DJ Williamson no longer on roster at MGoBlue.com
I was just looking over the roster and noticed that DJ Williamson was no longer listed. CC and Vinopal are also both gone, so this has been updated since their transfers. I know that there were many rumors circulating, but I hadn't seen it confirmed that he had left the program. Does anyone know when this happened or if it was even announced? It looks like you can chalk up one more available scholarship for the 2012 MegaClass.
http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/mich-m-footbl-mtt.html
I didn't see any other names missing, but Hoke did say he expects more attrition. Look it over and see if you notice any more names missing.
Best of luck to Mr. Williamson in his future pursuits, whether they be football or otherwise. Always sad to see a guy leave the program, no matter their place on the depth chart or their talent level.
We've been rather lucky in the fact that we haven't lost many players due to the coaching change. It's a real testament to the character of these kids, and the love they have for the University.
i've often wondered why more kids don't transfer, not just from U of M, but in general. if it was me, and I loved playing football and I had done it for the majority of my life and I knew I was only going to be able to keep playing for so long, I would transfer to a school that needed players of my position. I understand the scenario where you might end up leaving a really good school and end up at a mediocre school (education wise), in which case you would have to think things through a little bit more. But lets be realistic, unless you are in a field like business, law, engineering, pre med, its not going to be a big deal, it doesnt really matter where you get your degree in primary education or sports management or classics, and I assume most football players aren't in those hard fields, not because they arent smart enough but because of time constraints. I just cant believe we don't see more transfers on a yearly basis
Players would be reluctant to transfer for the same reason other students would. Moving is a pain in the ass even when you're an undergrad, course credits might not transfer to another school, and people don't like to leave their college friends. Also if you end up buried on the depth chart at one school, chances are you won't start at another of the same level.
It is somewhat surprising that JeRon Stokes, who has a lot more promise than Williamson, is not being mentioned more often as a talent already in our pipeline. This kid was a bigtime, four-star recruit out of a top prep program in Philadelphia who changed at the last minute from Penn State to Michigan. I know we haven't seen a lot out of him yet, but really, should we have? Just because a guy doesn't come in and wow us as a freshman doesn't mean he's not going to be a good player. A system where guys come in and learn and then hit the field is better anyway. Let's see how Stokes comes along. Kid's a hard worker with a great pedigree.
I don't like to give up on players who don't play much early, especially at quarterback, offensive line, defensive line, and linebacker. Those are positions that take years of technique and bulking up to perfect sometimes.
But wide receiver, running back, and cornerback are positions that don't require a lot of development to get on the field. For the most part, I think you either have it or you don't. The fact that Stokes hasn't done much in his first two years on campus makes me think his ceiling isn't very high. He has a chance to be productive, but maybe that top-100 ranking was a little bit off.
(I know some of you might point to my support of Michael Cox as being contradictory to my above statements, but keep in mind that Cox HAS been very productive in his limited playing time. He's been just about as good as anyone could expect a backup running back could be.)
...however, it is just the opposite in the NFL, where coaches will tell you that wide receivers often have a difficult time making an early impact. Granted, the schemes are a lot more difficult to master than most college offenses, but I know Sean Payton is a guy who does not like to draft receivers high for that very reason. There's no quick payoff. He'd rather take Marques Colston in the seventh round than his predecessor, who took Dante Stallworth in the first. (I'm only using the Saints as an example because I spent a lot of time around that team.)
And I also am on the Mike Cox bandwagon, and have been. I think he will play well if given a chance. He was a guy who did not fit the spread, but this offense should suit him much better.
So I'm also hopeful that Stokes fits better in a pro-style, vertical passing game. I honestly don't think we've seen enough to make a call on him and, in his defense, receiver has been one of the positions where we've had a lot of depth so it's been tougher to get much time.
I expect we have a lot of players who see the regime change as a new chance to prove themselves, so I'll stick with Stokes being a guy who is worth a look.
My only concern is he is a slot-ninja, not a prototypical pro-style GIANT reciever Not saying he cant have success, and he is one of the young WRs most likely to fill that role (I know, not many choices there) but with the coaching change our needs have changed and that has caused some people to overlook him. I still hold out hope, though.
Stokes was committed to Tennessee, not Penn State.
we're as bad off wr wise as some may think......at least for 2012. hemmingway, odoms, stonum and grady are seniors. what we have left is.....
roundtree - rs jr
stokes - jr
robinson - rs jr
jackson - so
dileo - so
gallon - rs so
robinson - rs fr
that list does not include sayed, who from all accounts was a div I type player that accepted a walk on or ricardo miller going between wr and te. also, i imagine justice hayes could handle playing wr since he was mentioned as a slot possibility when recruited by the previous staff.
we can get by with taking one this year but it gets very thin after next year. this year the staff seems committed to using most of our recruiting resources to bolster the o-line and our front 7 on defense..and we can't blame them one bit. i imagine the focus next year will be on more skill players and evening out the distribution a bit.
my biggest problem with this is the fact that we wasted a year on stokes when he should have been redshirted.