Zoltan #1 Junior Punter per Mel Kiper
Mel Kiper thinks that Zoltan is the number 1 junior punter. Which would come as no surprise to, like, anyone in the universe.
"Punters
1. Zoltan Mesko, Michigan
2. Eric Maust, Notre Dame
3. Jeremy Boone, Penn St.
4. Brent Bowden, Virginia Tech
5. Zach Johnson, Eastern Michigan"
Link ($): http://insider.espn.go.com/ncf/insider/columns/story?columnist=kiper_jr…
February 26th, 2009 at 12:50 PM ^
that we have 1, and play 3 of the top 5 punters, huh?
February 26th, 2009 at 12:59 PM ^
Michigan fans have an exciting year of punting to look forward too.
February 26th, 2009 at 2:04 PM ^
that's funny. I had to stop reading and giggle at that.
February 26th, 2009 at 2:09 PM ^
Beats the hell outta fumbling.
February 26th, 2009 at 12:54 PM ^
or do they have different measureables? leg press reps?
February 26th, 2009 at 2:22 PM ^
I was watching ESPN the other day and they were talking about a punter who had I think the 3rd most reps on the 225 lb bench so yeah I think they have to do those types of things. I am sure coaches want to know how good they are at running the fake punt so I would think all of that comes into play.
February 26th, 2009 at 7:46 PM ^
I heard about our long snapper in the combine and how he wanted to improve his 40 time for pro day. Who really cares about a long snappers speed?
February 27th, 2009 at 12:23 PM ^
Gotta get down and cover the punts, so I'd imagine being faster would improve his stock.
February 26th, 2009 at 3:32 PM ^
I don't know when the last time was where we didn't have a top 5 junior at some position (other than kicker or punter, ranked by Kiper). It's going to be a rough year folks - start tempering your expectations now.
(although if it's an consolation, it looks like the rest of the Big 10 will be extremely weak as well)
February 26th, 2009 at 6:38 PM ^
That's partly because we don't have many seniors-to-be.
Mathews, Savoy, Ortmann, Moosman, Minor, Grady, Carlos Brown, Graham, and Steve Brown are it, I think.
If Minor can stay healthy, he might be a top five RB by the end of the season.
February 26th, 2009 at 8:51 PM ^
Yeah, well it is still a red flag, right? 6 senior starters? That is not terrible (look at last year), but it isn't much better...
I'd be happy with a .500 year and then have next year be the big breakout. Anyone "expecting" more (note I did not say "hoping" or "wanting") is probably kidding themselves (outside of 7-5 perhaps).
February 26th, 2009 at 10:10 PM ^
It's a red flag for what?
We had a bad team last year. Everyone was adjusting to a new system and everyone was flanked by a freshman or a redshirt freshman.
If Brandon Minor had a better offensive line and stayed healthy, he could have gone for 1,200 yards.
If Greg Mathews had a good quarterback, who knows? Maybe he'd be a highly ranked WR.
Brandon Graham could easily be a top five defensive end.
This is like saying "Uh-oh...ESPN didn't rank Michigan in the top 25 for 2009. The sky is falling!"
It's not a red flag of anything, because summer practices for 2009 haven't even started. Hell, spring practices for 2009 haven't even started.
February 26th, 2009 at 11:20 PM ^
I think you are misconstruing just about everything I said (not the first time you have done this).
My point = People on this board obviously love Michigan and are Michigan homers and to expect a 8-4 season or better is just plain INSANE when you look at the talent we have.
YES - Minor, Mathews, Graham, etc. are TALENTED. However, Minor is not Hart, Mathews is not Braylon / Breaston / Manningham, and Graham doesn't have the talent behind him on D that Woodley had.
So, when we had all of those players in the past we had a 7-5 season (2005) and a 9-4 season (2007) with them. So people are REALLY thinking next year we are going to do better than those seasons? Call me, because you are smoking some sweet, sweet grass and I want some.
Do we go 3-9 again next year? I hope not, but unfortunately if you're in Vegas I bet the odds are more likely for us to be 3-9 than 9-3. I say hope for .500 and a crappy bowl and keep building in 2010....
February 27th, 2009 at 6:20 AM ^
First of all, I didn't misconstrue anything you said. You said we basically don't have the talent we've had in the past; I said you basically don't know what kind of talent we have because our team sucked last year due to every other player being a freshman. And considering this thread is about Mesko being the #1 junior punter (in other words, it's about INDIVIDUAL talent), then perhaps you shouldn't be surprised if people think you're talking about individuals.
So did I just misconstrue everything or do you just suck at communication?
Is there a chance we do better than 7-5? Hell yes there's a chance. Is there a chance we get to 9-4? Less of a chance, obviously, but sure.
Not many people have been arguing that we'll get to 10 or 11 wins. So telling everyone to "temper expectations" is a wee bit like insisting that we shouldn't expect the Lions to win the Super Bowl next year.
February 27th, 2009 at 1:47 PM ^
Maybe I do just suck at communication. And maybe you have a 3 foot stick constantly wedged up your ass? I don't know. Both are possibilities.
To say we don't know what kind of talent we have is ridiculous. We know these guys are good, but they are still young and the talent we will have at the skill positions (QB, RB, WR) for 2009 won't be as good as in 2007 or 2005, when we went a combined 16-9. Add in the fact that our line is weak (but will be stronger this year than last), we don't have any standout DTs, overall LB is weak, and S is a huge concern. Expecting to get to 8 wins is like expecting that stripper to take you to the private room and give you a HJ. Could it happen? Yes. But a lot of things are going to have to work in your favor to get there.
Don't get me wrong, the intangibles in 2009 will be better than 2007 or 2005. We have RR (better than old man Lloyd), Barwis, and possibly the most important thing - a team full of kids hungry to win in the "nobody believed in us!" manner. Will this be enough to carry us to 8 wins? It might, but I am not going to expect it.
February 27th, 2009 at 1:52 PM ^
Definition help (and maybe the WLA guys can help me understand this): How is "good coach" intangible when "good player" isn't? Is player talent a tangible quality?
To be fair, this is only one of the many problems I have with your post.
February 27th, 2009 at 2:02 PM ^
I think our offensive talent level is still something of an unknown considering that 1) it was extremely, flukishly young last year; 2) it had to adapt to a radically new system and 3) we had nothing resembling good QB play for the vast majority of the season. Also, we do not know if the incoming freshmen (and all the redshirt freshmen on the OL) will make an impact or not.
One thing I do feel confident saying is that I think our running game will be pretty good. Lost in the wreckage of 2008 was that our yards per carry for the season was almost identical to that of 2007. Does that mean Minor et al. were as good as Hart? No, but it probably does mean that this offensive system makes it easier to run the ball (provided adequate blocking, of course) than Carr's. Even with McGuffie gone, I'm excited about our tailback depth with Minor, Shaw and Brown (and maybe a frosh or two), especially now that we'll have actual depth in the OL blocking in front of them.
February 27th, 2009 at 2:16 PM ^
"I think you are misconstruing just about everything I said (not the first time you have done this)."
I think it's fair to say that we don't know what kind of talent we have. Why? Because OUR ENTIRE OFFENSE WAS LITTERED WITH FRESHMEN LAST YEAR. Threet, McGuffie, Shaw, Stonum, Odoms, etc. Our offensive line was inexperienced.
On top of that, Rodriguez has shown significant improvement in his second year with a program in the past. With virtually our entire offense returning, you can at least expect more success in the running game and perhaps even in the passing game. So even if our defense doesn't do very well, we should be able to outscore some people.
So no, "ridiculous" doesn't work here. I'd continue to argue with the rest of your post but I have something else to do right now.
February 27th, 2009 at 7:50 PM ^
No need to mention RR as I mentioned him in my previous post and had him as a reason WHY we could outperform and get to 8-4 while under Lloyd I wouldn't expect it as even possible.
In reality, what do you think our record will be next year?
February 27th, 2009 at 10:18 PM ^
What makes you think Lloyd couldn't do it? Is it his national championship or his Big Ten titles that convince you he couldn't get to 8 wins?
I expect that we'll get to 7 or 8 wins. I won't be surprised if we get 9 or 6. I will be surprised if we get 10+ or less than 6.
Regardless, I don't see our lack of top-five juniors as a red flag, which is how this conversation got started.
February 27th, 2009 at 1:41 AM ^
Screw Mel Kiper, Business Week just ranked the Business school #4. So, yeah. Top 5. woooo.
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_10/b4122048934051.htm
February 26th, 2009 at 9:01 PM ^
Mel Kiper still has a job ?
February 27th, 2009 at 12:00 AM ^
magnus on this one. what does mel kiper know anyway.
February 27th, 2009 at 11:16 AM ^
I wish I had the energy of magnus at that hour of the morning on this kind of topic. Instead I'm just sipping the coffee and waiting for the fog to clear.