Rumormongering: Burke Departure, Gardner WR Prospects Comment Count

Brian

A couple of good sources have passed along information about Michigan's hot topics du jour.

Trey-Burke-Michigan[1]rn_i_devingardner_ms_300[1]

On Trey Burke. This should not be a scenario like Harris or Morris where the player leaves for dim draft prospects. In Harris's case he wanted out no matter what; Morris had people in his inner circle pushing him into the draft.

Burke is not either of those guys. If the NBA does not tell him he is a first round lock, he'll be back. Since that doesn't seem in the cards—name the last one-and-done under six feet tall—Michigan should avoid the terrifying prospect of entering next year with no point guard at all.

On Devin Gardner. Someone who's seen Gardner at all of Michigan's practices so far says he's "instantly Michigan's best receiver and adds a new dimension to the offense." He's "crazy athletic" with "surprisingly great hands." The one complication for Gardner-to-WR is the situation at quarterback, where he's still the clear #2 option. Gardner is still taking all the second team QB reps.

/end inside info, begin speculation

A lot of people have been mentioning Woodson when talking about this when trying to guess how much playing time is reasonable for a guy who's still full time at a second position. He got 10-15 snaps a game on offense back in '97. Gardner may start at that level, but if it's crunch time and he's 6'5" with a city block catching radius…

Comments

jmblue

March 23rd, 2012 at 12:18 PM ^

Morris apparently was in the "just wanted to leave" camp as well.  Insiders have said that he just plain was tired of being a college student.

WolvinLA2

March 23rd, 2012 at 2:02 PM ^

He is, he got 2 minutes last night and made a bucket.  Still, he hasn't had anything but mop-up time since Blake came back from his injury, and that was only because Fisher was too old to play more than 25 minutes a game.  He'll probably stay on the roster for the rest of the year, and get in once every 5 games for 2-3 minutes at the end.  The real question will be if he can improve enough over the off-season to get another contract. 

The Lakers' worst position group is PG.  If a PG can't make a roster spot for the Lakers, he won't make it anywhere else. 

FrankMurphy

March 23rd, 2012 at 12:49 PM ^

I'm kind of wondering about Bellomy. I know he didn't come in with a lot of recruiting hype, but does the fact that they haven't just gone ahead with the switch and started giving Bellomy the second team QB reps indicate a lack of confidence in Bellomy's ability to lead the offense? Or are they continuing to give Gardner QB reps with an eye toward '13, when he'll be the most experienced QB on the roster?

Pete99

March 23rd, 2012 at 1:47 PM ^

You're "kind of wondering" why a redshirt freshman QB who has been on campus for less than a year has yet to surpass a five star, dual threat QB on the depth chart who has been on campus for over two years?

You do understand just how utterly ridiculous your questions about Bellomy are, do you not?

Gardner went to the coaches and expressed just how unhappy he was with his playing time in '11. Hoke & Borges were up front and honest and made it clear to him that he was not going to supplant Denard as the starter this year. In order to get on the field, Devin asked if he could take some snaps at WR and the coaches obliged. Bottom line, Devin doesn't want to waste another year sitting on the bench. He wants to play, even if its at WR for a few snaps here & there.

 

 

 

restive neb

March 23rd, 2012 at 2:28 PM ^

I'm not disputing the validity of the information, just wondering if it is your speculation or if you have some inside knowledge.  You didn't use the Sam Webb, "It's just my OPINION..." line, but you gave no indication how you could know what happened in a conversation between the coaches and a player.

Erik_in_Dayton

March 23rd, 2012 at 12:21 PM ^

I'll still be a-scared, to quote Rick Moranis, when he's playing WR, but if he is  "instantly Michigan's best receiver and adds a new dimension to the offense," that's hard to turn down.

JimBobTressel

March 23rd, 2012 at 12:21 PM ^

Gardner at WR opens up all kinds of questions for 2013. Will he slide back to QB? Will Morris / Bellomy together be competitive enough to keep him at WR? I hope he can get that redshirt year back. With three years at Michigan to focus his efforts at the reciever position, he can make the 1st round.

Lac55

March 23rd, 2012 at 12:26 PM ^

I didn't know DG was a legit 6'5". I know this is supposed to start as situational, but I see him getting a significant amount of snaps down the line at wr because of his athletic ability, size, and hands.