FANSIDED: 5 things we have learned from Michigan Football fall camp
From Chris Peterson of FANSIDED:
McNamara is the consummate leader. He’s exactly what you want in a quarterback..... he’s still getting better.... As much as McCarthy is getting better, Cade is too....
I’ve come to the point where I see McNamara opening the season as the starter. As far as all 12 games, I don’t know yet but it wouldn’t surprise me.
The 2022 class of recruits is incredible.... Derrick Moore, Keon Sabb and Zeke Berry, Jimmy Rolder, Kenneth Grant and Mason Graham, Darrius Clemons, Colston Loveland, RB CJ Stokes....
What’s really crazy is that Michigan returns all of its top wideouts, plus Bell....
Every single player that is projected to start this season on the offensive line will play in the NFL. I’m confident of that....
LINK:
https://gbmwolverine.com/2022/08/21/michigan-football-5-things-learned-fall-camp/
I think he's right about everything, except maybe the prediction that every O Lineman will play in the NFL. But it would be great if he's right.
He's about as high on the 2022 class as I am. Mason Graham will likely be 1st Team All BIG10 by his junior year. And I'm probably the biggest fan of Darrius Clemons of everyone. I'm expecting he's a starter next year.
I'm thinking Michigan is going to be 12-0 or 11-1 this season. I know some predictions have them at 10-2, with losses to Iowa at Iowa, and Ohio St at Ohio St. I don't think Iowa will beat Michigan. People would point to the 2016 upset. But Iowa had very cold weather on their side in that game. It was the 13th man. That game was in the middle of November. This year the game is on October 1. There won't be the 13th man on the field for Iowa.
So that leaves the big one, Ohio St at Ohio St. It looks like Ohio St wants vengeance pretty badly over 42-27. But I'm not a believer in Ryan Day. He wasn't able to come up with answers against Oregon and Michigan. Yes, Ohio St beat Utah. But Utah had a lot of injuries to their DBs. And even with that Ohio st had to have a big 4th qtr to win--smh. One thing that stands out to me about Ryan Day was that blank look on his face near the end of the 2nd qtr of last years game Big Game. So I'm not as confident about automatically predicting Ohio St winning as so many people are. Of course, I'm a Michigan fan. So I just might be biased. But that blank look was very telling about Ryan Day.
Here's hoping for 12-0!
August 21st, 2022 at 1:23 PM ^
I’m excited. We should put up some points this year. It’s going to come down to how quickly the defense gets in gear. Maryland should be a decent test before that showdown in Iowa City.
August 21st, 2022 at 1:27 PM ^
I'm very excited about the season but beyond this season will depend on a lot of things.
Winning alone isn't enough... And it pisses me off that all this money is in the system and the sports biggest revenue generating team isn't doing more.
Who would want to coach this team for long if things don't change? The playing field is already so unfair.
August 21st, 2022 at 7:06 PM ^
The fuck does money have to do with our upcoming season? Seems like you're whining just to whine.
August 22nd, 2022 at 8:01 AM ^
Chill out - They brought in a rotational, game ready DL and just signed a very talented DE/OLB who can play immediately. Both of these players should be considered "recruits".
On top of that they have a smaller recruiting class but it will end up within the top 15 and potentially top 10.
On top of THAT they have a new President coming in who has shown he's not only a top academic but a sports fan.
Change will be coming, but its not as much of a dire situation as you are laying it out to be.
August 21st, 2022 at 1:29 PM ^
As much as I am a fan and believer in JJ. I’m very excited to hear about Cade. Competition brings out the best to those who respond positively about it. To me. I’m going to look for Cade to cut down on the ‘missed’ opportunities that Devin seemed to point out weekly. We have a deep and dangerous WR room. Unleash the talent on everyone!
I do believe that our OLine is that good and a single biggest reason why we will be 11-0 heading into Columbus
As for the class of 22…..
trust the coaches on talent evaluation…..
very excited for this season!!
August 21st, 2022 at 7:11 PM ^
As for the class of 22…..
trust the coaches on talent evaluation…..
You don't really have to "trust the coaches" here. It was a top 10 class and everyone is raving about the top talent we snagged. There is no "trust" needed at this point. The class is already getting hype about several players contributing/getting playing time this year on a loaded roster.
August 21st, 2022 at 1:29 PM ^
At my age and experience with Michigan football, let’s just take games one at a time and enjoy the wins along the way.
August 21st, 2022 at 4:57 PM ^
Last year I had zero expectations for every game. This was a very enjoyable way to approach the year. I wanted them to win but kept my expectations in check
August 21st, 2022 at 5:55 PM ^
As an undergrad in the early aughts, we expected to win every game. What a stressful existence.
August 21st, 2022 at 1:41 PM ^
McNamara is the starter until he’s not. He’sa very good leader for this team and did great last year. McCarthy is more talented and has a higher ceiling. He has a very good opportunity to start, though.
We’re in unknown territory with the program right now. Michigan getting that monkey off their back with their rival and winning a conference championship. I’m very curious to see how the team, and coaches, handle as reigning conference champs and the talent they have coming back. I’m also interested in seeing how the defense performs without Ojabo and Hutchinson on the line.
If this defense is truly as good as advertised and this offense is a talented group that’s been touted, I can see another 11 win season. I expect that the floor is 9-3 and the ceiling to be 12-0.
August 21st, 2022 at 7:00 PM ^
I'm stuck somewhere with time to kill so I'm going to throw up a shit post.
A person's upside/talent/potential is a far more complex concept than is given credit, in my opinion.
Most of the time people seem to mean pure athleticism when they refer to talent but, in my opinion, intangible skills are talents too.
The willingness to prepare, the ability to keep one's cool under adversity - in such traits, I believe that we neither start out life at the same starting line nor finish at the same finish line. Athletes such as Antonio Brown and Nick Krygios come to mind; compare to Tom Brady, for ex. It's not as simple as flipping a switch.
- someone who has been described as an underachiever most of my life but of the view that I actually lack some of the talent that others have who better achieve their "potential"
August 21st, 2022 at 1:42 PM ^
I predict PAIN on opposing defensive units.
August 22nd, 2022 at 12:03 AM ^
And the lamentations of women?
August 22nd, 2022 at 12:29 AM ^
Yes, that is best in life.
August 21st, 2022 at 1:47 PM ^
The OL statement, which I agree with, is one of the keys to why I have such high expectations this season. I would add Barnhart as the 1st option off the bench could very well make an NFL roster someday.
When you look at the talent at our skill positions combined with this line we should be putting up points with big play capability.
Please don’t handicap this talent with predictable play calling.
August 21st, 2022 at 3:54 PM ^
I think the biggest question mark facing our offense this season isn't the QB battle but what the play calling will be like. With the skill position talent, good experienced QB play, & an excellent O-Line running the ball between the tackles 30+ times per game would be a let down.
August 21st, 2022 at 11:38 PM ^
QB play will be better this year. Cade improved so much and and JJ changes the run game.
Either way play calling should be more aggressive with this skill set and experience.
August 22nd, 2022 at 4:13 PM ^
"JJ changes the run game"
I keep hearing this, and even Harbaugh has said it during interviews, but I don't really get it. Would the threat of him running not change the passing game as much or more than it changes the run game?
On a fake handoff, the LB's and safeties still have to respect him as a runner for a beat, which it seems would give our WRs and TEs a step before they can commit to coverage.
August 25th, 2022 at 7:22 PM ^
There was a great analysis done here during the RR years that basically showed you don't really need your QB to run a lot to get the advantage, you just need them to be a threat to run and it opens up the whole offense.
August 21st, 2022 at 7:34 PM ^
Or just running it too much even with our talent and us winning games 21-17 instead of 56-10
August 21st, 2022 at 10:23 PM ^
Exactly….When you win 21-17 you can lose because of a few plays or calls that don’t go your way.
There is nothing more frightening for a defense than an offense that stresses you with skill and ingenuity. Let the kids go play ball.
I’m not saying don’t play sound football. I think having a good running game protects your defense and wins games. If a good defense is selling out to stop the run, it does not matter if you are superior, you need to make those defensive calls pay with your talent.
The game of football is littered with losses where talent ran into a brick wall because of coaching.
August 21st, 2022 at 9:34 PM ^
Fear of predictable offense is the mental hobgoblin of the armchair quarterback. If Moore & company run on more than half of plays, that's probably a good thing because it means the running is effective.
August 21st, 2022 at 1:48 PM ^
I was looking at the O Line review in HTTV and our O Line depth looks impressive. Light years ahead of where we were 10 years ago.
August 21st, 2022 at 1:53 PM ^
Consider the source. Fansided is garbage. It pops up in my Apple News feed, and all it is is superficial fansite blah blah that echoes what everyone else is writing.
August 21st, 2022 at 3:09 PM ^
Need to correct your grammar. here’s how it’s done:
it is all…
superficial…..
fansite…..
blah blah blah…
August 21st, 2022 at 4:08 PM ^
You probably already know this, and you can block content from certain publications within Apple News (I did this with uproxx), it's a good way to balance out that signal to noise ratio a bit
August 21st, 2022 at 8:03 PM ^
Good to know... not knowing this I deleted Apple news a couple of years ago- I like my phone better without it...
August 21st, 2022 at 2:06 PM ^
I love the take on Cade. Many people seem to think that he was going to stay stagnant and not improve as well. With this schedule, they're isn't a reason for us not to open up the offense from the beginning and get these receivers going early.
As far as the defense, of course we lost a lot talent in the end positions and Dax. But at almost every other position the team has gotten better. And it's not like we aren't replacing those positions with talented players. The defense will come along by the time we get to Maryland and this team should be ready. Only caveats are the new Coordinators. But, truthfully, they should be good to go as well.
August 21st, 2022 at 2:15 PM ^
I am more jacked for the season to start than any year I can remember. Go Blue!
August 21st, 2022 at 2:45 PM ^
The 5 things:
1. QB battle continues
2. Program's humming
3. 2022 class is great
4. Ronnie Bell is great
5. OL is great
August 21st, 2022 at 11:55 PM ^
And Blake Corum might be the best running back in the country while Donovan Edwards might be the most dynamic overall play making running back in the country.
August 21st, 2022 at 2:58 PM ^
Definitely wanna see us move from championship team to championship program.
August 21st, 2022 at 3:45 PM ^
Consummate v’s
August 21st, 2022 at 3:49 PM ^
Two words: AIR RAID
August 21st, 2022 at 10:16 PM ^
AIR RAID!
Fry like bacon, little freshman piggies!
August 22nd, 2022 at 6:54 AM ^
Love the new avatar
August 22nd, 2022 at 9:40 PM ^
Eh--the original did nothing for me. Yeah, the 3D effects and the c.g.i were great but everything else-- the plotting, the dialog, the characterizations--was so weak.
August 21st, 2022 at 3:57 PM ^
If I'm understanding SpaceCoyote on his twitter feed correctly, the simplified version of what OSU's defense is is the line and linebackers are there to eat up blockers and Knowles puts a lot of pressure on himself to call the play that has the perfect safety spot crashing down in the run game completely unblocked to make the tackle. If that's true, I like our chances on offense. I have confidence that Corum and Edwards can more than handle that one on one situation. Not exactly sure about the passing game for their d other than I believe it's got way more diversity in coverages than they've had lately. If I'm understanding SC correctly there will be a lot of post snap reads for Cade and/or JJ.
As for everything else said about Michigan, I'm stoked as all hell for this season. It really feels like Harbaugh has finally found the right mix of coaches to absolutely maximize what he gets out of his players. I haven't done the research on how the talent composite compares to other years, but the recruiting classes have seemed to be somewhat close to eachother in talent throughout his tenure with the exception of 2018. But 2018 was the first class that finished out under the tutelage of this new mix of coaches. BPONE still has me in the mindset of "cautiously optimistic" rather than all-out confidence but it's miles better than being in the "just waiting for the dong punch" mindset I had been in for years.
August 21st, 2022 at 7:52 PM ^
If I'm understanding SC correctly there will be a lot of post snap reads for Cade and/or JJ.
McNamara has been working on being a complete QB, which includes reading before the snap, under center, and after the snap. QBs have their plate full. But I don't think McNamara will be caught unawares with coaches like Matt Weiss and Jim Harbaugh around. I feel better about Matt Weiss than I did even about Jedd Fisch.
There's a great video from Kurt Warner about post snap adjustments. He looks at Mac Jones' last year at Alabama. It's 17 minutes. Enjoy, if you have time:
August 21st, 2022 at 8:20 PM ^
Much appreciated good sir.
August 21st, 2022 at 4:11 PM ^
10-3
August 21st, 2022 at 4:30 PM ^
It wasn't the cold weather in Kinnick that beat Michigan in 2016. It was the greatest punting performance in the history of football. It was something absurd like five punts inside the 5, with one inside the 1 that led to the Safety. Michigan lost by 1.
An Iowa team led by Spencer Petras has no chance of beating Michigan. Even the magic of Kinnick at night is not powerful enough to overcome the shittiest starting QB in Iowa football history.
August 21st, 2022 at 6:21 PM ^
Kinnick's voodoo powers are kind of hard to figure out when Michigan comes to town. RichRod's second Michigan team (which finished tied for last place in the Big Ten) had a chance to win on the final drive at Kinnick in a night game but lost by 2.
In 2013 under Hoke, with inept offense as the season progressed, we were particularly abysmal in Iowa City managing just 87 yards on the ground and 98 through the air...yet we led for 95% of the game and ended up losing by 3.
2016 was pure Notre Dame Stadium voodoo like bullshit at Kinnick. Not just with the punt stopping at the 1 yard line but a batted interception landing perfectly into an Iowa defender's hands who wasn't even trying to grab it.
I...don't....like...playing there. You almost expect it at this point that both sides will look like crap, with some of the worst offense you'll ever watch in a football game with Iowa pulling out a 2 point win in the final minutes. What I would LOOOOVE to see is what Purdue did to them last year. Go in there, punch them in the mouth immediately and leave no doubt the rest of the game who's going to win.
August 21st, 2022 at 10:40 PM ^
The BT Championship game was closer than the score for a while.
Phil Parker is an incredibly sound defensive coach. One of the best ever. We were just too good.
Petras is not barely a MAC talent QB but they schemed what could have been 17-21 points on misdirection before we shut it down. 17- 21 points can win at Iowa with the defense they have.
We need to trust our offense at Kinnick or we could set ourselves up for a fluke bullshit loss to a team that doesn’t belong on the same field.
August 22nd, 2022 at 12:07 PM ^
Found Phil Parker’s MGoBlog account.
I just re-watched the B1G Championship game and I have to disagree with your assessment.
Michigan’s offense struggled on the first drive, then Blake Corum ran 63 yards for a TD on the second drive to put the good guys up 7-0, followed by a quick 3 and out for the Hawkeyes. 3rd drive? Donovan Edwards throws a dime to Roman Wilson for a ~75 yard TD. 14-0.
After an Iowa FG, Michigan went on to score the next 28 points for a 42-3 final. The game wasn’t ever “closer than the score.” LOL.
August 23rd, 2022 at 9:42 AM ^
Iowa’s offense was dogshit. They schemed some drives but we adjusted and shut them down. The amount of pressure that put on Iowa’s defense was brutal.
Many of our successful plays were contested.
August 21st, 2022 at 5:28 PM ^
Iowa doesn't have the fire power. They don't have the steady hand or the technology to pull off a procedure like that. So ha! Peace!!
August 21st, 2022 at 7:33 PM ^
Any comment on Will Johnson? Strange that he is our highest rated and was the most hyped recruit last year and he wasn’t mentioned?
August 21st, 2022 at 8:12 PM ^
That's why I stated 50-1 odds to win title with a hedge of the OSU game, is a very favorable bet.
August 21st, 2022 at 8:59 PM ^
Bring a lot of maize and blue to cover up those pink walls in Iowa. I hate that place. It's like getting a root canal every time they play there.