CFN / Scout posts their 2012 Michigan preview- good news?
College Football News / Scout has posted their 2012 preview of Michigan. While it starts out arguing that last year's record was more of a function of a home-laden schedule and lucky breaks, it eventually gets around to stating that Denard is due for [another] big year and that Michigan is on the way to not just being "back," but being better than it was in recent history (i.e. even the Carr years). There are some fun picks for best defensive player and Key game... worth a read. Let me know what you think!
Not a bad preview, but Pete's still Fiutakin' it a bit.
Apparently we had a near-miss in the Orange Bowl. This whole time I thought we were in the Sugar Bowl, silly me.
Not sure how much stock to put into an article where "then" is used where "than" should be and I missed our appearance in "the Orange Bowl."
I'm not big on lists by any means, but to have the ten best players on the team without any mention of Jake Ryan seems silly to me. Especially with Floyd in front of Kovacs.
Ten Best Michigan Players
1. QB Denard Robinson, Sr.
2. RB Fitzgerald Toussaint, Jr.
3. OT Taylor Lewan, Jr.
4. LB Kenny Demens, Sr.
5. CB J.T. Floyd, Sr.
6. S Jordan Kovacs, Sr.
7. CB Blake Countess, Soph.
8. DE Craig Roh, Sr.
9. LB Desmond Morgan, Soph.
10. OG Patrick Omameh, Sr.
Yeah, having two linebackers on there, neither of which are Jake Ryan, is a little off. Floyd above Countess seems strange, and including Omameh in place of someone like Barnum or Roundtree doesn't seem right to me either. I agree witht he top three, but my next seven would be:
4. Jordan Kovacs
5. Jake Ryan
6. Blake Countess
7. Craig Roh
8. Kenny Demens
9. Roy Roundtree
10. Michael Schofield
Just out of curiousity why do you have in your top 10? I love the attitude and effort, but his big year was because of QB oh noes. It's not real hard to put up great numbers when you're allowed to run untouched down the seams. Playing outside last year he was not a very good WR.
I'm not worried about our starting OL. That only thing that worries me is if we have a couple injuries along the line, because our depth is nill. If our line can stay healthy, or we don't have more than one guy hurt at once, I think we should be fine.
Which is basically what the article says. Some of his details are off, but this isn't bad.
Gives the OL a 7.5 rating, but lists depth as a weakness, so it's clearly taken into account.
He loves Denard, gives QB a rating of 10. Also loves Fitz and Rawls, RB rated at 9. Says Fitz should be 1,500 yards easy if he's healthy, which would be wonderful.
I've forgotten what it feels like to return a secondary that actually had a fairly decent season.
http://cfn.scout.com/2/1188136.html
(yes, the uni's are horrible)
Aside from a few editing snafus, I think the biggest miss in the article was that there was no mention of Ondre Pipkins. If there is a freshman who could make a significant difference in 2012, it's Pee Wee. Dude could be a plug-and-play NT if BWC slips up, or be the run stuffer when Black is too little.
But I actually thought it was a pretty good assessment of where we are and where we're going. His original point--that we're on our way to being better than the Carr teams of yesteryear--I believe is spot on.
The 2013 class will be the best recruiting class we've had in at least a decade; if we get a few more blue chippers, it will be hard to find a better recruiting class in the school's history.
I agree, especially with what you said about Pipkins. To me, the D line is the team's most glaring weakness. Now, they could turn out to be good, but even the article points out that (almost) everyone is unproven at this point. I'm hoping that big Will can step up, but by all accounts, Pipkins is a beast and could contribute right away.
They also don't mention the incoming freshmen in the WR section. Chesson and Darboh both have a chance to contribute right away.
be a great year for the WR position.
Amazing to hear an unbiased, realistic analysis of the 2010, 2011 seasons.
No Jake Ryan on the top 10 players list is clearly wrong.
outside '97, UM was usually out of consideration for NC hunt during our pre-conference schedule, normally due to not having the team ready for lesser talented ND squads, Appy St., et.al., and we even struggled to get by teams like San Diego St. And never have we recruited like this since the lifting of the 105 scholarship limit.
I imagine Bo had as many players as Brady that would be rated 4* if ratings existed during that time for the mere fact that OSU and UM took all the top players in the region and the other 8 teams got the left-overs. And even during Bo's years, I can't recall being a year ahead in recruiting, which we basically are right now with all the players that have pledged-meaning most will honor that pledge- with all the players Brady and his asst's have brought in. And as I mentioned in an earlier post, Mattison has proven to be better than his first go around in AA with all he has picked up during his many stays since he left for ND a long, long time ago.
Denard has to be more selective when it comes to his passing to be in the hunt for the Heisman. He just can't afford to throw into the crowd and pray, especially when he has a first down waiting if he just runs to the end of the chain and gets out of bounds if danger threatens. But he should have a Denard like season regardless, and these small receivers like Gallon and Dileo really don't hurt us, but Roundtree could be a big lift if he learns to run better patterns.
Personally, I think Kenny D. lets too many receivers get by him to be rated among our top ten, but Mattison might correct that this year, and I have to agree with all that any lbers ranked in the top ten has to start with one Jake Ryan. What more does the kid have to prove. He'll be an all-conference performer, possibly even this year.
I like the future. I think BH has found a home for as long as he wants to stay. His recruiting is just unblelievable and as long as he can keep Mattison in AA, we should be just fine.
I had a hard time getting past the part where he tries to claim that Michigan caught an "all-time break" by having an easier schedule in their national championship year. Seriously?? That schedule was brutal. Also, his obervations about the teams we lost to two years ago leaves out the fact that we were not even competative in those games. The clincher for me is when he says the Michigan-OSU game doesn't matter. That's when I decided that this guy is full of crap.