Insider Practice Business
Joe Bolden hype comes in both unapproved and approved forms.
We had the fortune to get a practice report from a deeply anonymous person who wormed their way Inside The Fort, and here is what he or she or it reported, in my words:
Jabrill Peppers is mostly a nickel back but they are giving him a few experimental snaps at safety. While it seems like they are going to start him out there, as the season develops he may get more playing time when Michigan has four DBs on the field by taking that SS spot. Delano Hill's absence complicates things. He was leading at SS before he injured his jaw.
The alarming O-Line lineup tweeted out was at least temporarily a real thing. FWIW, that was Cole-Magnuson-Miller-Dawson/Glasgow-Braden. Kalis was not repping much with the first team. The slash-Dawson in that line above should be taken with a grain of salt—he looked another year or two away in one-on-ones.
That unit was not looking great even by early fall practice standards, so maybe they switch it up. Hoke told the assembled horde at Media Day that they hoped to settle on a top five by next week. They're still in experiment mode.
Jeremy Clark is your leader at SS with Hill sidelined. Brandon Watson is apparently #3 there until Hill gets back. Thomas did not get a mention.
Sigh… Joe Bolden seems to be for real. This is not bad for Michigan in general. It is bad for me because if Bolden starts the opener over a healthy Desmond Morgan I eat a lemon on the internet. But he's continued to get more time than Morgan. Jenkins-Stone is also getting a lot of time, but for whatever reason Ross was held out of this practice so that may be more about his absence than anything else.
Jourdan Lewis may be your best corner. He will push Taylor heavily; they're already splitting reps down the middle and Lewis is outperforming not only him but Countess.
Norfleet looked "f---ing great" and is the #1 slot. No, the insider is not me. I swear. Canteen is practicing both inside and out as they try to figure out their best configuration.
DeVeon Smith is the #1 back. Green and Hayes seemed running neck and neck for #2, with Drake Johnson the last serious competitor behind them. Hoke announced at media day that Johnson was 1b to Smith's 1a, so maybe they're seeing subtler things. Or Green is still on the motivation train.
While Ty Isaac looked pretty good, they're mostly running him with/against scrubs. That seems like an indicator they don't expect to get a waiver for him.
There is some zone read. FWIW. They ran zone read drills under Borges, too.
The defense is "crazy aggressive." They are serious about it, deploying a ton of press—just like the spring game—and using Peppers as a freelance sower of destruction on blitzes. Linemen are shifting frequently, giving the offensive line issues with pickups.
The defensive line should have good depth. Hurst and Wormley were both mentioned as seeming like starter-quality players, and the just-returned Pipkins was praised for his agility. He dominated one-on-one sessions and made some spin moves that seemed "impossible" for a guy his size. OL caveats apply.
Expect a lot of screens. Screens are the way you deal with a wobbly OL.
August 11th, 2014 at 1:45 PM ^
Man, I really hope you're right!
August 11th, 2014 at 1:04 PM ^
The idea of starting that line against the DLs of OSU and MSU gives me a sad.
August 11th, 2014 at 1:04 PM ^
"Jourdan Lewis may be your best corner. He will push Taylor heavily; they're already splitting reps down the middle and Lewis is outperforming not only him but Countess."
I have him as my breakout player this year. And at this point, I think Green's problem is strictly from a blocking standpoint.
August 11th, 2014 at 1:09 PM ^
the hype machine was running on all cylinders and now this. I have now toned down my expectations for the season to “realistic”
August 11th, 2014 at 1:11 PM ^
Do we assign blame to the coaching staff for the O-line woes?
August 11th, 2014 at 1:14 PM ^
Last season.
August 11th, 2014 at 5:18 PM ^
I feel this would have been appropriate. I was hoping that a new OL coach would come in with the new OC. However, hopefully the new OC has some input into OL coaching as well. Would hope everything would roll downhill, that the OC would have a reasonable idea of how OL are supposed to play and would help iron out coaching issues.
August 11th, 2014 at 1:17 PM ^
After they play, you know....an actual game.
August 11th, 2014 at 1:37 PM ^
I blame everything on adidas...
August 11th, 2014 at 3:10 PM ^
#thanksadidas
August 11th, 2014 at 1:48 PM ^
You'd have to decide which coaching staff, of course. And document actual "woes" for this staff (which have NEVER lost a game with this OL!)
August 11th, 2014 at 7:51 PM ^
Last October.
August 11th, 2014 at 1:14 PM ^
Aggressive defense?! The talent is there for that unit to be very impressive this season. Hopefully they can carry the team until the offensive line figures it out.
August 11th, 2014 at 1:36 PM ^
"A defense isn't good because they are aggressive, they are aggressive because they're good."
If Hoke and Mattison are really looking to be much more aggressive this year, then they are quite confident in the talent and depth on defense. That should be exciting for people.
On a sidenote about the SS position: there are things that can be simplified for the SS in terms of play on the field. Cover 1 Robber, Cover 3, etc. The safety still needs to be mentally prepared to help with communication on the back end, but if some of his technique is still rusty or inconsistant, there are ways within the defensive structure that the coaches can help mitigate some of those short comings to put them in better positions to succeed.
August 11th, 2014 at 4:31 PM ^
and I forgot how good he was. I think he was a huge part of the reason the defense was as good as it was. With Martin and VanBergen getting the line set up and Kovacs getting everyone in the back 7 in position, the players all just seemed to react, and Kovacs was so disruptive on blitzes and breaking up screens.
I'm hoping the veteren defense has some guys that can get everyone in the right position to just go.
August 11th, 2014 at 6:32 PM ^
August 12th, 2014 at 5:05 PM ^
He was put in that position because JT Floyd got suspended.
August 11th, 2014 at 1:16 PM ^
Great to hear about Jourdan Lewis and Dennis Norfleet. Lewis is competing with a lot of talent, and winning the competition.
The situation at OL and S frustrates me. I try to stay even-keeled when many start freaking out, but this is not good. If Miller is in the starting rotation, he better have improved a great deal since last year. Otherwise, I'd rather throw someone with upside into the mix so they develop. It's not like Miller was even average at blocking last season. If we have toss-ups in a crappy offensive line, we should be developing players with potential. Miller seemed to hit a low ceiling, but I hope that I'm wrong.
If we play aggressive defense we better figure this safety thing out.
Two achilles heels; one for each side of the ball; so much talent otherwise; please, please, please figure it out by B1G play.
August 11th, 2014 at 2:40 PM ^
that Miller most likely IS the starting center --but only for game 1 due to Glasgow's suspension. Therefore it makes a lot of sense for him to be with the 1s.
As much as I'd hoped we might see Kugler this year it seems much more logical that outside of an injury Miller will be the backup C with Kugler stepping into the starting or backup role in 2015.
August 11th, 2014 at 3:12 PM ^
when Miller committed he was supposed to be a not quite as talented Molk replica. Maybe he could be vastly improved in the last year and be a decent option.
August 11th, 2014 at 1:17 PM ^
The only thing I believe from Brian's "insider" info is that Bolden will start - if only to force Muppet Man to eat a lemon. $10 says he will welch.
August 11th, 2014 at 1:23 PM ^
August 11th, 2014 at 1:39 PM ^
August 11th, 2014 at 2:06 PM ^
August 11th, 2014 at 2:23 PM ^
August 11th, 2014 at 2:30 PM ^
They tried stretch, it didn't work.
They tried power (which they had practiced for three years), it didn't work.
They tried different configurations, it didn't work.
They tried inside zone, it worked marginally.
Pass pro, didn't work.
The interior guys simply didn't get the job done last year, for whatever reason. But they tried a lot more than just a power run game last year. If that's too much flipping around, too many schemes, not good enough coaching, not good enough players, whatever, it is what it is. But they certainly tried different things and got "gimmicky" at times.
August 11th, 2014 at 2:49 PM ^
August 11th, 2014 at 1:40 PM ^
August 11th, 2014 at 1:45 PM ^
August 11th, 2014 at 2:34 PM ^
And its progress towards the finish line can diminish early when otherwise it could place well. Have faith in Nuss. The line will play to finish, and the defense will win us our traditional 8 to 10 games. That is the best we can expect for this season. Happy to register more wins, of course.
August 11th, 2014 at 1:50 PM ^
August 11th, 2014 at 1:52 PM ^
Lots of screens with guys like Norfleet, Hayes and Canteen around doesn't bother me all that much, now that we have an offensive coordinator who will actually run the screen plays that make sense for that type of guy. 3-wides with the slot and Darboh or Chesson to one side as the blocking WR for a bubble, for example, seems like it would work pretty well.
August 11th, 2014 at 4:18 PM ^
He utilizes a lot of the same screens Borges did - his favorite WR screen is the tunnel screen - and will include some bubble screens and loves him some RB slow screens. One issue last year was that the OL struggled with timing on screens. That's why RB throwback screens or the tunnel screen (which only had the OTs releasing) were more heavily utilized. I'm guessing that with the trimmed down run blocking schemes, and fewer true pass pro schemes, that they've worked more on screen blocking this year.
FWIW, people are looking at way too literal of a definition for slot/outside receiver here. Nuss loves to invert his WRs for a variety of reasons, but you'll see a lot of "slot guys" coming from outside-in and things of that nature.
August 12th, 2014 at 9:41 AM ^
August 11th, 2014 at 1:57 PM ^
August 11th, 2014 at 5:24 PM ^
Hoke is not innovative in any facet of the game. He may be a great manager and motivator, recruiter, and love Michigan, but this team needs coaching and development. I'd like to see some results of the coaching he has been doing before saying I think he needs to stay. Hopefully this is the year things improve. I just hope if they do improve, it's not all just Nuss (at least on the offensive side)
August 11th, 2014 at 6:55 PM ^
August 11th, 2014 at 2:02 PM ^
News on the OL front is a little disconcerting but I'm gonna focus on the positive. I've been waiting for Fleet to get some clock on O and not predictable jet sweeps. One more weapon.
August 11th, 2014 at 2:40 PM ^
I think the best news that seems to be consistently coming out of fall practice is Pipkins' health and perfomance. We had no idea what we would get out of him after he was hurt and I think most would have been happy with him as a serviceable back-up at NT this year. If he can return to be not just solid but a force on the DL, that is absolutely huge.
August 11th, 2014 at 3:04 PM ^
Did anyone see the quote the other day where his weight is at 305 and he said his weight hasn’t been this low since middle school! That blew my mind for a NT. I have high hopes for him to dominate.
August 11th, 2014 at 3:14 PM ^
I saw that. Seems like great news. I was concerned he'd have trouble keeping his weight down with his injury. Having him at 100% and a healthy weight should be a big boost to the interior of our line.
August 11th, 2014 at 6:29 PM ^
August 11th, 2014 at 6:30 PM ^
August 11th, 2014 at 3:17 PM ^
SOMETHING seems wrong with the process - it seems like either poor talent evaluation, poor development, poor coaching, or some combination of those three. Is it time to start pointing fingers at Funk? I honestly don't know. I know that learning the offensive line position is difficult, but for the love of god, it's not like we're trying to teach these kids quantum physics, is it?! :-/
August 11th, 2014 at 3:59 PM ^
August 11th, 2014 at 4:09 PM ^
To me, the most significant marker for Funk will be how we end the season vs. how we start it. Last year, that seemed the most problematic indication--we seemed to make little, if any, progress during the year, which you would expect for a young line. If we start out poorly, I can live with that if we're solid by the end of the year. If not, then you have to start looking at the coaches, because it's no longer as simple as inexperience and youth.
August 11th, 2014 at 6:26 PM ^
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