Who plays MLB in 2010?
I think JB Fitzgerald may end up being the most important player on the team next year. MLB has the least depth of any position on the team. If Fitzgerald doesn't win the job Michigan fans will again have to suffer from Obi winning again by default or even Kevin Leach and a terrible defense. At least all the other positions have decent depth or competent starters.
JB Fitzgerald be a man! Do the right thing! GO BLUE!
February 12th, 2010 at 8:21 PM ^
Tigers, Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies, White Sox, Cubs, you know. The usual.
February 12th, 2010 at 8:33 PM ^
meh i dont make sense
February 12th, 2010 at 9:24 PM ^
I was thinking the same thing when I saw the headline
February 12th, 2010 at 8:27 PM ^
Although I agree with you, I haven't given up on Obi yet. He had a really great year two years ago and, I may be mistaken, he was leading the team in tackles last year before he got sat down. He is one of the leaders on the defense and I think he will have a big year.
February 12th, 2010 at 8:54 PM ^
Leading the team in tackles doesn't mean that much. Which is quite obvious considering he was benched.
February 12th, 2010 at 8:57 PM ^
Obi was benched in the last game and shouldn't even be considered the starter going into 2010
February 13th, 2010 at 2:17 PM ^
Do you think Kevin Leach should be considered the starter going into 2010? We have a handful of potential MIKEs, JB, Obi, Leach, possibly Ike Bell, Kenny Demens, and I'm confident one of them will be competent or beyond. The last couple years we haven't had much for experience or talent at the MIKE position, and this year we have a good amount of both. Whoever wins out (whether that be in the spring or 3 games into the season) will be a solid player for us.
February 13th, 2010 at 5:05 PM ^
I think Kevin Leach definitely is the nominal starter. Having an undersized walk-on at a critical position will not help the defense
February 13th, 2010 at 8:18 PM ^
You realize your two statements contradict each other, right?
February 12th, 2010 at 10:41 PM ^
He plays out of position. Nuff said??
February 12th, 2010 at 8:45 PM ^
Not having Hopson as the coach helps the LB's
February 13th, 2010 at 1:22 PM ^
Anyone that talks about Ezeh like he's a terrible football player doesn't know what they're talking about. Obi Ezeh was one of the best defenders on the team in Lloyd Carr's last year. Then, he was just a redshirt freshman, and in The Wolverine, his fellow teammates voted him the best defender on the team going into the '08 season. Last year they did the same thing only behind Brandon Graham. Obi Ezeh should be an absolute stud at LB by now, but he hasn't progressed AT ALL since Hopson took over coaching the linebackers. How does a player go from being considered one of the best defenders on the team to being benched? That's just ridiculous. He showed so much promise and then never got better. I suppose there is a possibility that it's all on Ezeh, but I find that hard to believe when last year we were expecting Mouton to have a breakout year himself and instead, we found the same to be true of him. Which is that he hadn't progressed AT ALL. Fitzgerald hasn't shown much progression either. I don't think our problem is our linebackers. I'm pretty sure it was Hopson. And I think Rich Rod knew that too. Remember, when Schafer left, he wasn't fired, he "resigned". I don't think that Rich Rod likes to fire his coaches. I think that he was upfront with them and told them that they needed to find work elsewhere instead of embarrassing them with a firing. I'm anxious to see what GERG can do with our linebackers this offseason.
February 12th, 2010 at 9:20 PM ^
Lets also hope that Obi gets better in year 2 of the same system/coach (first time in his career), and everyone on the D for that matter.
February 12th, 2010 at 9:25 PM ^
he was very aggressive last year which hurt him at times but I would rather have an aggressive LB than a passive LB. You can teach a LB to read and anticipate but you can't teach aggression.
February 12th, 2010 at 10:09 PM ^
MLB The Show or MLB 2k?
February 13th, 2010 at 5:17 PM ^
Major League Baseball featuring Ken Griffey, Jr.
February 12th, 2010 at 10:33 PM ^
throw the frosh out there and let him just read and react. He already takes 100% less false steps than Obi does. Sorry, but he can't read the flow of plays and use his mind to get in the right position. It doesn't matter how skilled you are at "Mike" if you can't diagnose what's going on quickly.
February 13th, 2010 at 10:49 AM ^
Stars aside, I'm hoping we have a better option than a true freshman.
February 13th, 2010 at 11:04 AM ^
That's a recipe for disaster.
February 13th, 2010 at 2:08 PM ^
Yeah, that's a really bad idea. I'm as big a proponent of Jake Ryan as anyone, but having him start as a true freshman is silly. He has a lot to learn and needs to get bigger and faster. By his third year in the program (probably RS soph year) he'll likely be in good shape to play, maybe start, but for sure not now.
February 13th, 2010 at 2:06 AM ^
Well my heart has always been with JB since I worked with him on a project in SM-101, but I'd rather whoever the coaches have the most trust in play the position. JB will get his year.
February 13th, 2010 at 9:24 AM ^
...but the three guys we got from Jersey in the 2008 class: Fitzgerald, Witherspoon and B. Smith have been extremely disappointing THUS far.
I was really excited about all three of these guys and expected them to all be multi-year starters at UM, but only JB is even still on the squad and he has yet to see meaningful minutes after two years.
Perfect example of why it's kind of silly to get all "pumped" about any individual recruit in a class based on HS performance.
February 13th, 2010 at 11:01 AM ^
I'm rooting for the best guy to play MIKE, whether it's Ezeh or Fitzgerald or Leach. I don't know what Ezeh has done on or off the field to make anyone root against his success.
February 13th, 2010 at 5:02 PM ^
not rooting against Ezeh but he has shown he cannot handle the position
February 13th, 2010 at 8:17 PM ^
So really you weren't posing a question with this thread, as much as saying you don't like Obi Ezeh. If that's what you wanted to say, just say it man.