Harbaugh says Eamonn Dennis is leaning towards playing CB
I know CB depth is a huge concern right now with only Seldon committed as a true corner and DGW being recruited as another one in the class. Well Harbaugh talked about all of the members of the 2020 class and when it came to Dennis, here is what he had to say:
“Look at Mike Sainristil and that’s what you’ll be getting. Player and a competitor like Sainristil. First time I watched him on tape it was like watching Sainristil again. Good enough to be a wide receiver or corner. Last time I talked to him, Eamonn was leaning toward corner.”
If that’s true, that would certainly be good to get more speed and depth at that position. At 5’10, 173lbs he would be the right size for it. DJ Turner, Jalen Perry, Andre Seldon, DGW, and Eamonn Dennis is a solid class of underclassmen at CB.
On a side note, Harbaugh also mentioned RJ Moten as someone athletic enough to play corner, but he will play safety. I always figured he fit in best as a viper. But he’s another person to consider in the defensive backfield with some positional flexibility.
December 24th, 2019 at 10:21 AM ^
Also Gemon Green is still in the mix. The staff was very high on him and if he meets his potential, he would be an excellent player
December 24th, 2019 at 10:23 AM ^
We need to corner the market on corners. I'm a backer of the theory there is safety in numbers. We must rush to get this edge. It's a challenge we need to tackle. To show our commitment to this goal we should all don brown for the Alabama game.
Sorry.
December 24th, 2019 at 10:52 AM ^
Well done. Now the offense... go!
December 24th, 2019 at 11:56 AM ^
We need to center on guarding our quarterback. Running away from this will not allow us to tackle our objectives. We can not pass on it either. Wide, out of the box thinking blocks our success and screens us from our true selves. It creates a gap our opponents can counter. So let's have our play calling tight, ends justifying the means.
December 24th, 2019 at 1:35 PM ^
"Yeah it was mean. But the ends justify the mean."
-Michael Scott
December 24th, 2019 at 4:46 PM ^
Where is your head, coach?
December 24th, 2019 at 10:31 AM ^
Forgot to add George Johnson to your list. Not surprised Eamonn Dennis is slotted to corner. There was way too much of a freak out over corner recruiting when the option to move guys over has always been an option.
December 24th, 2019 at 10:51 AM ^
Moving guys around because we miss out on top targets still freaks me out. All we can do is hope for the best.
December 24th, 2019 at 11:21 AM ^
Position changes happen. Maybe George Johnson is moving because George Johnson can't catch the ball.
What top corner target did we miss on?
December 24th, 2019 at 12:38 PM ^
So Magnus, when it comes to position changes, are there changes that are easier to grasp as a player than others? Should we be concerned if someone changes to a position, like corner, that they may not necessarily have all the experience and reps at that position? If I recall, okudah (i know, total exception to the rule) was a safety in high school. Now he'll be a top 5 pick at corner. Is that solely because he's that great of an athlete and football player? Or is corner a position that allows that to happen at a higher rate?
December 24th, 2019 at 7:48 PM ^
It's easier to move UP on defense than it is to move BACK. You don't want to take a DE and make him a LB. You don't want to take a LB and make him a S. Etc. I've always thought that, but I think that was one reason Dymonte Thomas struggled for his first couple years in college. He was a 5-star athlete, but he was playing middle linebacker in high school and then Brady Hoke moved him to corner when he got to college. He eventually became a decent safety, but really not until his 4th year of college.
I don't know exactly what Okudah played in high school, but I *think* Okudah was a corner. Or at least he spent some time at corner. Many high schools play their best athlete at safety, though, because if you put Okudah at corner, the other team is just going to throw the ball to the other side or the middle of the field. If you put him at safety, now he can have an effect on the whole field.
I think offense is somewhat similar. You can move a RB to WR, but not a WR to RB. You can move a TE to OT, but not a C to OT. I mean, those are some hard-and-fast rules to which there are some exceptions, but that's a general guideline.
December 24th, 2019 at 12:51 PM ^
Not misses because were not in the mix...but it would be nice to land a Kelee Ringo or Dontae Manning.
I feel like we've hit on a lot of our higher rated CBs over the years.
I think we can make due with these position switches and the growth from the young guys + DGW. However, it's not good enough against elite competition.
We're still going to need to slide Dax down to NB and bring in a safety in those situations. Hopefully Perry and Turner have HUGE springs.
...I was really hoping to hear that Perry ot Turner would push for time in this bowl game and still save their redshirts. That would be a positive sign for the future.
December 24th, 2019 at 12:58 PM ^
Maybe we haven’t “missed” on top cb targets this year. I’ll give you that. And I’ll be happy with Warren. I know we’ve offered some top guys in the last couple years. I believe we’ve had coaches spend time to visit guys like Okudah, D Holmes, Tyson Campbell. Yeah it was a pipe dream sure.
My point is I gotta believe the staff would love to be in the mix for top guys, but that hasn’t been the case. I’m a little skeptical when guys get moved. Just my opinion. I hope I’m pleasantly surprised.
December 24th, 2019 at 1:35 PM ^
What top CBs signed with UM?
December 24th, 2019 at 8:53 PM ^
Lavert Hill, Ambry Thomas, Jalen Perry, Myles Sims, etc.
December 24th, 2019 at 2:17 PM ^
Was UM ever a serious contender for Dontae Manning? I thought there was chatter about UM when he decommitted from OU but I don’t think UM would’ve won that recruitment given the type of final contenders.
I think Malcolm Greene will actually turn into a very good corner at CU. UM pursued him but I think at safety - he has high potential in coverage to fit Brown’s scheme.
December 24th, 2019 at 2:31 PM ^
UM wanted him at corner as well. Shame, I really thought Michigan would be able to land him
December 24th, 2019 at 6:21 PM ^
Thanks for the correction. CU turned a WR (Kendrick) into a solid CB this year. I think they are better at identifying/recruiting pure athletes (3* Simmons and Wallace) and turning them into very productive defenders.
December 24th, 2019 at 11:00 AM ^
Is that official? I always figured that would happen since he is still transitioning from playing QB in high school and both Jackson and Sainristil have established WR positions.
December 24th, 2019 at 12:37 PM ^
Yes, he's a CB now.
December 24th, 2019 at 10:41 AM ^
So is our new recruiting strategy as follows?
Recruits WRs and make them CBs
Recruit DEs and make them DTs
Recruit QBs and make them TEs
Recruit FBs and make them DEs and then back to FBs
Seems like their might be a better way.
December 24th, 2019 at 10:49 AM ^
You're WAY off.
We recruit FBs and make them DTs, not DEs.
December 24th, 2019 at 10:50 AM ^
Trust the process
December 24th, 2019 at 10:56 AM ^
It's the MacGyver approach to roster management.
December 24th, 2019 at 11:00 AM ^
Hey at least the LB->TE->DE worked out pretty good.
December 24th, 2019 at 11:31 AM ^
As did the QB-->TE.
December 24th, 2019 at 11:12 AM ^
The kid runs faster than some of the corners ranked higher than him on 247 and it's not like Dennis has never played corner either. Not all positional moves deserve as much scrutiny as others.
December 24th, 2019 at 11:15 AM ^
Most of that strategy actually works really well in NCAA 14
December 24th, 2019 at 4:48 PM ^
Steve Breaston was a helluva an option QB on NCAA 2006
December 24th, 2019 at 10:34 PM ^
The one FS that looks like Calvin and has 95 speed /88 acceleration but tops out at 99 / 92 is all over my defense. Every linebacker spot and SS. My favorite game of all time. I was so far ahead in NCAA 14 recruiting classes I just caught up in madden 6 years later.
December 24th, 2019 at 11:24 AM ^
Who ever said that Dennis was a receiver? He's always been an athlete who plays both sides of the ball.
Now that Jim Harbaugh is talking about him for the first time publicly, he's saying that Sainristil is an athlete who's leaning toward playing corner.
This isn't a position switch.
December 24th, 2019 at 2:14 PM ^
Can't believe so many football fans are not aware that on many HS teams WRs also play CBs. Many excel at both at the HS level. So this isn't really a position switch at all.
December 24th, 2019 at 3:23 PM ^
All weight changes are good.
all position changes are bad.
December 24th, 2019 at 11:26 AM ^
I don't see Moten having the athleticism to play corner, at least not the way that Michigan's best corners (Lewis, Hill, Long, etc.) have been deployed.
December 24th, 2019 at 12:42 PM ^
What about Jeremy Clark, Channing Stribling and Vincent Gray? The lanky guys that Brown seems to love.
December 24th, 2019 at 8:57 PM ^
I don't think it's clear that Don Brown loves any particular type of cornerback over another. He has recruited many different types, including Andre Seldon and Myles Sims.
December 24th, 2019 at 11:26 AM ^
A safety with great athleticism sounds great to me.
December 24th, 2019 at 11:28 AM ^
Makes sense to me. The slot is getting very crowded and there is playing time available at corner. These smaller, shifty guys will serve us well against teams that use slot receivers and crossing routes a lot. Let the DGW's and Ambry's of the world play the outside corner spots.
December 24th, 2019 at 11:45 AM ^
Ambry could play outside or against the slot because he is a good enough athlete.
December 24th, 2019 at 11:50 AM ^
He can, yes, but I'd rather him stay on the outside where there are bigger and more physical receivers.
December 24th, 2019 at 12:07 PM ^
I feel you're getting fixed on the idea of height and strength. All else being equal, you want a taller corner. However, there are usually trade offs in player's skill set. Ambry is one of the few that has everything. I'm not saying Dennis will play on the outside but there isn't evidence to say he's pigeonholed as a slot corner.
December 24th, 2019 at 12:14 PM ^
I read the title as Dennis will be playing "Crystal Ball"!!
Can we stop with the abbreviations!?!?
/s (this means my comment comes with sarcasm)
December 24th, 2019 at 12:40 PM ^
Moten is a S, not a Viper.
Mohan is a Viper, not a S.
Morant is a S who could grow into a Viper or WLB.
All 3 from NY/NJ.
December 24th, 2019 at 1:17 PM ^
All safeties recruited at Michigan are given the pitch to be a viper. Doesn’t mean they will end up that way. Mohan is the only one out of the 4 who is starting out at viper. Moten and Morant have positional flexibility between the 2 spots. Paige is more likely a free safety that plays the same spot as Dax does.
December 24th, 2019 at 6:11 PM ^
Not sure I understand this response.
1. That's not true because Moten is and always has been a Safety. People have asked if he can play CB, but that's it.
2. My whole post was just to point out why people get them confused. That's it.
December 24th, 2019 at 4:00 PM ^
Looks like when it comes to players from NY/NJ, you "Gotta Go to Mo's"
December 24th, 2019 at 10:34 PM ^
Moten, Mohan, Morant. I am going to get them confused multiple times throughout their careers, for sure.