Mike Sainristil, Meritocracy, and #speedinspace
I was reading Touch the Banner - where I find the commentary to be excellent - and noted that Magnus has written a few times about this now - where is Mikey Sainristil? MGoBlog itself had annointed him as a starter before the season but I'm not sure I've ever actually seen him on the field and according to Magnus he has zero catches (and potentially zero balls thrown at him).
I wanted to pose the question I asked Magnus over at TTB here on this forum too and see what others think.
What Magnus wrote:
"Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Mike Sainristil. Michigan offensive coordinator Josh Gattis promised Michigan fans #speedinspace when he was hired. During the spring and then the summer, Jim Harbaugh said Sainristil was the starter at the H receiver position. We’re three games into the 2019 season, and the supposedly healthy Sainristil has yet to touch the ball even once. Not on jet sweeps. Not on screens. Not on kick returns or punt returns. Not on downfield shots.
Let’s see less of this guy on offense . . . Nick Eubanks. Or Luke Schoonmaker. Or any second tight end. Eubanks isn’t speedy in space, and neither is Schoonmaker. Michigan threw the ball to Eubanks on an arrow route, which is somewhat similar to a bubble. Why isn’t that throw going to someone who is actually fast?"
My question:
"Magnus – very curious on your comments on Sainristil. Does his omission from the games indicate to you that perhaps Josh Gattis is NOT in full control of the offense and that at the end of the day Harbaugh is making personnel decisions? I can’t imagine that Gattis wouldn’t want to get Sainristil on the field, especially since he seemed to have a big roll in all of spring and fall. *Added note: Gattis even highlighted Sainristil on his Twitter a few times.*
Separately, are we really a meritocracy or is there significant player loyalty being deployed by the coaches? For example, Sainristil is a true freshmen but Eubanks is a much older player who has paid his dues and so they are playing him? Perhaps this has something to do with the rumored locker room issues / the lack of dynamism throughout this offensive transition.
It seems to me what we are seeing on the field is different than what we’ve seen in spring practice."
September 23rd, 2019 at 10:01 AM ^
A 3* true FR isn’t playing? Whoa, stop the presses.
Kids hit walls and don’t progress enough to play. Might look great in shorts and a t-shirt but once pads get put on and blocking assignments come into play, suddenly the kid is treading water. There are 5* FR who aren’t instant starters.
What we’ve failed to do is manage our own expectations. Our shitty offense didn’t instantly improve with a rookie OC and mismatched personnel?
September 23rd, 2019 at 10:09 AM ^
Posters, please note how the OP pursues this topic. It's critical of how the coaching staff is utilizing personnel based on pre-season expectations, but its approaches the topic in a sensible manner with adequate background and poses questions to be discussed that don't trigger an immediate hot-take, flame-war mentality. Well done, in my opinion.
I have nothing else to offer but my game-day observations (hot takes?). But I agree with the premise - I expected to see streaking slot ninjas gobbling up YAC after YAC. I expected to see the RB's as an integral component of the passing game. I expected our deep WR corps, combined with an experienced QB in a system that supposedly aligned more with his talents than last year, to absolutely shred opposing defenses. I expected our experienced OL littered with former and potential All Big 10 candidates to propel this offense and protect our QB's with aplomb. But very little of this has occurred. After Game 3, my pre-season notions have been shattered. I don't have answers. I'm just dazed and confused. And I also think this team is currently dazed and confused.
Word on the street is that Warriner supposedly offered sage advice to right the offensive ship after the disjointed Notre Dame game last year. We need this to happen again. Quickly.
September 23rd, 2019 at 10:11 AM ^
My question is why did Oliver Martin run for the hills if Sainristil wasn't good enough to get any targets. Have we known we weren't going to be utilizing slot receivers all spring?
September 23rd, 2019 at 10:22 AM ^
You don’t see Mike Sanstril because you see two TEs instead. Why do you think you see two TEs??
September 23rd, 2019 at 11:17 AM ^
My guess is that Michigan is using two tight ends to attempt to create personnel mismatches. If you see a "heavy" package with two tight ends and put the personnel in to defend the inside run, then teams can exploit your defense by throwing the ball and using RPOs.
The strategy makes some sense.
The implementation is what's in question. Michigan can't run the ball, so the play action/RPO stuff isn't working.
So if you're doing that in order to go from run to pass, then maybe you ought to put in lighter personnel and try spreading the field with faster guys.
September 23rd, 2019 at 4:01 PM ^
Well the dumbfounding part of this is that this is not rocket science thinking yet there are some pretty significantly powered people on this staff who clearly cannot figure this out.
Otherwise, I "fortuitously" was unable to see the game...and have not yet mustered up the courage to watch a single play-not sure I will expose myself to that unmitigated disaster.
September 23rd, 2019 at 10:23 AM ^
They threw one poorly thrown fade to Sainristil in game 1 and that's the last hes seen the field lol
But what does it matter? Shea can hardly even get the ball to fucking nico, Dpj, and black
September 23rd, 2019 at 11:19 AM ^
It matters because those fast, quick guys are the ones who can get you some really easy short completions to move the chains and/or build confidence. They're throwing arrow routes to Eubanks. Try throwing them to someone who's actually fast instead.
September 23rd, 2019 at 10:29 AM ^
Magnus’s questions and observations are on-point and deserve an answer from Harbaugh and Gattis.
Right now, the program is an incoherent clusterfuck. That’s on Harbaugh and his staff.
September 23rd, 2019 at 10:30 AM ^
Sainristil had a ball thrown his way, while he was covered in the endzone, during the MTSU game. That's all I remember seeing him.
September 23rd, 2019 at 12:28 PM ^
Maybe the fact he couldn't get separation from an MTSU guy says all we need to know. He might not be ready yet.
September 23rd, 2019 at 4:18 PM ^
Well, that would seem to be on the coaches as well. Otherwise, you guys whose every premise is this "he might not be ready" defense of the indefensible can go to hell...this is ignorance and stupidity balled tightly together. Folks, Michigan has a coaching problem...in the fifth year. For the most part I've been a strong defender of Harbaugh...hmm-may have to rethink this. Five years and the last five games have been rather ugly...
September 23rd, 2019 at 10:51 AM ^
Freddy Canteen 2.0
September 23rd, 2019 at 10:56 AM ^
Why can’t they get the ball to anyone? This isn’t about Sainristil, they can’t get it to anyone. I still refuse to believe that if they just ran Nico on a combo of 7 yard outs and slants, they wouldn’t move the chains more often than they do now. That is one player. They also have Black and now DPJ is back. No screens, no quick slants, no easy 5 yard outs. Why does every play still need 17 different things to go perfectly before it works? Why does everything still look so complicated?
September 23rd, 2019 at 10:58 AM ^
I like Eubanks. Big target who can catch the ball. That doesn't mean he's being used correctly in the offense. No one is being used correctly.
September 23rd, 2019 at 11:21 AM ^
I like Eubanks as a pass catcher, but he's ineffective with this current iteration of the offense. He was better as a #2 tight end option last year when Michigan used play action to get him open on deeper routes. Right now they're trying to use him as a slot receiver.
September 23rd, 2019 at 11:27 AM ^
Was that happening before Wisconsin? I almost feel like every week is a different offense. Are we just making new schemes for each opponent and end up outsmarting ourselves?
September 23rd, 2019 at 11:15 AM ^
We're not actually running Gattis's offense so there isn't really a role for him.
September 23rd, 2019 at 11:46 AM ^
If our players turned out to be as good as pre season hype and Sam Webb says they are.....we would be undefeated for the last 5 years.
Remember the hype for the TE ? Eric All.....when is anyone expecting to see him play any significant snaps ?