Most important players this year
I have been reading some projections and season previews for our team and thought it would be interesting to hear from the Mgofamily who are the 3 most important players for us this season.
My list is below:
Shea - we have been an above average QB away from beating OSU the last two years IMO. If Shea is the real deal who knows where we can go this year.
Hudson/Bushell-Beatty - The winner of this battle could set the tone for how good our o-line can be.
Dwumfour - If he can live up to his practice hype and become Hurst 2.0, our defense will be better than last year by a pretty good margin and continue the DL dominance we have had for the past few years.
Go Blue!
1) The LT winner
2) The RT winner
3) Ruiz
4) Patterson
5) Gary
I probably should have put Gary instead of Dwumfour. If Gary has a great season, it means he will have wrecked havoc.
On the defense actually I will take Dwumfour. Gary is a fairly known commodity in that he (along with Winovich) is expected to be dominant. If Dwumfour lives up to the hype and Solomon is solid or better, the only DL I see challenging ours is Clemson's.
Gary is a fairly known commodity, but losing him this year would be a huge blow to how elite out DL could be. We don’t have an SDE on our roster who could nearly make the same impact as him which will benefit the other 2-3 guys on our line
August 6th, 2018 at 10:23 PM ^
I don't think we are interpreting the question the same. I'm saying I think Gary will preform to a very high level and that is almost guaranteed. Dwumfour is less proven but if he lives up to the hype, he will be hugely impactful.
August 6th, 2018 at 10:38 PM ^
I think some of this are interpreting this as "what if they got hurt" in terms of importance, and in that case you would obviously take Gary over Dwumfour.
August 6th, 2018 at 11:04 PM ^
Think I'm more concerned with Kinnel/Metellus than anyone on D-Line.
My list would start with Shea, LT, RT, Black/DPJ.
Think about this. If Gary will be doubled teamed a lot, if he has great stats while getting double teamed it means that not only did he do well, but that the other Dlineman constantly had 1 on 1 matchups and did better too.
I'm still thinking
August 6th, 2018 at 11:20 PM ^
wreaked havoc, wrecked opponents.
Just because someone wins a tight race at OT doesn't instantly make them overly important. Look at last year for example. Ulizio would have been one of your most important players on the team and he is closer to the opposite.
One of the reasons for its importance is because if the position doesn't work out well, then you're in trouble. So when Ulizio did not work out well as a starter, our season went downhill. It was important for him (or someone in that spot) to step up.
But the OP said most important players, not positions. Otherwise it would be a boring post where everyone would say QB and LT because those are always 2 of the most important positions.
Obviously SHEA, but Kemp inside on the DL should be a “quick monster!” Hudson on D. Black at WR.
Yes...the Nike #7 jersey I bought on clearance 8 years ago suddenly became relevant again.
Not sure what you are implying . . .
It wasn't relevant at some point?
That’s the first buzz I’ve heard about Kemp. All the hype has been for Dwumfour. Another monster on the inside is exciting news.
Both starting tackles and Shea Patterson are top 3 in that order. Followed by Tarik Black or DPJ. Having a threat on the outside to go along with McKeon/Gentry is big.
Honest question- is having a threat on the outside between DPJ/Black/Nico really in doubt? I'm not suggesting all three are going to be studs, but I have to think at least one of them will be much more than a threat, simply based on the flashes of pure athleticism and playmaking ability that we saw last year.
I agree. Especially considering how much they were limited due to inexperience and QB play.
Agree with the first two but want to change the third one to the safeties. Still picture PSU, South Carolina and OSU on 3rd and 10 scorching our secondary.
Safeties are a great call I completely forgot that one. Kinnel and Metellus have to be better this year to take pressure off Hill/Long. Especially Metellus
if you're looking for a spot to improve on the D, I'd agree with Safety. But for most impact on the Team's overall W/L record, D really wasn't the culprit last year. Yes, PSU torched our secondary and that game wasn't competitive. But the next highest number of points surrendered was 31 to OSU. Everyone with eyeballs knows if we could complete a short pass that game would have been ours. Wisconsin scored next highest (other than bowl game) at 24, and that only after our D fatigued following repeated 3 and outs by our offense in the 3rd/4th quarters. Our offense should be able to put up more than 24 points in every game. That's why I think all three of the performers (by the OPs criteria) would be on the offensive side of the ball.
The good news (not that my opinion matters) is that I think we'll see drastic improvements from our WRs, at least decent improvement from our OL, and even if you take Peters performance against Rutgers, Minnesota, and first half Wisconsin (pre-injury) as the QB baseline, it's really an upgrade over last year's aggregate QB performance.
Don’t forget the phantom pass interference call on 3rd and 12 at their own 35 that extended a Wisconsin TD drive. That was a bull shit game changer.
Patterson- For obvious reasons. As last year was a shit show a QB. I would love to see great leadership and confidence from the QB position. I feel it has lacked..
Agree with BB too...I would love to hear he locked down that position with full confidence of the coaching staff. (Runyan...On the other side as well)
Metellus- Needs to have a better year not letting anyone behind him. He needs to be in better position to not give up the deep ball. I could have easily put Kinnel here as well.
Sorry hard to pick just three.
No doubt it’s SP. a good QB can make an average team great.
Wondering how likely it is that Woods or Hawkins takes over for Metellus. He doesn't seem to read and react quickly enough.
Chris Partridge has said that JKP, Ol' Woods, and especially Brad Hawkins had very, very good spring/summers. There should be good competition and depth back there but it would be nice to see a real star emerge.
Shea
LT winner
Ross
Higdon/Evans
Warriner
I just wanted to see the highest rated Receiver recruiting class Michigan has ever put together play like the highest rated Receiver recruiting class Michigan has ever put together (I am talking about recruiting ratings here). Having Patterson should hopefully help this situation.
Patterson was the #1 QB in his class no? It follows that him throwing to the all time highest rated WR class will be something special, obviously.
All of them!
I think I just won.
/s
Don’t forget Bush. He is a unique talent and covers a lot of ground.
And I like Bush. Well Bush light.
BUSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Its better than Johnson...I really liked Butt though
1. Patterson: QB play was hard to watch last year.
2. O-line: A lingering problem for the last 5-6 years.
3. TE group: Could make life easier for WRs and RBs, if the threat of mid-range completions turning into touchdowns becomes a regular occurrence.
4. Safeties: Stop the backbreaking big completions and the rest is gravy.
The winner of the LT battle: in a perfect world Hudson makes the leap but recent report on JBB give hope.
In all honesty, Nordin is the most important. With all the close road games, the kicker better be on.
Nordin will be the difference maker this year. That is, if wild-thing can keep it between the uprights!
#lacesoutdan
If Nordin is a consistent weapon he will be very important given our D.
"Start making them". No wiser words have ever been spoken to a kicker from a coach.
I swear to god you wrote this 2 months ago. Deja Vu?
1. Patterson
2. Hudson, K
3. Ruiz
4. 1 go to WR
The OTs are important, but there may not be much difference between several of them. We should all be happy if they are just okay. QB is still (always?) the most important position. He should make our offense dangerous, even against good defenses. Especially if a wideout can step up.The depth behind Hudson is completely unproven. Ruiz probably has the highest ceiling on the OL and I contend center is the most important spot on the line in CFB.
I’m in agreement with most here. Shea, tackles, and safeties. One thing to remember though: with Don Brown’s defense designed the way it is, there will be a safety bust now and again. It’s just how it’s goinf to be because no one is perfect. Now as long as that is limited to something like a 30-Yd gain instead of a 60-yard TD bomb then we should be ok.
I think our defense is going to be better anyway. Dwumfour should benefit greatly from Gary and Winovich.
I am most eager to see this defense. I believe it will be the best defense in the nation.
Shea - the O needs a spark, a fire, an inferno and he is the only big-time catalyst. Higdon and Evans will benefit enormously with an effective passing attack.
Ruiz - his calls, agility and POA stability will make a big difference.
Metellus - either he raises his coverage and tackling angles or the D is excellent but not elite.
Have to consider positional importance and drop-off to replacement. I would say that it's hard to get more important that Shea and Rashan on this team. I'd say three most important are:
1. Shea
2. Rashan
3. Khaleke
This. It's not the position that you hope improves the most. It's the most important players on our team. If Runyan, JBB, Hudson, and let's say Stueber are all about equal OT's at this point than their is no real drop off from one to the next making them much less important individually.
1. Shea
2. Devin Bush
3. Tarik Black
Close runner ups: Gary and Winovich. The drop offs from our DEs to their back ups will likely be huge.
I'm going with the whole O line.
We need pass protection to keep our QB's alive this year. A QB winner will emerge between Super Shea and McCaff.
We also need the ability to get a push up front and move the chains. We need to keep the ball and burn the clock in the those close games during the 4th Q. When we push Sparty around in the 4th Q in EL we will know the O line is back. Soon Please! .
1. Patterson
2. Patterson
3.Patterson
I honestly feel we have the other pieces in place
Mineral King and whoever is at LT.
You know what? screw it. I'm on the MK train.