SBNation Article: How best to utilize Gary
Interesting article at SBNation on how best to utitlize Rashan Gary in M's defense. Here are some highlights (but worth a read, so I recommend a click-through) ...
So the ideal deployment of Gary would be letting him rush the edge sometimes, but keeping him prominently involved in stopping the run. He should be positioned to loop inside on pressures. Often, he should start on the inside.
A multiple-front defense like Michigan's would be easy to move Gary around in. The Wolverines have done so with 6'5, 300-pounder Chris Wormley, who had 14.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks in 2015. Against a pro-style team like the hated Michigan State, perhaps Gary would be best as an under-front three-technique.
On any runs to the tight end side, Gary would have the opportunity to be an interior disruptor, penetrating from the backside and utilizing his ability to shuck blockers and dart through gaps.
But against a spread squad like Ohio State, perhaps Gary could also contribute as a DE who has the agility to rush the passer, play the option on the edge, and handle the techniques teams have for getting playmakers loose on the perimeter.
The key is whether Gary becomes a jack of all trades, a master of one, or a master of all. The former would make him a valuable contributor to any team. The second could make him the strongest weapon on the field. The latter would mean dictating matchups and make him the queen of the chessboard, so to speak.
February 5th, 2016 at 10:49 AM ^
Summary: Michigan should let Gary rush the edge, but also play inside sometimes. If Gary gets good at everything he will be the best player on the field.
Gee, thanks.
Edit: It is fun to read about Gary, so thanks for posting. Just nothing new in here.
February 5th, 2016 at 10:50 AM ^
I would enjoy a lengthy and self-gratifying mid-season debate over who is better: Gary or Peppers. I would enjoy it greatly.
February 5th, 2016 at 11:46 AM ^
I would even more enjoy a lengthy and self-gratifying mid-season debate about who is better: Gary or Glasgow, or Mone, or Wormley, or Hurst.
ALL YOUR BACKFIELD ARE BELONG TO US.
February 5th, 2016 at 12:25 PM ^
February 5th, 2016 at 12:43 PM ^
How about Gary with some goal line carries?
February 5th, 2016 at 10:53 AM ^
Not exactly how I interpretted the article. Author seems to be arguing that they should play Gary inside *most* of the time. He argues that having a dominant run-stopper is more valuable in the college game than a dominant edge-rusher.
February 5th, 2016 at 11:24 AM ^
Step 1: Provide Gary ample food
Step 2: Put Gary on football field
Step 3: ?
Step 4: Gary dominates opposed players
February 5th, 2016 at 11:26 AM ^
"he wasn't up getting snacks and diet cokes, he studied for 3 hours straight"
Step 1 is actually "Provide Gary ample knowledge".
February 5th, 2016 at 3:31 PM ^
Step 3: Get him a helmet, one that fits
February 5th, 2016 at 11:24 AM ^
Gary can be a good college end, but he can be a historic 3T, especially if the lines he plays on have threats off the edge.
And I agree - it is much more important to have dominant run stoppers than pass rushers. See our line last year. Our DT's were DT's and so were our DE's. We shut down the run every game (until our best DL got hurt), but because of our great secondary our "run stoppers" were also sufficient pass rushers.
So yes, it is much more critical to have run stoppers, because if you have great coverage you can field an all 300+ pound line and get after the QB on passing downs. But, you can't field an entire line of pass rushers and make them 50% stronger and 30 pounds heavier on 1st and 2nd down - teams will bleed you to death on the ground.
February 5th, 2016 at 6:25 PM ^
Yes, agreed. The latter part of the IU game along with the OSU game were Exhibits A & B as to why this is important (with - as you point out - the loss of Glasgow being a big caveat).
Uche (in particular) and Kemp have the potential to develop into dominant edge rushers (though, I'd be surprised if either gets a lot of playing time in 2016). So, Gary as a versatile 3T is likely his final, primary destination.
February 5th, 2016 at 4:31 PM ^
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February 5th, 2016 at 5:51 PM ^
We already possess much better than average pass rushers with Wormley having proven to be the best among last season's unit. it is obvious to recognize the advantage of having two coming from both ends, and paying careful attention to not allowing passer to break containment, providing him with only one means of escape, being through the hearts of our defense.
However, if we are facing a reckless qb whose number of giveaways are much higher than acceptable rates, it is not difficult to design disguised coverage, more or less tempting him+ to pass into an area we are not defending in the manner his pre snap read suggest. It is a good way to increase tunrovers. If the qb is,. at best efficient, presenting no real danger to beat you with his arm, defense should be designed at mitigating strongest element of their offense. Because he is freakish in his ability as a run stopper and pass rusher, we can utilize him accordingly. Judging by nothing more than the large number of quality DLmen we have this season, I think Coach Brown is going to be up late at night, exploring the many possibilities and combinations we are capable of throwing at an offense this coming season. Have to be excited!!
February 7th, 2016 at 11:26 PM ^
Not really, if any Michigan pass rush are below average.
February 5th, 2016 at 2:11 PM ^
Does not get NEARLY enough MGoLuv.
February 5th, 2016 at 5:34 PM ^
And I think its for a very common reason. Much like Wormley, they are not the type of players to call attention to themselves. But they both have become so damn good at their respective positions that, and I think this is what youi are suggesting, we have begun to take them for granted. He is, as much as anyone, a truly integral cog in that defense, that without him, we would suffer tremendously. Playing press coverage for the first time in his career and at an AA caliber, is worthy of far more praise than we give him. Also, he proved a dangerous return man, often setting us up so Jake and the O had less than 45 yds to navigate for 6, thereby reducing, by at least half, the number of opportunities we had to turn the ball over. He does a lot for this team.
I would like to mention the return game for just a second. In the past whenever we had a man capable of taking it to the house at any time, we have given him as many opportunities as possible,i.e., AC, Desmond (their two career stats are eerily similar) along with Stevie Breaston. Last season, instead of using Peppers at every opportunity - yes, I realize Jehu is faster, but I think Peppers possesses better open field running ability, we used those two along with Lewis and I think it's part of Harbaugh's mental games he plays with the team. Although obviously happy with all three, he is either challenging one to set themself apart from the pack or giving them all equal opportunities because they all possess the necessary skills for the job, thereby handing out as many rewards as possible for the stellar play they provide. Whatever his mindset in doing so, it certainly paid dividends.
February 5th, 2016 at 10:50 AM ^
We have a guy named Harbaugh that I trust will find a way to utilize Mr. Gary effectively.
February 5th, 2016 at 10:53 AM ^
Gary to TE!
/s
February 5th, 2016 at 11:15 AM ^
But can Gary kick field goals?
February 5th, 2016 at 12:00 PM ^
Dodgeball?
February 5th, 2016 at 12:34 PM ^
February 5th, 2016 at 10:53 AM ^
Besides Harbaugh, Mattison and Brown. I think Gary will likely play more (this next season at least) on the edge due to all the depth, experience, and talent Michigan has coming back in the middle. But after that, we'll probably see him moving around more.
February 5th, 2016 at 11:32 AM ^
February 8th, 2016 at 12:07 AM ^
And the RBs; honestly I don't think they get enough blame for the run game woes/the OLine gets too much
February 5th, 2016 at 10:51 AM ^
I did find this article informative when it was linked to yesterday.
Thanks for sharing here
EDIT: Although I may have gotten to it via a different website (www.touch-the-banner.com possibly)
February 5th, 2016 at 10:55 AM ^
Mea Culpa if this is old/repeated info. I hadn't seen it on MGoBoard, but I may have missed it.
February 5th, 2016 at 12:22 PM ^
i do not think it was on the mgoboard, unless it was linked to in some way that was not straightforward
February 5th, 2016 at 10:51 AM ^
I'm still pretty amazed at his speed for his size. Quick hands, too. I think you'll see him on the edge in obvious passing situations.
February 5th, 2016 at 10:52 AM ^
I'm not a football coach, but from a fan's perspective it seems simple to me. Deploy Gary the same way that the Lions deployed Suh. You've got a force of nature physically who is very smart. Move him around and create mismatches.
Now coaches, tell me why that's dumb.
February 5th, 2016 at 11:20 AM ^
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February 5th, 2016 at 11:40 AM ^
Yup, I agree (not a coach though, sorry). His combination of speed and power are rare and deploying him at the 3 tech where he has the ability to take on the interior line and work off the stunt would be the best utilization of his skill set.
HOWEVA, as a situational DE (think Jake Ryan only bigger, stronger etc) he could cause real havoc on those obvious passing downs.
In short, play him at all the positions!
February 5th, 2016 at 2:04 PM ^
Exactly.
His "strengths" are e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g.
He's a swiss-army knife on the DL.
So utilize him that way. For mismatches, stunts, double-teams, etc.
The Harbaugh Trust knows what to do with him.
February 5th, 2016 at 2:54 PM ^
His versatility begs for this. He will play all over the line next year dictated by scheme, down and distance and matchups. He could make a huge difference setting the edge against spread teams from DE. And dominate inside against power.
February 5th, 2016 at 10:54 AM ^
Let him rush the edge but stop the run. Soooo, he should be on the field every down? Got it.
February 5th, 2016 at 10:57 AM ^
February 5th, 2016 at 11:05 AM ^
First time I've seen your avatar, well done sir
February 5th, 2016 at 11:16 AM ^
February 5th, 2016 at 2:06 PM ^
I'm a recovering addict!
February 5th, 2016 at 11:01 AM ^
Let him feast on the lamentations of opposing team's QBs......and their women!
February 5th, 2016 at 11:01 AM ^
with the talent on the defensive line this year, I think we will be all about match-ups. Got a weakness on your offensive line -- hello, Mr. Gary (or Wormley, etc.). Love to run to the TE side/field side/boundary side -- we can make that very difficult. And, who you gonna double-team? Gary? OK; Messrs. Wormley/Charlton/Mone/Hurst thank you very much.
Brown must be like a kid in a candy stor now.
February 5th, 2016 at 11:42 AM ^
Don't forget Glasgow!
February 5th, 2016 at 11:03 AM ^
If we lose .05 or .1 from a pass rush standpoint by putting him at WDE, no big deal with our DBs. Let's face it, going into next year we have 4 teams that stand out on the schedule; Ohio, Wiscy, Iowa and MSU. Iowa is probably the only wild care amongst those 4. All the rest will be extremely run heavy next season. MSU's QB will be inexperienced and Wiscy and Ohio always run the ball to set up the pass. Even throw in Penn State, who might return the best RB in the conference. How 1-dimensional we make these team will be the difference in another nice 10-3 season and one that has the chance to be extremely special despite a tough conference road schedule.
February 5th, 2016 at 11:26 AM ^
after watching ole miss use nkemdiche as a running back, maybe he could get some time as a goal line rusher.
I wonder if he could throw the ball and compete against o'korn.....
February 5th, 2016 at 11:31 AM ^
Positively creative.
February 5th, 2016 at 11:32 AM ^
Does G Matt coach Gary or do we let Gary coach G Matt?
February 5th, 2016 at 11:33 AM ^
Reminds me so much of Michael Bennett on the Seahawks. Can move all over the line and cause problems at every position.
February 5th, 2016 at 12:13 PM ^
YMRFSPA Reggie White, Eric Swann, Courtney Brown, Gerald McCoy.
February 5th, 2016 at 11:39 AM ^
Just add Gary on the defense...
February 5th, 2016 at 12:25 PM ^
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February 5th, 2016 at 12:10 PM ^
Like others have said, I thnk we'll see him inside initially, then he'll move to outside as the situation presents itself.
This has me thinking, though ... imagine you're an opposing OC looking at Michigan -- "Well, I can't just run straight at that DL. Screen passes? Nah ... Peppers blows that up. Over the top? Crap ... Lewis is out there." What a nightmare.
Also, picture Onwenu getting a chance to play NT in a goal line, with Mone, Glasgow, Hurst ... Mattison must be the happiest damn DL coach in the country.