Who came up with this list?
I think donkeys
I think donkeys probably could've made a better list. My guess is baboons.
I do not mean to pry, but you don't by any chance happen to have six fingers on your right hand?
Baboons
are smarter than donkeys.
/Jane Goodall
"Everyone gets dumped Gabe. Let me give you some advice: a little coverup on your Adams Apple will make it appear smaller. Which will make you appear less like a transvestite."
Hey!
What does she know.
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift
True
True, but I've never witnessed a donkey flinging it's own shit around. I can't say the same for Baboons.
I do not mean to pry, but you don't by any chance happen to have six fingers on your right hand?
no thumbs
only because they don't have opposable thumbs
"Hey Now!"
I have
I've witnessed plenty of donkeys flinging their own shit around. It's called "mlive."
If indeed this was made by donkeys
I can only imagine what Taylor Lewan thinks of this list
I know the topic's been
I know the topic's been beaten to death, but I'm worried about BWC and Jibreel Black taking on Alabama's massive, experience O-line. Three members of that group make SI's first or second teams.
My hope is that our
My hope is that our good-to-great secondary (did I really just type that?) will be able to shut down their inexperienced WRs and a vanilla passing game. This will hopefully allow GMatt to give the guys up front some extra help in trying to contain the running game.
I don't really see the
I don't really see the potential for greatness in this secondary. Countess has the highest ceiling. The other guys seem like borderline NFL Draft picks, and even Countess hasn't done anything particularly noteworthy yet.
I agree that 3/4 of our
While I agree that 3/4 of our secondary probably won't get serious NFL looks, we fielded a unit that was 36th in pass efficiency* rating last year under a new system. I think the fact that we don't lose anyone (ignoring Woolfolk) from that unit and the fact that they will be in the 2nd year of the system will probably allow us to break the top 25 this year in that category. Now, it really just depends on what you consider a 'great' college secondary. While we don't have any super studs or pure shutdown corners right now, I would argue that anyone in the top 20-ish in pass efficiency D should be considered in the 'great' range. I think that's attainable.
*I also realize that there are more factors that go into defensive pass efficiency, including schedule, rush defense, etc, but I think it is a good indicator of the approximate effectiveness of your pass D.
no real great
players individually probably in our secondary but they can be great as a unit and can also make great plays, which is what they'll need to do.
Denard Robinson......They're not going to catch him!
Just looking at the progress JT Floyd
made from 2 years ago to last year...wow. If he can marginally improve, Countess and he can be a very solid CB duo.
"They're stuck with that quarterback (sophomore Braxton Miller) for the next two or three years, that's fine with me. He throws worse than (Tim) Tebow. - Steve Everitt
I agree. Shockingly enough,
I agree. Shockingly enough, our secondary probably has the edge in that matchup. I think Kovacs, Gordon, and Demens will need to have big games for our D to hold against Bama though. They need to tackle Lacy before he gets too far up field and force a turnover or two.
My main worry is what happens if we fall behind. Saban will turn to the run game and grind out long drives in the second half if they have the lead. If we can jump out in front in the first half, we may be able to pull this one out.
Always prefer to fly under
Always prefer to fly under the radar before the season. But as for Bama, we cannot expect our line to neutralize their O line. Our only hope really is for (a) a strong effort by our backers to minimize the gains past the LoS, (b) moderate success floating CBs on islands so we can crowd the box, and (c) at least a +2 turn over margin.
I will be shocked if we win, and call it the greatest upset by Michigan in decades, but end of day, as long as we don't get blown out, this will be a net sum positive for our guys by exposing them to the barometer program against which to measure their growth.
me too, but just imagine how
me too, but just imagine how elated we will be if we do win, and end up in the championship game with say 1 loss. (fantasy, ok, maybe, but i can dream cant i?)
Dude if we're in fantasy
Dude if we're in fantasy land, how are we not undefeated? Sure there's like a 0.01 % chance of thet happening, but if we're gonna dream, dream big.
" I want to win Big 10 titles. Multiply. Consecutively. I just made that word up (multiply). I'm like that. I'm good at Scrabble."
ok, talked me into it.
ok, talked me into it. besides cant really identify who i'd like that one loss to come from.
Don't worry about that.. It's
Don't worry about that.. It's far more scary to think about what will happen when we rotate Ash, QWash, and Pipkins in.
I know, that depth chart is scary
5-star, 300+ pound senior
4-star, 300+ pound RS junior
4-star, 300+ pound RS sophomore
5-star, 300+ pound freshman
Three of whom have playing experience and only didn't start because they were playing behind a 4-star, 300+ pound all-conference performer and 3rd round draft pick.
What a nightmarish scenario!
It is spelled HOKEAMANIA. Our coach is an ass-kicking American citizen, not one of the Beatles, for Christ's sake!
Take off the maize googles.
Take off the maize googles. To this point, not one of those guys has even approached playing to the level that those recruiting rankings and that experience should yield.
Granted, Pipkins hasn't had the opportunity yet.
"2nd and 5. Here he goes again!"
"That's 6."
"They're not going to catch him! Touchdown Michigan!"
Actually
Campbell and the others played just fine when they got an opportunity last year. Assuming they are going to get mauled because they happened to be behind a very good player in Mike Martin on the depth chart is not rationalism, it is an insane hyper-criticism that assumes anyone who isn't a returning all-American will never be any good, as long as they are playing for your team, of course.
Half of the guys who will be starting for Bama on defense haven't done much of anything in a game either, but people seem to be making the opposite assumption about all of them. It is irrational pessimism, not hard-eyed rationality.
It is spelled HOKEAMANIA. Our coach is an ass-kicking American citizen, not one of the Beatles, for Christ's sake!
Agreed. But...
There's a reason Black and Roh are playing 3-tech and SDE despite being undersized. If the coaches had faith in the DL depth, they wouldn't have rearranged the line to avoid relying on it. And if the coaches lack faith, fans should as well.
The assumption shouldn't be
The assumption shouldn't be that because they didn't see playing time they aren't any good. For WC, it's because he looked okay at best as a junior. Not exactly news that we're praying he turns out to be more than a contributor. Q and Ash aren't getting much hype and when they've been in (because, let's recall, Mattison rotates the hell out of the DL) they didn't look like much either.
Worrying about them going up against the ridiculous athletes Bama has in the trenches is not hypercritical. It's pretty reasonable.
...the Canadians make up for it with their emotion and classic ice-dancing skill.
Based on what?
Campbell had as many sacks last year as Branch did in 2006 (and twice as many as Taylor did that year). There aren't a lot of opportunities for a guy at that position to shine. When a guy is getting limited PT those chances are fewer and farther between.
It is spelled HOKEAMANIA. Our coach is an ass-kicking American citizen, not one of the Beatles, for Christ's sake!
Based on having watched him
Based on having watched him play compared to the good defensive linemen we've had since 2005. The comparison to Branch is silly. If he takes a great leap forward, then terrific. There's no especially compelling reason to expect that kind of production.
Also, there are effectively 3 tackle positions on this team. There was room for Campbell or Ash or Washington to see extensive action if it were merited. Instead, Heininger played a ton and RVB and Martin could barely get off the field despite Mattison's desire to rotate.
Meanwhile, Alabama's guys are clearly in the vicinity of top 100 players. Saban has established a history of churning out top draft picks. We're still recovering from RR and GERG. It is obvious that our athleticism on defense does not match theirs offensively. The same is largely true on the other side of the ball. Which is why Vegas is giving us a 20% chance to win.
...the Canadians make up for it with their emotion and classic ice-dancing skill.
It's amazing one of the best
It's amazing one of the best defenses in the Big 10 from last year, which brings back the majority of contributors from last year, somehow becomes obviously less athletic than an Alabama team returning very few starters. Funny how all their guys who haven't seen the field much are automatically more athletic and better than our guys simply because it is Alabama.
Did you read Chris Brown's
Did you read Chris Brown's article in HTTV? The defense was not great nor exceptionally talented. It was smart, fundamentally sound and well coached. Which is why there was a relative dearth of draft picks. Great is the '06 defense. That's the kind of talent Bama has been putting out for a little while now.
This might sound snotty, but: have you watched Alabama play much? The difference in athleticism is obvious if you compare us side by side. Which is what you would expect from an oversigning team whose recruits are among the best in the nation and are coached by one of the best in the country.
There's no shame in being worse than Bama, particularly given the program strife that afflicted the program. E.g. 12 of the 27 recruits from the 2010 have left the program. They'd all be in their third year in the program had they stayed. Instead, we either don't even have a player to fill that spot, or they're a year or two younger than they might be otherwise. That's a huge deal.
So it's very likely true that we're dealing with a talent deficit right now. Oh well. We're still set up nicely in the B1G and we're obviously growing as a program. If Hoke had brought in two 30 recruit classes the two chances he got, we'd be farther along. But we couldn't, so here we are. I'm more than happy.
...the Canadians make up for it with their emotion and classic ice-dancing skill.
GOOGLES
GOOGLES
Hmmm, last I checked, the
Hmmm, last I checked, the googles still appeared white on my computer.
I hope to be like dang for large sections of the season.
You come at the king, you best not miss.
My google has some frog
My google has some frog popping out of the O and a bro kayaking
Jake Ryan will be All B1G this year.
why is
sparty kayaking on your computer?
You know what, you're right.
You know what, you're right. We've got talent there. Hopefully they can harness it against a big test.
And on a slightly different note. In the days before recruiting hype, we wouldn't expect to see players getting lots of time until their third years and we wouldn't view players who didn't play much until then as potential weaknesses or disappointments. I'm going to assume until I see otherwise that Ash and Washington will benefit from the past three years of weight training and the past year of seemingly excellent interior line coaching and will play well, even against one of the best offensive lines in the country.
You make a good point.
You make a good point. People think I'm insane, but the defensive line will be a stronger unit than the secondary.
What's coming back
We only lose two guys who started in the Sugar Bowl, a game in which our defense held a 1st round draft pick to less than 3.5 yards per carry and held Va Tech to 20 points, the lowest total for a Michigan defense in a bowl since the 1997 season (28 is the next lowest total).
One of those guys is being replaced by a 4 year starter who was honorable mention all-conference last year. The other guy is being replaced by the depth chart outlined above. With the normal assumption that players improve with age and that some unknown quantities will emerge to positive results (guys like Ash, Washington, Pipkins, Furman, Robinson, FRESHMEN), this is the best a Michigan defense has looked going into the season in a long time. Not to mention the offense looks just as good.
Bama is going to be a difficult test, but the level of panic is dramatically overblown.
It is spelled HOKEAMANIA. Our coach is an ass-kicking American citizen, not one of the Beatles, for Christ's sake!
What panic? It's likely that
What panic? It's likely that we're going to lose and it's tough to come up with scenarios that don't involve a lot of luck in which we win. That's more of a reflection on just how good Bama is than that we're bad or something. We're not yet an NFL minor league team.
...the Canadians make up for it with their emotion and classic ice-dancing skill.
One word...
Utah.
Anything
One word...
Utah.
Anything can happen.
I already said as much; our
I already said as much; our implied odds per Vegas are about 20% chance to win.
...the Canadians make up for it with their emotion and classic ice-dancing skill.
Denard over Geno for sure.
Denard over Geno for sure.
Sent From My Commodore 64
Lewan should have at least
Lewan should have at least made the second team. And I might be a homer, but if you include running ability, Denard should be there over Geno Smith.
Denard throws many, many
Denard throws many, many picks. I'm just sayin'.
For today, goodbye. For tomorrow, good luck. And forever, Go Blue.
Had to be said
Had to be said
Janeane Garofalo (Film Actors Guild): "As actors it is our responsibility to read the newspaper, and then say what we read on television like it's our opinion"
I agree with you on the too
I agree with you on the too many picks, but this is for the upcomming 2012 season and he is undoubtedly the most electrifying player in college football. With that said, past season play definitely does come into account unfortunately and I think that is the main reason Burkhead and Barner got second team over Knile Davis.
Has thrown Chunk, has
Has thrown Chunk, has thrown. We have yet to see how many -- if any -- he's going to throw this season. Just sayin'
Sing to the colors that float in the light;
Hurrah for the Yellow and Blue!
Agreed, and I think he'll
Agreed, and I think he'll throw less this year, but you can't base these things on the future, because it's the future.
For today, goodbye. For tomorrow, good luck. And forever, Go Blue.
welcome back
hey, looks like you returned from oblivia. how was the trip?
Bolivia? And I'm just glad I
Bolivia? And I'm just glad I made it back before they banned Coca-Cola in December to protest capitalism. They also don't have a single McDonald's, which isn't necessarily bad but interesting nonetheless.
well, glad you made it back
well, glad you made it back before the season. it would bite to go into bars there advertising "football games" and see nothing but soccer over the next few months.
Don't worry...
Don't worry, be happy!
Who came up with this list? A bunch of donkeys?
"fumbles the snap, takes off. . ."
(9/5/09)
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