tommy doman jr

This morning we covered the fall football bits on the offensive side of the ball, now in the afternoon we pivot to the defense. As a whole there's more real buzz in this piece than offense, but not a dramatic difference. It's been a relatively quiet camp so far. 

Defensive tackle 

What we want to hear: Kris Jenkins is approaching Mo Hurst territory (*gasp*), Mason Graham is making a mighty leap towards superstar status, Kenneth Grant is our beefy behemoth that cannot be moved, while Rayshaun Benny and Cam Goode help round out the deepest DT position in the B1G.  

What we're hearing: Of all the positional groups across these two fall football bits pieces, defensive tackle may be the one where "what we want to hear" is mostly closely matching "what we're hearing". Kris Jenkins has been the focus of nonstop praise throughout camp, often in association with a term like "the best player in fall camp" ($). Other reports have had a baby-like amazement at the reps in practice that pit Jenkins against the likes of Keegan and Zinter, with the two sides being described as equals to each other ($). Jesse Minter echoed that wonder in his media availability last week and then spoke about Jenkins' strides as a pass-rusher: 

Kris [Jenkins] has been obsessed with being better as a pass rusher since the day he stepped back here on campus. And it’s showing up. And so he’s moving really well, he’s still the same player against the run with 20 extra pounds

The Jenkins praise is also likely a function of his status as a veteran leader on this team, something he has that Mason Graham does not, which may be the only reason for the little bit more praise Jenkins is getting relative to Graham. Otherwise, though, the sources have been pouring the hype on Graham too. One source recognized Graham as one of the best players in this past weekend's scrimmage ($), also noting improvements he's made in pass-rushing. A different source echoed Graham's conquests at the scrimmage and used the term "fricking beast" to describe his destruction of the Michigan OL ($). 

Those two have gotten most of the praise in camp, with only small mentions of Kenneth Grant and Rayshaun Benny. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing either; when they pop up, it's mostly with the framing of "oh, those guys are good too", as a footnote after 758 lines of KRIS JENKINS IS GOD chatter. Grant did get mentioned in the same breath as the starters in a delectable line from JJ McCarthy: "Those three up front -- Mason, KG and Kris -- they're gonna be not fun for my fellow quarterback friends, that's for sure". Finally, Harbaugh gave perhaps another obligatory shoutout to players working hard in camp by mentioning two true freshmen at DT, Trey Pierce and Cameron Brandt, saying they "have been outstanding and came in right on time". 

What it means: Jenkins and Graham are your starters and there's a lot of reason to be HYPE about it. Benny and Grant are the backups and are probably fine. Cam Goode and maybe one of the freshmen round out the three-deep at DT.

[AFTER THE JUMP: positions where the starters probably aren't both going to be All-B1G]

I haven't done a mailbag since January, so it was about time to take questions from all you fine people. I put a post up on the board late last week soliciting questions and then spent the weekend answering them. There were a lot of good ones and some of the responses got really long, so I decided to break this summer mailbag into two pieces, one today and one tomorrow, answering as many questions as I can.  

We’ve been spoiled with excellent and seasoned kicking and punting for a while now.  What can reasonably be considered “success” in kicking and punting this year? (-milk-n-steak) 

This was the first and most up-voted comment in the thread on the board, so people clearly have a clamoring for special teams talk. Jake Moody and Brad Robbins are out the door, making things very interesting on special teams this fall. As we stand right now, Tommy Doman is the likely punter and Louisville transfer James Turner is the likely kicker, though Adam Samaha could challenge Turner in fall camp. We all know that punting/kicking will very likely be worse this year, but how much worse should the reasonable goal be?. 

Part of the equation with this position is how much specialist play hinges on high leverage moments. Take for example Noah Ruggles, one of the nation's best kickers for several years in a row but who missed the kick that would've put Ohio State over Georgia and thus (likely) handed them a national title. Would anyone in Buckeye-land say that kicking was a "success" last year after that? You can say the same thing with Michigan's 2015 punting, which was very good in the macro view but because of [REDACTED], can you say it was a "success"? 

With all that in mind, I think "success" for kicking is near-perfect precision on FGs inside 40 and extra points. That's been Turner's speciality at Louisville and those are the sort of kicks you expect college kickers to make. PATs in particular have been so automatic for Michigan the last few years it's almost hard to remember Quinn Nordin and his knack for shanking them at the worst possible moments. If Turner (or Samaha) is 1) dead-on on those makeable kicks, 2) is somewhere around the national average on 40+, and 3) doesn't cost Michigan a game with a high leverage miss, that's a comprehensive success for me. 

As for punting, we already got a bit of a glimpse into a less robust punting game after Brad Robbins'(apparent) injury last season, when his play declined considerably late in the year. I wouldn't say he was an outright liability at that point, but it was becoming a worryspot. Thus, there's an obvious place to put the peg for "success" with Tommy Doman: he doesn't have to be as good as healthy Brad Robbins, but needs to be better than injured Brad Robbins. Doman doesn't have to be a Bryce Baringer rocket launcher, but if his punts have the hangtime to limit big returns and have enough distance to be worth it from a field position standpoint (+no high leverage shanks), that's "success" for me. In other words, kicking/punting success doesn't include being a top five specialist tandem again, but they need to be somewhat above average and *consistent* to qualify. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: How real is PSU? Recruiting???? 2024????]

Michigan Football takes the field in front of an audience for the first time in calendar 2023 tomorrow, with a pair of teams drawn up from the roster competing in the annual spring game. Last year was a humorous affair, perhaps best remembered for Jim Harbaugh playing the role of referee... I have not seen any indication if that will happen again (Darrius Clemons whipping out the phone was another highlight). Regardless of whether we get any more borderline meme-able moments, there is plenty to learn despite this being coined by some as the most boring spring in recent Michigan Football memory. Just like last season, we've got seven storylines to watch for tomorrow: 

1.) IS AMORION WALKER GOD REINCARNATE?

Perhaps the only "hole" on the roster is at the 2nd outside corner spot after Michigan was unable to keep either Gemon Green or DJ Turner II away from the NFL and then couldn't land their top target in the transfer portal. If you buy the spring chatter, then those results are A-OK because Amorion Walker is the answer we've been looking for. The lanky wide receiver turned corner had interest from Alabama in the recruiting process as a DB, so there is some background, and the program has labeled him an athletic freak (T-Minus five months until Bruce Feldman gets word). Still, we, the viewing public, haven't seen him play much corner in his time at Michigan, a snap here or there last fall but that was it. The spring game will be his big introduction. 

Walker isn't the only corner worth watching, but he's the guy we've heard the most about. Will Johnson and Mike Sainristil have starting spots locked up and then there's a group of players who we went into the offseason wondering about. Walker has emerged as the player getting the hype but I will have my eyes out for Ja'Den McBurrows as well, in addition to Myles Pollard or any other of the young DBs. Michigan's roster is not exactly loaded at WR (more on that later), but there are several strong starters who we have a good reading on; any reps that Walker/McBurrows/Pollard take against Cornelius Johnson or Roman Wilson will be worth paying attention to. 

[Bryan Fuller]

2.) The depth RB rotation

Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards are not likely to play much, if at all (Corum is not available) tomorrow, meaning that we'll get a healthy dose of the reserve RBs and a read out on who could be getting the third and fourth string carries. CJ Stokes enters as the "incumbent", but his usage was greatly limited as a true freshman in 2022. Now with a full offseason to polish his game and get stronger, we'll get a good look at sophomore Stokes and whether he's in line for a larger role in 2023. He's been getting some positive buzz in the spring chatter and while his role will obviously be limited in the regular season with the quality of the two players ahed of him, Stokes has a lot to prove about not just this upcoming season, but his long term future on the RB depth chart with talented players younger than him in the program or on the way. 

The same could be said about Tavierre Dunlap, a back who is a year older than Stokes. After arriving in the 2021 recruiting class as a burlier complement to Edwards, Dunlap has seldom seen the field as a running back at Michigan. He carried the ball seven times over two games in '21 and then got nine carries in '22, appearing on special teams quite a bit more. There hasn't been a lot of momentum for him in his Michigan career and it probably wasn't a great sign that Kalel Mullings was the preferred mooseback when he wasn't needed for LB depth. If Dunlap wants a role in those sorts of situations this season, spring is a good place to start (the same could be said for Stokes too). 

The spring game also represents an opportunity to get a glimpse of freshmen early enrollees Cole Cabana and Benjamin Hall, depending on how much they play (there are rumors that Cabana is injured). Hall is likely in the same bucket as Dunlap in terms of competing for whatever few short yardage opportunities exist this season, though in all likelihood, he will be relegated to garbage time. Cabana could have an AJ Henning style gadget role as a true freshman as a receiver out of the backfield and his usage in the spring game is thus of interest, if Cabana plays (again, don't know if he will). 

[AFTER THE JUMP: More storylines!]