LaLota & Turner
Lalota-
Any word on him? Came in as a highly touted recruit and there's been nothing on him - at least to my knowledge. He staying on D? OL? What are the plans with him and how's he looked now that he's done w. his redshirt.
Turner -
Why is he not being mentioned as starting CB? Rumors of him being overweight and out of shape seem to be dismissed by his sub-200 weight...#1 player in all of Ohio and JT Floyd is getting more love?? Visions of Turner-Cullen secondary, plus Marvin and Vlad patrolling at S is salivating, but what's the good word on Turner?
August 9th, 2010 at 10:58 AM ^
LaLota - my understanding is he didn't start playing until his jr. year of HS and it has taken time to catch-up. I've heard his name here and there as possibly being on the 2 deep (behind Banks I think?)
August 9th, 2010 at 11:01 AM ^
Today is the first practice. Give it a week or so and I'm sure we'll be hearing all sorts of information on a bunch of players.
August 9th, 2010 at 11:04 AM ^
Lalota is behind Van Bergen at DE. He's also fighting Jibreel Black for playing time. He came to football late (as the above poster said), so it's taking him some time to adjust. I think his ceiling is lower than what his 4-star/5-star ranking suggested during the recruiting process.
It has seemed in the past that Turner is too slow to be a major factor in one-on-one coverage at corner. Floyd has apparently taken a leap forward, so Turner might be a backup again this year. He could move to safety sometime down the road if cornerback depth allows.
August 9th, 2010 at 11:20 AM ^
read that over at TtB
August 9th, 2010 at 11:32 AM ^
Thanks!
August 9th, 2010 at 11:51 AM ^
Will Black redshirt if LaLota plays better in practice the next few weeks?
I would find it hard to believe that any DL would get redshirted this year.
August 10th, 2010 at 1:30 AM ^
I think Black is very likely to play this year. I don't think he'll be a huge factor, but keep in mind that Michigan will lose Banks, Patterson, Sagesse, and probably Steve Watson this year. The only non-freshmen remaining on the roster after this season will be Campbell, Martin, Van Bergen, and Lalota.
We need to develop depth, and Black is the most ready to play.
if he lacks speed? Seems like that's something that would have slowed schools down a bit? Also, do we know it's true?
I think it's because his speed, playstyle, and size is better suited for a S position rather than a Man Coverage CB. I think he'd be a good S, and Magnus hit the nail on the head on why he's not the #1 starter.
because he has grown an inch or two and has put on good weight, i.e. muscle. That could have slowed him down and possible turned him into a safety/spur/bandit.
August 10th, 2010 at 1:32 AM ^
It's not Turner's straight-line speed that has come into question. It's his ability to change directions quickly.
August 9th, 2010 at 11:11 AM ^
Did Woolfolk say they're going to be playing zone more this year? Will this help Turner get more playing time?
August 9th, 2010 at 11:15 AM ^
Yes. And maybe.
I think Turner would be more effective playing Cover 2 where he sits in the flat, but they're going to be mostly a Cover 3 team where he'd have to cover a deep third.
August 9th, 2010 at 11:28 AM ^
Or are JT Turner and Cullen Christian yin and yang?
Turner is a big guy who can tackle, play under zones and take care of everything in front of him. Christian is a fluid turn-and-go kind of guy who would be great in man coverage but struggle in run support.
August 9th, 2010 at 11:13 AM ^
They still have some time to put it all together and help us win games. I know it is hard to be patient, but they will get their chance to put their stamp on Michigan football eventually.
August 9th, 2010 at 11:15 AM ^
You mean you're not ready to declare two redshirt freshmen who haven't seen the field yet busts?
August 9th, 2010 at 11:16 AM ^
Nah on the contrary. Excited as hell about them since they came in so highly touted and was wondering when we'd be hearing from em since they both redshirted...
August 9th, 2010 at 11:33 AM ^
Have you learned NOTHING about irrational projections of future performance?
Only a FIVE-STAR can be a bust before taking the field.
A four-star can be a bust after one game, or after one exceptionally bad half.
A three-star internet-declared sleeper can be a bust after a few games, or after his first start.
A generic three-star can be a bust any time after that, but he is labeled as a "waste of a scholarship" rather than a bust.
August 9th, 2010 at 12:43 PM ^
i guess vinopals fucked then ha
...about walk ons. Apparently if they see the field beyond special teams, they are by definition a bust.
August 9th, 2010 at 11:21 AM ^
Some random dude gave them "star" ratings and they now need to live up to that ?
Asking for general news is okay, but calling out particular individuals and asking why they aren't living up to recruiting hype (which they had no control over) is not constructive.
Leave the kids alone and let them develop at their own pace.
August 9th, 2010 at 11:18 AM ^
Always looked like a better safety prospect. I think he is ultimately going to be there. If we had Warren and BooBoo, not to mention Dorsey, this year, I think he would have already moved there.
Lalota will be a factor in the future, probably a usable backup this year. I have heard some nice things about him.
August 9th, 2010 at 11:29 AM ^
Isaiah Bell is up to 245!?
August 9th, 2010 at 11:34 AM ^
Most players stay in college for 5 seasons and take several years to develop.
Both will still be with the team in 2013, so I wont lose any sleep because INSIDERZ dont speak breathlessly of them in 2010.
LaLota had a nice spring. Nobody on the second team could block him, per the reports. Give him a couple years more and he could be a contributor his final couple of seasons. As for Turner, I know its frustrating that the kid wasnt an instant charles woodsoon, but he has 4 years left here and maybe we're just going to have to wait until he's an upperclassmen before we see an impact. Worse things have happened.
Dream and salivate all you want about freshmen coming in right away, but most take 2-3 years before they are ready to wear at the collegiate level.
August 9th, 2010 at 11:35 AM ^
buying up proper gear. Bought a magazine called The Wolverine from thewolverine.com. Probably embarassing myself because many may know this, but it appears to be affiliated with the Rivals U of M site?
In any case, good mag. In it, DB's coach claimed something like "I've got 3 starting corners for 2 positions", talking about Woolfolk, Floyd, and Turner. He also talked about 2 distinct corner positions: field corner and something else. It made me think Woolfolk and Rogers were at one, Floyd and Turner at the other. That may be why Rogers started the spring game when Troy went down, rather than a comment on Turner.
Don't worry though, reading between the lines the coaches aren't down on Turner. They want to push him to take the next step
LaLota isn't talked about as much, but the "didn't play until his junior year" thing did come up
August 9th, 2010 at 11:42 AM ^
Yes, it is produced by Rivals' Michigan site.
There's a "field corner" and a "boundary corner." The "field corner" usually goes to the wide side of the field because he has better speed and cover skills. The "boundary corner" goes to the short side and is typically good in run support.
August 9th, 2010 at 12:09 PM ^
with Turner at boundary. Apparently he hits eh? Mentioned in this mag and others
The coach also backed Woolfolk's assessment of Floyd, saying he was being physical and picking off balls, generally making noise every time they looked over during spring
Rosy outlook throughout the mag, but felt better about the corners after reading. Safeties though... they like Cam, but reading between the lines again seems like that position has a lot for anyone to learn. Apparently Vlad and Jared Van Slyke were 1 & 2, but went down on consecutive days in practice, opening it up for Gordon. He hasn't looked back, but he can't solve it all right away. "Lots of work to do" could have been a subtitle for the D section, but there's room for optimism
August 9th, 2010 at 11:57 AM ^
Doesn't LaLota and Turner sound like an awesome cop show? I would sure as hell watch it...
August 9th, 2010 at 11:59 AM ^
Personal injury law firm.
August 9th, 2010 at 12:22 PM ^
Personally, I'm taking my case to the 2009 deep safety firm of Woolfolk, Williams and Kovacs.
is there a time frame for your next addition of your breakdown on safeties? I am really looking forward to it, and am praying that there is some hope in there that is going to tell me our safeties will be just fine. Keep up the great work!
It was half-written when I posted the last one but my time has been pretty booked up since then.
The endings are always a surprise to me, because I go in thinking one thing, then spend tons of time in comparisons and statistics and come out having changed my mind 20 times and never knowing if my original point was salient. E.g. I went into the DD series expecting M's retention to be pretty okay and lots of bad recruiting classes under Lloyd to be the primary culprit -- then at one point I was ready to blame attrition entirely -- and when I was done I was like "OOOOOhhhhh, I get it: you can recruit small classes like Penn State, or recruit large classes and then have huge attrition like Alabama, or just get the normal level of luck like Ohio State or Michigan State, but small classes, high attrition AND bad luck will kill you."
With this one I'm going in thinking we're fucked. There was hope in some Brandent Englemon UFR comments, but a recent review of VT's defense and a comparison of "coverage" metrics with Woolfolk at safety versus others last year basically says that speed at that position is the key to success against the passing game, and we have none.
August 9th, 2010 at 12:17 PM ^
He has an odd way of aging...
No offense to the OP, but this sort of question is emblematic of our decimated defense. We will have truly arrived when only the second coming of Woodson (HBHN) will cause us to wonder why we aren't hearing more about even "highly touted" F or RSF.
For validation of this point, see "Defenses, Iowa and Wisconsin."
LaLota came in a lot skinnier than expected - he was like 235 at the time. He's now listed at 270, so he may be ready to make a big impact now.