Player Interviews from Spring Practice on 3/27
I recently started listening to Michigan Insider podcasts during the workday and it has a ton of information (including player interviews) as well as other info that help answer a ton of the questions asked on this board.
Today, I listened to some player interviews from (3/27?) and here are some takeaways.
Donovan Edwards:
- Doesn't care how many touches or receptions he gets as long they are winning
- Is up to 214 pounds from 200 pound playing weight in 2023
- Editor's note: all weight gain is good & this makes Edwards "Blake Corum but fast!"
- Edwards said he is focussing on reading defense pre-snap and understanding where safeties are going to make them miss (like Blake)
- Said he wasn't feeling it going into last season and had to evolve his mindset to be more focussed and fired up for this season.
- Ed note: there was a maturity in his responses and the media even alluded to this in their questions - but it was much different than last year when he talked about leaving early for the draft and being the next Walter Payton
- Mentioned "Downhill Donahue" (Sr. Henry Donahue) Donahue is a clubhouse favorite
Colston Loveland:
- Was asked about QBs and mentioned Alex Orji first - this seems to be a trend
- Participated sparingly in pro-day to help JJ out and said he had fun playing
- Feels it's his job now to maintain the culture that J.J and Mikey set
- On portal candidates and who the QB may be: "everyone knows their job and everyone knows they have to step up. Not worried"
Kenneth Gant:
- Is working on lowering his weight but didn't mention what his weight is
- Ed note: all weight loss is good
- On music: he listens to rap and Smooth Jazz - a reported jokingly called him "Kenny G"
- On NIL: They interact on each others NIL posts and make inside jokes about it.
- Ed note: Kenny G isn't a big talker
Grant said that Etta is practicing at tackle. That seems like a big position move without a dline coach
I wonder if that just means Etta is going to be a swing guy - maybe he moves inside in some rush packages.
Edwards has matured a ton. Easy to see that he could be a real leader this season. Love to see it.
I've noticed the same thing about Edwards. He could still use a little more polish at times, but the difference in his presence is really impressive.
Amidst all of the end of season turmoil, I was pleasantly surprised to see Edwards returning. Says a lot, in my mind, about Coach Moore.
Etta seems like a Mike Morris type he was listed at 290 so I could see him cracking the rotation the way that morris and Jenkins did.
He's 6'5" 295 i hear? that's... not edge rusher material unless you're ridiculously fast, yes? So perhaps that moves him inside.. or he's the next JJ Watt.
A ferocious inside rusher would be welcome too... graham and grant are relentless and he'd be here next year to follow in their footsteps
295 seems about right for the Morris SDE role that moves inside on passing downs. Works for me.
Yeah Morris was listed at 6-6 292 and was our best edge 2022. He bumped inside to 5 and 3 tech come especially when he was a younger developing rotational player. I see ETTa the same body type and similar skill set.
Wormley was listed at 300 lbs and played the same position. So not worried
March 28th, 2024 at 10:13 PM ^
I've always had him pegged to take the Rayshaun Benny route to that DE/DT spot. He was never an EDGE...that is wishful thinking.
Mike Morris was huge on the edge, but he didn't show up that way. Etta showed up as big as Morris, he was only going to get bigger. Let him loose as that rushing DT/DE when you go with more of a 3-4 or 3-3-5 look.
March 29th, 2024 at 12:28 PM ^
You sure he was talking football and not jazz? Etta James would have gotten blown up as part of a D-line.
Great stuff. Thanks for posting—and the reminder about Michigan Insider.
[EDIT: now at 70,000 points. Do I get a set of dishes?]
I've got you by a few points and can report that I am still awaiting my first loyalty gift...or opportunity to redeem my points for prizes.
(you can click on my User Name to see that I am not really a frequent poster; there was some glitch that happened and thus my abundance of points)
D'ya mean to tell me that my reverence for your wisdom, based on yer gazillion points, is misplaced?! That you're an ordinary schmo like the rest of us?
March 28th, 2024 at 10:31 PM ^
Don't sell yourself short, you're a tremendous schmo. 😏
Fake points are awarded fake prizes, so it's all good - your prize will be as glorious as the prizes for the 'real' point getters...
BTW, I'm still waiting for my prizes, also, especially the shirtless Brian tee shirt for 100K points. I think it's on the to-do list, right behind the 2017 OSU UFR.
And here I am impressed with my 526 points!
Congratulations.
I'm trying to get to 5K, we are like the tortoise and the hare.
To date, I have averaged approximately 481.72 points per year. I have never even made Silver Elite on MGoBlog Airways.
The catch is that the flight on MGoBlog Airways is in a vintage biplane and.....do you like wingwalking? It's important to determine seating.
One thing I forgot to add: Kenneth Grant reiterated that the team is cohesive and they want to stay together. Didn't sound like he or others are going to be swayed by external NIL.
I'm just blown away that as Michigan fans we have to pray that are players are different... that they wont want money... instead of forcing our University to take care of said players.
I seen a graph that showed Ohio State as the most money making University...probably on here somewhere)....and Michigan was 2nd making more than any other University Including all SEC teams.
STOP being cheap Michigan & compensate our players.
So how cheep is Michigan? All the players stayed, except for Sabb - who wanted starter time at Ala-fucking-Bama.
(Cheep... See what I did there? Good Friday. Easter. Peeps. Bunnies laying eggs... I slay me!!!)
March 29th, 2024 at 10:02 PM ^
I like peeps, but my wife hates them. Anyone else with me?
March 29th, 2024 at 11:02 AM ^
NIL doesn't come from the university it comes from donors - individuals and companies. Since you're complaining about the university being cheap, are you contributing to the NIL fund?
March 29th, 2024 at 11:42 AM ^
We have no idea what our guys are getting through NIL. You seem to think it's nothing.
It was widely reported that JJ and Blake were making well over a million each.
Can we get some sources among those widely reporting?
I know all spring info is taken with a grain of salt but I think there is more to be learned than we realize. Last season Harbaugh said a million guys would get drafted after the season and it definitely generated some eye rolls (maybe not on this site but elsewhere) - he appears to be right. I also seem to recall a number of players expressing quite a bit of confidence as to how the season would turn out and they were all right, we were the kings of the fucking world. If Loveland says Orji looks good, I believe him. If Edwards says he is more locked in on the little things and that he is primed for a big season, I believe him.
If Edwards can improve his vision and/or decision making (and that's a huge if for a returning senior), I can easily envision him in the conversation for the heisman at some point during the year.
To be fair, Loveland isn’t going to say anything other than “Oriji looks good” if asked…even if he thinks otherwise.
Damn I miss footballl.
2021 was Aidan's team. 2022 was Mikey and Blake's team. 2023 was Mikey, Blake, Zak and JJ's team. Sounds like 2024 will be Donovan's team. Very good with that.
Glad to see that Edwards appears to be maturing and maybe even humbled by last year’s lack of production outside of the CFP championship game.
Not sure what “wasn’t feeling it” means exactly. Is that in reference to his mindset or physically on the field? Whatever the sentiment is, I hope that doesn’t creep back in this year because he will be counted on.
Just speculating, but I wonder if it was due to him expecting to be the guy last year and Blake coming back unexpectedly and it putting him in a weird headspace.
Without insider knowledge and just analyzing interviews and such I think he was surprised Blake didn’t declare last season but he loves Blake and was happy to have him all the while a little bitter it wasn’t his show. He also mentioned an injury in his knee I believe he had a hard time getting back to 100. Combination of those things probably had him a little disengaged. Great to hear he is over that and re-commited to ball. He was always the
March 28th, 2024 at 10:58 PM ^
Even during the season he was probably a bit annoyed with the Corum carries from the <5. I forgot the game, but he was clearly annoyed it seemed with that
He was always what? HE WAS ALWAYS THE WHAT???? WHAT WAS HE?????
"mentioned Alex Orji first - this seems to be a trend"
I would love the trend to start including mentions of him passing the ball well and not just that he is a beast and hard to tackle...
Whichever QB starts #1 target (Loveland) brought him up first that’s probably a good sign he’s a good passer
Why. Denard didn't throw well and was very effective.
I loved Denard but while he was effective in many games, against better defenses that were able to put an extra man in the box, he struggled mightily in many games.
March 29th, 2024 at 12:08 PM ^
I mean... did you see his supporting cast?
I think Denard playing hero ball was really the only option.
Even a more traditional QB like Tate F couldn't muster much after Lloyd gave up recruiting and then RichRod's arrival shook up the roster.
Yeah, he didn't throw well, but was only effective.
#8 all time completions (427)
#5 all time passing yards (6,250)
#4 all time passing TDs (49)
(Also, for fun, he was #2 all time rushing yards (4495 - only 545 yds behind Mike Hart) and #5 all time rushing TD's (42)...)
I love how most (and by 'most', I mean all, except a handful of us) refuse to admit he was a damn good quarterback. He wasn't Tom Brady because that wasn't his game. And Brady Hoke absolutely tried to turn him into Tom Brady his last year. We rightfully blame Brady for destroying Devin Gardner by trying to turn him into Tom Brady, but he did that with Denard, also. I maintain that sticking with the RichRod-like offense Hoke ran in 2011 would have resulted in universal praise and enduring love for both DRob and DGard as outstanding quarterbacks in Michigan legend.
I think Devin Gardner could have been an NFL QB if he hadn't played WR for a year and had a quality line in front of him the whole time. I feel bad for him as much as any player in the RR/Hoke years.
Denard might have put up bigger numbers under RR, but the RR offenses, despite being super explosive, sucked. I'm exaggerating, but we either scored immediately or went three and out. The plays always blew up one way or another. They were a lot more fun to watch than Harbaugh, but the losing was no fun. (Actually Denard wouldn't have put up huge number in Harbaugh's offense, but he probably would have been really good in it.)
I'll give you that Denard was a damn good QB, but whether it was the systems or his injuries, his throwing accuracy limited him from being great. I think that is why people say he was a generational great player instead of a QB.
If the Stadium fails to play Kenny G music after a great play by Grant... well that would be pretty disappointing.
The ludicrous juxtaposition of a thunder sack immediately followed by some corny alto sax echoing throughout the stadium would be brilliant and amazing.
It would be salt on the wound of the poor QB he just squished.
Awesome idea! That ludicrous juxtaposition (it's fun to say!) would be prototypically Michigan and would cause opposing fanbases to lose their minds and issue even more complaints about us. I love it!!
Alas, the on-field DJ that the AD seems to think is needed to entertain people and tell us how to cheer will continue to play cheap sound bites from cheesy pop songs. Instead of the band playing a Kenny G solo for a knowing fan base, the idiot DJ 'host' will tell us to stand and cheer because somebody made a sack!
Ed note: Kenny G isn't a big talker
I have it on good authority that the "Kenny G" who plays DT here is a VERY big talker.
I mean, he doesn't talk much, but he's very big.