Wolverine91

January 22nd, 2017 at 4:19 PM ^

In other news, kinda surprising but an Alabama guy crystal balled Nico Collins to the good guys :)

Joined: 01/12/2014

MGoPoints: 10414

Caille33

January 23rd, 2017 at 10:15 AM ^

This guy also put in a CB for Martin to ND.  If you look he put in 7-8 CBs total within a 10-15 min span and all of them are to the team that currently leads for the respective players percentage wise.  Looks like a guy just going with the majority regardless of current trends.  He also has an accuracy percentage of just over 65 FWIW.  I'm not putting much credence in his opinions at this point.

Joined: 12/19/2016

MGoPoints: 352

alum96

January 22nd, 2017 at 4:42 PM ^

+1 for beating me to it.

And the whole winning the Big 10.  There is a very good chance we are talking year 4 of JH era before we win the conf and even then it's going to be an up for grabs case vs OSU.  If someone had told you that when he was hired in our euphoria people would have been mighty disappointed and negged to infinity and beyond for suggesting it would take nearly half a decade.

This is the year JH needs to pull some Stanford year 3-4 shit and pull some upsets over teams we won't be heavy favorites against.

/ducks under you for more cover

 

Joined: 04/28/2012

MGoPoints: 82377

OwenGoBlue

January 22nd, 2017 at 4:46 PM ^

I took the Harbaugh "longview" when he was hired and thought year 4 or 5 (with OSU/MSU at home) would be the first real playoff shot. 

Definitely didn't project that this year's team would be as good as it ended up being. On the other side, if he starts 0-3 against OSU, well, I didn't see that coming.

Joined: 04/03/2016

MGoPoints: 31529

victors2000

January 22nd, 2017 at 4:48 PM ^

and we already get everyone's best game; there won't be any 'upsets' if we beat anyone. Coach Harbaugh did some great things at Stanford but they were doormats when he arrived; yeah, we've had down years but we are still Michigan. Ask the recruits. And the SEC. And the NCAA.

Joined: 03/21/2009

MGoPoints: 12824

alum96

January 22nd, 2017 at 5:04 PM ^

Huh?

You can go and win a game you are not favored in.  This year there were very few opportunities as the schedule opened soft, UM was winning big, MSU on the road was down, so OSU was the really only chance to win a game UM was not favored.

Next year?  I see @ PSU UM not being favored and very much potentially OSU at home could be a toss up.  @ Wisconsin depending on things fall we could be an underdog.  So those are 3 opportunities where I'd like to see some Stanford vs USC magic start happening -- this is the year we need to see it.  (UM is an early 7.5 favorite vs FL which I find a bit startling based on roster losses but as we all know UM gets a lot of money on them)

OSU is absolutely critical at this point too; as someone else said going 0-3 in your massive rivalry to begin your career, and losing 2 of those 3 opportunities at home and then going into the Shoe in 2018 with all these 5 stars lining up all over the field @ OSU would get some of the natives restless.  And it's starting to get stupid how often we lose to OSU - even MSU withs its stupid array of 2 and 3 stars has beaten OSU more often the past decade. 

Joined: 04/28/2012

MGoPoints: 82377

JTrain

January 22nd, 2017 at 4:48 PM ^

Yea. A LOT of homerz on this blog. I love optimism but ... uh .... there's reality too.
As great as Harbaugh is...Urban and Ohio State aren't going away. Couple that with the fact that he is arguably the best recruiter in the country. At a school where players "ain't really hafta play skool n shit".... well... there ya have it.
We will need some magic to "overcome" what's happening to the south of us on on a regular basis.



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Joined: 12/08/2012

MGoPoints: 8459

RobM_24

January 22nd, 2017 at 4:48 PM ^

I didn't think he'd be winning the B1G in 3 years. I thought year 5 was the point where I'd be expecting results. He needs time to get his own recruits, and groom a QB that he recruited. He has exceeded my expectations so far (not by much, but he has). He's recruited like a beast, had us within a ref's judgement call of beating OSU (and possibly the B1G), destroyed Florida in a bowl game, and duked it out with an established FSU program punch for punch. You can't expect a guy to perform like Urban Meyer unless he inherits a stockpiled team like Meyer did. And Meyer didn't have an established powerhouse coach to overcome in order to claim B1G dominance, unless you want to claim Dantonio is.

Joined: 01/27/2014

MGoPoints: 63179

I Like Burgers

January 22nd, 2017 at 5:23 PM ^

To me, that's a byproduct of bad OL recruiting and development.  They didn't achieve their goals this year because the OL was the weak spot of the team.  If they don't achieve them the next few years it'll be for the same reason.

This is the third OL class Harbaugh has had his hands on (yes I'm aware the first one was on short notice), and despite it being the giant flashing neon sign of doom for this team every year for the last decade (as others have said), this class is the first one they've gotten serious about.

To me, the 2016 OL class was an utter disaster.  By then they should have been well aware what state the OL was in, and how tenuous the depth was, but they went out and recruited a whole 2 linemen (Bredeson and Onwenu) that were regarded, plus a flier on a third.

THREE!!

Three fucking linemen when they knew damn well what kind of shit shape the OL would be in for 2017 and beyond.  Yes they lost out on Hamilton just before signing day, but four ain't a whole lot better than three, and when you absolutely need contributors maybe don't put all your eggs in the basket of a kid that's not 100% sold on your school.

The fact that they are recruiting guys that they hope can step into the starting lineup on the OL is a Harbaugh problem, and not a Hoke problem at this point.

Joined: 10/06/2012

MGoPoints: 30575

WeimyWoodson

January 22nd, 2017 at 5:55 PM ^

This is when we all start to see the shift to what Harbaughs guys look like on the field.  Despite being young and inexpereinced there needs to be seen improvement on the O-line, and need to start winning games we have not been winning recently.  

Since Harbaugh has been here we have for the most part beaten the teams we were supposed to, but have not beaten the teams in toss up games/shouldn't be yet.  I've said before in other posts that Habaugh walked into the Michigan job at the toughest point in the programs history.  OSU is on a historic roll, Michigan was beaten down, and Harbaugh is a big time coach now.  No one is going to sleep on a Harbaugh coached team, they are all going to be ready for that game.  

This is not Harbaugh at Stanford going up against USC.  Harbaugh then was an up and coming coach and USC didn't think much of them.  Urban eats/sleeps/breaths beating Michigan everyday of the year.  Not saying there's any type of hot seat because thats stupid to say, but if Michigan is 0-3 against OSU come the end of November that could really start hurting recruiting and people might start asking if beating OSU will ever happen again.

Joined: 08/25/2015

MGoPoints: 14716

I Like Burgers

January 22nd, 2017 at 5:32 PM ^

The sad truth is that losing to Ohio State is SOOOOO normal at this point (2 wins in 16 years).  So its tough to be disappointed when normal happens.

Like, when I typed out my OL disappointment comment, that was legit the only thing I could think of that I was disappointed about.  The fact that he's 0-2 vs. Ohio State didn't even cross my mind.  Its so expected it doesn't even register as a failure.

Joined: 10/06/2012

MGoPoints: 30575

MGoStrength

January 22nd, 2017 at 5:13 PM ^

If we only get 2 good ones each year it, assuming it takes at least 2 years before he is ready to really do anything more than just be there, it will take 5 years before we have 5 guys ready to contribute.

Joined: 07/29/2010

MGoPoints: 20002

reddogrjw

January 22nd, 2017 at 5:22 PM ^

Bredeson and Onwenu were top 100

as is Ruiz

FIliaga was til the last ranking

Stueber is very good, Hall a 4-star

 

Honigford will probably red shirt like Spanellis did

that is just from 2 classes

get 4 OL each year, 2 top 100-ish, the other 2 top 400-ish or better

and we'll have plenty of OL to put together a good OL with

Joined: 07/06/2016

MGoPoints: 9846

I Like Burgers

January 22nd, 2017 at 5:39 PM ^

Landing two top guys a year is borderline fine when you have established OL depth and talent.  Michigan hasn't been anywhere close to either for a long time.  At least when it comes to being a top playoff contender.

Joined: 10/06/2012

MGoPoints: 30575

Danwillhor

January 22nd, 2017 at 4:34 PM ^

It's really disappointing because it's the one area you need to be absolutely dominant in to succeed in his style of offense. More than QB, even. In fact, I thought the two area that would have elite kids lining uo to play here would be QB and OL. It's kind of stunning how disappointing the OL recruiting has been even without it being necessarily "bad". It's just lacking numbers of top-100 types.

Joined: 12/02/2008

MGoPoints: 8609

alum96

January 22nd, 2017 at 4:52 PM ^

I think missing out on all DT targets not named Dwumfour was a big miss too last year.  You'd like your interior linemen if they are not top 50 caliber to get a year to bulk up and improve S&C.  So last year's miss on ANY major DT now put this year's interior line under major duress.  If you got a top 200 type guy last year he could have sat and gotten bigger, stronger, faster, and been able to be a nice combo with Mone this year and emergency policy if Mone goes down.  Now we are relying on a very lightly recruited project guy.

We've addressed DTs in general this year but now you have a major hole in depth chart due to 'crootin 2014/2015 classes in terms of depth there.  Like safety it's not a position you really want to stuff freshmen in.

Specific to NT types, if Solomon is not landed your only true NT type in 2 years is Dwumfour.  Solomon is simply a must get.

So I'd say DT misses of 2016 class along with inability to get a prime time NT in any class (yet) combine to create a thin margin of injury error.  And forcing Gary inside a lot more this year IMO as you can't count on Mone to stay upright and even if you can, you need non true freshman in those spots in the interior. 

Joined: 04/28/2012

MGoPoints: 82377

Alumnus93

January 23rd, 2017 at 12:07 AM ^

Well Bredeson, Onwenu, and Ruiz.....are all likely playing on Sundays..... and now Filiaga....

He lost Newsome and LTT and Fox  ...the depth that should be here, that isn't.   The disappointment lies in losing Hamilton and Wilson, only....  the rest, he has done well...

 

Joined: 09/10/2009

MGoPoints: 9684

Danwillhor

January 22nd, 2017 at 5:25 PM ^

it's perception. It's disappointing considering what many thought would happen under Jim with QBs and OL. Figured there would be more top-100 guys across the board given his system and history. Yet, I apply the fair caveats of it not being "bad" and guys like Hamilton hurt. We need a lot of lower guys to pan out but Stanford and all so.....? People should read things with a bit less black/whie when the only word used is "disappointment" in a personal sense. For me and many others it is but in not freaking out or on a ledge, ffs lol

Joined: 12/02/2008

MGoPoints: 8609

Danwillhor

January 22nd, 2017 at 4:40 PM ^

You have to tell a bunch of guys with heavy interest that you have no room or slow play them to the point of not really having a chance to get back in it many times. You have to outright come back to a kid you more or less told was not as good or as wanted as much as another kid - AFTER the other kid spurned you (ha). It's a business type mentality but it's not because you're dealing with children and their families. Passing on a kid is a slight to most.

Joined: 12/02/2008

MGoPoints: 8609