I can't decide what I'm more excited about, Mouton and JT Floyd with positive numbers or the delicious "The Wire" reference right before the charting. And this is why I like September.
One thing that I haven't seen mentioned is that Kevin Leach, a part-time walk-on starter last year has been pushed backed to 3rd string. At times, he might have been our best lb last year at 210 lbs soaking wet. He at least knew his assignments. In my mind, that shows me that we'll see a better LB unit whether its Moundros or Obi starting. I'm also excited to see that Mike Jones has stepped up his game.
I think Moundros has been working on LB since the spring which is at least a bit longer then a month...though not ideal. In my opinion, the normal thought of switching positions is DOOM is worse when the player moves during fall camp less when they move in the spring.
One cannot argue with that MGoShoe's logic. If Moundros 2010> Ezeh 2009 then at least we have one area of improvement on the D. Plus if Moundros is better I'm guessing that Mouton puts it together this season. I think the changes in linebacker coaching (less read react/taking two steps to the side and then attacking) and the presence of seniors will give us a chance to be solid between the tackles in run defense. I'm more nervous about defending runs outside the tackles due to our inexperience at Spur/Safety/Cornerback. Still I would venture to say that better lb play plus addition of some heft in the front 7 can significantly decrease our rushing yards allowed per game from 172 yards to say 120 yards per game. Despite the obvious secondary issues, if we can be a better than average run defense team, while we will get carved up through the air, we have a chance at some defensive stops or turnovers as the dline should get moderate pressure on the qb. As long as teams can't march down the field with 7 yard runs, we can be better defensively this year.
A slight improvement in defensive performance +Dilithium = 8 wins
I've made one. I read the blog for over a year and then joined recently. Sadly it was at the same time as that guy who would start 4 posts a day about recruiting, which would seem to be why you decided to jump to conclusions based on you reading one post. If you were smarter, you would have realized the difference in posting styles seeing that em0 and and his alter egos always asked the same questions regarding recruiting without actually offering much in terms of opinions, or mildly well-thought out arguments.
Once again, thank you for you kindness and graciousness it is really appreciated among the supposed same fanbase.
(I hope your mastery of the obvious allows you to pick up on any traces of sarcasm in this post.)
I agree. I also expect that Richrod and company aren't surprised by some of the changes in DB recruiting. A month ago, our DB recruiting looked like the following.
6 CBs
Christian
Avery
Talbott
Witty
Grimes
Brown (2011)
We also had anywhere form 3-4 more offers out on 2011 CBs
2-4 Safeties
Johnson
Vinopal
Parker ??
Knight ??
We also have 3-4 offers on 2011 safeties.
While I know we all had to live through the lack of DBs last year, I was thinking that it seemed like we were a bit in DB overkill with more needs in the trenches and LB. However, our early recruiting of 2011 DBs perhaps should have been a bit of a tell that there were doubts in the coaches minds or that they have lived through many recruiting cycles and things change in the minds of high schoolers.
What does this all mean? 1) I like to write long posts. 2)There is always a silver lining. We still should be in pretty good shape in 2010 with DB recruits. Christian plays as nickel and the other two redshirt. Hopefully picking up Parker and or Knight gives us a solid 6-7 DBs in this class(not counting the possibility of a WR switching positions), which is good. Also, I think that too many recruits for one position in a class can hamper recruiting in future classes (See 2008 OL recruiting impact on 2010 OL recruiting IMHO)and that shouldn't be the case here.
Will be interesting to see how the stock market reacts to the news. Not often you get to see how the NYSE reacts to Michigan sports.
(note the partial sarcasm)
Yaaarghhhh....well there goes that silver lining.
But here is my attempt at a second one. Perhaps Torrian can still come aboard and help open up a new important recruiting pipeline. As we've seen with Pahokee, having an in with a school and having a few of former teammates in A2 can really help with recruiting. Plus I think that if Richrod can survive through next year, he is putting Michigan in good shape with different top high school programs, Pahokee, Cardinal Mooney, Dallas Skyline(yes I realize Drake may not qualify but its a start), and hopefully Miami Northwestern.
Definitely would be a bummer to lose out on Hankins and miss a chance to get some more size on the DL and a better foothold at Southeastern. I guess he won't be visiting Alabama either.
That being said, I think picking up Todd Chandler would be more fruitful in the long-term. First I'm assuming it would be a package deal with Torrian Wilson. Second, getting an in with Miami Northwestern would be a huge pick-up. While most of their players stay in town, it would be great to build ties at a school that regularly pumps out 4-stars
Ok, I might be really grasping for the silver lining of a supposed long-time michigan fan going to the enemy....what do others think about our chances with Chandler?
Very excited about Mr Ash joining the team next year for a number of reasons.
First, as we know defense and especially defensive lines win championships. While our solid defensive line didn't exactly make-up for the rest of the defense's shortcomings this year, I think Ash will be another part of a great defensive line especially in 2011. With a great d-line even decent linebacking and then a solid defensive backfield, we can have a top Big Ten defense.
Secondly, adding Ash and Talbott (and hopefully Hankins) gives us more flexibility and depth on the d-line. Looking at a potential 2010 D-line we have:
3-Tech: Van Bergen or Martin with Greg Banks and Ash and Talbott as back-ups
NT: Martin or Campbell with Sagesse and hopefully Hankins as back-up
DE: Van Bergen or Roh with LaLota and maybe Wilkins and Murphy
Deathbacker: Roh or Herron with Wilkins or Paskorz
Overall, there is a lot more that Greg can do with this line-up especially in 2011 that can create mismatches for teams. And for the recruiting-junkies (which I confess I have become), we will have 7 or 8 four-star or better d-linemen playing at Michigan the next 2 years.
Finally I really like that Ash is a player with a lot of upside. With a good community of Pahokeeians around him, he could be a special talent in the future. Although I love a good lunchpail player, I also am glad to see Michigan bring in someone with some great measurables who could be a special player down the road.
The sky is falling.
Rivals seems to have done a bit or a reranking and Jerald Robinson dropped from 5.8 to 5.7
However, I think one interesting note is that Richrod sleepers like Tony Drake and Carvin Johnson move up from 5.5 to 5.7 Drake's now the #8 all-purpose above Austin White and Johnson's the #33 safety.
While I will say that I'd like a few higher rated players in the class, its interesting to see that perhaps Richrod and his assistants have a good eye for sleepers. We were some of the first people to offer Drake and Johnson and it looks like they have moved up the rankings after some solid senior years.
So sadly, I don't have enough points yet to post a new thread, but I saw that Rivals has done some re-rankings of our recruits. Highlights:
Tony Drake moves up from a 5.5 to 5.7 He's #8 on all-purpose backs
Carvin "Backbreaker" Johnson moves up from 5.? to 5.7 He's #33 safety.
Jerald Robinson drops from 5.8 to 5.7
Stephen Hopkins drops from 5.6 to 5.5 (I think this is new)
I posted this in another thread but thought some of the Vinopal haters might want to consider the possible long-term potential of signing Vinopal.
When Vinopal announced he was signing a whole 24 hours ago, I did have the initial why not wait a month or two till things shake out till we take him. However, I have done a complete 180 recently based on some good posts, film and a brief study of Mooney's past classes.
Starting in 08 and going forward Mooney has had some great talent ranked above 5.6 on Rivals
Rivals and School-LOI
2008
6.0 Penn St
5.9 Penn St
5.8 Notre Dame
5.8 MICHIGAN -Taylor Hill and yes I known he transferred
2009
5.7 Ohio State
2010
5.9 West Virgina
5.6 Undecided with BCS offers
5.3 MICHIGAN-Vinopal
The FUTURE
......no doubt every player will be a 6.1
As many have said, Mooney is becoming a BCS level feeder school where Michigan needs to have a foot in the door. More importantly, as with many schools both high school and college, success breeds success. If you're a solid freshman high school football player with some major potential in Ohio, you will definitely think about attending Mooney especially with the BCS offers that have flowed in recent years. With Vinopal, Michigan now has a solid in to the coaches which is key. So I say, thank you RichRod for making an investment in Mooney and thinking about the long-term needs of the Michigan program. Sure there may be a chance RichRod may not be here in a few years (I hope not) but he is definitely laying a foundation at key schools that will benefit the football team.
Long time listener, first time caller.
When Vinopal first came on the radar a month ago, I was somewhat baffled like many others for many of the reasons posted in 15 different threads in the past month. However, I have done a complete 180 recently based on some good posts, film and a brief study of Mooney's past classes.
Starting in 07 and going forward Mooney has had some great talent ranked above 5.6 on Rivals
Rivals and School-LOI
2007
5.7 Virgina Tech
2008
6.0 Penn St
5.9 Penn St
5.8 Notre Dame
5.8 MICHIGAN -Taylor Hill and yes I known he transferred)
2009
5.7 Ohio State
2010
5.9 West Virgina
5.6 Undecided with BCS offers
5.3 MICHIGAN-Vinopal
The FUTURE
......no doubt every player will be a 6.1
As many have said, Mooney is becoming a BCS level feeder school where Michigan needs to have a foot in the door. More importantly, as with many schools both high school and college, success breeds success. If you're a solid freshman high school football player with some major potential in Ohio, you will definitely think about attending Mooney especially with the BCS offers that have flowed in recent years. With Vinopal, Michigan now has a solid in to the coaches which is key. So I say, thank you RichRod for making an investment in Mooney and thinking about the long-term needs of the Michigan program. Sure there may be a chance RichRod may not be here in a few years (I hope not) but he is definitely laying a foundation at key schools that will benefit the football team.
Recent Comments
I can't decide what I'm more excited about, Mouton and JT Floyd with positive numbers or the delicious "The Wire" reference right before the charting. And this is why I like September.
Omar
By the way, when does ESPN normally update their TV coverage game maps? Any help would be appreciated.
I may be in SB for the weekend and was planning on heading to a bar to watch the game. I think that it will be on ESPN2 so hope to watch it that way.
One thing that I haven't seen mentioned is that Kevin Leach, a part-time walk-on starter last year has been pushed backed to 3rd string. At times, he might have been our best lb last year at 210 lbs soaking wet. He at least knew his assignments. In my mind, that shows me that we'll see a better LB unit whether its Moundros or Obi starting. I'm also excited to see that Mike Jones has stepped up his game.
I've heard Javarie Johnson has had a great camp perhaps he'll be in the two deep.
I think Moundros has been working on LB since the spring which is at least a bit longer then a month...though not ideal. In my opinion, the normal thought of switching positions is DOOM is worse when the player moves during fall camp less when they move in the spring.
One cannot argue with that MGoShoe's logic. If Moundros 2010> Ezeh 2009 then at least we have one area of improvement on the D. Plus if Moundros is better I'm guessing that Mouton puts it together this season. I think the changes in linebacker coaching (less read react/taking two steps to the side and then attacking) and the presence of seniors will give us a chance to be solid between the tackles in run defense. I'm more nervous about defending runs outside the tackles due to our inexperience at Spur/Safety/Cornerback. Still I would venture to say that better lb play plus addition of some heft in the front 7 can significantly decrease our rushing yards allowed per game from 172 yards to say 120 yards per game. Despite the obvious secondary issues, if we can be a better than average run defense team, while we will get carved up through the air, we have a chance at some defensive stops or turnovers as the dline should get moderate pressure on the qb. As long as teams can't march down the field with 7 yard runs, we can be better defensively this year.
A slight improvement in defensive performance +Dilithium = 8 wins