Rumormongering: Burke Departure, Gardner WR Prospects
A couple of good sources have passed along information about Michigan's hot topics du jour.
![Trey-Burke-Michigan[1]](https://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/044d54cd7f80_A6E1/Trey-Burke-Michigan1.jpg "Trey-Burke-Michigan[1]")
![rn_i_devingardner_ms_300[1]](https://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/044d54cd7f80_A6E1/rn_i_devingardner_ms_3001.jpg "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…
/MeConfused
Burke is gone. I'm happy for the kid, but looking forward to what Coach B does in response as well. Even if he has to go the Juco route, Beilein has to bring in someone. Exciting times.
Giving Denard a calvin johnson type wr instantly upgrades the passing game 10 fold. it makes teams respect the pass more and gives shoelace a wide receiver he can throw jump balls too similar hemingway this year. However i'd want to see what bellomy can do with meaningful playing time in the UMass and Air Force games first. If Bellomy is serviceable than i don't see why we shouldn't. It certainly helps Denard and god forbid if Denard gets hurt we can rely on fitz to carry the team. Bama after all has made a living on mediocre quarter back and a tremendous run game. I see nothing but positive's from moving Devin PROVIDED that Bellomy is half-way decent to decent QB
Why does it matter if Bellomy can be the number 2 or not? If Denard gets hurt Devin moves back to QB. Why is that so hard for people to grasp?
but also our best receiver.
Devin is much more likely to get injured playing WR than he is be the backup for obvious reasons as being on the field. But also Deving twist an ankle or something coming down with a ball or take a hard shot going over the middle. It's not out of the realm of possibility that both Devin and Denard are injured at the same point this year. God forbid that happens but it's not impossible. I'd like to make sure that Bellomy can at least be a decent QB who can move the ball before I instantly slide Devin over. You don't want to get burned where both of them are out and bellomy looks completely lost out there
i read brian's "city block catching radius" and thought first of blocking, as in downfield blocking. we know that michigan coaches love a receiver that makes hits downfield...and i'm guessing that gardner could be a plus in that area as well. big, strong hoss of a guy, seems like the type to want to knock the crap out of a safety now and then.
yeah, go ahead and count me in the "i love this idea" camp.
Well, since I can't offer any insider info or any expert football analysis, let me make this important contribution:
Devin Gardner is easy on the eyes.
That is all.
That could be the key to all of this. Also, Damn you Stonum!
The next MEGATRON????
damn beat me to it. I think DG is actually taller than Megatron
Or Tacopants Jr?
hoping DG turns into a college version of Calvin Johnson. Tall, strong as shit beast with mitts like a bear.
DG is clearly the best combination of Vince Young and Calvin Johnson to ever don the Maize and Blue, now if we can only get him on the field...
I think DG can be a heck of a wr. Our receivers are good and would be even better with an extremely accurate qb (though Denard will show he's made progress). However, DG can be special at the wr spot.
Re: one and done less than 6-0:
What was Iverson listed as in college? I bet they said 6-1 but he couldn't have been any taller than 6-0, if that.
Mike Conley was maybe 6-1 and skinnier and he went about #4 I think. He's a lot quicker, but didn't have the outside shot.
Draftexpress.com lists Burke at the #30 pick in 2013, FWIW. They have Tu Holloway going mid second round this year. Burke is a better player and isn't a punk. A high 2nd round pick for Burke wouldn't shock me, and who knows. Maybe he'll sneak into the tail end of the 1st.
From what I could tell, he was listed as 6'1 in the '96 draft.
For those who are fans of HTML, circa 1996, here you go.
http://www.ibiblio.org/craig/draft/1996_draft/scout/pg.html#Iverson
Iverson technically wasn't a one-and-done; he went pro after his sophomore year. Stephon Marbury went pro after his frosh year, though.
March 23rd, 2012 at 10:59 PM ^
You're absolutely right. In fact, I definitely mixed those two in my head.
So never mind, my "example" is null and void.
March 25th, 2012 at 12:28 AM ^
Also, no offense to Burke, but Iverson was an umbelievable talent. Yeah, he's a ball hog and I hated what he did with the PIstons, but young Iverson was one of the best short players in NBA history. Burke has a long way to go to draw any comparisons to Iverson.
by becoming the first college player in history to gain significant yardage by throwing to himself. If he threw to himself for 1,000 would it really be 2,000 in the stats?
And would this cause the Mathlete's head to explode?
I heard Fred Jackson say "Devin Gardner is Mike Hart with height and big hands."
March 25th, 2012 at 12:25 AM ^
Why would you limit his snaps like Woodson? Woodson was limited because he had to play every defensive snap, plus punt returns. So you didn't want to tire him out by having him out there for lots of plays where he wasn't even an option. He pretty much was only out there in obvious passing situations as a 3rd or 4th receiver.
What do we have to save Gardner for? Does he need to be fresh to give the QB signals on the sidelines? I don't see why he couldn't be a full-time WR in games. If Denard gets hurt, he'll move to QB. He won't be any more tired than he would if he was the full-time QB.
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