Unverified Voracity Threw A Ball Over Rashan Gary Once Comment Count

Brian

Harbaugh as Uncle Rico. He's the least Uncle Rico person of all time, except in his mind:

No, not really. Maybe if we…

There we go.

WE ARE KIND OF EXCITED. Take it from a man selling a preseason magazine: Michigan fans are throwing their money at the upcoming season because they have an enthusiasm too rare over the past ten years. News that more bets are being placed on Michigan to win the national title than any other team should be interpreted in that light.

PFF evaluates that take, mostly rehashing things they've published before—Wormley, Glasgow, Hurst, and Charlton are all real good, literally everyone in the secondary graded out positively—but offering some new insights into their 2015 rankings:

They are bringing back a solid receiving corps led by WR Jehu Chesson (who earned the third-highest WR rating among returning wideouts at 127.9) and TE Jake Butt (who is the top returning tight end in receiving grade, after catching 51 of 70 targets for 653 yards and three touchdowns). They have a productive running back in De’Veon Smith, who broke 52 tackles combined last season.

There's been a lot of NFL and All Big Ten hype around Chesson, a guy who came on late but didn't exactly put up Braylon numbers; that helps confirm the late season surge. (Also Florida UFR is this week, and Chesson was insanely good in that game even if you look past the two long strikes against Hargreaves.) Butt being the top receiving WR is no surprise; Smith being "productive" kind of is.

Also, Jake Rudock surge:

Jake Rudock came on strong at the end of 2015, but for the first nine weeks of the season, he ranked 98th among 101 qualifying quarterbacks in PFF grades – and the Wolverines were still a top-10 team entering the final week of the regular season.

If Rudock had transferred fast enough to get in for spring practice that would have been something.

Still gets no respect. BTN put out a list of the top 100 players in the league that's mostly notable for their bonkers #takes on various players, like definition-of-just-a-guy Justin Jackson at #11. Jackson is Northwestern running back on a team with some sort of sea mammal trying to use his flippers to get the ball downfield, so his carry numbers are inflated. He got the ball a whopping 312 times last year, and was fine. He did nothing to defy Northwestern's fate against Michigan, Iowa, and Nebraska—25, 30, and 40 yards, respectively—and mostly ran over teams that were not good. He had a couple moments; he was fine. He got to 139 yards against Wisconsin without cracking 4 YPC. You could put him somewhere in the second half of this list if you wanted; 11 is bizarre.

But the reason this section exists is because the list completely omits Ryan Glasgow. Ryan Glasgow, the guy who got hurt just before Michigan's run defense fell off a cliff; Ryan Glasgow, the guy PFF ranked a top 20 DL in all of college football last year. No matter what he does on the field, because he is 1) a former walk-on and 2) a nose tackle someone is always willing to ignore him in favor of Bryan Mone or a completely average running back. Or #32 Montae Nicholson a guy who got pulled over and over again last year because he kept giving up big plays. Or #60 Wes Lunt. Or #100 Michael Geiger, a kicker hitting 63% the last two years. There's an obvious mandate to diversify the schools involved here but that's nonsensical.

Anyway. Get your chips hot, Glasgow.

The media days, they begin. If news comes out of them that'll be newsworthy. Best item so far is that MSU appears to be moving Kodi Kieler to center:

I said there wasn't much news. JUCO transfer Machado was real bad last year as Kieler struggled to stay ambulatory; Finley was hurt the whole year.

Dytarious may return. Dytarious Johnson didn't sign a letter of intent this fall and then enrolled in prep school; per Johnson Michigan is still in pursuit and will enroll him this January. That's still dependent on a number of things, including Johnson getting his grades right and how Michigan's scholarship situation shapes up. A lot of these plans end up changing along the way.

More unit rankings. Sports On Earth declares Michigan's DL the third-best in the land and their secondary fifth-best, and if that actually strikes you as pessimistic, well, placing the OL #5 in the country more than makes up for that.

Etc.: Iowa defensive tackle Faith Ekakitie had four guns pulled on him because he was mistaken for a bank robber 100 pounds lighter than him. Peppers gets a prestigious award. Eric Upchurch talks MGoPhotography with MGoFish. Remembering 1976.

Comments

In reply to by boliver46

Hail-Storm

July 25th, 2016 at 2:31 PM ^

Going camping in Michigan and pitching a tent, swimming, and fishing, is a great way to pass the time in between now and when football starts up. 

evenyoubrutus

July 25th, 2016 at 12:58 PM ^

Florida UFR this week? 

F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 

evenyoubrutus

July 25th, 2016 at 1:08 PM ^

On the MSU depth chart: weren't Spartan fans talking about Damion Terry when he was a true freshman like he was the next Denard Robinson?  How is it that he's struggling to even start now against Tyler O'Conner?

lilpenny1316

July 25th, 2016 at 1:56 PM ^

Is it one of those things where he is a dual-threat QB or his mobility is only impressive because of the competition?  I'm sorry, but I still have nightmares from being absolutely shamed in back-to-back weeks by Jarious Jackson and Donovan McNabb and will always fear mobile QBs.

 

AZBlue

July 25th, 2016 at 1:12 PM ^

OSU next?? /ducks --- but seriously, would feel better with proof that the M defense was just RPSed all day vs. OSU rather than just outclassed.

Feel free to throw it away without publishing if it is indeed the latter.

Back on topic - thanks and looking forward to the UFR

funkywolve

July 25th, 2016 at 2:31 PM ^

I'd definitely be interested in seeing the UFR for the UM offense, especially in the first half and early part of the 3rd.  They seemed like they were doing a decent job of moving the ball but would get bogged down near the red zone and settled for a couple FGs instead of matching OSU with TDs.

unWavering

July 25th, 2016 at 1:16 PM ^

"Jake Rudock came on strong at the end of 2015, but for the first nine weeks of the season, he ranked 98th among 101 qualifying quarterbacks in PFF grades – and the Wolverines were still a top-10 team entering the final week of the regular season."

And this right here is why I'm not so worried about the QB situation. We can win games 9+ even with a subpar QB. If someone does step up and becomes even an average Big Ten QB, it may be enough to with the conference. With Harbaugh's track record, whoever it is will probably be at least good.

evenyoubrutus

July 25th, 2016 at 3:01 PM ^

The run game really struggled last year, especially against better-than-average or above run defenses.  There is a pattern here that hasn't been talked about much.

2005 SD YPC: 4.5

2006 SD YPC: 5.5

 

2007 Stanford YPC: 3.0

2008 Stanford YPC: 4.9

 

2011 SF YPC: 3.5

2012 SF YPC: 5.1 

 

2015 UM YPC: 4.2

2016 UM YPC: ???

That is insanely good improvement in the run game from year 1 to year 2 at each of his coaching jobs.  At this point it isn't a coincidence, and there is every reason to believe that this year has potential to see the most dramatic improvement, given 4 returning starters on the O line, and that there is a ton of depth at RB.  I could easily see them reaching 6 YPC on the season.

(EDIT: I might add that 5.1 team YPC in the NFL is ridiculously good)

Blue Sharpie

July 25th, 2016 at 1:18 PM ^

Our DL has 3 or 4 guys that could be ranked as good as malik mcdowell. I predict mcdowell's stats will go down a bit with the graduation of their otther DL studs.

jakerblue

July 25th, 2016 at 1:38 PM ^

That B1G preseason honors list must be wrong.  Has two QBs and 3 RBS, according to Draftageddon there are no QBs or RBs in the B1G this year.

Big Boutros

July 25th, 2016 at 1:46 PM ^

If Rudock had transferred fast enough to get in for spring practice that would have been something.

For one thing, the game against MSU would not have come down to a final play. We would have won by two or three scores.

LKLIII

July 25th, 2016 at 2:00 PM ^

Plus maybe we pull out a win at Utah.

We'd still get hammered by OSU though----sigh.

What I'd really like to also see is a UFR for Ohio State, specifically some type of comparison or analysis done on the outstanding Florida result versus our performance versus OSU.

Did we really improve that much over the month?  Or was OSU just *that* much better than Florida?  Or did Florida vastly underperform their own capabilities?

Essentially, I was very encouraged by the bowl game, and I'm hoping a solid comparison between that and the OSU game might let us know if the Florida game was a bit of a happy fluke or very tangible signs of real progress heading into 2016.

Needs

July 25th, 2016 at 2:15 PM ^

Not to downplay a really well played defensive game by UM, but Ohio State had one of the two most dynamic offenses in college football (along with Clemson). Florida's offensive coordinator was Doug Nussmeier. 

 

The hope from the Florida game comes from the offense's performance against a strong Florida front. Particularly the progress in the running game.

CalifExile

July 25th, 2016 at 2:38 PM ^

It's unfair to extrapolate from such a small sample, but if you imagine Chesson's numbers over the last 4 games replicateded over a full season he has nice numbers.

Butt as the top receiving TE. Where does he rank on blocking and where is he overall?

The Man Down T…

July 25th, 2016 at 3:12 PM ^

"Jake Rudock came on strong at the end of 2015, but for the first nine weeks of the season, he ranked 98th among 101 qualifying quarterbacks in PFF grades – and the Wolverines were still a top-10 team entering the final week of the regular season."

 

98th ranked QB and STILL in the top 10?  hell still in the top 25 would be incredible for that.  Amazing what a good coach can do

Lanknows

July 25th, 2016 at 3:18 PM ^

The 'Smith is not very good because bad vision' theory is gospel around here, but it should be discarded immediately and forever. The simple, boring, and logical alternative: The OL is very bad at run blocking, and has been since 2011. Add PFF's observation to the pile of evidence:

  • Harbaugh considers Smith an entrenched starter and has nothing but glowing priase for him.
  • Nobody has produced better than Smith in meaningful situations, including several 5-star recruits (Isaac, Green, even Peppers.  Compare Isaac's production at USC with his production against any Top 100 defense while at UM.)
  • Advanced stats indicate it's the OL that is to blame for the run game struggles (not the RBs). 
  • The NFL still has little interest in Michigan's 3 returning senior starters on the OL. When was that ever true of guys with this many starts under their belts?
  • True freshman OL have played, every year. Position changes have happened, every offseason. Michigan's recent OL personnel is high turnover, low talent, and learning-as-they-go.
  • Multiple RBs floundered behind Brady Hoke OLs and went on to look quite good on other teams. [Wheatley didn't fix this, indicating the always-dubious Fred Jackson theory was bunk. The OL is the simpler answer.]

Believe PFF, Harbaugh, and logic. For a board that likes to cite Occam's razor you'd think Smith-doubting would be behind us.