Depth chart & prognostications
Greg Mattison recently stated he wants 22 defenders he feels comfortable with playing because injuries are not an excuse for any loss. Pessimistic prognosticators point to our paper thin depth as a reason to pick us for 6 wins. I ask, are we really that thin in depth?Or am I just inflating the following depth compared to the miniscule depth over the past three years?
Depth by position-
OL-Schofield-This RS Soph was already subbed in the past weekend and has received high marks from the staff.
WR-J. Robinson, J. Jackson, J. Gallon, D. Dileo-Three of these youngsters played last year and Robinson is the most hyped redshirt frosh on the team.
QB-Gardner-Denard is the absolute worst injury this team could suffer. However Devin has the athletic talent to keep things interesting.
RB-Fitz, Smith, Hopkins, and Rawls-Fitz looks like a 1b starter from preseason videos and reports.
DB-Floyd, Talbott, and pick your favorite frosh DB-both played at DB last year.
LB-Assuming Hawthorne, Demens, and C. Gordon start-M. Jones, J. Ryan, B. Herron, M. Evans, and Fitzgerald-That's 5 linebackers that are either old dudes, or their stock is on the rise (Ryan this year, Jones last year who played on 3rd downs vs. ND pre-injury).
D-line-Heininger, Campbell, Qwash, Black-I think Qwash will step up this year. He looked ok in limited time last year and Mattison said in the spring he could "roll" Washington and Campbell to keep them fresh. Let's hope Brink is a true starter Kovacs style.
Conclusion: Overall I am not going to hit the panic button at any position unless Denard, Mike Martin, or Troy Woolfolk go down given their all-star power. Only 6 days away, Go Blue!
August 28th, 2011 at 10:17 PM ^
I don't think its DOOM, but its not all rosy either. Especially on the O-Line, I think you could look at past years and see that 6 guys aren't going to cut it. We'll have to dip further than that, at least for parts of games, and we better be ready to do so.
D-line rotation currently has Brink and Heininger - two walk-ons, plus converted O-lineman Washington. The rest are guys behind the two walk-ons. You don't really know until you see 'em play, etc etc, but the depth is certainly a justifiable concern at this point.
August 28th, 2011 at 10:34 PM ^
They'll have 7 ready on the o-line. Add Schofield and Khoury to the starters.
August 28th, 2011 at 10:19 PM ^
I'm most worried about LB and DL, but overall that looks way better than it did a year ago (even at those two position groups). Also, this is a nice twist on the inevitable and innumerous "my predicion of the two deep" threads, and isn't it so nice that finally we'll get to see it for realsies in less than 6 days.
August 28th, 2011 at 10:22 PM ^
Look at that "depth" on the O-line. With Barnum out the coaches decided to bring in Schofield. Not Khoury, not Mealer, Schofield.
The normal order of things indicates we are likely to see the starters, plus the three already mentioned, play this year (guys on the line get injured). Beyond that?
True freshmen or walk-ons. Yikes.
August 29th, 2011 at 8:55 AM ^
...Schofield is the #6 OLmen
They've said repeatedly that they want the 5 best OL on the field (which is why people keep laughing when I say Kalis may play OC when he gets here if that's what gets him on the field...but I, digress on that topic.)
Schofield played RG/RT with Huyge...and Omameh played LG.
Khoury would be the next off the bench, playing only interior OL. So if they had to, they'd move Omameh out to OT if say they were keeping Huyge AND Schofield out.
August 28th, 2011 at 10:31 PM ^
in case anyone wants to check out the not so official two-deep:
August 28th, 2011 at 10:32 PM ^
we don't have much depth on defense
August 28th, 2011 at 10:37 PM ^
Also worried about D-Line, but what about kicking? Poor kicking kills morale and can lose your team games, no doubt. I suppose Wile is supposed to be the solution to whats probably been the most embarrasing kicking unit in the country, but then again wasnt Gibbons supposedly a very solid kicker coming out of high school? I wont sleep easy until these kids start making kicks on saturdays.
August 28th, 2011 at 10:43 PM ^
You kind of answered your own question when you put ONE guy down for Oline depth.....
August 28th, 2011 at 10:59 PM ^
about our depth and I now feel worse. This could be an ugly year is we have significant injuries.
August 28th, 2011 at 11:12 PM ^
I'm not worried about depth anywhere on offense. A few years ago Ferraro and Nowicki got playing time on the O line and now we are worried that we only start the season 8 deep? Mealer, Khory and Schofield are all capable linemen. We have plenty of receivers and running backs.
With Woolfolk and Floyd back we have a solid two deep at corner instead of the mess we had at the end of last year.
I feel a little better about linebacker going into this year just because I don't think a recently converted fullback would make the two deep. We might not have the game changers this year but we do have depth.
The D line seems thin but that's really my only depth worry. If Campbell, Washington or Ash look serviceable, we might be OK.
August 28th, 2011 at 11:57 PM ^
The thing about the quality of our D-line depth is that it is really dependent on who we lose.
I think if we lose Martin, he quite simply is irreplaceable. The D-line will take a large and definite dip in quality unless someone comes out of nowhere to become the next great Michigan lineman.
However, if we lost someone else on the line, I think we can survive. The reason being the versatility we have there. RVB can play almost anywhere on the line and the combination of backups in BWC, QWash, Black, Heininger, etc can hopefully, HOPEFULLY pick up the slack.
August 29th, 2011 at 2:18 AM ^
Agreed. I think Martin is the most important player on D. He may be the only one opposing teams have to plan for.
August 28th, 2011 at 11:20 PM ^
Desmond Morgan at WILL. Might be higer on the depth chart than Herron or Evans right now.
August 28th, 2011 at 11:31 PM ^
But we dont have Robinson for D coordinator
August 29th, 2011 at 12:34 AM ^
August 28th, 2011 at 11:31 PM ^
August 28th, 2011 at 11:43 PM ^
Well to answer your questions:
1. I don't think anyone knows who will be starting at the WILL position. More than likely, we will see a rotation until someone locks down the position. If that happens at all. Fortunately we have lots of bodies there. We just need one of them to be steady.
2a. T. Gordon seems to have really come into his own as a football player, if we are to beleive the praise that the coaches are giving him. That doesn't mean that Carvin is terrible or anything, but right now Gordon seems to be slotted ahead of him.
2b. I don't think anyone really knows what the secondary personel is going to look like because of all the different sub-packages. T. Gordon may be a safety on one play, the nickel corner on the other. Woolfolk might play both corner and safety. Plus who knows what other tricks / personel groupings Mattison and Hoke have in mind. My recommendation is to just sit back and wait a couple weeks. Carvin may very well see some playing time. But there are just too many ???s right now.
August 29th, 2011 at 7:17 AM ^
but don't assume Mattison is in Hell. I got Hawthorne starting from our DC's recent comments that they "may have found someone there" in Hawthorne. Then Hawthorne injured his ankle. So with additional Mattison hype and my hunch, I expect to see a lot of him vs. Notre Dame.
August 28th, 2011 at 11:35 PM ^
From what i have read T. Gordon is doing everything that the coaches could ask for.
August 29th, 2011 at 2:13 AM ^
We have some depth at OL that most fans don't realize. Mealer is a serviceable backup and could be a pretty decent starter, gunderson is the guy who gets the practice hype that no one ever hears about. For future depth we also have two other walk on O-linemen in glasgow and yerden who have potential to compete. I have no fear because of the depth of the line.
August 29th, 2011 at 6:25 AM ^
Am I the only one that read this and had mixed, complex feelings about depth on the lines?
I think we look pretty good on both sides of the ball - far better than last year, by my estimation, but there are places where I see any injury as being problematic to the point where games we could definitely win become games we would struggle to win.
That's not Hoke's fault, of course. He and the staff are doing an amazing job recruiting the depth, if you will. This year, it just seems like the margin of error is a little thinner than we might be historically used to (e.g., what happens if Martin is injured?).
August 29th, 2011 at 6:30 AM ^
August 29th, 2011 at 6:52 AM ^
It could be better but rarely if ever would more than 7-8 guys play on the offensive line. im still dumbfounded how our veteran offensive line is questioned and MSU is so lacking O lineman they are relying on redshirt freshmen and a converted D lineman who had never pass protected until the pre Bowl game practices last year! It seems if your UM everything has to be proven first but at MSU any first year starter is given the benefit of the doubt.
August 29th, 2011 at 7:22 AM ^
I do feel our team is underrated by prognosticators purely based on the quality of our OL (top 3 in Big 10 no?), and the fact they will be protecting a returning starter named Denard Robinson.
August 29th, 2011 at 8:44 AM ^
...we're in "coast mode" now with not a lot of contact drills. We should remain relatively free of injury this week.
August 29th, 2011 at 9:12 AM ^
| MR. YOST'S MICHIGAN UNOFFICIAL THREE DEEP 8/27/2011 | |||||
| OFFENSE | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | First | Second | Third | ||
| QB | D. Robinson | D. Gardner | R. Bellomy | ||
| RB |
M. Shaw
|
F. Toussaint | V. Smith | ||
| WR 1 | J. Hemingway | J. Robinson | J. Jackson | ||
| WR 2 | R. Roundtree | J. Gallon | T. Robinson | ||
| WR 3 | M. Odoms | D. Dileo | K. Grady | ||
| TE | K. Koger | B. Moore | S. Watson | ||
| LT | T. Lewan | M. Schofield | M. Huyge | ||
| LG | R. Barnum | M. Huyge | E. Mealer | ||
| C | D. Molk | R. Khoury | R. Barnum | ||
| RG | P. Omameh | M. Schofield | E. Mealer | ||
| RT | M. Huyge | M. Schofield | P. Omameh | ||
| DEFENSE | |||||
| Pos | First | Second | Third | ||
| DE |
N. Brink |
R. Van Bergen |
K. Wilkins |
||
| NT | M. Martin | W. Heininger | R. Ash/Q. Washington | ||
| DT | R. Van Bergen | W. Campbell | Q. Washington | ||
| DE | C. Roh | J. Black |
N. Brink |
||
| MLB | K. Demens | J.B. Fitzgerald |
M. Jones |
||
| WLB | M. Jones | D. Morgan | B. Hawthorne | ||
| SLB | C. Gordon | J. Ryan | B. Beyer | ||
| SS | J. Kovacs | M. Robinson | J. Van Slyke | ||
| FS | T. Gordon | C. Johnson | J. Furman | ||
| CB1 | T. Woolfolk | T. Anderson | B. Countess | ||
| CB2 | C. Avery | J.T. Floyd | G. Brown | ||
| SPECIAL TEAMS | |||||
| Pos | First | Second | Third | ||
| P | M. Wile | S. Broekhuizen | W. Hagerup | ||
| K | B. Gibbons (40-) | M. Wile (40+) | S. Broekhuizen | ||
| PR | J. Gallon | D. Dileo | V. Smith | ||
| KR | J. Gallon | V. Smith | D. Dileo | ||
| KO | M. Wile | B. Gibbons | S. Broekhuizen |