Fall Roster Overanalysis 2015! Comment Count

Seth

They handed out the new phonebooks at yesterday's presser, and the internet managed to captured a shot of them before Steve Martin made off with the lot:

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You'll have to click for big. But I've already updated the master spreadsheet with all of it. Remember the rules: all weight gain is burley muscle that won't slow them down AT ALL, and all weight loss is a guy in the best shape of his life who's going to do crazy fast things as his new svelte self.

TO THE SPREADSHEETS!

Quarterbacks
Player 2012 2013 Fall 2014 Spring 2015 Fall 2015 12 to 13 13 to 14 14 to 15
Jake Rudock         203      
Shane Morris   201 204 209 208   +3 +4
Wilton Speight     234 235 239     +5
Zach Gentry       230 244      
Alex Malzone       218 222      
John O'Korn         209      
Running Backs
Player 2012 2013 Fall 2014 Spring 2015 Fall 2015 12 to 13 13 to 14 14 to 15
Drake Johnson 203 213 211 207 210 +10 -2 -1
De'Veon Smith   224 220 228 228   -4 +8
Derrick Green   240 220 234 225   -20 +5
Ty Isaac     225 240 228     +3
R.Taylor-Douglas     189 186 193     +4
Karan Higdon       190 189      
Joe Kerridge 244 238 244 249 248 -6 +6 +4
Sione Houma 221 231 242 243 242 +10 +11 -
Wyatt Shallman   237 239 244 245   +2 +6
Bobby Henderson   227 236 240 245   +9 +9
Receivers
Player 2012 2013 Fall 2014 Spring 2015 Fall 2015 12 to 13 13 to 14 14 to 15
Amara Darboh 218 212 211 216 215 -6 -1 +4
Jehu Chesson 183 196 197 207 200 +13 +1 +3
Jaron Dukes   190 197 204 204   +7 +7
Da'Mario Jones   192 196 199 195   +4 -1
Drake Harris     176 174 181     +5
Freddy Canteen     176 185 182     +6
Maurice Ways     195 205 210     +15
Brian Cole       200 207      
Grant Perry       185 184      
Tight Ends
Player 2012 2013 Fall 2014 Spring 2015 Fall 2015 12 to 13 13 to 14 14 to 15
A.J. Williams 282 265 260 285 275 -17 -5 +15
Jake Butt   237 249 248 250   +12 +1
Khalid Hill   258 252 252 263   -6 +11
Henry Poggi   260 270 273 266   +10 -4
Ian Bunting     227 243 252     +25
Chase Winovich     220 227 235     +15
Tyrone Wheatley Jr.       260 291      
Offensive Line
Player 2012 2013 Fall 2014 Spring 2015 Fall 2015 12 to 13 13 to 14 14 to 15
Graham Glasgow 305 303 311 303 301 -2 +8 -10
Kyle Kalis 292 302 298 292 305 +10 -4 +7
Erik Magnuson 290 285 294 296 305 -5 +9 +11
Ben Braden 319 318 322 331 322 -1 +4 -
Blake Bars 282 291 294 281 290 +9 +3 -4
Patrick Kugler   287 299 297 302   +12 +3
David Dawson   297 296 309 316   -1 +20
L. Tuley-Tillman   300 290 309 302   -10 +12
Mason Cole     292 287 305     +13
J. Bushell-Beatty     319 319 325     +6
Grant Newsome       280 300      
Jon Runyan Jr.       275 304      
Nolan Ulizio       293 291      
Defensive Line
Player 2012 2013 Fall 2014 Spring 2015 Fall 2015 12 to 13 13 to 14 14 to 15
Ryan Glasgow 285 300 296 297 300 +15 -4 +4
Willie Henry 302 306 293 311 307 +4 -13 +14
Mario Ojemudia 223 250 251 252 252 +27 +1 +1
Chris Wormley 268 289 295 300 303 +21 +6 +8
Matthew Godin 270 280 286 287 288 +10 +6 +2
Tom Strobel 250 265 268 270 282 +15 +3 +14
Taco Charlton   270 275 273 285   +5 +10
Maurice Hurst Jr.   270 282 281 282   +12 -
Lawrence Marshall     241 238 250     +9
Bryan Mone     312 325 320     +8
Brady Pallante     263 276 280     +17
Shelton Johnson       225 212      
Reuben Jones       225 222      
Linebackers
Player 2012 2013 Fall 2014 Spring 2015 Fall 2015 12 to 13 13 to 14 14 to 15
R. Jenkins-Stone 206 225 234 240 245 +19 +9 +11
Allen Gant 196 212 223 225 227 +16 +11 +4
Desmond Morgan 230 228 232 236 244 -2 +4 +12
James Ross III 225 220 227 232 241 -5 +7 +14
Joe Bolden 224 225 231 232 237 +1 +6 +6
Mike McCray   237 241 242 240   +4 -1
Ben Gedeon   236 240 241 248   +4 +8
Dan Liesman   215 229 233 228   +14 -1
Noah Furbush     210 217 242     +32
Jared Wangler     219 230 231     +12
Safeties
Player 2012 2013 Fall 2014 Spring 2015 Fall 2015 12 to 13 13 to 14 14 to 15
Jarrod Wilson 195 200 205 210 210 +5 +5 +5
Jeremy Clark 191 205 205 205 210 +14 - +5
Delano Hill   205 205 204 212   - +7
Dymonte Thomas   190 193 191 195   +3 +2
Jabrill Peppers     202 205 208     +6
Tyree Kinnel       200 201      
Cornerbacks
Player 2012 2013 Fall 2014 Spring 2015 Fall 2015 12 to 13 13 to 14 14 to 15
Terry Richardson 154 167 170 174 175 +13 +3 +5
Wayne Lyons         197      
Jourdan Lewis   170 175 176 175   +5 -
C. Stribling   171 178 178 181   +7 +3
Reon Dawson   170 178 175 181   +8 +3
Brandon Watson     188 189 191     +3
Keith Washington       175 170      

[jump for items of interest and interest]

ITEMS OF INTEREST

AIEEEEEEE BUNTING! He gained another 9 lbs since spring, bringing him up to an absolutely plausible 6'7/252 skillet-handed nightmare. But I wonder if the tight ends were weighed after a super soaker fight; if so they nailed Ty Wheatley Jr. with the CPS 2000 because omigod dude is an offensive lineman-sized 291. That is 31 pounds more than he weighed as a recruit. Add the injury to 849.0 mL/s of high-pressure insult and a redshirt beckons. Khalid Hill was up to 270 in spring and shed 7 since then.

Speaking of the freshmen, they're big. Runyan is 304 (up 29 from his recruited weight), Newsome is 300 already (+20), and Gentry is 244 (+14). Kinnel, Higdon, Perry, Ulizio, Reuben Jones and Washington were relatively close to what the sites had them.

But Shelton Johnson, whom we're hoping they would turn into an SDE, is 13 pounds smaller than the already thin 225 they had him as a recruit. I saw Johnson outside the stadium when he visited last year, when he looked closer to his current listed weight or smaller. Unless they're playing him at safety this year I imagine he's redshirting. Reuben Jones is 222, likewise hopefully heading for a year of growing. John O'Korn is 11 pounds smaller than he was at Houston. Keith Washington is 6'2/170; I imagine he'll turn sideways and disappear for a year.

Annoying Cheese Commercial Difference: Noah Furbush is suddenly linebacker sized! He was 217 in spring and is now listed at 242, i.e. plausible playing weight for WLB or MLB. He was 240 in his recruiting profile, and checked in at 210 a few years ago, at which point our brains put him on a shelf till at least 2016. Since there's been no practice hype to go with it, the weight doesn't mean much except incremental hope for something on the current roster that's playable by 2017. That hope is important given the sketchy linebacker depth after Gedeon…

Okay so at least I made it past breakfast today without a long, Brady Hoke-induced sigh.

Line Gain 2000. Mason Cole is up 18 pounds, passing that 300 threshold with 5 to spare, which ought to help him be more of a factor in the run game. The 2012 and 2013 classes made that sophomore to junior gain: Kalis is also 305, up from 292 in spring. JBB is now the biggest guy on the team, at 325.

The DL depth also beefed up. The Lawrence Marshall is 250 thing is now on paper. Taco Charlton is up another 12 lbs to 6'6/285. That's three pounds more than Tom Strobel, who's now a DT-ish 282. Hurst and Godin had modest gains.

The starters however seem to have topped out. Willie Henry shed 4, down to 307. Wormley and Glasgow gained 3 lbs apiece. Ojemudia stood pat at 253.

Best shape of their lives: This is all probably good news. Derrick Green is down to 225, and Ty Isaac dropped 12 since spring. Braden is down 9, which for him has to be a good thing since he was at 331 in spring.

Position changes? Very few of note. Winovich and Poggi remained tight ends while Strobel is back to "DE" (not DT) and Pallante is back to "DL", the only one of that group not specified as a tackle or end. RJS is still a linebacker and at 245 it seems he's only as much of a defensive end as Jake Ryan was. They specified safety or cornerback and the stuff we heard from the student-only practice etc. didn't come out in the roster: Jeremy Clark is listed as a safety and Wayne Lyons is a cornerback. Canteen is still listed as a receiver. It's possible they haven't updated it but they did go through this since spring, when all the safeties and corners were listed at "DB".

Among walk-ons Joe Hewlett went from QB to RB and Jordan Glasgow is now a safety not an RB—please adjust your expectations from walk-on Anthony Thomas to walk-on Jordan Kovacs.* This was subtle but may be meaningful: Kenny Allen went from "P/K" to "K/P."

The Number Games: Here are the relevant ones:

IMG_2594
B-Will with my nephew's birthday gift.

 

  • Allen Gant 12 –> 14
  • Henry Poggi 7 –> 19
  • Desmond Morgan 48 –> 3
  • Brian Cole 81 –> 41
  • Chase Winovich 58 –> 44
  • Tom Strobel 50 –> 49
  • Ian Bunting 94 –> 89

Some of those are just defenders going to TE. I don't know what's up with Brian Cole. I liked having Bunting be a weird number; bah. The big news of course is, okay Morgan not being a Legends number anymore, but the BIG BIG news is Allen Gant had to move to 14 to make room for Aussie punter Blake O'Neill. That says Gant is playing on special teams, which isn't news. But it also means the streak of nobody since Brandon Williams playing an entire Michigan career as #12 continues. Gutierrez, Coner, JT Floyd, Karl Tech, Roundtree, and Gardner join Gant on the list of lost 12s.

Also Da'Mario Jones remains #10 despite that going to Gentry, which seems to suggest Gentry is at least redshirting. Sorry to all the Gentry at TE conspiracy theorists this disappoints.

Dan Liesman, who looked decent at linebacker in the spring game, is now wearing #54 (was #66). Kicker Kyle Seychel switched from 43 to 31, which was adopted by longsnapper Scott Sypniewski, who switched from 43; if all that means anything it could be Wormley is playing special teams.

Comments

Seth

August 28th, 2015 at 12:59 PM ^

WestWolverine I'm 35 with a 1 year old.

Ballers is the new show with The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) on HBO where he plays a retired Miami Dolphins DE who manages players' finances. In the show the Rock's good friend/client is a firecracker former USC slot receiver on the back end of his career who has always worn #18, but gets assigned #41 on the Dolphins (then has sex with #18's mom--don't watch this with your 2-year-old).

mich_hockey_6

August 28th, 2015 at 12:28 PM ^

"I wish I could that excited over nothin'!" (In my best Jackie Mason voice).

But for real, I'm as excited as Johnson, Navin R.

Poggi switched from 7 to 19 because of Morris. He is now Wilton's number. And Ty Isaac lost a lot of weight, right?

bronxblue

August 28th, 2015 at 12:36 PM ^

Wheatley is going to be on the defensive line, I assume, unless he loses a bunch of weight. And based on the depth at TE, that makes the most sense.

SpaghettiPolicy

August 28th, 2015 at 12:40 PM ^

Bunting has a real offense number. I always hated dudes rocking 90's as a TE. How tall is Shane really? I've seen 2 seperate comments on how he's smaller than his listed 6'3".

 

IDK about the whole Brian Cole to #41. I prefer either 0-19 or 80's for a WR.

93Grad

August 28th, 2015 at 1:19 PM ^

good, but that meme seems to hold even more true this year.  It seems like people you most wanted to gain weight (save maybe Drake Harris) did so, and those you most wanted to lose weight did as well. 

alum96

August 28th, 2015 at 1:51 PM ^

Furbush needed the weight but I am surprised at how many lbs they packed on these linebackers across the board in an era of more and more spread offenses.  Granted, very few spreads in the Big 10 but still these are some supersized LBs in an era when many play 230 or less in college.  Ross is going to look completely different too as his meme for 3 years was fast undersized dude who got run over if the DL didnt do its job.