Rumormongering: Burke Departure, Gardner WR Prospects
A couple of good sources have passed along information about Michigan's hot topics du jour.
On Trey Burke. This should not be a scenario like Harris or Morris where the player leaves for dim draft prospects. In Harris's case he wanted out no matter what; Morris had people in his inner circle pushing him into the draft.
Burke is not either of those guys. If the NBA does not tell him he is a first round lock, he'll be back. Since that doesn't seem in the cards—name the last one-and-done under six feet tall—Michigan should avoid the terrifying prospect of entering next year with no point guard at all.
On Devin Gardner. Someone who's seen Gardner at all of Michigan's practices so far says he's "instantly Michigan's best receiver and adds a new dimension to the offense." He's "crazy athletic" with "surprisingly great hands." The one complication for Gardner-to-WR is the situation at quarterback, where he's still the clear #2 option. Gardner is still taking all the second team QB reps.
/end inside info, begin speculation
A lot of people have been mentioning Woodson when talking about this when trying to guess how much playing time is reasonable for a guy who's still full time at a second position. He got 10-15 snaps a game on offense back in '97. Gardner may start at that level, but if it's crunch time and he's 6'5" with a city block catching radius…
he's a big kid too, muscle-wise. If he can catch, this is really something.
March 23rd, 2012 at 12:28 PM ^
Nah, Rivers is considered a better pro prospect and a lottery pick.
March 23rd, 2012 at 12:30 PM ^
It's all well and good to use him as a WR in limited packages (like Woodson in '97), but not if it costs him any practice time at QB. A good QB is infinitely more valuable than a good WR, and as LSU's Russell Shepard has shown, there's no guarantee that even a freakishly athletic QB will make a decent WR.
March 23rd, 2012 at 12:41 PM ^
March 23rd, 2012 at 12:43 PM ^
March 23rd, 2012 at 12:31 PM ^
I won't believe it until the Freep reports it.
March 23rd, 2012 at 12:32 PM ^
If that insider's word is true, we need him far more at WR than at backup QB. Let's be honest, if Denard goes out for the year at some point we're in huge trouble anyway, and there is really no evidence at all that DG can play at Denard's level--if by some miracle they both get injured then bring on Bellamy.
bout the evidence that Denard's combination of running/passing has never been done before? That seems like evidence that DG won't be able to replicate Denard's production, be it running or passing.
March 23rd, 2012 at 12:35 PM ^
I don't think the Woodson comparison is a good one. Woodson couldn't play more than 10-15 snaps on offense because he was playing 70 on defense at the same time. In Gardner's case, he'll presumably either be playing WR or sitting on the sidelines.
March 23rd, 2012 at 12:57 PM ^
Not to mention that he also already knows the playbook and can practice at the position when not getting reps himself (unlike being on the other side of the ball). I don't think he will be out there every down, but if he is instantly the best WR already, I would expect ~15-25 plays a game as a WR, probably closer to the 15 for the same reason you don't just run Denard 25 times a game.
This seems pretty obvious to me. It doesn't take an ironman to play 10-15 snaps on offense and spend the rest of the game sending in signals from the sidelines. I'm not even sure what people are thinking here. Practice will be too hard? The games certainly won't be. IMO he should be full time WR in games unless Denard gets hurt.
March 23rd, 2012 at 12:40 PM ^
Any coaches here? Why can't you just practice 2 or 3 routes all week with Gardner (different each week) and put him in if the play is called or it's a running play? Really, how much would that limit his production at WR?
March 23rd, 2012 at 12:59 PM ^
Devin is much more likely to get injured playing WR than he is be the backup for obvious reasons as being on the field. But also Deving twist an ankle or something coming down with a ball or take a hard shot going over the middle. It's not out of the realm of possibility that both Devin and Denard are injured at the same point this year. God forbid that happens but it's not impossible. I'd like to make sure that Bellomy can at least be a decent QB who can move the ball before I instantly slide Devin over. You don't want to get burned where both of them are out and bellomy looks completely lost out there
replyed to wrong post
March 23rd, 2012 at 12:41 PM ^
The one complication for Gardner-to-WR is the situation at quarterback, where he's still the clear #2 option. Gardner is still taking all the second team QB reps.From Gardner's perspective, that sounds like one of them good problems.
March 23rd, 2012 at 12:43 PM ^
considering we have a guy named Roy Roundtree on our team, that is a hell of an assertion to call him the best receiver out there. That could be a game changer if true.
March 23rd, 2012 at 12:43 PM ^
what does it say about our WR recruiting that our backup QB is instantly better than all other options?
March 23rd, 2012 at 12:57 PM ^
Doesn't say much about WR recruiting if Gardner's hands are good. We already know he's huge and has good speed for his size. If he can catch the ball, then it wouldn't be surprising for him to jump to the top of just about any school's WR depth chart.
Yeah, but it's not a stretch given that Gardner is 6'5" and Roundtree is 6'0". If Gardner really does have the athleticism, speed, and hands to play receiver at this level, then it's intoxicating to think about what those extra five inches add to our receiving corps.
EDIT: This is supposed to be in reply to bama blue's post above. Not sure why it keeps putting my post in the wrong place.
Nothing against Roundtree but he doesn't impress me in any way. Not very fast, not very big, can't jump very high, mediocre hands. An average big ten receiver IMO...
But he does have awesome shades, so that has to impress you.
I almost knocked over my computer screen thanks to that thing...
it says i don't trust the insider who expressed that opinion
in 2 years. Doesn't get me too excited about our passing attack this year.
Look at our receivers last year. We had one guy who made some awesome catches and had some great runs after the catch, but he's gone. The guys we have returning didn't do a whole lot last year. Roundtree has had success in the past and Gallon is good for what he does. But we knew this would be a thin year at WR, so it shouldn't be a major surprise. We already knew we didn't have anyone dynamic at that spot.
March 23rd, 2012 at 12:45 PM ^
The word is that Bellomy throws the most "catchable ball" of the three. I for one would like to see a bit of him along the way. We've seen DG at QB, and it seems reviews are mixed is a fair critique for him at QB, at least so far.
I like the sounds of an athletic and fast 6'5" wideout with great hands.
You know your buddy in high school, he was skinny and tall? Bellomy looks just like him. Somebody get the boy a fucking sandwich and all that.
I'm sure the coaches have confidence in him to consider this move. But skinny.
March 23rd, 2012 at 12:55 PM ^
March 23rd, 2012 at 12:57 PM ^
Putting the 6'5 guy out there immediately draws attention of the DBs away from Tree, doesn't it?
/ not a coach
"instantly Michigan's best receiver and adds a new dimension to the offense."
That is saying a lot. I'm not sure how I feel about this. Sad or worried about not seeing him at QB and excited to see him catch balls. I bet his YAC will be outstanding.
I love Gardner at Receiver right now, but he will be the best non-Denard option at QB during this time, and I think that's the coach's plan too.
Shane will be a Great QB, but expecting him to come in and perform better than an experienced Gardner, who was just as highly rated at QB, is not realistic. Not to mention that at that time, we'll have Jehu and Amara, Senior Gallon, Jerald Robinson and the elite receiver recruits we seem on track to get this year, so we won't need Devin at WR as much
"surprisingly great hands."
I wonder how this is so surprising, based on the fact that he's a player who is constantly handling the football and is 6'5" and would consequently probably have enormous hands.
I think the way the new rule works for declaring to go to the NBA is pretty wonky.
If I understand correctly, you have to tell your NCAA coach on April 10th if you plan to come back. If you do so, you aren't allowed to work out with any NBA teams after that and on the 29th (?) you can say "to hell with you" to the NCAA and then go ahead and go pro anyways. However, if you declare on the 10th that you are going pro, you don't get the option to rescind.
I sure hope that Burke gets the best advice possible. Whether that be coming back or going pro.
It pretty much did away with the ability of college players to test the waters. The rule change is completely for the benefit of college coaches. They'd rather eliminate uncertainty as to their roster than care about the potential benefits their players would receive by going through the pre-draft process.
Damn the torpedoes: Devin at WR dammit.
DG at WR? Saying that he is the best option at wideout is a little troubling, but I might like that. 5'9-6'0 185 CB's going up against him? Sounds like Megatron 2.0. As far as Burke is concerned, I still ain't steppin' away from the ledge yet.
Am I the only one who is extremely excited about Amara Darboh? Seems like people are forgetting about him when talking about WR recruiting or lack thereof.
None of our WRs are on campus yet. If you listened to Borges/Hoke/Mattison earlier this week, they are basically assuming that this is their team right now. If a freshman comes in and takes a position, great, but they aren't banking on that for any position.
If those assertions are true about DG, absolutely play him at WR. Sure, give him the second team QB reps, give Bellomy a bunch of QB reps too, and only readjust your plan if Denard has a multi-game injury.
Having a guy who is that tall, and can run, jump and catch is rare. Take advantage of it. And push like hell for that injury redshirt.
Also - all this talk of DG at WR has him at 6'5", but I had never seen him listed above 6'4" before this, and the M roster still lists him at 6'4". Is there something new saying he's 6'5", or does listing him an inch taller help us rationalize his switch?
Seeing Gardner in person two years ago, I can honestly say that he actually looked to be 6' 6" to me the first time I saw him. He was with Denard (at the Blue Apple, coincidentally, buying up the entire store with their leftover blue bucks; cool story bro) and he was at least 4/5 inches taller than Denard. And Denard is pretty damn close to 6 foot himself.
That being said, I think Gardner NEEDS to be at WR for the spring and perhaps the fall. As someone above said: give him 15-20 plays a game. Just that by itself changes the whole complexion of the offense. It gives Gallon, Robinson, Tree, and others opportunities.. it gives Gardner opportunities himself! The injury concerns are there, but let's not make a Zook Punt decision (i.e. go for the most conservative option, ignoring the fact that the benefits immensely outweigh the risks). It would be good for the team, good for Devin, good for Denard, good for Bellomy, good for EVERYONE.
Comments