Observations From Spring Practice

Offense:

O-line:

Starters up front were as expected with the exception of Gio El Hadi in for a banged up Trevor Keegan (fully dressed but wearing a yellow non-contact jersey similar to JJ) at Guard.

Oluwatami (SP?) starting at C – Looks good moves well.

Not a lot of notes here for the starters – they look like they will keep rolling

Depth appears to be very strong up front, players all the way down to group three look ready to contribute if called upon. Persi and Bounds are both very long with Tristan Bounds looking to be well filled out and absolutely massive (maybe a legit 6’7-6’8) Barnhart working at group 2 RT with Trente Jones in group 1

RB – Depth is a concern in spring ball, starters Blake, and Donovan look good and move well (my god Blakes legs in person are tree trunks). After that Dunlap looks good, patient and finding holes. May rep Henning here as I saw him warming up with backs for a portion of the practice, which is not a bad idea considering his size and skillset.

WR – Depth, talent, measurables all looking good here. All three of the freshman full participants. Morris sporting a large knee brace but otherwise looks pretty solid. Walker and Clemons have great length and Clemons is a bit thicker than I anticipated. Andrel Anthony had a really nice flash play during the scrimmage portion on a 3rd down from -15 yrd line or so, getting behind the DB on a slot wheel and taking it to the house. WR will be a strength for the team to be sure. Bell still in street clothes.

TE -  E. All is massive, he has really filled out his frame and appears to be a special talent at the position. Schoon made a very impressive catch on a 3rd down play out of that TE delay release they like, it was short of the 1st down, but it was a one handed contested catch with Junior Colson all over him. Loveland looks to be much more developed then a kid that should be getting ready for his senior prom should be (he was noticeably thicker than Hibner for instance). Also Joel Honingford looks to be a bit more cut than I remember him being and appears to be moving a bit smoother, may be ready for a less predictable role in the offense.

QB -  Cade #1 Bowman #2 with JJ in the yellow bib. Cade as expected looked sharp, accurate and on time for the most part. He did rush some throws while under pressure and take a sack or two, I think that had more to do with the pressure the defense was able to generate (more on that in a minute). Bowman moved better than I expected him to. He was able to make 2 defenders miss in the open field on a 3rd down scramble, and showed pretty nice movement in the pocket. He appears to be at least a viable backup if the loser of the QB battle decides to head for the portal. Freshman QB’s Denegal and Orji both are far more physically developed than a typical mid year enrollee has any right to be. Denegal has a massive frame, could very easily be mistaken for a TE with how broad his shoulders and frame are at a legit 6’6. He also has a smooth release and looks to be pretty calm in the pocket. Orji is also really well built, looks more like a LB than a QB honestly. He is a bit more frenetic in the pocket with quick movement and a very quick release. He was able to make some nice throws, but he looks the best pulling the ball on read game QB run plays. He had a nice run that almost resulted in a TD on a QB counter gap that looked really athletic.

Scheme looks to be the same, and it is a genuine collaboration with Moore and Weis. Even at practice they were right by each other calling the plays (Moore being much more outspoken and demonstrative, and Weis being more reserved).

 

Defense:

D-Line:

Depth actually looks to have improved here, as they were rotating who was taking 1st team reps. Mazi was pretty consistent with the 1st group on the inside, also seeing reps on the interior were Jenkins, Juice W, Benny, and Rooks. The interior actually held up very well vs the offensive line which is a very good sign considering what Michigan returns on the Interior Oline.

Edge:

Also rotated 1st team reps among a group of 4 or so, mainly Morris, Upshaw, McGregor, and Harrel. TJ Guy also mixed in here and looked to be plausible as someone ready for snaps. McGregor is the one that flashed the most the day I was there, that is not to say that he will be the best of the bunch, but he really stood out chasing multiple plays down from the backside in pursuit. Really moves well and has tremendous size and length.

LB:

As expected Colson and Hill-Green were the starters, Barret was second group with a mix of other players including a nice flash from Jayden Hood. Colson looked to be more responsible in coverage, as a mentioned earlier he was all over Schoonmaker for a contested catch over the middle. I could not watch closely enough to know if he was finding him self out of position at all but he was defiantly making some plays.

DB:

Some surprises here, Paige and Moten were the starters here as Rod Moore also had a yellow jersey on. They were communicating very well and appear to be in command of the defense, depth should be solid at the safety spot. Group one corners were Turner and Green and both looked solid, but the real standout in group one was Sainristil. Wearing the number 0 now, he looks really solid in coverage. He actually had some reps at outside corner, and ran stride for stride with Roman Wilson on a vertical route and even made a play to bat the ball away as opposed to being in perfect position and still allowing a catch. He was also used to blitz from the slot corner position a bit cashing in with a sack during team period after coming in uncontested. He does not appear to be someone that has recently switched positions and may very well be a starter on the D come fall. Another standout today was #2 Will Johnson. He is very long, and was sticky in coverage. He used his length to bat away a few passes while in good position. Also at one point came up to make a very physical tackle immediately after the catch in a soft cover 2 situation. He may be pushing the starters for reps very soon.

 

Scheme:

Also appears to be very similar to last year with a bit more wrinkles mixed in. With an additional year in the defense it looks like they will be better able to disguise what they are doing from a coverage standpoint. The offense routinely tried to motion to get an ID on the coverage, and the defense was able to not tip there hand a few times (obviously that is tough to be able to do all the time when the offense motions). Also from a pressure standpoint, it looks like you will see a more varied approach as to where the pressure will come from. I will not divulge any schematic stuff that they were doing, but I will say they may be able to generate a similar amount of pressure as they did last year even considering the loss of two of the best pass rushers in the nation. I know that seems odd to say, but they were doing such a good job of disguising their looks and pressures that even an offense that sees them on a day to day basis had some difficulty not allowing free rushers from time to time.

 

All in all the offense did not appear to be leaps and bounds ahead of the defense as I expected them to be. This is a great sign for the defense in my opinion, as I expect the offense to be very good this coming fall. It was a very up tempo, high energy practice with lots of instruction and improvement taking place. Really excited to see what they do for the spring game this weekend. Go Blue.