More Summer Football Team News.

Submitted by MichiganMan14 on
Camp in a few weeks and the boys are rounding into shape. The Oline is leaner. Karan and Chris put up some good numbers on the weight racks. Karan benched 375.....squated 475 and ran 4.48. Chris benched 300....squated 430 and ran 4.62. DPJ ran in the 4.4s as did McDoom with DPJ being the fastest. Wilton will start but Peters is legit. Lots of TEs to choose from but Sean Mckeon is standing out.

DrMantisToboggan

July 21st, 2017 at 5:37 PM ^

Evans has always been a 4.6 guy, I don't think he has lost a step. His top end speed isn't phenomenal, but he gets to top gear so fast and his lateral quickness and athleticism are elite. His game isn't completely analagous to Mike Hart's, and I think he would beat Mike in a foot race (2006 Mike), but he is a runner that is just super hard to tackle, has great vision, and plays faster than he tests.

rainingmaize

July 21st, 2017 at 7:12 PM ^

Having 4.4 speed is great, but running in a straight line is only one direction that a running back takes. Just because you can hit 4.4 from one start doesn't mean you can hit 4.4 running in another direction, or that you can suddenly stop and get back to that speed quickly. 



I'm sure many backs as well are able to run faster when they have the adrenaline of in play asction as well. 

MGoStrength

July 21st, 2017 at 7:48 PM ^

I really love hearing about the guys' offseason and seeing who has improved and how impressive some of these guys are at such young ages.  But, this is yet another example of why these sorts of tests are not a great indicator of how good a footall player is at playing football.  Higdon is obviously stronger and faster, yet Evans is a better running back. And, that ability is most aparant when...he's playing football (which is unpredictable and requires reading and reacting) and not doing closed skill tests (which are predictable and don't require reaction and recognition).

 

As Dr. Stu McGill said "The best athletes rarely outperform their peers in pre-season testing like bench pressing and squatting.  Their distinguising qualities are motor control.  The ability to exert strength quickly, deactivate muscle quickly, and optimally project forces throughout the body linkage is charasteristic of this skill."

Night_King

July 21st, 2017 at 5:24 PM ^

It would really be something if you were actually Karan Higdon.

All jokes aside, thanks for the tidbits. I wonder what kind of numbers O'Maury is putting up.

DrMantisToboggan

July 21st, 2017 at 5:31 PM ^

We certainly can't afford injuries but I'm feeling okay about depth in terms of ability to rotate. I think we have good players in Kemp and Dwumfour who have been here, and I think Vilain, Solomon, and Hudson are all capable of playing like 5-star-level freshman. Ideally you'd have less freshman, but I think we have great freshman in the areas where we need them to be great (for freshman).

Z

July 21st, 2017 at 9:12 PM ^

By the time I got to the fourth one, I just couldn't let it slide without correcting: 'freshmEn' is the plural, 'freshmAn' is the singular.

Turns out three is the tipping point before younger 'smarter than everyone else' Z overpowers older and wiser 'some of the most respectable people I have met have poor grammar' Z.

DrMantisToboggan

July 21st, 2017 at 9:42 PM ^

I was laying on my deck half asleep when I typed this. I am much younger than you seem to think and my writing/grammar skills are what I hang my hat on LOL (I write all damn day). I just go into text/chat mode when on the blog. Good catch though, pretty obnoxious mistakes, though I am nothing if not consistent. 

jdemille9

July 21st, 2017 at 5:49 PM ^

I kinda saw it that way too. Not surprising with a full year and another spring under his belt that Speight would be the guy and hard to dethrone. BUT it makes me feel a lot better that Peters is seriously pushing because it means we won't have to worry much if Speight gets hurt. 

Perkis-Size Me

July 21st, 2017 at 5:53 PM ^

Somewhat surprised that Evans is running a 4.6. Seems a little slow. 

(Says the guy who probably can't run the 40 any faster than 6-7 seconds.)

Wonder if it has to do with the muscle he's added on. 

MichiganMan14

July 21st, 2017 at 9:00 PM ^

This team has athletes all over the place. The leadership is going to be lacking unless some people step up but the ability is through the roof. This team has a lower floor than last year but maybe as high as ceiling as crazy as that sounds. There is depth everywhere outside the secondary and that is a spot where young guys catch on quickly.

Mr. Yost

July 22nd, 2017 at 2:00 PM ^

Same to you...thank you. I won't speak for everyone but I'll say that I appreciate these threads that shed some light for us.

Starter or #2...I hope Karan can step up and be one of those leaders we need. It sounds like he's got the measurables to back himself up. He's putting in the work.