Hot take time: Michigan's Receiving Corps is the biggest weakness

Submitted by MichiganForever on
Yes, even worse than the putrid O-line. Who is a serious threat to take it all the way or go up and make a tough grab in traffic? Ultimately, Braylon was well within his rights to be upset that Kekoa Crawford is rocking the number 1. Dude should be playing for Eastern. DPJ is too young and not ready to be a starting receiver and Grant Perry is an ok slot guy. Mcdoom is awful in every facet besides the odd jet sweep against a bad opponent. The receivers corps cannot create separation and unlike the Henne and Denard years there is nobody that we can go to and have confidence to make a play. Going forward we should run nothing but read option with quick strikes and seam routes. Any hope of pushing the ball down the field under center or 5 wide is a fantasy. It baffles me why Harbaugh didnt go pure read option from the out set, but there are a lot of things that baffle me with this staff.
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stopthewnba

October 8th, 2017 at 11:55 AM ^

There were two or three 'coverage sacks' in the first half when the offense had no momentum. Isaac fumble was an absolute killer, and O'Korn in the second half lit hhen offense on fire. But the receivers can't seem to get ANY separation.

Joined: 06/07/2011

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I Like Burgers

October 8th, 2017 at 12:05 PM ^

I’ve been in on this thinking a lot after the last two games. The TEs are fine, but the WRs can’t do ANYTHING. The OL isn’t good, but they’ve blocked well enough that if a WR was open whoever was QB had time to throw it to them. There have been a ton of times Michigan has picked up a coverage sack or QB has been forced into making a bad throw, or trying one of the infamous sideline passes that go nowhere. And I think we’re up to three different broadcast crews now that have pointed out the WRs keep running that sideline fade wrong, putting themselves in a position where it’s impossible to catch it in bounds. Competent WRs would help this offense a TON.

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I Like Burgers

October 8th, 2017 at 1:28 PM ^

Its both things.  The OL isn't good at all, but when the pocket breaks down and the QB has to throw it, there's often no one to throw it to.  And when they do throw it, its often to someone that can't catch it like Crawford.  Looked it up, and he's only catching 37% of the balls he's been targeted on.  Both Perry and Black are at 66%.

On top of that, Perry seems to be the only WR that can get open.  So on the times the pocket hasn't collapsed or the OL has blocked long enough for the QB to make a play if someone was open, the QB is often stuck with no options.  Which leads to all of the happy feet and sacks that we blame on the QB and OL when those really should be attributed to the WRs.

The same way a great RB can make an OL look better, a good WR corp can make an OL look better.  Michigan has neither.

Joined: 10/06/2012

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UofM Die Hard …

October 8th, 2017 at 1:45 PM ^

I don’t like dogging on one specific player but Ty really changed that game with his fumble. We were rollin and looking like about to March down and get some points. Completely changed the game, they took that momentum and never gave it back. Protect the frickin football. The fact we had a chance to win with 5 turnovers just shows how good this defense is. So freakin tired of shit offense.

Joined: 03/10/2011

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Clarence Boddicker

October 8th, 2017 at 12:02 PM ^

The receivers are young but will be fine. Darboh and Chesson didn't show much early. Crawford still has the chance to be an impact player, Perry is better than just "okay," and Martin and Collins will be out there next year along with Black. 

I'm more worried about the continuing presence of Drevno, who is increasingly looking like a waste of space on this staff.

 

Joined: 05/27/2011

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BursleyBaitsBus

October 8th, 2017 at 12:08 PM ^

Never understood why people were happy about Pep Hamilton. Dude sucked with Andrew Luck in Indy and he sucked with the Browms. Why the fuck are we excited? Then we replace Tyrone Fucking Wheatley with Jaybaugh??????? Serious????? And we kept Drevno over Fisch. I can’t man.

Joined: 01/20/2016

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WichitanWolverine

October 8th, 2017 at 12:13 PM ^

Agree big time. I didn't know much about Pep Hamilton before he joined the M staff. And after doing a little research I was not impressed, but a ton of bloggers were pumped about him. It looks like we got hoodwinked on that hire. And yes, I think it's time to hire a legitimate RB coach and stop the nepotism.

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I Like Burgers

October 8th, 2017 at 12:10 PM ^

Crawford can’t run a route, can’t high point a ball, can’t track a ball, can’t get separation, and can’t catch. I’ve seen zero from him that makes me see any promise. At best, he’s a guy you have as a third or fourth WR, not as the No. 1 guy. He has 5 catches on the season and I would bet he’s been targeted about 20-25 times.

Joined: 10/06/2012

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I Like Burgers

October 8th, 2017 at 12:50 PM ^

Sorry, he has 7 catches now.  Site I looked at wasn't updated through this week's games.  Your receiving stats through week 6:

Perry -- 18 rec, 224 yds, TD

McKeon -- 14 rec, 179yds

Black -- 11 rec, 149 yds, TD

Gentry -- 6 rec, 119 yds, TD

Crawford -- 7 rec, 99 yds, TD (43 of these yards came on 1 play)

Eubanks -- 2 rec, 61 yds

DPJ -- 3 rec, 60 yds

 

So yes, Perry is fine, the TEs are fine, and everything is pretty bad.  Losing Black was way worse than we probably thought it would be.

Joined: 10/06/2012

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I Like Burgers

October 8th, 2017 at 1:12 PM ^

Was curious to know how bad it actually was and decided to look it up based off the play-by-play:

Florida -- 7 targets, 2 catches

Cincy -- 5 targets, 4 catches

Air Force -- 4 targets, 0 catches

Purdue -- 3 targets, 2 catches

MSU -- 1 target, no catches

 

So on the season, that's 20 targets, and 8 catches (40%).  One of the catches against Florida was the TD that didn't count.

For comparision, Perry's games have been 5/4, 6/4, 4/2, 5/3, 7/5 -- for a total of 27 targets, 18 catches (67%). Black was 4/2, 6/4, 7/5 -- 17 targets, 11 catches (65%).

Joined: 10/06/2012

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Fab and Fresh

October 8th, 2017 at 2:15 PM ^

I'm reminded of a thread where the potential production of the freshman corpse of receivers was discussed. Expectations seemed to be pretty lofty. Then past M freshman receiving stats were introduced which made all those predictions seem unlikely and silly, yet many people still doubled down. This is the reality. Not three freshman receivers with 1000+ receiving yards and 10 TDs each. That's just ridiculous.



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I Like Burgers

October 8th, 2017 at 12:15 PM ^

The WRs are at least the second biggest weak spot on the team, and probably the top weak spot. The OL is serviceable enough if they had WRs that could get open. But they don’t and everyone wants to pin all the problems on the QB and OL. And because the WR corps is a non entity, teams can tee off on the run and stack the box, which also makes the OL look bad because surely if you can’t run, it’s the OL’s fault.

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Reader71

October 8th, 2017 at 1:00 PM ^

I watched one of the worst individual performances in Michigan OL history from a player last night. For the first time ever, I felt that Michigan was playing a player who had no business playing D1 football. There were plays in which our offensive lineman was literally lifted off of both feet. Or was beaten so badly he tried to block someone with his ass as they ran by.

Joined: 08/30/2009

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Reader71

October 9th, 2017 at 8:27 AM ^

“Played” is generous. I practiced, mostly. But even I would have acquitted myself better than the player did on Saturday. And I don’t say this as a guy who believes he was a world-beater just stuck on the bench. I should walk the criticism back a little. I can’t say I feel strongly about his performance in the run game. But the pass protection was very, very bad. Again, probably the worst I’ve seen. I don’t feel any way about any recruits. I don’t follow them until I see them play college ball. Recruiting is the least interesting thing in the world to me.

Joined: 08/30/2009

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BLUEyouout

October 8th, 2017 at 12:00 PM ^

I can appreciate your desire to find the "one" thing that will fix this mess. Problem is that the offensive issues are systemic. From the OC to the line of scrimmage. 

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LSAClassOf2000

October 8th, 2017 at 12:53 PM ^

This right here. There's a lot to talk about and not really like about what we're doing on offense, but it is difficult to hang it solely on one position or group. There are issue everywhere and they feed on each other in an unfortunately parasitic way most of the time. As for the WRs, it was easy to see this group being productive in August even if not prolific, but having seen them in five games, outside of Black and Perry, I have questions, and maybe those are answered next yar with experience, but right now, I have questions. 

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Chuck Norris

October 8th, 2017 at 12:01 PM ^

I agree, but I still think the O Line is concerning. The receivers are young, and, as people have said 1,000 times, young receivers usually suck. Our best bet at a young receiver who didn't suck broke his foot and is out for the year.

The O Line on the other hand, returns 2 starters and another guy who is a 5th year senior. I wasn't expecting them to be world class, but there is not excuse for them being this bad.

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Durham Blue

October 8th, 2017 at 12:01 PM ^

Michigan gets the occasional TE in the flat stuff for a bunch of yards.  Or the TE crossing route.  Perry has been serviceable but not a big threat.  Other than that the receiving corps is inexperienced and a true weakness.  They were buttoned up all game against MSU resulting in more coverage sacks than we should see for 3 or 4 games, let alone 1.

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MaizeAndBlueWahoo

October 8th, 2017 at 12:02 PM ^

The headline of this post has promise.  The rest is just hot-takery.  It's not wrong to say the receivers could've done hell of a lot better job getting open yesterday against what was supposed to be the weakness of that defense.

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Catchafire

October 8th, 2017 at 12:02 PM ^

Please delete this thread.  It all starts with the offensive line.  If your able to run the ball, that creates opportunity for the receivers and vice versa.  The problem with Michigan is that we have no "identity." Which generally means we can't run the ball OR throw the ball.

 

No Identity = Can't Run the Ball and Throw the Ball.

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Goggles Paisano

October 8th, 2017 at 12:03 PM ^

WR's are weak without a deep threat or even a jump ball threat.  But, it all starts up front and until we get the OL fixed with 5 strong guys across the board, our offense will continue to struggle.  

Joined: 07/30/2011

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garde

October 8th, 2017 at 12:29 PM ^

I agree with Herbstreit who said after that play he needs not to run such a wide route (not the first time we've seen that). DBJ is not a physical receiver AT ALL and often gets forced towards the sideline. I dont want to bash a true frosh WR, but while DPJ might have amazing physical gifts and a huge upside, I don't think he is a "football player." He seems very soft to me and doesn't seem to have confidence like a typical 5 star athletic stud. He also doesn't seem to be agressive getting off the line or even going after the football. Black is the better WR by miles at this stage of their college careers. In fact, Black might be Harbaugh's best offense recruit thus far in the small sample size (Although I think Gentry and McKeon will eventually be All-Americans). 

Again, I don't want to bash DPJ, but he clearly isnt ready to be a #1 receiver. 

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Jimmyisgod

October 8th, 2017 at 12:04 PM ^

Receivers seldom got separation. MSU started a true freshman and a true sophomore at their corners, it's not like they have experience. We should be able to beat those guys more. Note: That Scott is really really good, like All Big Ten good already in his 5th game. How do they find these kids over and over?

Joined: 01/24/2012

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Josh9676

October 8th, 2017 at 12:06 PM ^

For as bad as MSU's secondary was supposed to be I didn't see our receivers with much (if any) separation all night. This combined with the drops can't be blamed on the QB or O line (don't get me wrong they have their own faults too). I found myself wondering when is the last time one of our receivers climbed the ladder to catch a ball and purely overpowered a DB to come down with it. They are talented but inexperienced. It is what it is at this point.

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