1. Matt Wile - we better hope he is good enough to be the kicker on September 3rd of the kicking game may have big problems again this year
2. Thomas Rawls - should see his snaps increase throughout the year in the power running game
3. Blake Countess - could be a special player and might be a starter or at least the 3rd cornerback by the end of the year
I also wouldn't be surprised to see one of the defensive guys playing offense; maybe Morgan at FB or Beyer at TE due to a lack of depth at those positions.
There's a guy named Wes Welker who does fine in 3-wide and 4-wide sets playing in a pro-style offense. If a guy can run routes, get open, and catch the ball there is a place for him in any offense. Borges will make use of the talent he has on the roster.
It's not out of the question that we are recruiting Clark as a TE. No reason he can't redshirt and add 25-30 lbs; that would give him the ideal measurables to be a TE. You can't have too many guys in that 225-240 lb range (run stopping LBs, TEs, FBs) especially with the move towards a more power offense.
It looks like his eyes have swollen shut from all that pizza and doughnuts. Still, the NFL likes big fat OLs, I'm surpised he wasn't invited to the combine.
This just reminds me about how much depth the Defense will have next year; that is the one advantage of playing so many young players and having a big recruiting class with a lot of redshirts last year. The D will be much better just because the coaches will be able to rotate 17-20 players rather than playing the same 11 guys the whole game. I think the D just wore down in some games in 2010 and that shouldn't happen with the improved depth.
Michigan was suffering from the 7-6 record and uncertainty about Rodriguez before he was fired, so this was already a borderline top-25 recruiting class. His firing might have caused us to miss on a few late kids (Frost, Walls) but wasn't going to be a top 10 class no matter what. At this point, our best hope is for the new coach to keep the existing commits, close the deal on a few others (Bryant), and maybe get a few snake oil surprises. But let's not kid ourselves, this wasn't going to be a great class if Rodriguez had been retained for a 4th year.
I'm not sure Brandon is just now starting his "national search". It sounds like he has been looking at candidates and maybe even having discussions with them for awhile, as any CEO would do in normal sucession planning. When the new coach is named (hopefully by this weekend), I think we'll find that the first conversation between Brandon and the coach wasn't on January 6.
The OSU AD admitted that they failed to educate their players properly about this, but the players still should have known right from wrong. The reason the school is guilty is because they allow a culture on non-compliance (see all the secondary violations they've racked up over the years). It was never proven, but we all remember the smoke around Pryor's recruitment with the Corvette. Do you think he ever thought that receiving money or gifts for his celebrity was wrong?
He would have been a big help on the goal line even last year. This is now ancient history, but having nobody to go to but an injured Brandon Minor in the Illinois game and getting stuffed at the 1 yard line was the turning point of the 2009 whole season. A truck like Hopkins will help us win a few games like that.
I thought "Leroy Hoard" too when I saw Hopkins in the Spring Game. He even wears the same #33. I wonder if Fred Jackson saw the same thing when they were handing out jersey numbers to the Freshmen. If he has even half the career Hoard had, he will be a valuable part of the team.
Martin is quick enough to play a DE in the 3-3-5. As others have mentioned, Roh is the key to giving the D the flexibility to play both the 4-2-5 and 3-3-5 which will help the team adapt to down-and-distance and the opposing team's Offense. I think this move allows the D to have multiple looks and "keep it simple" at the same time.
This game scares the hell out of me . . . forget about how tough the Big East is, this isn't a bad team. And there will be so much pressure to win on both the Michigan coaches and the players. Going on the road to ND in week 2 and potentially starting 0-2 would create pressure like there's never been in Ann Arbor before.
Let's just hope the atmosphere and supportive crowd in the Big House along with superior talent are enough to make up for the pressure and Michigan's relative lack of experience. It should be a great home opener.
This is an example of where the returning starters statistic can be so meaningless. You could say that Michigan's D has 8 returning starters (all positions except Graham, Warren, and Brown) and be sort of correct. But as any fan of the program (and MGoBlog readers) knows, this is not a veteran D by almost any other definition. I bet this isn't the last place you'll read about Michigan's "veteran D" between now and next August.
I agree completely on any comparisons with Pierson and Curtis. Marcus Ray would be another modern day comparison. Just watch the 69 OSU game on YouTube. The best player in the most important game in Michigan history was a smart, under-sized saftey from the UP named Barry Pierson . . . he returned a punt to the 3 yard line to set up the deciding TD and had 2 ints (I think). Michigan needs guys like this on the team. I think he'll be starting by his Junior year.
If the "us against the world" mentality didn't exist on this team after a 3-9 season, it sure does now. This is all a bunch of BS now, but we could look back on this in a few years as the defining moment in Rodriguez's tenure at Michigan. Hopefully a good defining moment . . .
Herbie is two different people. On ESPN, he is fairly even-handed and does a pretty good job. On local radio in Columbus, he is a Buckeye loyalist. I guess he's just playing to his audience . . . nothing wrong with that.
This Rosenberg idiot is just another main stream media clown looking to get famous. He got mentioned on ESPN . . . woo hoo!!! No reason to check the facts or validate his claims that this was anything but volunteer activities. Journalism really is dead. There's no violation here, but Rosenberg got his 15 minutes of fame.
This was the last "Band Day" when Canham invited about 10,000 High School kids to fill the empty seats for a stinker game like this one. I don't remember much about the game, but I knew I wanted to go to Michigan. I guess it was good for recruiting future students. Michigan beat WFU 31-0.
Recent Comments
1. Matt Wile - we better hope he is good enough to be the kicker on September 3rd of the kicking game may have big problems again this year
2. Thomas Rawls - should see his snaps increase throughout the year in the power running game
3. Blake Countess - could be a special player and might be a starter or at least the 3rd cornerback by the end of the year
I also wouldn't be surprised to see one of the defensive guys playing offense; maybe Morgan at FB or Beyer at TE due to a lack of depth at those positions.
Wink. Wink.
There's a guy named Wes Welker who does fine in 3-wide and 4-wide sets playing in a pro-style offense. If a guy can run routes, get open, and catch the ball there is a place for him in any offense. Borges will make use of the talent he has on the roster.
It's not out of the question that we are recruiting Clark as a TE. No reason he can't redshirt and add 25-30 lbs; that would give him the ideal measurables to be a TE. You can't have too many guys in that 225-240 lb range (run stopping LBs, TEs, FBs) especially with the move towards a more power offense.
It looks like his eyes have swollen shut from all that pizza and doughnuts. Still, the NFL likes big fat OLs, I'm surpised he wasn't invited to the combine.
We need a Fullback in this class as we move towards a more pro-style offense. Some TEs too. Anybody know the story behind the Wisconsin de-commit?
This just reminds me about how much depth the Defense will have next year; that is the one advantage of playing so many young players and having a big recruiting class with a lot of redshirts last year. The D will be much better just because the coaches will be able to rotate 17-20 players rather than playing the same 11 guys the whole game. I think the D just wore down in some games in 2010 and that shouldn't happen with the improved depth.
Michigan was suffering from the 7-6 record and uncertainty about Rodriguez before he was fired, so this was already a borderline top-25 recruiting class. His firing might have caused us to miss on a few late kids (Frost, Walls) but wasn't going to be a top 10 class no matter what. At this point, our best hope is for the new coach to keep the existing commits, close the deal on a few others (Bryant), and maybe get a few snake oil surprises. But let's not kid ourselves, this wasn't going to be a great class if Rodriguez had been retained for a 4th year.
I'm not sure Brandon is just now starting his "national search". It sounds like he has been looking at candidates and maybe even having discussions with them for awhile, as any CEO would do in normal sucession planning. When the new coach is named (hopefully by this weekend), I think we'll find that the first conversation between Brandon and the coach wasn't on January 6.
Just peed my pants!
The OSU AD admitted that they failed to educate their players properly about this, but the players still should have known right from wrong. The reason the school is guilty is because they allow a culture on non-compliance (see all the secondary violations they've racked up over the years). It was never proven, but we all remember the smoke around Pryor's recruitment with the Corvette. Do you think he ever thought that receiving money or gifts for his celebrity was wrong?
Per yesterday's Charlotte Observer, his commitment to UNC is "firm". But the article does mention Michigan along with Va Tech and Maryland.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/11/16/1841768/mavericks-qb-firm-for-unc.html
Tremendous AND Outstanding . . .
Flying up from Atlanta . . . biggest game in years, wouldn't miss it.
He would have been a big help on the goal line even last year. This is now ancient history, but having nobody to go to but an injured Brandon Minor in the Illinois game and getting stuffed at the 1 yard line was the turning point of the 2009 whole season. A truck like Hopkins will help us win a few games like that.
I thought "Leroy Hoard" too when I saw Hopkins in the Spring Game. He even wears the same #33. I wonder if Fred Jackson saw the same thing when they were handing out jersey numbers to the Freshmen. If he has even half the career Hoard had, he will be a valuable part of the team.
Can he play Cornerback? They may be having open tryouts for the secondary before much longer . . .
This is on one of Ufer's albums too . . . I get fired up everytime I hear it!
She is a gaffe machine . . . this one might be my favorite:
“Great tackle, er, broken tackle by Charles. Gordon finally gets him in the backfield. Gain of 5 for Charles.”
. . . at Ray Fisher Stadium.
Couldn't resist.