March 11th, 2009 at 10:52 PM ^
I still think he takes visits.
March 11th, 2009 at 10:54 PM ^
According to Matt Dorsey, he is moving to WR anyway, so no need to be excited. lol.
March 11th, 2009 at 10:59 PM ^
I saw that too. I bet he'll be ranked 13th best player in the state too.
March 11th, 2009 at 11:08 PM ^
i would say this should eliminate any doubt that he wasnt picking um
March 11th, 2009 at 11:37 PM ^
Gardner would be a good commit. It would be great to have a few solid commits recruiting throughout the season for UM. Also, 3-9 isn't gonna happen again, and it should be a little easier for RR to recruit when kids see an offense that actually works.
I just hope GERG can do a good job on the other side of the ball.
I wouldn't be so convinced about that. 3-9 was certainly an aberration compared to past years, but we again have virtually no experience at QB, are likely going to have another freshman QB starting, inexperience at WR, RBs that don't fit the scheme, and a defensive coordinator that is questionable at best.
3-9 is unlikely to happen again, but it's certainly very, very possible. Don't kid yourself.
"RBs that don't fit the scheme"...
Lol, yeah, Minor looked like a beheaded chicken while averaging 5.2 YPC behind a suspect OL with no QB last year.
He did look that way when he was fumbling the ball left and right.
I'm glad Minor finally learned to hang onto the ball near mid-season, but I'm a little less optimistic about what everyone else seems to think is regression towards the mean. Let's not forget that up until the PSU game, any person on this board who even suggested that Minor needed more carries was skewered. The "Minor RAGE" meme wasn't born until after that game. And how much of that success should we attribute to the fact that the featured back for the rest of the year was McGuffie -- yes, McGuffie was injured, but PSU certainly wasn't expecting us to come out run up the gut.
Besides, for as well as Minor ran in the Penn State game, you have to take the rest of the season into account. Can he stay healthy? Can the other backs stay healthy? History seems to suggest no.
RR's offensive scheme is obviously optimized for shifty, elusive backs. Minor, if he can continue the success he had at the end of this past season, will have a good year, but will likely not be the featured back unless one of our shiftier backs is able to carry the load.
It will be a major surprise if Minor isn't the featured back. Per the coaches, the only reason he wasn't starting from day one is because he had nagging injuries. It was never about his "fit" or fumbles.
Do you have a source on this? I never heard anything of the sort. In fact, this sounds like what the coaches said about Carlos Brown.
Actually, it doesn't sound like what they said about Carlos Brown. They never committed to any back. They only said that they wanted to have as many contributors as they could get and that they wanted constant competition.
There is no sane person on this board that thinks Brandon Minor isn't the frontrunner for the starting job in 2009. When he wasn't fumbling (which, as Rodriguez even said in the press conference the other day, was at least partially due to his hurt wrist), he was making big plays, running people over, and outrunning opponents.
And for God's sake, just because Rodriguez had Steve Slaton and Noel Devine DOESN'T mean his ideal back is one who's extremely elusive. Kay-Jay Harris was 240 pounds and Quincy Wilson was 220, and they both had good careers at WVU. Many of the backs we've offered this year are bigger backs (Lattimore is 210, Hopkins is 220, etc.). You have no basis for arguing that Minor doesn't fit this system, unless you think that guys who fit the system should be averaging 6.0 YPC and not merely 5.2 YPC.
March 12th, 2009 at 10:06 PM ^
There's plenty of reason to believe RR prefers those types of players. Kay-Jay Harris and Quincy Wilson were Nehlen recruits (if my memory serves me correctly, anyway), while Slaton and Devine were RR recruits. How many beer truck guys did he ever actually recruit? I mean, the closest comparison is Jason Gwaltney, and he well, never even saw the field. Preference has nothing to do with onfield success -- however, you'd better believe RR has an obvious preference in his system based on his recruiting.
Your last point doesn't make a lot of sense, either. Hell, I think Michigan RBs should all average 100 YPC, but that's obviously never going to happen. YPC really has little to do with that type of back, since they often have lower YPC than downhill guys. Look at the season McGuffie had. He only averaged 4.1 yards a carry, but I think most people would agree that injuries (and preseason hype) aside, he had a pretty good first year and is a model of what RR is looking for in a back. He isn't a downhill guy and will lose yards, but ultimately made up for that via big plays. YPC is a pretty narrow stat to look at.
March 12th, 2009 at 10:11 PM ^
Kay-Jay Harris transferred from a JUCO after Rodriguez had been there a couple years.
Quincy Wilson arrived before Rodriguez did, but ended up being WVU's fifth-leading rusher all-time (mostly under Rodriguez).
McGuffie did have a pretty good year for a freshman.
You know who had a better year?
A guy who's 6'1" and about 215 pounds.
And regardless of what happened in the past, what's happening right now? Rodriguez is recruiting a handful of backs who are either big backs (210 to 220 like Lattimore and Hopkins) or average-sized (190 or so like Riley, Clay, Seastrunk, Hall, White, etc.). Out of the ten RB's with offers, the only ones under 5'11" are Cassius McDowell and Brennan Clay.
So unless he's saving some super-secret offers for tiny, waterbug types, I'd say his "system" allows for guys who, like Minor, are well above 200 pounds.
Rich Rod said this a few times (as did Fred Jackson). I'm sure you can find it online if you go back to some of the postgame soundbites.
What does staying healthy have to do with "not fitting the system"?
Tom Brady tore his ACL last year. Does he not fit the Patriots' system anymore?
Ray Lewis hurt his shoulder a year or two ago. Maybe he should change systems, perhaps play WLB in the Tampa Cover 2?
March 12th, 2009 at 10:05 PM ^
If you are not healthy and do not see the field due to injury, you have nothing to do with the system, so technically, no, you don't fit. Antonio Bass doesn't fit this system because his knee is shattered. Carlos Brown didn't fit last year because he was injured (except for Minnesota). Based on what I've seen from Carlos Brown, he's injury-prone, so no, I don't think he's a good "fit" because he likely won't get a chance to see the field. Do I hope he's healthy? Yes. Do I anticipate he will be? No.
If you want to win moral victories based on semantics instead of argue football, I'd be happy to start sprinkling some "would of"- and "your a looser"-type phrases in my posts so we can end this conversation faster.
March 12th, 2009 at 10:16 PM ^
You're right. Carlos Brown doesn't fit the system. When he was healthy and finally saw the field, he only ran for 112 yards (or something like that) against Northwestern.
Like I said, by your definition, Tom Brady must not fit anyone's system because he tore his ACL.
If you're going to take a stand, this is not the place to take it. You might want to sit the rest of this one out.
Again, what you're talking about is purely semantic. Carlos Brown was not a measurable factor because he didn't contribute all season due to injury (with the exception of the Minnesota game).
I don't want to take a stand on this, because it's not the point I'm trying to make. You're completely missing the point. I'd be happy to stop this conversation right here because it's completely off the mark.
This argument has devolved into a semantic argument because you've refused to discuss the football aspect.
When you said Rodriguez's offense is optimized for shifty backs, I brought up Kay-Jay Harris and Quincy Wilson. You said they were Nehlen recruits (which Harris wasn't).
So I said Rodriguez is currently recruiting bigger backs who are more like Minor and Wilson, not tiny guys like Noel Devine. You haven't addressed this point.
I said Minor averaged 5.2 yards per carry. You said that's too narrow of a measure of a RB's success.
I think it was you who said McGuffie had a pretty good season, but with 15 fewer carries, Minor had 45 more yards, 1.1 more yards per carry, and 6 more TD's.
Meanwhile, Michael Shaw was recruited specifically by Rodriguez for this offense. Despite having a groin issue for most of the season, he averaged 5.1 yards a carry. (In other words, give him the ball twice and you have a first down.)
Meanwhile, in Carlos Brown's only start (i.e. the only game in which he didn't exclusively run ISQD's), he ran 23 times for 115 yards, which meant he averaged 5.0 yards per carry.
All of this was behind a questionable, inexperienced offensive line.
So who exactly doesn't "fit the scheme" and why? Kevin Grady, our 4th string running back?
Okay, you win.
March 12th, 2009 at 10:12 PM ^
Are you aware of the injury that he had to his right wrist throughout most of the season, thus contributing to the fumbles? I was as frustrated as anyone watching him cough it up over and over. But I didn't know about that until the Wisconsin(?)game.
My guess is that he will be the feature back.
March 12th, 2009 at 10:04 AM ^
Inexperience at wide receiver?
Odoms was our leading receiver last year, and Mathews will basically be in his third year of starting.
Running backs that don't fit the system?
Like someone said above, Minor was a beast last year whenever he wasn't fumbling. He averaged over 5 ypc, and Shaw wasn't too shabby, either.
Inexperience at QB?
Right on.
March 12th, 2009 at 10:11 AM ^
I couldn't let this one slide. Sommy I am sorry, but YOU. ARE. AN. IDIOT.
That is all
I probably shouldn't even bother responding to this, but it's pretty easy to degrade a person's opinion without actually presenting any reason why. It must be nice living in the land of sunshine, lollipops and lickitydoos, but 3-9 again is not only possible, but plausible, particularly with the QB situation.
Yes, Tate fits the system better and has the potential to make an instant impact, but again Tate is going to be a freshman. And yes, he has had a QB tutor his entire life, so he likely is better prepared. But it's still a big step up to the college stage. Jimmy Claussen also had a personal QB tutor and was considered very "polished" before enrolling at ND. Didn't look too good that year, did he?
Do I think we're going to end up 3-9 again? No (probably somewhere closer to .500), but it's not as unlikely as you think. Yes, we'll probably be better with Tate, but again, experience is a huge question mark.
March 12th, 2009 at 10:47 AM ^
does that mean NC this year or next year?
in all seriousness, when you take Minor's YPC and generally exciting potential and heart with what WAS a confused O-Line and then factor in the coach comments about the O-Line's visible size and strength improvement along with the stable of cannonballs that RichRod is installing at RB... i'm optimistic.
March 11th, 2009 at 11:48 PM ^
How do you know he is committing at junior day?
March 11th, 2009 at 11:54 PM ^
He is announcing at our practice. Its just common sense, imo.
If he announces at our practice for another school, I would hate to see what Barwis would do to him.
He's announcing in math tomorrow. 5th period bitch!
No matter what happens, can we all agree to overreact to the outcome? It's more fun that way.
Certainly. I'm already tired of Tate Forcier's mistakes. This time for sure!
March 12th, 2009 at 10:28 AM ^
...since we're deciding to get down on Tate Forcier now, let's be mad how bad it will be to lose the state's top talent to FYS again this year. (Insert favorite sarcastic quip here...)
Still a leery of how next season will be, but totally looking forward to Sep. 5!
I SEE FOUR STRAIGHT NATIONAL TITLES IN OUR FUTURE!!!!!!!!!!
WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!
THEY'LL ABOLISH THE BCS JUST BECAUSE THEY'LL BE SICK OF HAVING MICHIGAN IN IT!!!!!
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
And why would you commit during someones spring practice to another school. Gardner will pick Michigan.
http://www.freep.com/article/20090312/SPORTS06/90312001/1054/Michigan+h…?
Thank you for your compelling insight. Novel, indeed.
Will this kid commit this weekend? That would be huge.