Does Cullen Christian make an immediate impact next season!?
...First, a look at our secondary depth without him:
CB#1: Warren, Floyd, Rogers?, AVERY, WITTY
CB#2: Turner, Jones, GRIMES?, TALBOTT
FS: Kovacs, VanSlyke, Gordon, ROBINSON, JOHNSON
SS: Woolfolk, Williams, Emilien, JONES
I for one think it's insane that there's even talk about him redshirting. He is going to be better than JT Floyd, isn't he!? So he could at least be our nickleback next season (ahh...how nice it will be to be able to field three corners again!).
If the coaches are set on him being a SS, then he might redshirt. But still, there's a chance he could break the starting lineup there too. Emilien couldn't beat out Woolfolk/Williams last season, but Christian might be able to?
November 25th, 2009 at 5:04 AM ^
realize that Vlad was out a good 18 months because of his knee right? You dont magically get confidence in making cuts and plants, it takes time. I think Vlad will play at one of the safeties this year.
Then it depends. I dont think he will be better than Warren or Turner. Now do we try to start building quality depth and redshirt him? We'll have to wait and see how Floyd and others progress in the offseason. If I had to guess, Id say he gets redshirted.
November 25th, 2009 at 8:47 AM ^
he won't be better than Turner? Turner couldn't find the field even with all the chaos in the secondary last year. IME, now is not the time to build depth by redshirting, I would would rather have more depth on the 2 deep and 3 deep and win some games next year!
Perhaps in the year after a guy like Greg Brown could redshirt as our depth will be rounding out hopefully by then.
edit: this was supposed to be to zachattack about him not having any chance to beat out Turner.
November 25th, 2009 at 10:34 AM ^
didn't Turner have clearinghouse issues and was only able to start practicing with the team after the season started? As i recall, that was the reason he redshirted this year.
November 25th, 2009 at 7:04 AM ^
Quite simply, if he stays at cornerback, he doesn't have a chance at beating out Donavan Warren or JT Turner. If he moves to safety, than he would AT LEAST need a year to adjust to the change, since he never played it before.
November 25th, 2009 at 7:33 AM ^
He switched to safety his senior year.
November 26th, 2009 at 8:42 AM ^
Is there going to be a point where you realize you don't know what you're talking about, or are you just going to keep sharing "information" like:
a) Cullen Christian has never played safety before (even though he did this year)
b) Toussaint is a linebacker (he's not)
November 25th, 2009 at 7:53 AM ^
The long wait is over....WTKA podcasts are finally on iTunes. Get recruiting roundup, Brian and all things Michigan - finally!!!
November 25th, 2009 at 8:03 AM ^
I was wondering how long it would take you to make another hypothetical depth chart once Cullen committed.......It took you longer than I thought.
To be clear, I am not saying there is anything wrong with you making them, they are good discussion topics to be sure. I was just wondering how long it would take.
For me, I hope he will move to safety and get the R-shirt. His comments make it seem that he doesn't want to make the move, but I hope he does and we can build some quality depth there for years to come.
November 25th, 2009 at 9:01 AM ^
No unless he is one of those one in a million talent that shows very quickly he can play with college intensity right out of the gate. Many thought TURNER was suppose to make an impact this year. How did that turn out?
November 25th, 2009 at 9:17 AM ^
I can't wait for the day when we have enough veteran depth where we won't have to expect every high profile recruit to make an immediate impact.
November 25th, 2009 at 10:40 AM ^
...to make every name on your personal depth chart pick up their games. That's how depth of talent helps, immediately.
There is a story, that some of you guys might know, about Michigan coaches back in the late 1970's watching game films, and laughing at amazement with a move and a speed-burst by a Michigan tailback. One of the coaches said, "There are only four guys in the Big Ten who can do that; three of them are on our team."
Back in the days of larger numbers of scholarships (and no internet) there was somewhat less attenion paid to recruiting ratings and individual recruits, and yet there were a hundred guys, each of whom was an All-Stater from wherever he was from (something equivalent to four-stars).
November 25th, 2009 at 12:23 PM ^
I expect him to make less of an impact compared to D.Warren his freshmen year in a much more established defense.
November 25th, 2009 at 8:43 PM ^
Haha I think we all wish we could find someone that would make the Donavan Warren-like freshman impact. Point is, Christian just lacks the speed to make any kinda real impact for a couple of years.
November 25th, 2009 at 5:35 PM ^
its so strange that someone listed at 4.68 in the 40 is rated so high as a CB, isn't it? But if you watch his tape, his technique is P-E-R-F-E-C-T, perfect.
here's what I'm guessing it is. straight line sprint, he's not that fast. but he back-pedal's as fast as someone that runs a 4.4. that sounds more like a corner than a safety to me.
i predict he does not redshirt and is our nickleback next season.
November 26th, 2009 at 8:40 AM ^
No, it's not.
It is strange that you predict he'll be our nickel back when we didn't use a nickel back a single time this year, though.
November 26th, 2009 at 11:36 AM ^
yeah, we didn't make ANY personnel substitutions last season. GERG must have learned that in the NFL. Probably had nothing to do with the fact that we had zero depth at any position in the seconday.
November 26th, 2009 at 8:39 AM ^
Chart.