Potential Football Position Switches
Harbaugh is using bowl practice to explore if under-utilized players might help the team in other positions. Among the experiments...
B. Cole from WR to S
Gentry from QB to TE
R. Jones from DL to ILB
http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2015/12/michigan_freshman_bri…
It will be interesting to see how this angle on player development pans out.
December 28th, 2015 at 9:21 PM ^
Freddy Canteen?
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December 28th, 2015 at 9:25 PM ^
Canteen was already playing CB shortly into the season.
December 28th, 2015 at 9:23 PM ^
If Gentry plays, doesn't that burn a redshirt?
December 28th, 2015 at 9:24 PM ^
yes, but he's not going to play.
December 28th, 2015 at 9:52 PM ^
Maybe some of our guys emulate Florida players really well.
December 28th, 2015 at 9:25 PM ^
He's not going to play. It's just being tested out to see whether it sticks. That's one nice thing about getting bowl practices. You can do some experimentation to figure out what can happen in the spring or next season.
December 28th, 2015 at 9:26 PM ^
Agree... it gives them the whole off season to prepare for another position and have the best chance to succeed/contribute come spring.
December 29th, 2015 at 9:30 AM ^
Malzone?
December 29th, 2015 at 10:07 AM ^
Not necessarily, just that he has more positional flexibility.
December 28th, 2015 at 9:28 PM ^
Winovich (back) to LB and TWJ to Dline.
Moving Cole to Safety permanently really helps ease concerns about the 2017 secondary.
December 28th, 2015 at 9:37 PM ^
Okay....to DL....got it
December 28th, 2015 at 9:38 PM ^
He can be both TE and DE. Some said he was a better DE prospect coming out of high school. If rumors of him being all the way to 290(!) are true, then DL doesn't seem too far fetched.
December 29th, 2015 at 8:26 AM ^
WOTS is that he might be ending up at tackle.
December 29th, 2015 at 9:27 AM ^
hed be a decent TE or DL and likely help the team at either spot but i think wheatleys greatest upside is OT, thats where hed eventually have best shot at excelling
December 29th, 2015 at 9:48 AM ^
OT or DT? His speed and frame seem like they could be huge assets on the DL.
December 29th, 2015 at 10:27 AM ^
Offensive tackle.
December 28th, 2015 at 9:37 PM ^
Wasn't Cole recruited by State as a secondary player mostly and he came to Michigan because we offered him as a primarily offensive player? I hate giving them any credit, but their defensive talent identification is pretty good.
On a different note, what does our wide receiver depth look like beyond Chesson and Darboh? It seems like we're stockpiling receivers in this class, which doesn't bode well for the other receivers on the roster already.
December 28th, 2015 at 9:40 PM ^
After next season we will have Perry, Ways, and Harris as upperclassmen; that's if Cole and/or Canteen doesn't switch back
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December 28th, 2015 at 10:07 PM ^
Cole was recruited as an ATH by MSU. He could play whatever position he wanted. At the time, the Coles had a concern about WRs' careers being shorten by wear and tear, hits to knees, etc. whereas DBs have fewer of those issues. MSU also had recent success in developing DBs. However, M convinced him to commit and play WR.
Harbaugh is known to try players at various positions, moreso than the previous coaching staff. Cole is a great athlete, I would have enjoyed seeing him on offense because he is dynamic with the ball.
December 29th, 2015 at 9:27 AM ^
I see him as a Kick Returner in two years.
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December 29th, 2015 at 9:34 AM ^
His film shows a very instinctive open field tackler.
December 28th, 2015 at 9:49 PM ^
Glad to see the Winovich move, but blerg to TWJ. Need TE's in the Harbaugh offense.
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December 29th, 2015 at 2:08 AM ^
which isn't unheard of, then you have a TE in that class, which clears the move for TWJ to a higher leverage position and clears up the 2 QB issue without having one of them buried on the depth chart.
December 29th, 2015 at 8:33 AM ^
Jay Riemersma
December 29th, 2015 at 8:26 AM ^
We have lots of tight ends.
December 28th, 2015 at 11:27 PM ^
Safety.
December 29th, 2015 at 8:46 AM ^
I can't remember if he was listed as a WR, or an ATH......
But either way, if it will get him on the field more I like it. Maybe Harbaugh see's him as another 2-way player.
December 28th, 2015 at 9:28 PM ^
Chris Partridge to LB coach (and in a pear tree).
December 28th, 2015 at 9:39 PM ^
Unfortunately there is no room for him though. Seems like Brown is DC/LB.
December 28th, 2015 at 9:47 PM ^
They're "trying it out" for the bowl practices/game I think. It has the bonus of alllowing him on visits.
Edit: Actually I have no clue what's going on. I figured Brown would start after the bowl. Now, I clearly have no clue.
December 28th, 2015 at 9:53 PM ^
pretty sure the main reason was so he could visit...no reason to be down a coach on the road
December 28th, 2015 at 9:54 PM ^
Officially Brown starts after the bowl season. When he does, Partridge would need to become a "non-coach" again if no other coaches are poached.
December 28th, 2015 at 10:09 PM ^
Thanks for clearing that up. The internets were very unhelpful because they list Brown as DC.
December 29th, 2015 at 12:28 PM ^
this will require a coach to leave. who? jay, Greg, or zordich? I think fisch stays because he is a smart dude and knows to wait til we crush it, then he can get a top head coach job
December 29th, 2015 at 1:41 PM ^
We're not going to cut offensive coaches to keep Partridge on the defensive staff.
December 28th, 2015 at 9:31 PM ^
On a slightly related note, what is our depth chart regarding kickers/punters?
Kenny Allen, Blake O'Neill, what else we got?
December 28th, 2015 at 9:46 PM ^
Blake is gone after the bowl game and Kenny Allen after next year.
IMO the Blake O'Neill experiment went swimmingly and hopefully Baxter/Harbaugh continue to look for transfer aussie-rules kids in the future.
I still think Q. Nordin from Rockford finds a way to end up in the class.
December 28th, 2015 at 9:43 PM ^
Will be the P/FG kicker. May be one of the other place kickers can do kickoffs?
December 28th, 2015 at 9:45 PM ^
Allen is a redshirt senior next year. This is O'Neill's last year. Beyond him, there's Andrew David and Ryan Tice.
Random tidbit - I met Tice's grandfather in a Wendys last month. Real nice guy and he seemed to be excited that I had heard of his grandson (I remembered his walk-on hello post on this site). He also said that he used to coach Harbaugh when he was in middle school which was pretty neat.
December 28th, 2015 at 9:46 PM ^
My question is who will be our punter next season? Allen will be our kicker. But well technically have no punter on scholarship without a position change. At the pregame warm ups before the OSU game I saw Andrew David punting, wondering if that's the plan next year since we aren't recruiting any Punters and we are trying to sign Nordin as the Kicker after Allen is gone after next yr
December 28th, 2015 at 9:48 PM ^
Allen was a punter before he was a kicker so he could technically take over that role as well. I think David and Tice will get a shot though.
December 28th, 2015 at 10:01 PM ^
Allen has been very consistent all year and he's going into his senior season, I would think that it's more likely he'll stay at K for his final season.
December 28th, 2015 at 10:30 PM ^
Kenny Allen could both kick and punt. So they would not have to "move" him from kicker if he also happened to be the best punter.
December 28th, 2015 at 10:37 PM ^
Have we ever had a starting K/P? I don't remember actually seeing that, I know anything is possible, but it seems far fetched to me to not have a dedicated punter and a dedicated kicker. They are very separate duties
December 28th, 2015 at 10:47 PM ^
I'm not 100 % on this but I belive epstein did not to long ago.
December 28th, 2015 at 10:56 PM ^
Yes, in late 90's / early 2000's.
December 28th, 2015 at 11:20 PM ^
he did kickoffs too right? (through the uprights sometimes if my memory is correct)
December 29th, 2015 at 1:06 AM ^
Hayden Epstein
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December 29th, 2015 at 1:06 AM ^
Beaten to the punch
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December 29th, 2015 at 3:25 AM ^
Gillette