PurpleStuff

November 18th, 2012 at 10:28 AM ^

Not sure what he did before and don't think he played much after, but they tried him quite a bit in the Iowa game.  Not sure what if anything was seen in practice to justify putting him in, but in the game he got pretty much destroyed. 

PurpleStuff

November 18th, 2012 at 11:02 AM ^

In 2009 Iowa pushed him around big time.  Pipkins has played pretty well as far as I can tell.  I also think Richard Ash has been banged up and that pushed Ondre farther up the depth chart than he may have been otherwise.

Like you, I hate to see the redshirts burned but at least Pee Wee is making more of a contribution than guys like BWC, Gabe Watson, Terrance Taylor, and Stevie Brown did as freshmen.

mGrowOld

November 18th, 2012 at 10:17 AM ^

Dear Evenyoubrutus:

"Gratuitous burned redshirt" you say?  I think not.  Every play matters in each and every year.  And even if an entire year of potenial elgibility is lost for a 5 Star QB over something as trivial and meaningless as say.....teaching a back up QB a lesson about practice habits by putting someone in a game for about five plays...then I say it's WORTH IT!

Best Regards,

Rich

LSAClassOf2000

November 18th, 2012 at 10:06 AM ^

Part of the story of the revitalization and reinvention of Michigan's defensive front under Mattison, Montgomery and Hoke has been the story of the resurgence of Will Campbell. He's having his best year this year with more tackles than anyone in the front four, and as Pauline notes, he was integral to holding the Hawkeyes to all of 121 yards rushing yesterday. Hearing that he is on the draft radar is definitely a great sign for him and hopefully he does get his shot. 

Don

November 18th, 2012 at 10:23 AM ^

I also wish that Pipkins hadn't played this year; the value of his playing time so far is greatly outweighed by the value of an additional year he could have had.

I'll never understand why HCs make some of the RS decisions they do, and this goes back at least as far as Lloyd Carr.

Lucky Socks

November 18th, 2012 at 10:25 AM ^

I'm not able to start a thread yet, but I'm interested to hear where everyone predicts our guys will get drafted.  

*Lewan - 10-25

Denard - 2nd/3rd as an athlete.

Demens - 5th/6th - I don't know much about scouting, but I think he's a good throwback LB and I'm a homer.

Campbell - 5th/6th -- Could be even higher with a good combine.  He's my pick to "overachieve"' in the NFL relative to his college days.  Still a great athlete with size, putting together good film finally.  Has gotten coached up this year.  I think he's finally ready to deliver

Roh - 6th/7th - I think he'll end up making a roster.

Roundtree - Undrafted; but I won't be surprised if he made a practice squad.  Still a great blocker and could fit in the slot somehwere.

Floyd - Undrafted; speed hurts him, but I won't count him out after seeing him improve over the last 4 years

Kovacs - Undrafted; Camps but can't stick

Omameh, Mealer, Barnum - Undrafted; all camp.  Barnum with the best chance to stick.  All of them very successful outside of football

So, yeah.  I think we'll have a good crop of guys drafted but it'll be later.  I think most will go to camp and impress with their fundamentals and coaches will notice.  Even if the undrafted guys don't stick, it'll help put Michigan prospects back on the coaches/GMs radars. 

bacon1431

November 18th, 2012 at 10:30 AM ^

What could have been with 4 years under Hoke, Mattison and Montgomery. Would have probably been 3 years as he'd most likely left early with that size and athleticism. I think he'll be a decent pro if he works hard like he did this offseason. 

HereforBeer

November 18th, 2012 at 11:22 AM ^

I won't argue that he would have been better with Hoke and Co., but I think most of the problem with BWC was with himself and not coaching. He's admitted more than once that he was lazy and didn't work hard in his first couple years and I think that was most of the problem. Maybe Hoke beats him into shape and gets him to work hard but it seems like this was more a case of the 5* coming in and thinking he would dominate from day 1 without working at it. Now that he's fully dedicated it's exciting to watch him play.

mpbear14

November 18th, 2012 at 1:22 PM ^

He got switched over to the OL for crying out loud.  Most of the problems were with the previous incompetent staff.



There's a host of former players I feel sorry for, primarily Obi Ezeh.  



Good for Big Will and you have to love this staff.  I wouldn't change our coaching staff for any other one in the country.

RadioMuse

November 18th, 2012 at 1:16 PM ^

In some cases (see Pipkins) I'm not sure that "burning the redshirt" is a bad idea at all.  He's an extremely smart kid who will probably recieve his degree in four years; an incredible athlete who'll probably be a mid to low-round pick after 4 years, and there's not enough depth to keep him off the field.  My guess is that if he was redshirted he may very well see 3 years on the field before heading off the the NFL with his degree, anyway.  Much like Taylor Lewan will likely do.

In the case of players who are more "development" cases athletically and/or academically it makes sense to redshirt as long as the depth at their position allows for it...

The RR coaching staff may have believed BWC to be the kind of player who would be gone in 4 years regardless.  Without his change in work ethic over the last couple of years I would be one to disagree, but it's always hard to tell...  Now it definitely looks like he could've benefitted from an extra year.  As is he'll be a sort-of 'finge' draft prospect...  and the draft is highly unpredicable.  Regardless of player's talent levels teams must take care of their needs first, and talented players can clog up certain positions in a given year.  They always need more linemen though.  NFL = Not For Long.  Espectially for guys in the trenches.

Still it's nice to hear that the big man's hard work is starting to show signs of paying off in life and not just on the field for Michigan.  He clearly has elite potential and he's just starting to really furfill it.  I could certainly see BWC as one of those guys who outshines their college careers in the NFL.

elhead

November 18th, 2012 at 3:06 PM ^

I gotta wonder just how lazy he really was in the context of a system run by a coach who doesn't give defense any mind. Maybe BWC was overhyped and came in with an attitude. But maybe he wasn't developed well. On a football team as in any organization people aren't "lazy" just by themselves. People also get lazy when the system is lousy, it's a reflection of demoralization. In his case, they moved Campbell around like a yo-yo. I have to think that his improvement this year has something to do with how he is being coached, in a system where there is enthusiasm and buy-in, and that his failures were not simply due to whatever was going on in his mind as if he were an individual somehow apart from everything happening around him.

I hope he makes it, and that his making it will be one more step to making it possible for the rest of us to forget about 2008-2010 and think of that time no more.