January 10th, 2024 at 3:55 PM ^
No link...no tweet...just a bummer?
January 10th, 2024 at 4:01 PM ^
January 10th, 2024 at 4:19 PM ^
IIRC, he announced a while ago (after Iowa??) but stayed with The Team™️ to help in any way he could. Good for him - best of luck elsewhere!
January 10th, 2024 at 4:30 PM ^
I believe that was CJ Stokes. Clemons leaving is unfortunate, albeit not that surprising. He showed flashes in 2022 but was very quiet this year and some younger guys seemed to be getting more reps.
January 10th, 2024 at 5:30 PM ^
No that was Stokes.
January 10th, 2024 at 6:05 PM ^
I always hoped he would earn more playing time because of his size. Wish him the best. He will always have a national championship on his resume. He was a part of a great team with great chemistry, that is always something other teams are looking to add.
Staying for the team was a class move.
January 10th, 2024 at 3:55 PM ^
That is a bummer.
January 10th, 2024 at 5:21 PM ^
It is a bummer as we were all hoping he would take that step towards being a dominant outside WR.
I see a lot of concern about the receiving corps - some of which is warranted - but folks are forgetting that we use TEs for that "big WR" role and we Loveland for 2024 plus a million TEs behind him.
Hardly a dire situation.
January 10th, 2024 at 6:12 PM ^
He seemed to have a great attitude despite not getting playing time. Was hoping he would stick around, he has talent.
January 10th, 2024 at 3:56 PM ^
Damnit, was hoping he would step up and seize the opportunity.
January 10th, 2024 at 3:57 PM ^
I couldn't help but notice his omission in a recruiting roundup here recently where it discussed WR depth next season.
Best of luck to the young man!
January 10th, 2024 at 7:04 PM ^
Wonder if he was one of the "sophomores" that Sam Webb noted other schools were reaching out to when he was mentioning the "those who stay" NIL initiative? We could really use a big-bodied WR in the WR room next year but wish him the best of luck -- plus as we have seen with many kids from MSU, entering the portal doesn't = for sure gone.
January 10th, 2024 at 3:57 PM ^
Not really shocking. He was a highly rated recruit, but seemed to struggle with injuries and also was getting passed on the depth chart by younger guys
January 10th, 2024 at 4:03 PM ^
Not much of a depth chart. We have Tyler Morris, Frederick Moore, Semaj Morgan and Karmello English as returners. Channing Goodwin and Imarion Stewart coming in next year. Maybe Kendrick Bell will switch over and play as well as his brother did.
January 10th, 2024 at 4:07 PM ^
Yeah I'm actually a little bit concerned about the whole thing from a long-run perspective. They don't play many WRs so you don't need as much depth there, but at the same time they don't have a lot of bodies.
Also, don't have a big bodied WR to compliment the rest of them.
And, they know this I think because this offseason it was "we're going to be 50/50 run/pass" and they didn't approach that. Stewart said in a recruiting interview the coaches were talking about throwing the ball more too, but I doubt that actually happens.
January 10th, 2024 at 4:12 PM ^
We have an explosive group with Morris and Semaj. The kid from IU would have been a nice addition to room bringing in the size as a solid possession guy.
Depth may be a concern…is O’Leary back?
January 10th, 2024 at 4:15 PM ^
Yeah, and maybe that WF guy comes on over. The portal is useful and Michigan has done well with it, but plugging in upperclassmen for 1 season isn't sustainable at all positions.
And the passing offense actually has kinks to work out. It's not just that they need bodies. They need to do better there on the whole.
January 10th, 2024 at 4:19 PM ^
It's Cooper Kupp Time.
January 10th, 2024 at 4:32 PM ^
As the season went on, I think we saw the playcalling adjust in response to both the team's and their opponents' strengths, and that ended up leaning heavily to the running game's direction.
I'm sure they would have passed a little more had the tackles been able to hold up enough to consistently allow a play to develop and had JJ been healthy throughout.
January 10th, 2024 at 5:04 PM ^
It wasn't a play didn't have long enough to develop.
After CJ's drop against Washington Michigan ran a straight drop back pass and it perfectly encapsulated the passing offense.
Wilson got stuck on a DB and fell down on his own.
Loveland ran a stick route that the LB saw coming and just stuck onto him.
The play call didn't get anyone open and the receivers couldn't create separation on their own.
January 10th, 2024 at 8:04 PM ^
Our misdirection plays late in the game got us going again. It was driving me nuts it took so long.
January 10th, 2024 at 4:49 PM ^
They went after a couple big bodied wife receivers, one from Indiana and one that I believe is transferring to Nebraska. Our wide receiver recruiting and depth is not good at the moment. Everything is going to hinge on the decisions of JJ and Jim I believe. Hard to portal right now without knowing who is coming back to the team and who’s the leader. Hopefully we will know the fate this week.
January 10th, 2024 at 4:15 PM ^
Yeah, but we really need a big bodied guy and haven’t had one since Nico left. Fortunately it hasn’t hurt us but it also has taken away some options to diversify our personnel packages. The incoming guys are fine but they are not the 6‘5 matchup problem that other top contenders have on their rosters.
January 10th, 2024 at 4:18 PM ^
Loveland's infinite catch radius says hello.
January 10th, 2024 at 4:27 PM ^
I love me some TEs, but he's not a replacement for a true outside WR.
And even then, they still didn't throw him enough targets this year. He had the drop against Washington, but that rocket he snagged in the 4th quarter? Fucking hammer that button till it breaks.
January 10th, 2024 at 4:37 PM ^
Depending on what the QB situation looks like next year, an elite TE can definitely be the primary target for an effective offense. See Kansas City (post-Tyreek), Baltimore (pre-Flowers), or Georgia.
January 10th, 2024 at 5:01 PM ^
Kansas City's passing offense has dopped like 40 yards/game since last year. They've taken a step back without good WRs on the outside.
Bowers is the best college TE... ever?
Kelce and Andrews are also 2 of the best TEs in the league. Loveland is good, but he's not a complete monster (yet) and they still don't throw him the ball nearly enough.
January 10th, 2024 at 5:29 PM ^
KC won the Super Bowl with Smith-Schuster and Valdez-Scantling as its primary WRs. The latter is a big outside target, but he's not good, so it's questionable whether he represents "the 6‘5 matchup problem" mentioned above.
I don't think it's unreasonable to project Loveland as an elite college TE next year, even if he's not the best ever.
January 10th, 2024 at 4:17 PM ^
We basically have no depth chart. We have only a bunch of unproven young guys and no returning surefire starter receivers. Morris? Maybe. Semaj? Slot. We need help there. Weird that anyone would suggest otherwise. Hello, portal?
People keep making the circular-logic argument that we can't get star receivers with our passing game. But maybe the passing game would improve if we had at least 1 game-breaking receiver. This is especially true if JJ returns. He needs someone to throw to.
January 10th, 2024 at 4:49 PM ^
I mean DPJ was criminally underused even Nico.
January 10th, 2024 at 5:34 PM ^
I think Penix had more completions than JJ had passing attempts and their top rusher had as many carries and yards as Blake, so it seems to me like showing we’re willing to throw the ball more and have the offense run through JJ might help get that fixed. What do I know though.
January 10th, 2024 at 4:17 PM ^
Donovan Edwards returns as a WR to fill the gap and improve his long-term salary prospects.
January 10th, 2024 at 4:29 PM ^
I feel like at this point if Donovan Edwards were actually capable of playing some WR we would have seen it already. We had no real slot ninja this year and a general lack of production from any WR not named Roman yet still Donovan rarely lined up outside of the backfield.
January 10th, 2024 at 4:52 PM ^
Roman Wilson takes a lot of slot snaps, semaj Morgan and Tyler morris are both slots, actually English and the other freshman are a lot guys too. Clemons was the only binaries outside we we had for next year and was a plus blocker from that position.
January 11th, 2024 at 3:22 AM ^
I didnt say we didn't need an outside receiver or actually anything about Clemons though? I just said at this point Edwards isn't an answer at WR.
January 10th, 2024 at 5:40 PM ^
Alternatively, this offense is not good at leveraging receiving talent.
January 10th, 2024 at 4:45 PM ^
There was lots of hand-wringing last year when Andrel Anthony left. And then we won a national title. Bummed to not have him. But we have also proven capable of using the portal - AJ Barner for instance brought us 22 catches for 249 yds and a TD as a no.2 TE.
January 10th, 2024 at 5:41 PM ^
How many WRs played any snaps outside of Garbage Time in '23?
I wanna say 4?
A bunch of more catchy-type TEs coming online in '24.
I would love some 5* WRs to join Team 145, but let's be honest - unless there's a change in the coaching staff, they wouldn't throw to them anyway 🤷♂️
January 10th, 2024 at 3:57 PM ^
Cristian Dixon next?
January 10th, 2024 at 3:58 PM ^
Ok. Good luck.
January 10th, 2024 at 3:58 PM ^
I had high hopes but he got injured frequently and there is a lot of competition. I'm sure there will be more transfers.
January 10th, 2024 at 4:00 PM ^
Will shoot, I had always been very excited for him. Hopefully this says great things about the young guys
January 10th, 2024 at 4:01 PM ^
That is a disappointment. It is wide open for next year.
January 10th, 2024 at 4:04 PM ^
Just negging you to get you below 100 likes so you can’t post anymore of your shit-toks.
January 10th, 2024 at 4:02 PM ^
Going to struggle to recruit and retain WRs when the volume of targets has a ceiling and the drop back passing game in general has its struggles.
That being said, worse problems to have when you have that OL, TE, RB, and defense to lean on.
January 10th, 2024 at 4:05 PM ^
Tight end and Defense I will give you but it remains to be seen on who comes back at running back and our oline is gonna need some help
January 10th, 2024 at 4:09 PM ^
I have general confidence in the OL having guys. Yeah, they're probably losing just about everyone, but they have 3rd and 4th year guys behind so you don't need to squint to see the next starting OL.
RB largely assumes at least Mullings comes back. That would be him, Hill, Cabana, and Marshall coming in. Edwards is a wait and see.
January 10th, 2024 at 4:20 PM ^
Agreed on the OL. I feel like an OL, l to r, of Hinton, Priebe, Crippen, El-Hadi, Jones is pretty solid. They still have Gentry and Anderson as experienced guys even with that starting group.
January 10th, 2024 at 4:28 PM ^
I thought I saw within the last 24 hours some mention that maybe now Jones might be leaving. No idea where that was and I know he said last week he'd come back if the staff would have him.
January 10th, 2024 at 4:46 PM ^
I saw it too. That’s where my lesser optimism is coming from. I was thinking Jones and Hinton would be a good start to go along with Priebe and whoever else fit in there. It’s looking like we are losing everyone but Hinton.