The best thing about a young team is that next year it is older, and hopefully, wiser.
This is a young team and they will only get more mature next season. Yeah, they will lose some guys. (This is not an exhaustive list and was mostly compiled from the Depth Chart by Class and the 2010 Recruiting board.)
On Defense:
Stevie Brown
Brandon Graham
Donovan Warren?
On offense:
Carlos Brown
Kevin Grady
Greg Matthews
Brandon Minor
David Moosman
Mark Moundros
Mark Ortmann
Special Teams:
Zoltan Mesko--Sadly, the Space Emperor will rule another galaxy.
Jason Olesnavage
Bryan Wright
On Defense:
Next year's defense will certainly miss Brandon Graham. He's the only legitimate All-American (and all-Big Ten player--with the possible exception of Donovan Warren--for that matter) on the defense. No single player will be able to fill his shoes, but we hope that multiple players will step up to replace his production. Mike Martin will hopefully continue to develop into the First-Round draft pick/All-American that we all hope he can become. He really seemed to break through at the end of the season to my view. Ryan Van Bergen should continue to get bigger, faster and stronger. He may be asked to move over to Graham's position. This could be made possible by the continued development of Will Campbell. I think that he began making strides at the end of the season, even if they were only in flashes. Segasse should also still be around. Maybe he will make an impact in his senior season. With hard work, this can continue to be the strength of the defense.
Warren was quoted by (name redacted due to general evil) saying:
If we assume Warren stays on next season (the only player that could leave), the secondary can only get better (young safeties and corners can gain experience). Woolfolk should be able to hold down a corner opposite Warren or one of the younger guys (Turner, Witty, Floyd?) should be able to step in. Perhaps one of these guys will move to Safety. Hopefully, with some coaching stability, the young guys will learn the defensive scheme and be able to execute it. Maybe some blue chip recruits will step up and contribute right away. Next season, this unit will mature and be better than this season.
Stevie Brown is the only linebacker who is graduating. While he was the best linebacker on the field, I think that it goes without saying that the linebackers left much to be desired. At worst, Brown should be replaced by Jordan Kovacs, who seems like he could also be well suited to a role where he plays the run, especially if he bulked up a bit (without getting any slower). Obi Ezeh and Jonas Mouton will be back, and these two players were often replaced by Kevin Leach and (especially at the end of the season) JB Fitzgerald. Hopefully the proverb, "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another," will prove to work in this linebacking corps. In order for this defense to make a marked improvement, this must be the most improved defensive unit.
With strong defensive development, solid and consistent coaching, and mental discipline, the "Tackling" metric should always find a strong positive number, and the RPS metric should die a swift death (because the defense doesn't need to attempt to "guess right" in order to stop plays). This defense will find that it can stop other teams and make it's way into the top quarter of the Big Ten statistical categories.
On Offense:
There is lots of good news at the QB spot. Tate won't be a freshman anymore. He will learn from many of his freshman mistakes, and improve. Oh, and he can get healthy over the off season! Hopefully tybert is right when he says, "I'm hoping to here RichRod say sometime next year: 'last year, Tate would have thrown it here (sic) and not waited for a another second or two, and that's why we got the winning TD today.'" Denard is going to get more comfortable throwing the ball in the pocket. Also, as he gets more comfortable in the offense, Coach Rod may find that he can use him in some "gadget" ways. I'd love to see him next to Tate in a "single wing" sort of setup in the backfield. Perhaps, he will even be back there with another potential QB -- Devin Gardner. I hear he's good...
The offensive line should be strong. Molk will be back and healthy. Schilling should be back. Omameh began to contribute at the end of the season. There will be seniors who can contribute. Also, there will be lots of competition from some redshirt freshmen and sophomores. I'm no expert, but I think that this will be a good situation, and the line should be able to crease defenses and protect the QB.
The running backs are, perhaps, the youngest and weakest group. But Michael Shaw and Vincent Smith found plenty of playing time due to the injuries to Brown and Minor. Also, there are plenty of athletes backing up these tailbacks in Cox and some incoming freshmen (White, Hopkins, Drake). With some consistency and some good health, this could still be a very strong unit.
The receivers will lose Greg Matthews. And he will be missed. However, Hemmingway and Stonum should be able to make their mark from the outside next season. Roundtree really impressed me late in the season. I believe that he turned into Michigan's most reliable receiver. Odoms should be healthy and use his speed to make plays in the middle. Koger can hopefully become more consistent and attack the middle of the field. Also, there are plenty of exciting players that look to find the field from this season's and last season's recruiting class.
This offense showed flashes of brilliance between fits of exasperation due to poor execution and freshman mistakes. With some improved execution and maturation, next season, this offense could return to the "point-a-minute" squads of yesteryear.
In summary:
What made this season so difficult was the exciting start, especially beating Notre Dame. It turns out, Notre Dame is a 6-6 team searching for a legitimate bowl game to get drubbed in. (I'm assuming that Stanford destroys Notre Dame on Saturday. I don't think that this is a stretch.) We became irrationally exuberant and had Rose Bowl aspirations. Our young players need to spend this season growing both physically and mentally. The coaches need to take some hard looks at themselves and come up with some answers for what happenned against Illinois and Purdue. (I don't think that the coaches had the team mentally ready to play those games.) Everyone has work to do for the next nine months, and if they get it done, this team can be exciting next season.
On Defense:
Stevie Brown
Brandon Graham
Donovan Warren?
On offense:
Carlos Brown
Kevin Grady
Greg Matthews
Brandon Minor
David Moosman
Mark Moundros
Mark Ortmann
Special Teams:
Zoltan Mesko--Sadly, the Space Emperor will rule another galaxy.
Jason Olesnavage
Bryan Wright
On Defense:
Next year's defense will certainly miss Brandon Graham. He's the only legitimate All-American (and all-Big Ten player--with the possible exception of Donovan Warren--for that matter) on the defense. No single player will be able to fill his shoes, but we hope that multiple players will step up to replace his production. Mike Martin will hopefully continue to develop into the First-Round draft pick/All-American that we all hope he can become. He really seemed to break through at the end of the season to my view. Ryan Van Bergen should continue to get bigger, faster and stronger. He may be asked to move over to Graham's position. This could be made possible by the continued development of Will Campbell. I think that he began making strides at the end of the season, even if they were only in flashes. Segasse should also still be around. Maybe he will make an impact in his senior season. With hard work, this can continue to be the strength of the defense.
Warren was quoted by (name redacted due to general evil) saying:
Just coming back in the off-season and just working hard. Trying to get this nasty feeling out of our mouths. Don't want to have this feeling next year.
If we assume Warren stays on next season (the only player that could leave), the secondary can only get better (young safeties and corners can gain experience). Woolfolk should be able to hold down a corner opposite Warren or one of the younger guys (Turner, Witty, Floyd?) should be able to step in. Perhaps one of these guys will move to Safety. Hopefully, with some coaching stability, the young guys will learn the defensive scheme and be able to execute it. Maybe some blue chip recruits will step up and contribute right away. Next season, this unit will mature and be better than this season.
Stevie Brown is the only linebacker who is graduating. While he was the best linebacker on the field, I think that it goes without saying that the linebackers left much to be desired. At worst, Brown should be replaced by Jordan Kovacs, who seems like he could also be well suited to a role where he plays the run, especially if he bulked up a bit (without getting any slower). Obi Ezeh and Jonas Mouton will be back, and these two players were often replaced by Kevin Leach and (especially at the end of the season) JB Fitzgerald. Hopefully the proverb, "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another," will prove to work in this linebacking corps. In order for this defense to make a marked improvement, this must be the most improved defensive unit.
With strong defensive development, solid and consistent coaching, and mental discipline, the "Tackling" metric should always find a strong positive number, and the RPS metric should die a swift death (because the defense doesn't need to attempt to "guess right" in order to stop plays). This defense will find that it can stop other teams and make it's way into the top quarter of the Big Ten statistical categories.
On Offense:
There is lots of good news at the QB spot. Tate won't be a freshman anymore. He will learn from many of his freshman mistakes, and improve. Oh, and he can get healthy over the off season! Hopefully tybert is right when he says, "I'm hoping to here RichRod say sometime next year: 'last year, Tate would have thrown it here (sic) and not waited for a another second or two, and that's why we got the winning TD today.'" Denard is going to get more comfortable throwing the ball in the pocket. Also, as he gets more comfortable in the offense, Coach Rod may find that he can use him in some "gadget" ways. I'd love to see him next to Tate in a "single wing" sort of setup in the backfield. Perhaps, he will even be back there with another potential QB -- Devin Gardner. I hear he's good...
The offensive line should be strong. Molk will be back and healthy. Schilling should be back. Omameh began to contribute at the end of the season. There will be seniors who can contribute. Also, there will be lots of competition from some redshirt freshmen and sophomores. I'm no expert, but I think that this will be a good situation, and the line should be able to crease defenses and protect the QB.
The running backs are, perhaps, the youngest and weakest group. But Michael Shaw and Vincent Smith found plenty of playing time due to the injuries to Brown and Minor. Also, there are plenty of athletes backing up these tailbacks in Cox and some incoming freshmen (White, Hopkins, Drake). With some consistency and some good health, this could still be a very strong unit.
The receivers will lose Greg Matthews. And he will be missed. However, Hemmingway and Stonum should be able to make their mark from the outside next season. Roundtree really impressed me late in the season. I believe that he turned into Michigan's most reliable receiver. Odoms should be healthy and use his speed to make plays in the middle. Koger can hopefully become more consistent and attack the middle of the field. Also, there are plenty of exciting players that look to find the field from this season's and last season's recruiting class.
This offense showed flashes of brilliance between fits of exasperation due to poor execution and freshman mistakes. With some improved execution and maturation, next season, this offense could return to the "point-a-minute" squads of yesteryear.
In summary:
What made this season so difficult was the exciting start, especially beating Notre Dame. It turns out, Notre Dame is a 6-6 team searching for a legitimate bowl game to get drubbed in. (I'm assuming that Stanford destroys Notre Dame on Saturday. I don't think that this is a stretch.) We became irrationally exuberant and had Rose Bowl aspirations. Our young players need to spend this season growing both physically and mentally. The coaches need to take some hard looks at themselves and come up with some answers for what happenned against Illinois and Purdue. (I don't think that the coaches had the team mentally ready to play those games.) Everyone has work to do for the next nine months, and if they get it done, this team can be exciting next season.
November 23rd, 2009 at 1:56 PM ^
I agree with almost everything here. And it is a good breakdown. I am not quite as optimistic in thinking the 2010 D will be in the top quarter of the Big 10, but would love to be wrong. I do think they will be much better if there is a talent upgrade in the backfield and if we are more disciplined in playing our assignments.
No one will even be in the same ballpark as Graham next year, but replacing our one great player is secondary to replacing our worst 2 or 3. (no offense to those guys)
I hope to see Ezeh on the line of scrimmage next year. He is a good kid. Smart and positive. I don't think he was made to sit and read a defense in the eye of the storm. But I have seen him play well when asked to barrel ahead and make plays (e.g. the Tebow blitz fest). I hope we turn him loose on the edge.
November 23rd, 2009 at 2:20 PM ^
I agree that it would take a number of things to come together for this defense to be in the top quarter (3) of the Big Ten. I think that it requires a number of defensive adjustments to be made like I mention at the end of the Defense section...I also think that the defense can be helped by the offense going out there and executing consistently and putting points up in bunches.
Obviously Graham is irreplaceable. Hopefully there are several guys that can combine to produce like he did. You know if you squint real hard.
Ezeh on the LOS intrigues me. Does that in your mind put him at the hybrid position that Roh played this season? Does this mean that Roh moves to Graham's old spot? I forgot how Ezeh handled Tebow in 2008. I'm going to watch that now.
November 23rd, 2009 at 2:38 PM ^
This will be awkward if the comments section is only our private conversation, but...wanted to respond.
I think the most natural position for Ezeh would be Roh's, which Herron almost played. I think Ezeh could be a better version of Herron there. But it does create a problem for Roh. Where does he go? I do think he needs to be on the field. I am interested to see if we keep last year's base alignment. Which could impact the answer to this question.
If you rewatch Ezeh v. Florida you will see a perfect demonstration of him being used well (blitzing up the gut) and not so well (being asked over and over to cover Harvin on crossing routes with predictable results). I continue to think Ezeh is a good guy and a good athlete, but just has horrible instincts as an MLB (no disrespect to him or Mel Kiper Jr.)
November 23rd, 2009 at 2:58 PM ^
I just rewatched the wolverine historian video on the youtubes. It was good to see that win again. Good for lots of smiles and laughs.
I think that I like your idea of moving Ezeh into an edge rush position. He did have some good blitzes up the gut. And you know that a LB would be asked to cover TEs and the like in the NFL...and he's not usually up to that task. The question would become how can we best utilize the talent. There is plenty of tinkering to do. I agree that Roh should stay on the field, but maybe putting him on the other end would work, especially if he bulks up or really learns about leverage in the off season. Roh is an exciting player in my opinion and could turn into an unblockable beast like Graham (but he is probably at least 2 seasons away from this). Hypothetically, this move would mean the DL looks like Roh, Martin, VanBergen, Ezeh with Campbell and the (incoming) Freshmen rotating in to keep things fresh. What does this say about the LBs? Do we need Ezeh's body at LB more than at DL? If this was a good idea wouldn't the coaches have tried it this season, especially given the depth at DL; or does it just mean that they had no faith in Ezeh's backup at MLB at the beginning of the season (i.e. Ezeh was a better option then Leach early on)? Is Leach the future at MLB? I wonder what some of the defensive coaches on this site think about this idea too.
November 23rd, 2009 at 2:40 PM ^
I am not nearly as optomistic on next season. We saw little improvement from Rich Rod's first year to his second. I see no reason why these players will be significantly better next season. I certainly hope they will, but I expect regression in terms of wins and losses. The only real improvement in that category we saw this year was we took a team the caliber of Utah off our schedule, and replaced them with Delware State, and we managed to beat both MAC teams we played rather than just one.
I agree with blueloosh that our success will hinge more on our ability to replace our two or three worst players on defense with capable starters rather than our top departee, and we need the quarterback, whoever he may be, to not be the turnover machine that Forcier became late in the season.
November 23rd, 2009 at 3:22 PM ^
I choose to be optimistic because if I'm pessimistic, I'll end up in Brian's Schadenfreude column...and that isn't a cool column to be in. Plus, it is more fun to think about Michigan in the Rose Bowl rather than the toilet bowl.
I choose to be optimistic because Michigan's starting QB against UConn will (most likely) not be starting his first game ever. And it (almost certainly) will not be the first snap the starting QB has taken in Michigan Stadium. (I'm leaving that little room for Devin Gardner to be an all-World QB that almost never comes out of HS ready to play on that big stage...)
I choose to be optimistic because Michigan will only lose two starters on Defense. Granted one of them is an all-American, but 9 returning players should be one year stronger, one year smarter, and one year tougher. Also, their backups should be better too. The best thing about freshmen is that they become sophomores...and sophomores become juniors...and juniors become seniors.
I choose to be optimistic because the offense was better by leaps and bounds. And yet there are leaps and bounds that this offense can make to improve. I choose to think that they will do it.
And now, I choose to root for the basketball team! Who knew just a few years ago that we'd be able to go into a season thinking, "Sweet 16 or bust!"
November 23rd, 2009 at 5:18 PM ^
Wrong on both accounts. If you really are a "UM fan," you are just like the people Brian just cited on WTKA: looking for every reason you can find to hammer RR. And, even though you didn't mention RR by name, your post subtly slams both him and the team.
November 23rd, 2009 at 5:52 PM ^
I am shocked by this. Someone states inaccuracies as if they were gospel (see: "We saw little improvement from Rich Rod's first year") regardless of mounds of evidence to the contrary.
Last year's offense was abysmal, and RR remained resolute. He had an unpolished and visibly immature 19 year old run the offense with moderate success. It would be ridiculous to assume that Tate will be anything by improved for next season. The O-Line should continue to improve due to solid depth and Barwis, and Vincent Smith is sneaky good. The defense can't be much worse next year, and the offense has no reason not to improve again.
The South, as in Ann Arbor is 90 minutes south of me, shall rise again!!
November 23rd, 2009 at 3:12 PM ^
Any chance he takes over Graham's spot next year?
November 23rd, 2009 at 3:24 PM ^
Don't know, and I'm not the right guy to ask.
I am not affiliated with the team.
I am do not have any "insider information".
I am just a physics student trying to get a Ph.D with a (quasi-healthy) obsession with Michigan football.
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