2011 Linebackers Group
So, the general mood on this blog seems to be that next year the defense could be better. All the freshman in the secondary will be experienced sophomores, plus Woolfolk and Floyd will be back (bonus question: what about Byron Moore, any update on him?) We don't lose anyone off the D line, so they'll be improved.
However, what will the two-deep at linebacker look like? I guess I have a hard time believing that the loss of Mouton, Ezeh, and Moundros will equate to a better linebacking crew, and I kind of look at linebacker as the weakness of next year's D, much like the secondary is this year. I know Demens will be starting, but what will the two deep look like? And is there really any chance that they'll be any good?
November 10th, 2010 at 7:00 PM ^
Demens, Gordon, Gordon, Jones, and MRob are all young linebackers with very high ceilings. With potential contribution from Bell, Fitzgerald, and Herron (am I missing anyone here?) we could have a very solid LB core next year
November 10th, 2010 at 8:00 PM ^
In addition to another year of experience from the aforementioned players, I'm excited to see what Josh Furman looks like next year. Albeit a little on the light side at 200 coming in, he'll likely be up to 220 while still running a 4.45 40. Of course physical tools aren't the only thing that matters, but if he can grasp the concepts he has the potential to really surprise.
November 10th, 2010 at 7:02 PM ^
Kenny Demens will be a good start at MLB.
I would suggest Brandon Herron starting at the SLB position and Mike Jones at Mouton's WLB position.
Thomas Gordon will return to the Spur position.
November 10th, 2010 at 9:10 PM ^
You left out Cameron Gordon who I think will play at SLB or at Spur.
November 10th, 2010 at 7:02 PM ^
What about Isaiah Bell?
November 10th, 2010 at 7:10 PM ^
He's still playin right?
November 10th, 2010 at 7:55 PM ^
Backup ILB, I believe.
November 10th, 2010 at 7:09 PM ^
IMO, Ezeh sucks. Glad to finally see Demens starting. That right there is already a huge upgrade. Moundros does not play so I don't seem him being too big of a loss except for a locker room presence. Cam has stepped in and shown improvement from the Safety position. I think he has great potential.Although Mouton has made plays, and missed plays, I think he will be the biggest loss out of that group. HOWEVA, the linebackers should improve, if not, then I think you have to look at the coaches.
November 10th, 2010 at 8:34 PM ^
IMO, we the roses sucks.
You don't need to bash the players.
November 11th, 2010 at 11:35 AM ^
Ezeh has been playing out of position his whole career at Michigan. He was a RB/FB in high school who barely played D. I would suggest that a DE in the 4-3 would have been his best position.
November 11th, 2010 at 1:01 PM ^
In addition, I really wanted Scott Shafer and Co. to play Ezeh at SAM and John Thompson at MIKE back in 2008. For some reason they kept Thompson (a clear middle linebacker type) on the outside, and forced Ezeh to play MLB, where he doesn't have the recognition skills to play sideline-to-sideline.
I thought that was a giant boner, but he might have been an adequate weakside defensive end, too.
November 11th, 2010 at 2:32 PM ^
Ezeh has been playing out of position his whole career at Michigan. He was a RB/FB in high school who barely played D.
The list of players who have played a dfifferent position at Michigan than they did in high school is very long. Ian Gold was a RB/CB in high school. Larry Foote was a safety. So was Larry Stevens, who ended up at DE (!). Desmond Howard was a tailback. Steve Breaston was a QB. And on and on.
At this point, Ezeh has been a linebacker for five years. Both Carr's staff and RR's staff saw fit to play him at LB. I think it's likely that that's his ideal college position. It's likely that he just isn't a high-level talent, period. The bigger concern IMO is why it took the staff so long to try other options at MLB.
November 11th, 2010 at 2:48 PM ^
College coaches routinely switch their high school recruits' positions all the time.
However, certain positions, such as MLB, FS, QB, and TB, requires tremendous instincts only certain players possess. Ian Gold had them, Foote had them...
Back in the mid-90s, Michigan had a FS, Chuck Winters, who was a stud RB in high school. The D coaches spent 4 years trying to convert him into a FS, and at the end, they realized that he was never going to be able to develop those instincts, and started a freshman (Daydrion Taylor) in his place instead. Ezeh may be one of those guys.
I have to give Ezeh credit though. While his read-and-react skills were not up to Big 10 standards, he was a sure tackler whenever he made the right reads. In addition, he hustled the whole time he was in there. I wish him nothing but the best, and hope that some NFL coach can see the natural athletic ability and utilize him in a way that allows him to make money playing football (Cato June, James Hall, Tommy Hendricks being the examples).
November 10th, 2010 at 7:09 PM ^
If the LB position is the weakness of the defense, we'll be average at worst and end up something like 10-2 unless the offense implodes.
Demens has played well and should be above average in the middle. Call it a 4 on the scale Brian likes to use.
At Stevie Brown's position, the Gordons should both be improved and Cam in particular should benefit from a full off-season at a position he seems to be a better fit at. 2 at worst, more likely 3.
Mouton's position is uncertain. People were saying good things about Mike Jones before he got hurt, and he could conceivably do well. Other options include Bell, Herron, Fitzgerald, or even K Jones. Herron and Fitz have been playing other positions but I could see them moving over if Demens and the Gordons have the other 2 spots locked down. Chances are, whoever ends up starting won't be a total liability. Call it a 2 or maybe even a 3.
In short, we're strong at one position, not too bad at the second and there's reason for hope at the third. I think the secondary is likely to be the problem area again, although it won't be nearly as bad as it is now.
November 10th, 2010 at 7:16 PM ^
First of all, losing Moudros is not much of a loss. He's a great leader and plays with a lot of heart and enthusiasm, but he hasn't really contributed on the defense at all this year. Ezeh has done next to nothing (at least nothing good) since Demens took over, so losing him is only slightly more of a big deal than Moundros - hardly noticeable.
Losing Mouton hurts, but he's only one piece.
JB Fitzgerald has started to step up and play pretty decently. Brandon Herron also looked good before his injury. Mike Jones, pre-injury, was second on the depth chart behind Mouton, so the coaches clearly felt that he had the ability to compete. If the starting LBs are Demens in the middle and the best two of Herron, Fitzgerald and Jones, we'd look pretty good.
Now, the young guys are the wild cards. Isaiah Bell will be a RS soph next fall. Either Gordon or Marvin Robinson, all sophomores, could put on some bulk and play LB. Jake Ryan and Josh Furman are both redshirting this year and could come in and compete for a starting spot, or at least make the 2-deep. And lastly, we should have 4 LBs in this class who will be true frosh. I wouldn't expect all of them to compete, but whoever is the best of the bunch will have a good chance at PT.
All told, this likely won't be the strength of the defense, but between the handful of veterans and the talented youngsters, this shouldn't be a weakness either. It has potential to be anything from average to pretty darn good.
November 10th, 2010 at 7:19 PM ^
First of all, losing Moudros is not much of a loss. He's a great leader and plays with a lot of heart and enthusiasm, but he hasn't really contributed on the defense at all this year. Ezeh has done next to nothing (at least nothing good) since Demens took over, so losing him is only slightly more of a big deal than Moundros - hardly noticeable.
Losing Mouton hurts, but he's only one piece.
JB Fitzgerald has started to step up and play pretty decently. Brandon Herron also looked good before his injury. Mike Jones, pre-injury, was second on the depth chart behind Mouton, so the coaches clearly felt that he had the ability to compete. If the starting LBs are Demens in the middle and the best two of Herron, Fitzgerald and Jones, we'd look pretty good.
Now, the young guys are the wild cards. Isaiah Bell will be a RS soph next fall. Either Gordon or Marvin Robinson, all sophomores, could put on some bulk and play LB. Jake Ryan and Josh Furman are both redshirting this year and could come in and compete for a starting spot, or at least make the 2-deep. And lastly, we should have 4 LBs in this class who will be true frosh. I wouldn't expect all of them to compete, but whoever is the best of the bunch will have a good chance at PT.
All told, this likely won't be the strength of the defense, but between the handful of veterans and the talented youngsters, this shouldn't be a weakness either. It has potential to be anything from average to pretty darn good.
November 10th, 2010 at 7:49 PM ^
Looking at all these names, this is going to be a fierce competition in spring practice and fall camp. Provided we see better tacklers, the athleticism should bode well for us.
On Safety Byron Moore, I read that he recently got offers from Arizona, Penn State, Utah State, Tennessee and SMU. That's all I know that might be new information. That and I would love for him to come to Michigan.
November 10th, 2010 at 7:57 PM ^
I'm not sure we have much of a shot with him. IIRC, he's setting up visits right now to Penn State, Oregon State, and one other school that isn't us who I can't remember right now. The only time I've seen him mention us is on this blog, as a matter of fact. He'd be a great get, no matter what
November 10th, 2010 at 7:50 PM ^
Linebackers look to be both better and deeper next season, along with the secondary, and the entire defense. We could be looking at a number of blowout wins against the bottom half of the schedule and a 10-2-ish record.
November 10th, 2010 at 8:13 PM ^
Secondary still worries the heck out of me. Say we stick with the 3-3-5/4-2-5/3-4/4-3 look, with a strong/weak safety, deep safety, and two corners. Deep safety's either gonna have Vinopal or a new starter, both of which can be solid but also provide reasons for worry. Strong/weak safety's going to be Kovacs, who's somewhat limited athletically, no matter how technique sound he is. And as far as the two corners go, we're going to have Woolfolk (coming off an injury) on one side, and either Avery/Floyd on the other, with someone frequent substitutions from Talbott/Christian/Freshman?
November 11th, 2010 at 8:44 AM ^
I know it isn't perfect but it has to be a far better situation than we have had so far this year.
November 10th, 2010 at 10:52 PM ^
This only counts if you would've posted the same thing after the PSU game.
November 10th, 2010 at 8:46 PM ^
Anyone know where Davion Rogers landed?
November 10th, 2010 at 9:29 PM ^
and IMO will probably be back on the team next year.
November 10th, 2010 at 10:45 PM ^
Aren't we still expecting him to qualify and re-sign?
November 11th, 2010 at 12:12 AM ^
He was still waiting for his SAT results when last we left him, per Tom. Here's to hoping he did well.
/watched that episode tonight too... "Ever see a man say goodbye to a shoe?"
November 10th, 2010 at 10:51 PM ^
All the freshman in the secondary will be experienced sophomores
I would only consider them 'experienced' sophs if they were redshirt sophomores. While we should see some improvement next year out of the true sophs, I think it will only be significant improvement in 2012 during their junior year.
November 10th, 2010 at 11:07 PM ^
I guess I have a hard time believing that the loss of Mouton, Ezeh, and Moundros will equate to a better linebacking crew,
Was this posted today or in September?
November 11th, 2010 at 8:25 AM ^
If Furman has dreads, he'll start.
November 11th, 2010 at 8:40 AM ^
You said we don't lose anyone from the D-Line. That is incorrect, as we lose Greg Banks, Renaldo Sagesse, and Adam Patterson. We get Heininger back, and Q-Wash looks like he will be staying, but I think that saying we don't lose anyone is an understatement. These are big role players and add significant depth to the D-Line. Hopefully Ash, Wilkins, Talbott and others are ready to step up and get some PT, but early on the inexperience could show.
November 11th, 2010 at 11:33 AM ^
I don't think losing Banks, Sagesse, and Patterson is cause for much concern. They basically make no impact on the game, and it's really hard, at D-line, to make a huge negative impact on the game like Ezeh does. D-line is much easier to learn than linebacker. This is oversimplifying, but the scheme at D-line is mainly "go straight, stunt right, or stunt left." The rest is technique and pure strength. With Roh, Black, Van Bergen, and hopefully Martin, that's a good returning group and the guys you mentioned should be good enough for depth. I don't see a major step back on D-line, if at all.
November 11th, 2010 at 9:51 AM ^
I know he will be a frosh but I like this kid. He has a great outlook and hell he's already gunning for players on Little Brother, I like it. Book it, he will be our LB of the future.