necessarily, but will block the QB’s vision on short passes over the middle and bounce outside to more skilled DEs the RB or QB run.
December 18th, 2020 at 9:36 AM ^
Feels like we would prefer to have neither type ...
December 18th, 2020 at 11:20 AM ^
Don Brown has been trying to make room in modern defenses for DTs who are 20 lbs lighter than the OL they're facing and get stood up and push backward consistently.
December 18th, 2020 at 12:43 PM ^
I would like a really athletic 6-2 330 lbs NT ala Vince Wilfork on the D-line every year....like Bama and LSU seem to churn out.
However, since that seems not to be on the menu in the real world, I'd take a flyer on a 6-0 320 lbs space eater that requires multiple blockers to move all day for the games where it's needed - every year we should have one of these guys. When playing Wisconsin, OSU, Iowa we need an orb shaped dude with a low center of gravity that doesn't get thrown 5 yards down the field on the snap. It frees up lanes for the LBs and DE's and more athletic guys around him.
I accept the fact that the Aaron Donald types are going to Bama and LSU for the most part, but teams like Wisconsin and Iowa manage to put out corn fed NTs every year. I'm sure we can find a functional one as well, instead of trying to beef up 240 lbs DEs from New Hampshire (Don Brown Special)
December 18th, 2020 at 12:53 PM ^
This is spot on !
The issue with DB's recruiting is he likes DL "tweeners" that all come in the size of a rush-DE. However, in the B1G (vs the ACC) you really need a 350lb NT that demands a double team. Otherwise, your LBs are never clean as an OG can bash them in the gap. Plus, our LBs have become too small as well. Watching the Wisconsin game was telling ... our front seven looked tiny compared to Wisconsin's beef up front and got pushed all over the field.
December 18th, 2020 at 1:03 PM ^
agree 100%
December 19th, 2020 at 7:23 PM ^
I like wrestlers like Renes, Mike Martin etc. guys who have a mastery of using leverage and balance while maintaining some of the athleticism to penetrate.
All things aside I think DL is the most attitude based position on the field. Those guys have to be fired up animals that just battle. That’s where I think coaches like Mattison & Hoke were better than we might understand. You have to get those interior D lineman whooped into a state of mind in order for them to be effective. That position is all about aggression and it fells like we just don’t have that attitude in the trenches anymore. Nua needs to go IMO cuz if you’re not a recruiting beast able to land the top prospects at those positions you better be a guy that they never want to let down and can get the Glasgow’s of the world to play above their rank.
December 18th, 2020 at 10:33 AM ^
I'd like to know where this confidence is coming from. I don't see a peep for Benny coming to Michigan anywhere.
December 18th, 2020 at 10:43 AM ^
He was expected to sign with MSU earlier this week but put off the decision until later. He was supposedly a Michigan lean until the MSU game and then flipped after Michigan royally screwed everything up.
It's a bit of reading the tea leaves, but a kid who changed his mind (potentially) due to the outcome of 1 game, but then delayed his decision reads like he is at least considering coming back to Michigan.
December 18th, 2020 at 11:33 AM ^
But who here can work on his "brand" ?
December 18th, 2020 at 11:55 AM ^
Meanwhile, MSU's top RB commit, Estime, is also waiting until Feb as he continues to draw interest from ND, PSU, Wisconsin and Iowa. It's a big decision. Maybe he liked Jim but didn't hit it off with Nua. Total speculation, but I could see him possibly coming to another conclusion in Feb.
I also recall that his mom was pushing for UM. Just look at the excitement of his announcement.
December 18th, 2020 at 12:59 PM ^
Estime announces and signs at 2:30 today, not February. And he told local media this morning his choice (ND).
December 18th, 2020 at 2:35 PM ^
It’s official now.
Estime flipped from MSU & signed with ND.
December 18th, 2020 at 11:11 AM ^
If both of those dudes break M's way, methinks it would make this JH's best recruiting class ever.
December 18th, 2020 at 12:06 PM ^
Doesn't matter if half of them leave a year in. Wait and see in 2023.
December 18th, 2020 at 3:11 PM ^
I really like Benny at OT better. But holy shit, he would still be a very big upgrade at DT vs what we got this year and last year, which is .... ????? nothing?
December 18th, 2020 at 8:40 AM ^
Can you ask JV or EA about their reaction to McNamara in the Rutgers game? Or what the tone of the team was like when Milton was given the starting nod? Were they on the sidelines in the Rutgers game as shocked as the fans were? Or was the team more surprised Milton won the job and held it as long as he did?
December 18th, 2020 at 8:44 AM ^
I asked Justin Verlander and Erin Andrews your questions but they didn't know the answers nor who I was or why I was standing in their respective living rooms.
December 18th, 2020 at 8:46 AM ^
Just tell them you're doing early recon for Santa. Maybe they'll offer some milk & cookies.
December 18th, 2020 at 9:04 AM ^
On that exact topic: Prep & Landing are great shorts on Disney +. My daughters love them! Highly recommended for a quick family watch.
My New Years resolution is to be more helpful, starting early with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind.
December 18th, 2020 at 8:48 AM ^
Ha! Should not have sipped the coffee just as I started reading this post.
Well done, +1 to you!
December 18th, 2020 at 11:42 AM ^
Honestly! My first thought was that I didn't know we HAD a JV team! You're not that gottdam Oracle of Delphi; just take the extra second and type the names out!
December 18th, 2020 at 12:48 PM ^
This is totally a pet peeve of mine. I am a daily reader of this blog and often see initials that I have no idea who is being discussed. Spell out the name please.
December 18th, 2020 at 1:48 PM ^
Spell things out days the guy with SMFH as a user name.
December 18th, 2020 at 12:02 PM ^
That was you taking video through her peephole!
December 18th, 2020 at 12:06 PM ^
Hey, can you relay a message to Mrs. Verlander? Does she ever get bored? And what's she doing Saturday night?
December 18th, 2020 at 7:08 AM ^
The rise and fall of Don Brown.... for the first two years he was toast of the town, now he's riding RR public approval.
Great guy, very good DC, just not at this level.... I believe.
December 18th, 2020 at 7:33 AM ^
That 2016 defense was good enough to make a playoff run, we just left them on too many short fields in Columbus (and they still almost won it)
December 18th, 2020 at 8:11 AM ^
Speight's two picks killed us in that game.
December 18th, 2020 at 8:16 AM ^
Speight's funky collarbone killed that game. Dude couldn't throw the ball more than 20 yards from where he was standing...
December 18th, 2020 at 8:27 AM ^
The hands to the face penalty killed us. It set up Speights int deep in our end instead of driving for a double digit lead over midfield.
its not the spot that upsets me as much as the blatant bias throughout the game. We win by three scores if that game is called evenly.
December 18th, 2020 at 8:54 AM ^
Are you referring to the Mason Cole penalty on the screen to De'Veon Smith that went inside the 20 yd line? The play that would put us in range to go up three scores and end the game? That was indeed the shitty call that changed the game.
December 18th, 2020 at 8:55 AM ^
The PI on Delano Hill when the ball was 20 yards over the WR's head on 3rd down is the killer for me.
There are so many scenarios where if one thing was different that game, we win.
December 18th, 2020 at 9:06 AM ^
2-3 No calls for blatant PI on different 3rd downs. One in which Darboh literally gets high-low tackled by the safety and corner.
2016 Game should have an asterisk next to it.
December 18th, 2020 at 9:15 AM ^
Somewhere around there is when Peppers got absolutely blindsided after the whistle, right in front of the referee. No call...
I can't really blame Harbaugh for checking out after that game...
December 18th, 2020 at 9:53 AM ^
That no call was on Mike fucking cuntbag Weber. You know the guys whose ass was rubbed by the ref after his great play.
December 18th, 2020 at 3:32 PM ^
I can. He's getting paid a ton of money not to...
December 18th, 2020 at 11:32 AM ^
The blatantly missed one on Grant Perry made me throw my remote. Fuck those refs.
December 18th, 2020 at 9:09 AM ^
The non-call on obvious pass interference in OT that caused M to settle for a field goal instead of auto-first and goal...
Many others... Just a total screw job.
December 18th, 2020 at 11:37 AM ^
The PI on I think Delano (or Peppers?) where the ball was 10 yards over the receivers head...
December 18th, 2020 at 11:36 AM ^
I assume you're talking about the penalty on Mason Cole on the long De'veon screen? When De'veon ran that like 30 yards downfield I thought 'omg we might actually win this'....then the flag came out. A penalty taken that was completely unnecessary and really added no yards to De'veon's run.
Brutal. Brutal brutal brutal
December 18th, 2020 at 10:00 PM ^
Those refs are corrupt wether bias or paid. They should be banned from officiating.
December 18th, 2020 at 11:57 PM ^
I've got one... the play before "JT was short" THREE separate holds/blocks in the back on Samuel's twisting, change-of-direction run. Should've been 3rd and 19 from about the 35... with a FG kicker who'd missed two short ones already.
December 18th, 2020 at 12:02 PM ^
If Speight was healthy...blouses.
We win by a margin. But here we are...sigh.
December 18th, 2020 at 9:19 AM ^
Let’s not forget that OSU lost 31-0 in the playoffs that year. Michigan was a good team that year, but still way behind the top team.
December 18th, 2020 at 9:34 AM ^
We should also recognize that the 2016 team was a Brady Hoke squad and Michigan's overall team quality has steadily declined since then.
December 18th, 2020 at 10:32 AM ^
Yup and Hoke won the Sugar Bowl with Rich Rod’s.
Successes like what Hoke and Harbaugh had in their first years caused more harm than good. If Harbaugh gets to the playoffs in his first year that changes it. But expectations were super low after Hoke. The expectation was in 3 years there may be a possibility of getting into the playoffs, not year 1. That completely changed the expectations and there was zero patience for a rebuild. A career ending injury to the foundational LT cratered the ability to maintain that level of play.
Also Drevno was bad and Harbaugh should have kept Jedd.