PFF puts Gemon Green on national secondary team of the week
After the disastrous start, it seems our DBs have slowly started to perform well. Even Gray has looked better in the last couple games. Zordich’s recruiting may be iffy but he definitely knows how to coach.
Also Haskins was the best graded RB after Buffalo’s Jaret Patterson who went off on an insane 8 TDs(!!) for 409 yards
November 30th, 2020 at 10:55 AM ^
I was just about to post this. The only question I have is why Gray was ahead of Green last year and even reported as the only CB a lock to start going into this season.
Maybe Green improved a lot but he has been consistently the best CB this year.
November 30th, 2020 at 11:09 AM ^
*sigh* I REALLY hate when people pull the “why wasn’t he starting last year” card. Being a better player right now doesn’t mean this was the case last season.
Players develop at different stages and different rates. Gray was probably better than Green last year. Hell, Gray was probably better than Green at the start of this year. Then Gray lost his confidence after getting burned and flagged and something like that can be absolutely murder on a position like corner, while Green kept his head a bit better and surpassed Gray.
November 30th, 2020 at 11:12 AM ^
*sigh*
Shut the fuck up
*end sigh*
November 30th, 2020 at 11:19 AM ^
+1 informative and well thought out take. Really appreciate your contribution to the conversation.
November 30th, 2020 at 11:52 AM ^
Sorry
I took offense to your sigh
I'm petty
You seem like you know what you're talking about, so I'll try to not be a twat
November 30th, 2020 at 11:19 AM ^
What you say could make sense, except that there is no reason to trust these coaches.
November 30th, 2020 at 11:22 AM ^
There is ABSOLUTELY reason to trust Zordich’s judgement on who the best corners are. He has been a phenomenal coach not just at Michigan, but his whole coaching career.
The results aren’t good right now, but these are still experts in their field. There’s not a coach on this staff that isn’t a well thought of football mind. It hasn’t worked here, but let’s try not to act like they’re complete imbeciles. These are all good coaches that simply didn’t work out here.
November 30th, 2020 at 11:29 AM ^
Get out of here with your reasoned and balanced takes. None of that is allowed.
November 30th, 2020 at 1:19 PM ^
To add, there’s a difference between games and practice, where guys are familiar with offensive scheme and players. Green has bad hands, but he has shown great anticipation and fluid hips. He seems to be learning from his mistakes while Gray had some really bad games and has slowly improved. Gray was not horrible last year—and he has prototype size for a corner.
The average starting college DB is going to make huge mistakes every so often, but his response is key. Also, it would help to not have refs that seem to target him early.
Also, we have no pass rush, since holding never gets called on o-lines so those guys are on their own a lot. The DBs have improved the most in the last few weeks. Josh Ross continues to mystify, as do other LBs, and the line is weak.
Why has Barrett been nothing special since Minnesota? Why is McGrone seemingly mcgone? Why are freshmen LB not playing when eligibility is not a factor and the current guys stink?
November 30th, 2020 at 3:03 PM ^
Mcgrone had all the looks of an ACL, although it might just be a more minor injury and he’s decided to shut it down. Either way I bet we don’t see him again...ever. Unless Harbaugh is out.
November 30th, 2020 at 11:24 AM ^
Maybe Green improved a lot but he has been consistently the best CB this year.
November 30th, 2020 at 12:12 PM ^
Pretty sure it was tackling/run support. Pretty clear the first couple weeks coverage was good and run support was not. His run support seemed improved vs. PSU.
Granted I would put coverage skills ahead of run support in terms of what I was looking for in a CB assuming you don't have someone good at both, but there is a level of run defense that isn't ok.
I feel good about Green going forward. Should continue to improve with experience.
November 30th, 2020 at 10:56 AM ^
I wouldn't say he got truly tested in deep coverage. But he played the run well and he played the short to medium coverage well, including shutting down those red zone fades. Having handled what he had to defend, I can see why PFF rates him high. I still don't trust him but he's showing noticeable improvement. I think he has the potential to be a #2 corner on a good team.
November 30th, 2020 at 10:57 AM ^
You have to wonder if he had spring practice how well Zordich would be doing right now. That is the only position that has shown any improvement this season. He and Warriner should be the only two to stay with the new staff.
November 30th, 2020 at 11:08 AM ^
I've pondered this notion extensively in the last few weeks. This team desperately needed spring practice given its relative lack of experience in key personnel groups.
November 30th, 2020 at 12:38 PM ^
It is indeed a very valid point for a team that lost so many players. I think it is even more magnified by some of the late departures like Ambry and Nico - which probably prevented some of the guys at their positions from truly taking a lot of first team reps. I think OL falls into this category too. As bad as the overall state of the program is, I think the pandemic has accelerated the demise of this staff because of a lack of practice and so many players being out. Imagine if they had Nico and Ambry to hide some of the flaws while Milton is throwing lobs to Nico and Ambry is keeping one of our corners off the field?
The problem is, I believe that the coaching staff has a bit of a problem with over-repping their starters and favoring program guys. I call it the Joe Bolden syndrome. I think to an extent that's how Milton ended up the clear starter while throwing in workouts without pads or how Jeter gets talked up and Eubanks gets a ton of reps until he shows he literally won't block people.
November 30th, 2020 at 3:04 PM ^
It’s not just spring practice, it’s four months of time working out with the S&C staff that it missed. Many of the guys probably did not have access to any workout facilities during that time, which would have a huge impact on the lines.
November 30th, 2020 at 11:16 AM ^
Green has been a pleasant surprise. He frequently appears to be the only one playing with some intensity and not taking plays off.
November 30th, 2020 at 11:30 AM ^
Green has improved so much this season... trial by fire, but still improvement.
Still holding hope for Gray as well.
November 30th, 2020 at 11:46 AM ^
The improvement leads me to believe the lack of early season (warm up) games worked against the kids.
November 30th, 2020 at 12:01 PM ^
https://twitter.com/pff_college/status/1275121462983229445?lang=en
Our secondary is so fucking good.
November 30th, 2020 at 12:16 PM ^
If Ambry was able to play this year, I think we would have been very optimistic heading into the offseason and would think of Green as the next in line for top corner. But he is hurt by having poor corner and safety play around him. He's improved each week for the most part.
November 30th, 2020 at 12:40 PM ^
Green has noticeably improved this year and on a better defense would probably be the same as Ambry Thomas was a couple of years where we were all surprised how good he was and how he'd grow into the starting spot.
If there's a coaching overhaul on defense I do hope they retain Zordich. He is a really good coach and has spun a lot of gold in that defensive backfield.
November 30th, 2020 at 1:51 PM ^
Where's Maizen's latest puppet account? Maybe it doesn't exist. He could be relied upon to bitch about Zordich's recruiting.
November 30th, 2020 at 3:01 PM ^
This is absolutely true. The DBs have looked good, the DL is outrageously bad. That is a unit that certainly needed the time with the S&C coaches this spring.
November 30th, 2020 at 7:09 PM ^
Good for Gemon! A definite bright spot. It does seem that Zordich can coach the position a little bit.