Exit Je'Ron Stokes
Wide receiver gets even more frightening next year:
Michigan junior receiver Je'Ron Stokes is no longer with the program, athletic department officials confirmed today.
Stokes was a touted recruit out of Philadelphia who decommitted from Tennessee in favor of Michigan after Phil Fulmer got axed, but he hardly played in his tenure. He would have been a senior next year.
Speaking of next year, here's the WR depth chart:
- Darryl Stonum
- Roy Roundtree
- Jeremy Jackson
- Jerald Robinson
- Jeremy Gallon
- Drew Dileo
Actually, that's not too bad. Michigan was probably going to grab two wide receivers in this class anyway but now they absolutely have to.
Meanwhile, remember those concerns Michigan might have to push some guys out after the season to make room for the horde of new recruits? Yeah… never mind. Michigan's at 23 open slots right now with a few fifth years who are obvious candidates not to return. At this point 27 or 28 is more likely than 26.
August 23rd, 2011 at 11:53 AM ^
Boom: Hoke'd
August 23rd, 2011 at 11:55 AM ^
It's really clever for Brian to phrase this in such a way as to give the impression he wasn't the main individual at MGoBlog who was pushing those "concerns" in the first place.
August 23rd, 2011 at 11:56 AM ^
I'm pretty sure he wasn't. It came up over the weekend when the 26 member class was brought up by the coaching staff, and plenty of people commented on it before Brian mentioned it. And Brian merely said it was something to keep an eye on going forward, not to worry about when signing day was 6 months away,
August 23rd, 2011 at 12:10 PM ^
That was Tim, not Brian. While Brian was on his honeymoon Tim wrote something implying Brian's reaction would be even stronger than his. It wasn't true.
August 23rd, 2011 at 12:12 PM ^
Two weeks of frequent sex and foie gras will do that to a man.
August 23rd, 2011 at 12:24 PM ^
Especially when they are coupled.
August 23rd, 2011 at 6:27 PM ^
August 23rd, 2011 at 12:53 PM ^
Nice try, but no. This is Brian's post from August 1:
"Pace and Teric Jones got sent to St. Saban Memorial."
This was an attempt to insinuate that Hoke is engaging in the same underhanded roster practices that Saban and the rest of the SEC do.
August 23rd, 2011 at 1:11 PM ^
It didn't take some anti-Hoke conspiracy to look at 14 seniors, 2 left over scholarships, and maybe 4 5th year seniors to be not invited back and then look at plans to sign 26 and go "ummmm?" Especially in light of this site's crusade against over-signing.
But sure, take one statement presented in a toung-and-cheek manner out of a whole post that said "meh, probably not a big deal," and turn that into Brian creating the concerns.
August 23rd, 2011 at 1:17 PM ^
August 23rd, 2011 at 1:29 PM ^
This disappearing act is sure to draw the ire of Brian, the resident oversigning watchdog (that post is his "final" word on the topic... from more than three years ago). The point is that when signing a big class - or in this case, aiming to sign one - you're actively hoping some guys currently on your roster will not make it through their four years. That puts you in a sketchy-feeling gray area at best.
Of course, there have been hints going back to Rodriguez that Christian Pace's injuries could be career-threatening (and Teric Jones's knee injury did indeed look terrible, etc.), so maybe we're confusing the cause and effect in Hoke's statements about signing a full class? Pace, at the very least, seemed like he would be a contributor if healthy, so there's far less motive to push him out.
Fairly or not, it still gives off the feeling that Michigan is striding away from its moral high ground on the issue. Brian is certain to feel much more strongly about this, so brace yourselves for his wrath when he returns.
August 23rd, 2011 at 1:52 PM ^
if Don is right.......nobody cares.
August 23rd, 2011 at 6:58 PM ^
...where, exactly, is the implication that stokes is in any way related to the entire medical hardship / scholarship issue?
if not, the "st saban memorial" reference isn't relevant.
August 23rd, 2011 at 12:49 PM ^
I've been reading Brian since the Season of the Horror, and after the first year or saw read comments from veterans that Brian does have peaks and valleys to his emotions, and that if you just wait long enough for the facts to come out, Rational Brian will correct Irrational Brian eventually. And my impression is that Brian's writing wouldn't be entertaining at all if irrational Brian didn't exist. And so it goes with all of us.
August 23rd, 2011 at 1:22 PM ^
I thought Tim brought it up, but even if not it was definitely still a concern. I remember when Hoke started to bring in the two-a-week recruits that people started to wonder what the future held considering the likely number of spots left.
August 23rd, 2011 at 11:54 AM ^
Best of luck to him in future endeavors. But we'll be ok, we have enough slot ninjas as is. Time to get some size at wideout.
August 23rd, 2011 at 11:59 AM ^
I'm pretty sure Stokes was bringing up the average height of our Wide Recievers. He was one of the true outside guys instead of a slot ninja.
August 23rd, 2011 at 1:18 PM ^
Stokes is over 6 foot and was supposed to be fast enough to stretch defenses. Really bummed about him. I thought he would be coming off the bench frequently this year with a possible starting position next year.
August 23rd, 2011 at 11:54 AM ^
I had high hopes for Stokes. Wish him well. I wonder where he was at on the depth chart?
August 23rd, 2011 at 11:54 AM ^
Any reason why...? Voluntary or 'Get the heck outta here ya bum!'
August 23rd, 2011 at 11:57 AM ^
Sometimes people just make life-changing decisions that are nobody's business but theirs and their family.
August 23rd, 2011 at 12:29 PM ^
... not since the advent of blogging.
August 23rd, 2011 at 2:39 PM ^
i developed a simliar way to remember this rule as VERB+Affect = VERBA, who played guard for the packers, who i don't even like, but i could remember his name.
August 23rd, 2011 at 11:56 AM ^
One of the last WR candidates that I would have expected to transfer.
August 23rd, 2011 at 12:02 PM ^
Huh? The guy's a true junior with sparse playing time in the past two years and, given the reports coming out of practice, little chance of playing this year. If he wants to play football, and we can assume he does, his opportunities are probably better elsewhere.
August 23rd, 2011 at 2:07 PM ^
The change of offensive style/receiving focus may have something to do with his success or joy in playing beyond size or slot vs. wide. In the DetNews article about the receiving corps (where Je'Ron is name is already absent) Borges is quoted as saying:
August 23rd, 2011 at 2:42 PM ^
will actually block LESS this year than last year.
August 23rd, 2011 at 8:03 PM ^
The recivers had to block all the time last year
August 23rd, 2011 at 11:57 AM ^
This really just results in us being able to pull in another Top 20 guy this year with a high ceiling that is excited for the opportunity to play for Michigan. While Stokes is able to pursue his dream of the NFL at a school that will give him a shot. All win in this scenario.
August 23rd, 2011 at 12:00 PM ^
I thought we'd see a lot of Je'Ron this year. He seemed to have a decent spring game and appeared frequently in the practice videos.
August 23rd, 2011 at 1:01 PM ^
I kept hearing his name.
I am guessing he passed Stokes on the dept chart.
August 23rd, 2011 at 11:59 AM ^
Not tight butthole. Not tight butthole at all.
August 23rd, 2011 at 12:01 PM ^
So many transfers. Not necessarily a bad thing for us, but I hate to see kids leave the program like this.
August 23rd, 2011 at 1:12 PM ^
Does the (new) APR become a concern at some point?
August 23rd, 2011 at 1:29 PM ^
AFAIK they'd need to leave while ineligible to play to take a toll at the APR
August 23rd, 2011 at 3:32 PM ^
I think it's still a hit if they leave while in good academic standing, but it's especially damaging if they haven't made appropriate progress toward degree.
August 23rd, 2011 at 12:02 PM ^
Its like if he and Stonum had swapped schollies, I'd rather have Stonum than Stokes next year, but he really (really) needs to keep his head straight this year (please God!)
Goodbye and good luck Je'Ron, jeez, saying goodbye is hard
August 23rd, 2011 at 12:04 PM ^
Soooooooo that whole "no attrition" for Hoke (blessed be thy name) thing is now a complete bullshit meme right? Ok, just so we're all clear.
August 23rd, 2011 at 12:07 PM ^
Was that a thing in the first place? I mean, fewer guys jumped ship right away, but did anyone expect there to be no attrition? Just curious.
August 23rd, 2011 at 12:19 PM ^
Also we're not losing starts or heirs apparent (Mallet). We've been losing guys who were buried on the depth chart under RR and look to be buried under the new regime. I figure getting a new regime made people rethink their spot on the depth chart and go "Hey wait I've been warming the bench for one or more years and that trend does not appear to be changing...time to bail".
It sucks Stokes didn't pan out, good ranking, good height, it seemed like he had the tools.
August 23rd, 2011 at 12:39 PM ^
To be fair, didn't Mallet have one foot out of the door before Lloyd left?
August 23rd, 2011 at 12:42 PM ^
out the door before Lloyd left.
August 23rd, 2011 at 12:58 PM ^
No it was only one foot. But he had his weed stuffed in the shoe on that foot, so there wasn't any doubt he'd follow that foot.
August 23rd, 2011 at 7:41 PM ^
We'll never know exactly what went down, but Mallett did not transfer until about a month after the coaching change (and about six weeks after Carr announced his retirement). I don't read that as him being completely sold on transferring all along.
August 23rd, 2011 at 12:34 PM ^
There was definitely some talk around Spring practice that no one had transferred because the new staff had energy and enthusiasm and was handling the process better than the old staff had.
Can't remember specifically if people were talking about it here, but they definitely were on the Rivals site, for example.
August 23rd, 2011 at 12:15 PM ^
Was it Hoke or that Stokes wasn't going to get playing time? Sounds like the latter.
August 23rd, 2011 at 12:32 PM ^
Honest question:
Are you more concerned about being right or seeing Michigan football succeed? If it's the former, you're going to be completely unbearable over these next few years.
August 23rd, 2011 at 12:39 PM ^
I find all of the talk about how this staff "gets it" and "understands Michigan" etc. completely unbearable too, but people only ever get mad at His Dudeness.
August 23rd, 2011 at 12:46 PM ^
I have no problem whatsoever with dissent and honest questioning. It's the "I told you so" every time anything mildly negative happens that doesn't offer anything constructive.
If you want to do some analysis that shows that Michigan's attrition this year is much higher than what's typical for coaching changes, then that's interesting, relevant stuff. Waiting until bad things happen (losses, transfers, decommitments, etc.) just so you can rub it in is childish and unhelpful.
August 23rd, 2011 at 12:51 PM ^
I just never thought it made sense to assume that it would be lower than typical for a coaching change, and I do think there were people saying that.
I mean, yeah, I think His Dudeness has been abrasive lately, but I do understand where he's coming from. Every time there's a coaching change, people tend to adopt the "this coaching staff gets it in ways that the previous, unsuccessful staff never did!" narrative, which can get a little annoying.
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