Least talked about player so far this fall...

Submitted by pkatz on
James Ross III and/or the SLB position. Any insight as to why we aren't hearing anything?
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Avon Barksdale

August 20th, 2014 at 9:21 AM ^

But the reason I think it is worrisome is not for fear of him not panning out, but the mere fact that we are limited at quality safety options if he doesn't pan out. Truth be told, I wouldn't mind seeing Countess move back to safety if he is indeed behind Peppers, Lewis, and Taylor. Stribling would be able to hold his own as a 4th CB.

I know Countess is only 5'10, 185, but Jeremy Clark is razor thin also at 6'4 200 pounds.

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evenyoubrutus

August 19th, 2014 at 9:31 PM ^

Bolden is a beast.  Ryan is a beast.  Peppers is a beast. Lewis is a beast.

Let's face it, Willie Henry is a beast.  Frank Clark is also a beast.  From what some are saying, Pipkins is a beast.  Maurice Hurst Jr.- beast.

You can't have all your starters be outright beasts.  It just doesn't happen that often.  It doesn't mean he is going to suck though.

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pearlw

August 19th, 2014 at 9:34 PM ^

Agree with the Ross observation...I was guessing that before i clicked on also. Im guessing it has something to do with all the focus on this bolden/Morgan competition when it really doesnt mean much as they will both be playing alot. Throw in the hype about Jake Ryan switching to the middle and there really isnt much reason for reporters to ask questions about the SAM position when asking LB questions. In reality, alot of the preseason hype comes as response to reporters specific questions so if there isnt a question about it then little gets said on the topic.

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pearlw

August 19th, 2014 at 10:13 PM ^

Well, Kenny Allen is also the backup FG kicker and presumably can't be the holder for himself. Shane must have been in when Allen kicked as he had a few FG attempts during the scrimmage.

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LSAClassOf2000

August 19th, 2014 at 9:40 PM ^

Maize'N'Brew talked about him a little bit in their assessment of the defense - HERE

James Ross has been good to great for two years now, but again, his competition is more athletic and rounding out his mental game. I don't seen the 'loser' of the Bolden/Morgan battle stealing this position simply because Ross and Jenkins-Stone are both more suited to taking on lead blockers and making the physical play, meaning whoever wins between Ross and Jenkins-Stone will play for quite some time.

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carlos spicywiener

August 19th, 2014 at 9:42 PM ^

At this point, the defense is about as good as it's been since 2006 in my opinion. The 2011 crew were a bunch of overachievers.

We lack a top end pass rusher (like 2006 Woodley) but we make up for it in having 3-4 quality CBs (instead of one in Leon Hall). The D Line is a deep rotation of young talent and the linebackers go 2 deep at every position with little to no dropoff.

Give it another year and it will be impossible to move the ball on this group in 2015. Once Taco Charlton becomes a junior it's f*cking on.

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JTrain

August 19th, 2014 at 9:52 PM ^

Ian Bunting. I know he's a freshman but with the Jake Butt injury I thought maybe he'd be Funchess 2.0. Not to mention he RAPS fir God sakes. And has big hands. Giant big hands.

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MichiganMan_24_

August 19th, 2014 at 9:54 PM ^

I know who id love to hear more about..I think it would be a great thing if Taco becomes a playmaker..has the physical ability to dominate some games if sll goes well

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DonAZ

August 19th, 2014 at 10:06 PM ^

This is an interesting question.

On the offense -- the FB position has gone down the memory hole.  Nothing.

On the defense -- Taco Charleton.

An element of this is the "shadow effect" ... who is not being talked about because someone else is being talked about a lot.   Not sure how much that's affecting things, though.

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reshp1

August 19th, 2014 at 10:13 PM ^

If actually are going to run 2 TE sets, the guy that's been conspicuously missing from mentions is AJ Williams. He had some good reps in the "Michigan Drill" on CTK, but that's basically been it. He will be every bit as important to the run game as the OL, so hopefully the blocking improvement we saw isn't a fluke.

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This is Michigan

August 19th, 2014 at 10:37 PM ^

Honestly, I haven't heard much on how JMFR is adapting to middle linebacker. Is he just still beast and it's just not surprising so we shouldn't expect anything different. I guess I just expected to hear more about the Senior.

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