chris rock

It's a useless tradition around here to look at the roster and see who's grown to massive size and who is lean destructive sinew because All Weight Changes Are Positive.

Presenting weight changes that are all positive. I bolded things I find interesting:

QUARTERBACK
Player	2009	2010	2011	09 to 10	10 to 11
Denard Robinson	185	193	195	8	2
Devin Gardner	N/A	210	205	N/A	-5
RUNNING BACK
Player	2009	2010	2011	09 to 10	10 to 11
John McColgan	227	231	240	4	9
Fitzgerald Toussaint	185	200	195	15	-5
Michael Cox	208	211	214	3	3
Michael Shaw	178	187	195	9	8
Vincent Smith	168	180	172	12	-8
Stephen Hopkins	N/A	230	228	N/A	-2
WIDE RECEIVER
Player	2009	2010	2011	09 to 10	10 to 11
Junior Hemingway	220	225	222	5	-3
Darryl Stonum	196	195	195	-1	0
Je'Ron Stokes	181	193	193	12	0
Jeremy Gallon	165	180	185	15	5
Kelvin Grady	168	176	177	8	1
Martavious Odoms	172	175	173	3	-2
Roy Roundtree	170	176	177	6	1
Terrence Robinson	171	175	177	4	2
Jerald Robinson	N/A	199	206	N/A	7
Drew Dileo	N/A	172	172	N/A	0
TIGHT END
Player	2009	2010	2011	09 to 10	10 to 11
Kevin Koger	249	255	258	6	3
Ricardo Miller	N/A	217	234	N/A	17
Brandon Moore	243	250	255	7	5
OFFENSIVE LINE
Player	2009	2010	2011	09 to 10	10 to 11
Mark Huyge	288	306	302	18	-4
Michael Schofield	268	293	299	25	6
Ricky Barnum	275	286	292	11	6
Rocko Khoury	283	295	287	12	-8
Taylor Lewan	268	294	302	26	8
David Molk	275	285	286	10	1
Elliott Mealer	299	313	310	14	-3
Patrick Omameh	276	299	299	23	0
DEFENSIVE LINE
Player	2009	2010	2011	09 to 10	10 to 11
Mike Martin	292	299	304	7	5
Quinton Washington	325	315	302	-10	-13
William Campbell	318	333	322	15	-11
Kenny Wilkins	N/A	270	280	N/A	10
Craig Roh	238	251	269	13	18
Will Heininger	261	267	295	6	28
Ryan Van Bergen	271	283	288	12	5
Jibreel Black	N/A	265	260	N/A	-5
Richard Ash	N/A	320	301	N/A	-19
LINEBACKER
Player	2009	2010	2011	09 to 10	10 to 11
Brandon Herron	220	220	221	0	1
Isaiah Bell	220	245	250	25	5
J.B. Fitzgerald	232	244	241	12	-3
Kenny Demens	236	250	248	14	-2
Cameron Gordon	208	207	222	-1	15
Mike Jones	203	208	224	5	16
Jake Ryan	N/A	225	230	N/A	5
CORNERBACK
Player	2009	2010	2011	09 to 10	10 to 11
J.T. Floyd	183	183	185	0	2
Troy Woolfolk	193	195	191	2	-4
Courtney Avery	N/A	174	173	N/A	-1
Terrance Talbott	N/A	179	178	N/A	-1
SAFETY
Player	2009	2010	2011	09 to 10	10 to 11
Brandin Hawthorne	198	203	214	5	11
Floyd Simmons	185	200	194	15	-6
Jordan Kovacs	194	195	197	1	2
Josh Furman	N/A	208	208	N/A	0
Carvin Johnson	N/A	198	200	N/A	2
Marvin Robinson	N/A	203	200	N/A	-3
Thomas Gordon	205	205	208	0	3

Items!

• Where is the addition of beef? I highlighted the starting offensive line above. They gained a total of 11 pounds between them, or one pound more than David Molk did last year, when he was the least inflated OL on the team. If Michigan's running power with these guys it might not go so well.
• Where is the addition of beef: answer. It's in the outside-linebackery parts of the defense. Craig Roh's added 18 additional pounds; now up 31 from his arrival at Michigan he is legitimately DL sized. The projected starters at SLB and WLB both put on around 15 pound.
• The subtraction of beef. Is where you'd expect it: the tubby tubs on the interior of the DL. Will Campbell, Quinton Washington, and Richard Ash are all relatively svelte now.
• Maybe Wilkins is eventually plausible. I was shocked to see Wilkins came in at 270 and is now 280. He got blown up in the Spring Game but in a couple years he could be a reasonable option at three-tech.
• All weight gain is good! Michael Shaw is eight pounds heavier and better able to take the pounding of the Big Ten.
• All weight loss is good! Vincent Smith lost eight pounds and will return to the jackrabbit ways he flashed as a freshman.
• BEEFCAKE. I hope Ricardo Miller loves protein shakes, because he's added 17 pounds and is still ridiculously small at tight end.

Notable freshmen:

• Tony Posada and Chris Bryant. Good lord: both enter at essentially 340. They should form a tag team themed around natural disasters. Neither can be in any shape to play right now and unless Posada sheds a ton of weight he is a guard all the way at 6'4". Also monstrous: walk-on Gary Yerden at 6'5", 333.
• Antonio Poole. With Kellen Jones gone he's got a major opportunity to play right away and at 212 he's not much slimmer than Jones. Big difference between that and the 195 he was reputed to be.
• Greg Brown. While the rest of the freshman defensive backs enter at a willowy 176 or less Brown is packing 192. Good or bad… eh, probably not so good. But he did play well in spring.
• Chris Rock. Enters at 267. Will be a three-tech by WMU.
• Chris Barnett. Enters at 278. Redshirt coming with the knee and all; will be interesting to see if that goes down next year.
• Thomas Rawls. 5'10", 219 is pretty compact. Hayes is listed at the same height and a cornerback-like 176.

Weight gains or losses are the key to domination. We has them. Get out of our ways.

Previously: CB Greg Brown, CB/S Tamani Carter, CB Blake Countess, CB Delonte Hollowell, CB Raymon Taylor, LB Antonio Poole, LB Desmond Morgan, LB Frank Clark, LB Kellen Jones, and DE Keith Heitzman.

When Chris Rock's parents named their baby boy they could not anticipate the electric success of another guy named Chris Rock or the tortured googling that bloggers would be forced into as a result. Blogs didn't exist and the other Chris Rock was probably ten. But here we are.

The other Chris Rock, the one who committed to Michigan last May, is a DE/DT whose impressive size and strength saw him named the #4 player in Ohio in January of 2010 by Bucknuts, likely off a huge game in the state semi where he had three sacks. Before that Duane Long ranked him #4 as well, in front of uber-LB Trey DePriest. One of the "most heavily recruited players in the state," he picked up a Notre Dame offer and ended up on ESPN's top 150 watchlist; when he committed to Michigan he was consensus four-star.

Unfortunately, since then his star has been on the wane. Notre Dame's offer went yoink after they pulled in their epic DE class and each rankings revision seemed to knock Rock down a few more pegs until he ended up the consensus meh three star you see above. People started knocking the strength that was an early asset. In his senior year he "struggled to make an impact" as teams went away from him. While that's understandable, a high level D-I prospect should be a terror against D-III high school kids.

The drop came because he just didn't play very well. When Tim caught a DeSales game he came back with a blunt assessment:

I was not impressed with Rock's play. It's possible he was just having a bad night, but there have been reports from this entire season that suggest Rock is "just a guy" out there. Though St. Mary's gameplanned a bit to keep him out of the game (running away from him, double-teaming him, etc.), that's not the only reason he wasn't a factor.

He was routinely stoned by St. Mary's tackle #72, and it's not like that guy's going to go on to play Division-1 football. For being the biggest (not fattest) guy out there, Rock's strength seemed to be seriously lacking, and his movement skills left something to be desired.

Touch The Banner was similarly unenthused:

To be honest, I'm not enamored with Rock. A large part of that is due to the fact that his highlight film is full of offensive linemen completely forgetting to block him. I find it difficult to get excited about a player who accrues a bunch of sacks while barreling unimpeded into the offensive backfield.

… My biggest issue with Rock is that he stands straight up on the snap. He's able to push around weaker players when playing so high, but if he tried to push around a 310 lb. Big Ten tackle like that, Rock would get tossed around like a rag doll. He doesn't use his hands well to shed blocks, and he also finds himself losing contain a little too frequently. He has decent speed for a 250-pounder, so he can make up for his poor fundamentals at times. But some of his habits are less than ideal.

… He could be a decent college starter, but he doesn't have the instincts or athleticism to be an elite player for Michigan.

TTB suggests a move to three-tech is in the offing, something that's echoed by Scout's strengths and weaknesses:

STRENGTHS

Body Control and Balance

Intensity/Effort

AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT

Lateral Range

Strength

Rock had another fine season at DeSales. He plays defensive end and tight end currently, but could possibly be a defensive tackle at the next level. Needs to continue to add strength, but has good size and plays with intensity.

While ESPN is a little more enthusiastic than the other two scouting services, they echo many of TTB's criticisms($). They're a bit less straightforward about it: Rock "can be active with his hands," "needs to watch his pad level," "needs to develop his pass rush arsenal," and "can seem a little rigid in his overall movement." His main asset is "very good" size and a frame that will allow him to pack on the pounds; they also mention the possibility he will end up at defensive tackle.

So there's that. On the good side of the ledger we have frame and size and size and frame, plus intelligence—he might actually execute his plan to major in business and Northwestern and Stanford were also after him—and coachability. One of the guys who worked the OSU Nike camp last year interacted with him and posted about it on Buckeye Planet:

Just worked with the kid this weekend at the Nike Camp, wonderful kid, very coachable, had good dialect with him, had a good concept of how to set up the offensive linemen, and had good hands.

And when Rivals talked to his coach they got a lot of frame stuff($):

"First of all, he's big - he's got a big frame and a long body … He's very athletic for his size. He's a tough kid. He's made a lot of plays. He's led our team in sacks for two years, so he does a nice job of rushing the passer. I think when you get a kid with that size that has that kind of athletic ability and quickness, with even more potential to grow, they become pretty attractive."

"He's pretty athletic, and you're talking about a kid that wears a size 17 shoe, so there's a lot of potential for even more growth," said the DeSales head coach. "I've only seen him at D-end, but I've heard others speculate he could play elsewhere. Depending on how much weight they can put on him, I think he could play on the interior as well."

The consensus: Rock is a smart but weak guy who's an iffy athlete… with giant meaty bones you can hang a lot of muscle on. Sometimes these things work out:

left: high school Will Johnson.
right: terrifying bald fifth-year-senior and good starter Will Johnson

That frame and his early potential netted him a total of 25 BCS offers, including Notre Dame, Nebraska, and Wisconsin. His senior year was a step back but the frame had lots of people thinking they could build Rock into something. Michigan's got three DL coaches, by the way.

If they can slap a redshirt on Rock that would be great, and if they've really moved Kenny Wilkins inside he'll probably be better than Rock as a freshman—he's a guy you'd like to see take a fifth year.

Etc.: 15 sacks and 10 PBUs as a sophomore. First job was at Abercrombie & Fitch. Also he bites his nails. This week in groan-worthy recruiting site headlines($): "Bearcats hope to roll with Chris Rock." Shot of him getting told to get that weak stuff out of here. If you can get this to work, here's a video of Rock tipping and intercepting a pass to clinch a tight game.

Rock on the other Rock:

"Ever since I was little kid, ever since Chris Rock became famous as a comedian," Rock said.  "My mom always says I was named before he was famous."

But the question remains:  Is Rock humorous?

"Sometimes I can be," he said.  "I like to lighten the mood."

Rock on his decision:

“When I think about it and just think about what Michigan has to offer, really they were the only school that offered me that had the total package,” Rock explained.  “It has the academic side, the athletic side, and the biggest stadium in the country. I liked the campus a lot when I visited there. I liked the teammates. I know Patrick Omameh. He went to my high school and he is a good kid. If he likes it there I knew I would like it there too. It was really everything.”

Why a poor man's Ryan Van Bergen? For one, that's what the coaching staff told him:

U-M is expected to use Rock in much the same way they use defensive end Ryan VanBergen. During his visit to U-M in March, the coaching staff told Rock they felt he brought similar strengths to the defense as VanBergen.

Van Bergen, like Rock, is a 6'5" SDE/three-tech tweener with decent pass rush skills who doesn't appear to excel at any one thing. Van Bergen was a consensus four star a lot closer to his ceiling upon entering college, though. Rock's contributions seem considerably farther off—or at least they would if Michigan had anything other than panic behind the starters at DT.

Guru Reliability: High. DeSales pumps out D-I players every year and Rock played every game of his career. If the flu excuse is legit he could be more like the player he was hyped up to be in the immediate aftermath of his junior season, but he's probably well pegged.

General Excitement Level: Okay. Seems like a good program kid who will scrape the ceiling of his potential in three or even four years. His potential isn't off the charts, but if Wisconsin and Nebraska were interested I'll take my chances.

Projection: The apparent lack of explosion probably takes DE off the table, so expect Rock to start off at three-tech DT. Without Terry Talbott he may be forced into action early, which he probably won't do well with. He could develop into one of those slightly-above-average pluggers that littered Michigan lines in the mid-aughts; there is a possibility his giant meaty bones eventually allow him to be a bit more.

For live updates of the games I'm attending, follow me on Twitter @varsityblue. If you can help out finding articles on any of the commits, @reply me on Twitter or e-mail me, and I'll try to include your contribution.

MI DE/LB Brennen Beyer

Last week: Plymouth defeated Adrian 48-7. I was there, so enjoy some MGoBlog original video:

Beyer had 2 catches for 50 yards (and another 29-yarder, a would-be touchdown, called back on an illegal formation penalty). Defensively, he had 3 QB hurries, 3 tackles (1 for loss), and a pass deflection.

For scouting purposes, the video is only semi-useful. Adrian mostly stayed away from Beyer defensively until the game was out of reach, running to the opposite side of the field and rolling their quarterback out in that direction. On the other side of the ball, Plymouth was having no problem moving on the ground, so they didn't pass a whole lot.

The effort shown in the video is sometimes underwhelming, but the vast majority of the clips are from when the game was already in hand, so Beyer was taking it a little easier to avoid injury.

One thing that I noticed in this game (that I hadn't noticed last time I saw Brennen play) is that he has a pretty odd physique, with short legs but a very long torso. I'm no scout, so I can't tell you how that translates to defensive end at the next level (I would guess it's a good thing), but it does make him look a little funny running routes as a WR.

This week: The 7-2 Wildcats host Saline in Round 1 of the State Playoffs on Saturday at 1pm.

FL RB Demetrius Hart

Last Week: Dr Phillips beats Oak Ridge 56-28.

Dee Hart scored four touchdowns for the Panthers (7-0, 3-0 in 6A, Dist. 6) and Nick Patti threw for two touchdowns and ran for another. Hart finished with 120 yards on 20 carries.

That rushing performance takes Hart over 1,000 yards on the year. The article also included video:

Stats below from the Dr. Phillips website.

Demetrius Hart 2010
Game		Rushing				Receiving				Returns
Opponent	Result	Att	Yds	TD	Avg	Rec	Yds	TD	Avg	Ret	Yds	TD	Avg
Edgewater	W 48-7	20	79	2	3.95	1	8	0	8.00	3	47	0	15.67
Osceola	W 49-7	19	98	3	5.16	3	47	0	15.67	2	23	0	11.50
Olympia	W 49-0	17	224	3	13.18	5	68	1	13.60	1	20	0	20.00
Cypress Creek	W 52-0	14	168	4	12.00	1	7	0	7.00	3	24	0	8.00
Boone	W 45-0	18	142	3	7.89	5	132	1	26.40	1	0	0	0.00
Evans	W 62-6	8	178	3	22.25	1	5	0	5.00	3	57	0	19.00
Oak Ridge	W 56-28	21	126	3	6.00	4	37	1	9.25	1	5	0	5.00
Totals	7-0	117	1015	18	8.68	20	304	2	15.20	14	176	0	12.57

This week: Dr. Phillips travels to Gateway on Friday at 7:30.

MI WR Shawn Conway

Last Week: In the season finale, Seaholm defeated rival Groves 21-7.

No mention of Conway in the game article, and Misopogon reported that Seaholm didn't even throw his way. [Ed-M: In the first half, during plays when a gaggle of teeny boppers weren't trying to shove past each other in front of me -- I missed plenty of plays]

Shawn Conway 2010
		Offense				Special Teams
Opponent	Result	Rec	Yds	Avg.	TD	Ret	Yds	Avg.
N Farmington	W 26-6	4	32	8.00	1	3	137	45.67
Andover	W 35-21	6	134	22.33	1	1	65	65.00
Lahser	W 35-17	5	98	19.60	2	1	35	35.00
Country Day	L 21-28	3	62	20.67	0	3	32	10.67
Avondale	L 24-52				2
Hazel Park	L 10-30	2	7	3.50	0
Berkley	L 21-48	1	23	23.00	1
Ferndale	L 21-28	1	19	19.00	0	3	124	41.33
Groves	W 21-7	0	0	0.00
Totals	4-5	22	375	17.05	7	11	393	35.73

This week: Seaholm's season is over, with a 4-5 record. Conway finished the year with about 22 catches for 375 yards, and 11 kick/punt returns for 393 yards.

OH OL Jack Miller

Last week: St. John's defeated Toledo Waite 42-6.

This week: 8-1 St. John's travels to Toledo Central Catholic on Friday at 7.

FL OL Tony Posada

Last week: Plant defeated Alonso 34-7.

Plant offensive tackle Tony Posada sat for the first quarter on what Weiner termed a "coach's decision," and then was pulled from the game at halftime for precautionary reasons after tweaking the MCL in the right knee he recently came back from.

No word on the nature of the "coach's decision," but from the sounds of things it may have been injury-related.

This week: 6-2 Plant has a bye week. They'll face Chamberlain in a couple weeks.

MI OL Jake Fisher

Last week: In the regular season finale, TC West bested rival TC Central 51-42.

"What a redemption," defensive end Jake Fisher said. "It feels really good."

Video. Fisher also scored an interception in the game. The win lands TC West in the playoffs after a loss to Central in last year's finale left them with a sub-.500 record.

This week: 6-3 Traverse City West travels to (heavy favorite) Rockford in Round 1 of the State Playoffs on Friday at 7pm.

OH DE Chris Rock

Last week: DeSales falls to Cincinnati LaSalle 30-33. Rock got on the scoresheet by blocking a punt:

In the first half, DeSales leaned on its special teams. Midway through the first quarter, Chris Rock blocked a LaSalle punt, giving DeSales the ball on the 11-yard line

This week: 5-5 DeSales travels to Cleveland Benedictine on Saturday at 7pm.

TX LB Kellen Jones

Last week: St. Pius X beat Kelly 35-7 in a rematch of a game from earlier this year. Jones had 9 tackles, 2 for loss, and a sack, his coach tells Tom. Kellen's dad also e-mailed Tom a local news feature from earlier this season:

Kellen Jones 2010
Opponent	Result	Tackles	TFL	Sack	FFum
Trinity Christian	W 33-7	11	5	1	0
Sealy	L 7-56	13	3	0	2
Episcopal	W 31-27	6	3	1	0
Worthing	W 20-12	DNP - ankle
St. Thomas	W 28-10	11	3	1	0
Kelly	W 28-0	14	4	1	1
Houston Christian	W 37-13	9	3	1	0
Kelly	W35-7	9	2	1	0
Totals	7-1	73	23	6	3

This week: St. Pius rematches Houston Christian on Friday at 7:30.

OH CB/S Greg Brown

Last week: Fremont Ross defeated Lima Senior 28-3. Brown caught a touchdown:

Ross would get the ball back once again, as Kori Campbell would recover a fumble, and the Little Giants would cap the scoring with a 21-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Wolf to Greg Brown to put the game away.

The Fremont Ross Forum Blog has no mention of Brown.

This week: Ross hosts Sandusky Friday at 7:30.

MI CB Delonte Hollowell

Last week: Pregame fluff. Cass Tech blasted Detroit Crockett 41-7. Hollowell mention (for the first time this year?):

Crockett (8-1) threw a scare into Cass on its first play when it completed a double pass for 59 yards. Defensive back Delonte Hollowell, who committed to Michigan, caught receiver James White from behind.

“We had to ball up after that,” Hollowell said. “We were expecting them to give us competition but we came back hard.”

Next Week: The Technicians host Detroit Southeastern in Round 1 of the State Playoffs on Friday at 5. Cass Tech won the teams' previous meeting this season 42-0.

FL QB Kevin Sousa

Last week: Lake Nona had a bye week.

Kevin Sousa 2010
		Passing						Rushing
Opponent	Result	Comp	Att	%	Yds	Yds/Att	TD	Int	Rush	Yds	Yds/Att	TD
Harmony	L 17-50	17	39	43.59	256	6.56	2	0	15	184	12.27	0
Oak Ridge	L 0-48	6	13	46.15	34	2.62	0	1	7	31	4.43	0
University	L 21-59	9	24	37.50	151	6.29	2	3	9	67	7.44	1
Sebring	L 7-41	8	17	47.06	126	7.41	1	4	?	20		0
Lake Wales	L 6-42	14	21	66.67	199	9.48	0	1	13	64	4.92	1
Auburndale	L 31-35	13	20	65.00	197	9.85	3	0	17	150	8.82	1
Celebration	W 34-14	14	26	53.83	247	9.50	2	1	16	131	8.19	1
Totals	1-6	81	160	50.63	1210	7.56	10	10	77	627	8.14	4

This week: Lake Nona visits Tenoroc on Friday at 7:00.