Musings on slot recruiting
So with Teric Jones moving to CB, it got me thinking; have we overloaded ourselves with slot recruits? Right now we have Tay Odoms, Terrence Robinson, Jeremy Gallon, and Kelvin Grady battling it out for one position. Jones was brought in as a slotback, so has he moved to CB due to better chance of early PT or because of too much competition at slot? Teric's move to CB and Grady's solid play so far seems to indicate that we are covered well at the slot position for this year.
So I'm not sure what to make of our slot recruiting for the 2010 class. We're bringing in Dileo, Drake, and Austin White (who I think is a better fit at slot than at RB). That will make 7 guys for one position. I remember reading numerous posts by WVU fans saying that Rod tended to over-recruit on offense and moved guys to defense to fill holes accordingly. Perhaps we might see this effect in regards to the slot position? CB depth is pretty bad for us right now. Not criticizing what we're doing recruiting wise; just trying to figure out how this is all going to play out. Michigan's recruiting strategy under Rod can be confusing sometimes...
August 13th, 2009 at 12:19 PM ^
a) White has said that he's being recruited to play RB. That's not to say that he won't play slot at some point, but he can't be included in the group of guys fighting for the slot.
b) Rodriguez will use plenty of sets in which there are two slot receivers. We would have seen them last year if 1) our offensive line didn't need so much help in pass protection and 2) if there was a viable option at slot receiver other than Odoms.
August 13th, 2009 at 1:32 PM ^
Thanks for the input. Interested to see how much different our offense looks this year compared to last year.
August 13th, 2009 at 12:22 PM ^
Previously in RR's offense, there might be multiple slots on the field at the same time if the team is in a 4 or 5-wide set, hence the need for depth at that position. However, with our stellar (and solid 2-deep) tight end talent, we may see a TE in the slot rather than a SR. Maybe even 2 TE's (!!!). We'll have to see if RR can effectively use our awesome TE talent this year, and it will be interesting to see how this plays out with recruiting.
August 13th, 2009 at 12:23 PM ^
...Teric Jones to CB.
And in regards to CB recruiting....
Cullen Christian
Tony Grimes
LaTwan Anderson
Bobby Swigert (though Stanford is his presumed leader)
Brandon Ifill
Dietrich Riley
with M-Rob and Avery on board already.
The depth will build up next year.
Also, don't forget Roundtree in the slot.
August 13th, 2009 at 12:32 PM ^
I'm severely confused.
What do Swigert, Riley, and Marvin Robinson have to do with cornerback recruiting? They're all safeties and, in Robinson's case, potentially linebackers. I believe Ifill is also being recruited as a safety.
August 13th, 2009 at 12:40 PM ^
the secondary together. Apologies.
August 13th, 2009 at 12:28 PM ^
I don't expect him to do anything other then return kicks and punts. I honestly think RR saw how horrible we were at returning punts and kicks last year and went out and got a kid exclusively for that.
August 13th, 2009 at 4:23 PM ^
If this is actually true, do you think that if UM finds a couple serviceable returners in Gallon and Odoms this year, will the coaching staff lose Dileo's number?
August 13th, 2009 at 8:10 PM ^
I think they might lose Dileo's number, anyway (there's a tiny chance of that, but not much), but I don't think it would be due to stellar kick returning by Odoms and Gallon. If the coaches had their druthers, they probably wouldn't put Odoms out there, since he's the starting slot guy - if not for injury's sake, then perhaps just for fatigue purposes.
August 13th, 2009 at 12:38 PM ^
Jones to CB was a simple process. We are extreamly thin and IMO Witty is not going to get in. When you get a ACT or SAT flagged it is for a reason. If on the off chance he gets in it is still a thin group. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when RR said Turner was good.
August 13th, 2009 at 12:38 PM ^
The guys that are playing the slot position are Odoms, Robinson,Roundtree,Gallon, and Grady. Thats five guys for this year. Next year the guys that are going to join those guys at the slot position are Dileo and probally Drake. That's seven guys for one position which I agree is a little much but keep in mind when Rich first got here we basically didn't have any slot guys so he has had to recruit a lot of them in the first couple classes. In regards to our cornerback recruiting we have Cullen Christian and Tony Grimes looking at us pretty hard and Courtney Avery is already committed. That should really help our depth at corner if we can get the three of them.
August 13th, 2009 at 12:39 PM ^
There will be attrition at the slot position. The kids who can't produce enough to get PT will either move to the defense or transfer.
I am looking at what is happening at the position now as a sort of "cattle call," or massive audition. RR inherited a roster that didn't fit his offense and needed to stock it with players who do. This year could go a long way toward stabilizing the position. Once it is stable, and RR has the athletes he wants, I am guessing that he will be more selective in who he recruits for the position.
Also, I would imagine that RR is figuring out that he has access to a higher quality of recruit at UM than he has anyplace he has coached. I am guessing that starting with the 2011 class, we will see less slot guys and more from other positions.
August 13th, 2009 at 12:44 PM ^
I don't understand the connection between the two sentences in your last paragraph. Just because Rodriguez has access to better recruits means he'll no longer recruit slot guys?
August 13th, 2009 at 12:47 PM ^
I think that 5 to 7 on the team will be pretty normal. You will see some as Kick return Specailists but you will se alot of two slot formations this year. 5 guys gives you two deep plus one and I think you will see them rotate alot. The only reason you didn't see more of this last year was due to the lack of bodies.
August 13th, 2009 at 2:22 PM ^
SENIOR -- 0 (sigh)
JUNIOR -- 2 (Warren, Woolfolk)
SOPH -- 2 (Williams, Cissoko)
FROSH -- 5+ (Emilien, Gordon, Turner, Floyd, Jones, plus Witty if he makes it)
2010 -- 5?? (Robinson, Avery, and probably 3 more)
zero contributions from the '05 and '06 recruiting classes. 6 of our 9 defensive backs were signed by RR. you can only bring in so many at a time, and we'll probably be bringing in 5 in the '10 class.
as for the slots...
SR/JR -- 0 (not a part of old offense)
SOPH -- 2 (Odoms, Grady)
FROSH -- 3 (Robinson, Roundtree, Gallon)
2010 -- 2 (Dileo, Drake)
considering that slot receivers play such an important role as scoring threats in this offense, i don't think going 7-deep is overkill to find a real game-breaker.
August 13th, 2009 at 2:29 PM ^
+2 for Jokewood...Well put.
August 13th, 2009 at 4:08 PM ^
Speed and agility seem to be high on RR's hierarchy of what he looks for in a recruit. Some Players are going to end up playing different positions than they did in HS. Nothing unusual about that.