stephenrjking

August 14th, 2017 at 10:17 PM ^

Every little bit of non-fluff detail is sweet nectar.

Good to hear that Marshall is actually getting to the point where he can contribute a bit. And the details on Kemp and Dwumfour, who will be keys down the line as the current guys move to NFL starting positions, are delightful.

EDIT: the way Mattison left an NFL coordinator job to come to Michigan, and then took a demotion to stay with the program when his boss was fired, is incredible. Legend stuff. Yeah, sure, he's happy here and near family. Doesn't make what he's done to buttress this program any less amazing. And he has coached his unit into one that dominates the sport.

evenyoubrutus

August 14th, 2017 at 10:51 PM ^

In the other part of the interview summary (which I assume is not free content) Mattison says that they are going to play James Hudson on both sides of the ball this year. Sounds like they may try him at Guard and if he does well then they will let him and Harbaugh decide what position he plays. Definitely didn't see that one coming.

Frank Chuck

August 15th, 2017 at 3:27 AM ^

Michigan fans don't realize what an incredible steal he was from Ohio. I'm glad OSU ignored him...just like they ignored Taco Charlton. Thanks Urban.

All this hype/fixation from fans on Solomon but Hudson might prove to be the better player long-term. He's a legit 6'4+ and 300 pounds. He can play as a DT but is athletic enough to be a SDE. If Hudson had been able to come in early as an early enrollee, he would've climbed the learning curve sooner.

Mr. Yost

August 14th, 2017 at 11:28 PM ^

IMO they're basically going to Onwenu him...he's not going to get any meaningful snaps, but he'll play in mop up time and practice on both lines until they figure it out.

It's one of the things I love about this staff, they'll try guys anywhere and try to find a home for them. My hope is that they continue to stick to it early in careers unless it's a Khalid Hill/Drake Harris type situation.

From all of the recruiting stuff it sounds like Hudson could be a force on either line...he's probably not going to be in the meaningful 2-deep on either this year, so may as well figure it out and allow him to get experience in both.

Mason got FB/LB reps before moving to FB "full time." Not sure if Brad Hawkins ever got WR snaps before going to S.

Paea is going to have to develop into a NG out of necessity so there's no real point in trying him at guard. He's more of a Hill/Harris type that if he's a junior and not contibuting at NG, then you move him to OG if we need depth there.

We don't need Samuels in the SLOT, but I'd like to see him work with that group some just to work on hands and route running. He seems like he could be a replacement for Peppers on offense down the road.

Mr. Yost

August 14th, 2017 at 11:37 PM ^

I don't know about you all, I appreciate all info, but the only positions I'm really thirsty for info are RT, backup WDE, and backup CBs.

We know everything else and anything that's really up in the air isn't really a concern (for me) because both guys are going to play (i.e. Higdon/Evans or DPJ/Black/Crawford).

Now don't stop the info...like I said, I want it all just like everyone else. But damn, I REALLY want to know what's going on at RT and those 2-3 backup spots as well. But even ahead of the backup spots, I'd love to know what's happening with our return game. I'd love to see Martin and Walker take that over for 4 years.

In order of interest:

  1. RT (by far)
  2. KR
  3. PR
  4. NB/#3 CB (because maybe we move a starter to Nickel and bring the #3 in like we did with Lewis)
  5. Backup WDE

UMBig11 - if you're lurking...Magnus needs another post.

MGoStrength

August 15th, 2017 at 8:29 AM ^

My take...it sounds like they don't know yet.  There appears to be guys having good days/plays and bad days/plays.  I'm sure if they had to make a decision today, they could based on what they've seen so far, but no one is showing enough to say "Yeah, this is our RT/NB/KR."  And, they probably won't because these are our weakest positions.  If any guy gets hot and shows consistently they probably want to have the opportunity to let him earn/take that spot, so they don't want to announce too early.  This encourages competition I'm thinking.  So, they'll let the guys compete and push each other all the way up until the opener when someone has to walk out onto the field as the starter.

Farnn

August 14th, 2017 at 10:51 PM ^

If Marshall can really contribute it will be amazing for this year and next.  Having a legit 2 deep of experienced players in the middle will be amazing and give guys like Solomon time to get acclimated. 

Now they need someone to step up for the WDE spot behind Winovich.  Haven't heard much about Jones or Johnson who are the only options that have been on campus for more than a couple months.

mrkid

August 15th, 2017 at 9:14 AM ^

It was so obtrusive too! There was no way I could read the free information in its entirety and leave the page without having to read his plug for his hard work. It almost forced me to put in my credit card number without my permission!

/s

Give me a break, that was the best way to plug his work.

Mr. Yost

August 14th, 2017 at 11:21 PM ^

IMO Solomon is the last thing from this line being better than last year.

If he can become a legit B1G calibur NG this line will be better than even the 2016 group.

Marshall's emergence along with Dwumfour give us solid depth behind Hurst who it sounds like is even better than 2016 Hurst.

I'm all in on the Kemp hype and I think we've got true freshman and redshirt freshman at both DE spots who can be 2016 Winovich level. Aubrey is the key, IMO.

Regardless it's a top 5 DL in the country and we're going to wreck havoc on people. Toss in that 1/2 missle, 1/2 bowling ball ILB we've got and we're going to be a front 7 for the ages (like last year).

I'm interested to see what our Dime DL looks like. I'd like to move Hurst to NG, Gary to DT and play Winovich/Kemp/Jeter/Vilian/Paye at the DE spots (whichever 2 are the best pure pass rushers). Not that we're in the Dime a ton, but just from a curiosity standpoint.

RoZ06

August 15th, 2017 at 3:24 AM ^

FWIW, I'm proud of Marshall. Would be easy to be discouraged with the young DL coming in and pushing for backup snaps. If he's added 40+ pounds since he enrolled, made the transition to 3T, AND given his all to the team despite his lack of playing time so far, that's really impressive. I'll be rooting with Harbaugh this year for Marshall.

YoOoBoMoLloRoHo

August 15th, 2017 at 9:25 AM ^

Mattison does a great job of projecting guarded optimism. He has a lot of athletic pieces to rotate if AS, LM and MD are ready inside.

My only concern with the DL is the ability to plug the middle against the few teams that really want to run inside with pure mass (MSU, OSU, UW). Besides Mone, we lack a Glasgow or 320-lb anchor to clog the middle. Hopefully AS can learn technique quickly to maximize his leverage and quickness.

Kevin13

August 15th, 2017 at 1:49 PM ^

I was worried he would be kind of a tweener LB/DE and never really find a solid postion to contribute at. But it appears he has put on some size and strength and looks like he will be a very good player in the 2 deep.