What is concern level for defensive secondary w/o Clark?
1) Wisconsin game? 2) State game? 3) OSU game? 4) Big Ten championship?
I don't believe the other games are a concern (aside from ChaosTeam, which is just fun). How much of a dropoff should we expect short-term? Is the ceiling higher at the end if the season? Thanks.
September 25th, 2016 at 10:50 PM ^
We'll find out in 6 days
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
September 25th, 2016 at 10:58 PM ^
I don't think Wisconsin has the talent on the outside to exploit a new 3rd CB.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
September 26th, 2016 at 9:39 AM ^
JD and Strib will lock down Peavy and Fumagalli (sp?) respectively. We can almost put 10 in the box at that point. It's going to be hard for Wisconsin to score on offense.
September 26th, 2016 at 10:34 AM ^
With JD and Strib outside? Who are you, Hoke?
September 26th, 2016 at 11:32 AM ^
Hoke would would only put 8 in the box.
September 25th, 2016 at 10:51 PM ^
in a few days
September 25th, 2016 at 10:52 PM ^
Prediction: Watson, Long, Hill will play. We'll be fine.
September 25th, 2016 at 10:52 PM ^
I have a moderate level of concern. Hope Watson or one of the young guys can step up.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
September 26th, 2016 at 11:19 AM ^
Same. I haven't seen Long or Hill play meaningful snaps not on ST so far. I guess we'll see if they've learned enough of the system yet.
September 25th, 2016 at 10:52 PM ^
It means Lavert Hill and David Long will be put into situations that they might not otherwise be in. The good news is that we have the best D-Line in the country.
It is also nice the Lewis is back from here on out.
Feel really bad for Clark, this is a heck of a season to be a part of. This late as well....reminds me of the Ojemudia situation.
September 25th, 2016 at 11:05 PM ^
Isn't Long injured? Or is he now healthy?
September 25th, 2016 at 11:15 PM ^
Both Long and L. Hill played at CB late in the Penn St. game.
September 26th, 2016 at 6:54 AM ^
He will play.
September 26th, 2016 at 10:35 AM ^
I didn't see him play against PSU, but he was dressed.
September 26th, 2016 at 11:44 AM ^
Take a look at the play towards the end of the game when the Penn State running back fumbles the ball. You'll see Long (#22) lined up to the bottom of the screen covering a wide receiver. He'll also be visible as one of the players congratulating Hill (#24) for the fumble recovery.
Other players in the secondary in the video were Metellus (#13) at safety along with Thomas (#25). Uche (#35) was at LB.
I hate losing Jeremy Clark not only because of his size and experience, but because this was his last season at Michigan. Fingers crossed that he gets a sixth year (no doubt Michigan will apply for it), but I'd be doubtful at this point.
After the Wisconsin game, U-M goes to Rutgers, has a bye week, then host Illinois. Whoever does emerge as Clark's replacement is likley going to have time to work on his responsibilities not only in practice but in a few live games before the Michigan State contest.
September 26th, 2016 at 12:11 AM ^
Good news is we have Jourdan back for slot stuff and the other guys are better equipped for the outside early in their careers (especially Watson).
Clark was having a hell of a season and will be drafted so definitely still a loss. Biggest impact is if we lose another starter - we are lucky to have rare top end depth at the position.
September 26th, 2016 at 11:43 AM ^
think he was working his way into the early rounds of the draft and was playing at an all BIG level. I think he is clearly better than Stribbling and I think it is a big loss. I have to say it, there are some "detail" type things that Harbaugh overlooks. He should never have a starting cornerback in on kick off coverage up 42-10 in the fourth. His starting corners should already be in street clothes enjoying a game of chess with hot tea in the locker room.
The MSU punt formation is another example. And an all-out punt block against OSU in the end-zone when Peppers was literally waiting to take it back to the house is another. These things start to grind on you as a fan after a while.
I know, #Harbaugh. This just seemed very avoidable.
September 25th, 2016 at 10:58 PM ^
Whoever it is, they better be ready to get thrown at. Possibly a lot.
September 25th, 2016 at 11:00 PM ^
We still have Jourdan Lewis and Channing Stribling. We won't be deep but do we face a good qb until Columbus?
September 25th, 2016 at 11:43 PM ^
The Wisc kid looked pretty good. But their offence does not call for many 3 cb packages.
September 26th, 2016 at 8:24 AM ^
We will have to find a way to put immense pressure on the frosh QB, while at the same time anchoring against the Wisky running game, which is always to notch. Tough assignment, but I think we are up to it. Just a question of keeping balance on D.
September 25th, 2016 at 11:01 PM ^
we still have peppers to cover pass if we really have to.
September 25th, 2016 at 11:05 PM ^
Ugh. People keep assuming Peppers can cover because he's a great athlete. Not sure how many times people have to be reminded it's not a strength of his.
September 25th, 2016 at 11:08 PM ^
But he's certainly not horrible and if Watson/Hill/Long can't step up, he's our next best option.
September 26th, 2016 at 12:33 AM ^
Then you take our best blitzer farther away from the line. This shouldn't be an option.
September 26th, 2016 at 12:03 AM ^
Technically yes. But we need Peppers close to the LOS as that weird LB/SS destroyer of worlds.Playing him in strict coverage role hurts us on screens and edge runs. I think.
September 26th, 2016 at 7:15 AM ^
We have needed three corners plus Peppers for the spread teams. That isn't Wisconsin. They have until that last game to work on it. I like the talent available to step in for Clark. So my concern level is moderate up until OSU. Don't know what it will be then.
September 26th, 2016 at 8:32 AM ^
Indiana's not running the spread any more?
September 26th, 2016 at 10:36 AM ^
Even Indiana's not sure what Indiana is running...
September 25th, 2016 at 11:03 PM ^
But it will make Indiana and OSU more difficult, since we kinda sorta need Lewis to take the slot against those teams.
September 25th, 2016 at 11:05 PM ^
Lavert Hill (young JD) will have some level of experience at that point.
September 25th, 2016 at 11:10 PM ^
Silver lining I suppose is that both Hill and Long will get more experience this year than they otherwise would have, which will be big in our opener against Florida next year.
September 25th, 2016 at 11:03 PM ^
If Lewis is going to be the nickel and it means David Long is put on the outside against 3-wide sets, my concern is minimal
If they put Lewis on the outside and Watson in the nickel, concern is high. Watson has been here too long to look as rough as he did during time he got in the first threw games. He probably is what is, which is not very good.
September 25th, 2016 at 11:04 PM ^
Not high because we still have Lewis, Stribling and Peppers. I don't see Brandon Watson as a legitimate option, but Hill and Long are. Long was the #8 CB and Hill was #12, so they are raw but good. We need to get them both playing time for next year as well.
September 25th, 2016 at 11:12 PM ^
Failed to read this before my reply above.
September 25th, 2016 at 11:05 PM ^
Because Lewis is back.
Basically you bring Lewis in and sub Clark out if you're looking at the beginning of the season and the rest of the season.
Everything else stays the same.
...the issue is depth. Which is why I say on the surface. Because now we have our 2 starting CBs (even if Clark was playing better than Stribling, the coaches clearly think high enough of Strib to keep starting him over Clark).
We don't have any depth and I think Clark would've helped out the CBs when Stribling is having a bad game or the Ss when, say, Thomas is having a bad game.
I think the safties are still okay because Kinnel is coming on and I don't think there's too much off a difference between Clark the 3rd safety and Kinnel the 3rd safety.
My fear is we no longer have a bonafide 3rd CB.
The luxury is that we don't bring on a 3rd CB in Nickel situations...we have Peppers as the 5th DB. When we go Dime, we've been playing another safety, so Kinnel comes in.
So rotations wise...we're fine. It's depth, and that's scary. We need someone of these young guys to grow up quick just in case they're called upon.
September 25th, 2016 at 11:05 PM ^
We'll learn about the young guys soon. Hopefully they're good.
September 25th, 2016 at 11:24 PM ^
He's been my least favorite player of all the guys to get regular snaps on either side of the ball. Only hope I have is this: maybe he's looked really good in practice, so that's why they keep giving him opportunities?
September 26th, 2016 at 5:45 AM ^
He was playing nickel while keeping the seat warm for Lewis. Outside and inside are two different animals. Maybe Watson can be more effective outside...
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
September 26th, 2016 at 7:57 AM ^
Watson does an adequate job on the outside, it's nickel where he gets burned. I bet a lot of people change their negative opinions on Watson once he is playing primarily on the outside now.
September 25th, 2016 at 11:11 PM ^
I have a small level of concern. For the record I still believe that Clark was a better player than Stribling and I actually don't think it was that close. But I'll leave that debate.
Clark is however the more versital of the two players as he was the better tackler and could have player safety if needed.
Back to corner, I'm not too concerned because there is talent to step in. We all know of the young guys in Hill and Long... Watson has played a decent amount of nickel as he has proved he can tackle but has had issue covering inside. I wonder if he does better covering outside as Lewis got a lot of nickel snaps.
Thye guy I am interested in seeing is actually Keith Washington. He got some early snaps outside before Clark got hurt but I couldn't get a read on him. He is taller than Hill, Long and Watson and has more speed than Stribling.
The point is there are guys and we aren't without talent. HOWEVER, you can't just replace Clark with no drop off. He is 6-4, can run and tackle and most importantly a 5th year senior!!!
Still there is talent and great coaching. I'm slightly excited.
September 25th, 2016 at 11:11 PM ^
I don't know how good Indiana's qb is. Admittedly, I haven't watched too much Indiana football this year but from the box scores they've scored 34, 30, and 28 to FIU, Ball State, and Wake Forest. Not that great.
September 25th, 2016 at 11:42 PM ^
He threw for 500 yards and 3 TDs against Wake Forest. He also threw 5 picks. Still, within the B1G, he is second only to Barrett in QBR.
I would say Indiana is probably the only team on the remaining schedule (other than OSU) capable of mimicking Colorado's success. The other good teams (Wisconsin, MSU) are going to have to rely on defense as opposed to outscoring Michigan. Nebraska's offense could also give Michigan problems in a hypothetical B1G title game.
September 25th, 2016 at 11:18 PM ^
What's his injury situation ?
September 25th, 2016 at 11:19 PM ^
According the the participation chart at mgoblue he played this week.
September 25th, 2016 at 11:19 PM ^
He's played the last two games late. Sam Webb did memtion something about him not being 100% even though he's cleared to play, but not sure what that means.
September 25th, 2016 at 11:18 PM ^
Concern is pretty high for me. Watson was the guy that got pushed into service for Lewis and A) wasn't very good and B) isn't really ideal against tall outside receivers.
Hopefully one of Long or Hill can step up and play. If nothing else, they'll be needed next year.
September 25th, 2016 at 11:19 PM ^
Any chance Clark can get a 6th year, or does four games this year make it a bridge too far?
September 26th, 2016 at 6:30 AM ^
It happened in time. But his previous redshirt year has to have been injury-related. I believe that is the case, so yes, he can get a sixth year.
Whether he takes it or enters the draft probably depends on how his recovery goes?
September 26th, 2016 at 8:16 AM ^
If he gets an evaluation that he'll be drafted late or maybe not at all, another year might be a wise decision.