Mailbag! Wedges Banned! Yukon Cornelius!

all of these questions about young players on the defense add up to the hope that we have bodies to move around and flexibility if one or more of them don't develop as hoped.  kind of hoping we're seeing the beginning of the end of the decimated defense.

Man, what kind of black and white world does the letter writer live in if he cant discern a difference between what Saban is doing and what Rodriguez and countless others do with going the medical RS route after a freshman played some in an opening game or two?

1). I usually frown upon any Christmas discussion before Thanksgiving ("Smokey, this is not 'Nam. This is Christmas creep. There are rules."), but because the analogy is apt and I am so happy to see that someone else has realized the massive ecological disaster wrought by Hermie (and learned his last name) that I am totally on board with this.  The good news is, Bumbles bounce.

2). Just as a reminder, please, no Christmas music before Thanksgiving.  Seriously.  Please.  Seriously.

Unless Cam finds some hidden speed or an incoming freshmen comes in as a complete Stud, I just don't see Wolfolk playing anything other than FS. At corner we have athletes who are just lacking experience, which won't be as big a problem next year. We'll have three sophomores (who have all played this year) fighting for one spot. At FS we have athletes who lack experience and/or speed. The more I watch Cam the more I realize he's just not fast enough to play that position. Let Wolfolk play FS and now you have younger players learning under an experienced Sr. who's actually pretty good.

It also bears clarifying for the person asking about Gardner and making the Saban reference that the only thing a "medical redshirt" and a "medicatl hardship scholarship" have in common is the word "medical."  They are apples and bricks.  The medical redshirt simply allows the player to take the year as his redshirt year even if he's played a little early on, leaving him four years of eligibility.  The hardship scholarship permits a school to keep a kid on scholarship even though he suffered a career-ending injury and can no longer hold up the "play football" part of his scholarship requirements. 

(I realize most posters here now this, but I think the person asking the question did not, and I think Brian glossed over it because it's been discussed.)

So does the M defense like pork, too?  They're pretty hungry.  I'm hopin' they find some running around Hapless Valley.

 You are supposed to end with:

"Yep, these are my readers."

i know the answer to this question before I even ask it but...how do we not walk into the living room/high school/whatever of a highly touted CB/S flash them a depth chart and that not be it for the recruitment. Its puzzling that we aren't rolling in these recruits right now. Nationally recognized brand name, great TV coverage, great tradition, program on the right track, instant playing time. goofy, really.

Another Byron Moore reference. Two actually. By Brian himself. 

Tease me all day long with that one. I don't mind.

Again, Brian, medical hardship applications are reviewed by the team's conference, not the NCAA.

http://www.hornetsports.com/assets/compliance/2009-10%20NCAA%20Manual.pdf

139 (it's highlighted)

1) love the Rudolph analogies - but the defense is more like the misfit toys.  Hybrids.  Stubby legs.  Ezeh.

2) I would expect that the NCAA is going to require a little more medical basis for a medical redshirt than a wonky back that allows him to practice (which hopefully by now is documented on the CARA forms).  It seems that the granted medical redshirts involve season ending tears and breaks.   Unless the process is far more lax than I am aware of, just don't see the medical records backing up the granting of the extra year in this situation.

3) Is there a reason why Gardner could not just take a redshirt next year.  With Tate seemingly out of the dog house, couldnt Gardner just not take snaps next year and accomplish the same thing?

They play in the SEC, by God!  That's the best football in the country.  Hell it's the best in the world.  It's the best!  They're faster and hit harder!  Everyone on ESPN says so - and they're the world wide leader in sports.  Just ask them.  Wait... you don't have to ask them!  They'll tell you!  SEC  SEC  SEC!!!

... and that's why Alabama has more medical redshirts.

(any questions?)

I hope he can come back from his injury 100%.

Severe injuries and surgery do not always produce perfect results.

Laaaaaaaaaannnddd hooooooooooooo!

*licks pick axe*

I do see them bulking up Roh 20 or more pounds to play his natural postion Defensive End and moving Josh Furman to Roh's linebacker postions just so they could get that 4.3 speed out onto the field also I think they may move Cam Gordon to the spur because of his ability to tackle better than his pass coverage and he looks like a linebacker.  Kenny Demens will be the Middle Linebacker the only problem is who plays Free Safety?

I'd rather RR not ever be taking advantage of the system in this manner.  I'd say there are 2 possibilites:

1) Gardner is actually hurt.

2) Gardner is not actually hurt and is only saying he is so that he can get his redshirt.

Considering people were discussing the possibility of the second situation before any news of his injury was disclosed, the situation is slightly suspicious.  I hope it's the first situation (not that I want Gardner to be hurt or anything).  If it's the second, I would think considerably less of RR as it means he is asking players to lie.

before the end of the year Cornelius.

We shall see this saturday from what i have been hearing :-) should be crazy

i hope he is a true white assassin

I think there were some wires crossed in the discussion of "medical redshirts" and "medical hardships."  Those are two different things.  While I'm not a big fan of Rodriguez's handling of Gardner this year, he hasn't been asking physically capable players to beat it like Saban has.

Brian, you said that "you're not too concerned about skating the edges of NCAA rules when it doesn't have a negative impact on the student-athlete the entire enterprise is supposed to support."

Since the NCAA is already investigating Rich Rod and Michigan for failing to promote an atmosphere of compliance, are you worried that the NCAA might look at this as further proof of the charges, or that it might trigger its own investigation or sanctions?

Inside the link that talks about the banning of the wedge was also mention of banning eye black with messages. I was wondering where all the area codes and John 3:16 's went to.

I have a feeling we're going to get Moore (guaranteed 3 years starting at FS at a good academic school) and having a back 3 of Woolfolk, Floyd and Moore who can all play zone or man to man would be amazing. I really think we're going to see a shuffle of everyone else from SS to DE but I think that while they'll be moving (once again) they'll be moving to a better spot suited for their skills. I understand that shuffling players normally means they have to re-learn the playbook and tons of problems but I think that these shifts would move the guys to positions that they are better suited at, which means in a game feel more natural at.

So if we get Moore and Woolfolk comes back (healthy that is) I think you see Woolkolf be CB #1, Floyd CB #2, and Moore at FS. Cam then moves down to SS because he is fast enough to cover most TE's in the Big 10 (not counting ND as Big 10) and because he is strong at coming down into the run game. Kovacs then gets moved to the Spur position where he should have been all along if we had depth. Kovacs is like Omameh where he excels if he's allowed to do what he's good at. Kovacs is amazing at darting in between big OL and grabbing the RB around the ankles. The nice thing about the Spur is that it plays on the weakside, which means most of the time Kovacs will not be run at, where a OL can crush him (see MSU). Also, instead of having to cover a WR deep he'll be responsible mostly for RBs, FBs, TEs, H-Backs, etc. who are slower and normally not tall (except TEs except that the Big 10 seems to like 6'1 TEs). Sure you're moving Kovacs but into a more natural position.

Then I think the LBs are going to be Demens and then no idea. I think we'll see a rotation at the OLB spot based on who we play. I really wish we could move Roh down but then who would be Spur. Wilkins? Too slow (and big?). Kinard? He'd be a freshman. Herron? RS JR and hasn't done much besides a few plays at the beginning of the year. Maybe Hawthorne but if anything he's more of a Bandit type. Bell? Maybe. But he came in as a S and I think he's going to be our starting OLB. That is unless we get an elite 5 star LB like Tony Steward, which we won't.

The nice thing about this defense is that once you have depth you can really substitute in players that fit the offensive scheme better. For example, if playing Wisconsin we can go to a "heavy" lineup that has Wilkins (or another big DE), Martin, and RVB upfront, with Roh, Bell, Demens and Kovacs playing the LB & combo positions, leaving C. Gordon back at SS. However if we're playing an IU or NW or Purdue we can go with a lighter and faster team that would have a front 3 of Roh, Martin and RVB, a middle 4 of Hawthorne (but now at Bandit not Spur like before), Furman, Bell, and Marvin Robinson. We'd basically have 4 ex-HS safeties sit behind our front 3 covering short zones. The athletic combination of these 4 would allow any single one of them to blitz or cover a slot WR without needing to substitute anyone. That would leave the back 4 of Woolfolk, Floyd, Moore and C.Gordon or Kovacs concentrating on the cover-3 or cover-4 and not let anyone behind them.

What's particularly amazing about having a Bandit-MLB-OLB-Spur combination of Hawthorne, Bell, Furman and Robinson is 1. we would have no more problems with LBs being too slow to drop back into zone coverage, 2. they all were known in HS for being amazing hitters (besides Furman), 3. they would be the most athletic defense I've ever seen (not just Michigan) and no way does any team besides OSU have a spread offense with more athleticism than these 4 and 4. we don't need to bring in Avery, Talbott, or Christiansen into the game.

Don't care for Sam the Snowman because he wears a sweater vest.