Favorite player that never lived up to expectations

Submitted by MGoStrength on

 

After getting a little excited with the whole Derrick Green hoopla I decided to watch some old hype videos and remembered one of my favorite players that never quite lived up to my expectations…Brandon Minor.  I’m sure some will remember some key fumbles.  But, I recall being very excited about his bruising style and runs as a freshman backing up Hart(?).  And, when his turn finally came I was really excited about the year(s) he was going to have.  If memory serves me correct his junior and senior years were plagued by nagging injuries (and Rich Rod), but I still remember some big powerful runs and laying the wood to defenders.  It’s a shame there are no highlight videos of him out there because he put his head down and had quite a few nice collisions.  Who is your favorite Michigan player that never quite lived up to your expectations?  

 

EDIT: More along of the lines of who you're disappointed with based on what you say in their early days at UM versus based on their recruiting hype.

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Brandon Minor

Hagen

January 27th, 2013 at 11:53 AM ^

I'm happy he was at the very least productive his senior year, and absolutely wish him the best going forward.

But when he announced M his senior year, and I watched that goofball flex him muscles after putting on the M hat, I hoped this guy would just dominate once here, moreso because I found him to be hilariously entertaining. 

The hilariously entertaining part lived up to the hype with how he wore his jersey and his comments from Tampa this year, but man I had high hopes for him.

Joined: 03/03/2012

MGoPoints: 1014

Mmmm Hmmm

January 27th, 2013 at 11:55 AM ^

Stevie Brown...his good to great Senior year notwithstanding, he got moved all around and would mix in a healthy dash of flashes and boneheaded plays. I was very happy to see him succeed this year with the Giants.

Joined: 09/12/2010

MGoPoints: 5144

the Glove

January 27th, 2013 at 12:04 PM ^

David Underwood, was hyped up to be the premier back in 2004. He was passed up by a true freshman Mike Hart after the third week because how poorly he performed. Steve Brown, had a good senior year but through his career he never could really find his niche in the defense. Matt Gutierrez, injured a week before the 2004 season. He had 3 years in the system and had a much bigger understanding of the playbook than true freshman Chad Henne. Drew Henson, never lived up to expectations in football or baseball.

Joined: 07/01/2008

MGoPoints: 10441

TrppWlbrnID

January 27th, 2013 at 12:05 PM ^

Came in as a 5 star, languished behind perry, got his shot senior year vs ND, got a concussion and was relieved by some punk kid named Hart.

At least that is how it seemed to do.

Also Fargas and Jon Ritchie.

Joined: 10/29/2009

MGoPoints: 9847

The Barwis Effect

January 27th, 2013 at 12:10 PM ^

...former U-M cornerback Will Peterson is somebody who certainly fits the bill of someone who didn't live up to expectations. Peterson (now known as William James) was a high school all-American and attended the University of Michigan for two years, one of them with the school's 1997 national championship team, before being booted from the football team for two off field incidents after his 1998 season. Peterson was accused of stealing $46 from the purse of a stripper at an on-campus party and, in a separate incident later, he was arrested on charges of possession of marijuana. After his dismissal from U-M following the 1998 season, Peterson transferred to Youngstown State and then to Western Illinois, where he became a defensive standout and eventually a third-round draft pick of the New York Giants. Most NFL experts agreed that Peterson probably would have been a high first-round draft pick if not for those two incidents after his 1998 season at U-M. All told, Peterson played in 21 games for U-M as a freshman and sophomore, and though he had few starts, led the team in interceptions in 1998 with four.

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 10175

Shakey Jake

January 27th, 2013 at 12:12 PM ^

Bass for one.

Tate : Headcase

Ryan Mallet: Another headcase but what coulda been with him

Sam McGuffie: Really really wanted to see that kid succeed at Michigan.

Darryl Stonum: another great athlete that couldn't get his head screwed on straight and thus we never saw his true talent.

Joined: 05/12/2012

MGoPoints: 1218

guthrie

January 27th, 2013 at 12:15 PM ^

Came in as the #1 running back in the country.  Set the freshman running record at UM and then did nothing after that.  Came down with a bad case of fumble-itis.

Joined: 09/23/2009

MGoPoints: 2322

befuggled

January 27th, 2013 at 6:51 PM ^

Mostly because of injuries his junior and senior years. He had 1357 yards and 7.3 yards per carry as a sophmore but because of those injuries and missed games he was never able to top that.

Joined: 07/01/2008

MGoPoints: 9955

RIP RJD

January 27th, 2013 at 1:02 PM ^

He was also affected by the switch from artificial turf to grass. Wrt his fumbling, I almost broke my hand punching a very heavy bar chair the day before an international trip after he coughed one up.

I don't remember how hyped he was but Allen Jefferson was a bad ass who didn't pan out much because of a leg injury as I recall.

Joined: 11/11/2012

MGoPoints: 160

Felix.M.Blue

January 27th, 2013 at 12:17 PM ^

Sean Collins

Grady Brooks

Rasheed Simmons

Seth Smith

David Bowens

Scott Driesbach

Justin Fargas

Not a disappointment really but early on I wanted to see Chris Floyd at RB don't know if that counts or not

David Underwood

Max Martin

Demitrius Smith, the 280lb. FB along with Sean Sanderson, another huge FB

John Ames

Antonio Bass

Michigan's recruiting coordinator Chris Singletary was a highly thought of kid coming out of Detroit that never quite lived up to lofty recruiting expectations. Looked like a monster OLB/DE.

Shawn Crable/Prescott Burgess - they started and did ok but I expected them to be superstars.

On the Basketball side

Albert White, Willie Mitchell, Jerod Ward.

Joined: 10/22/2011

MGoPoints: 6126

Cali Wolverine

January 27th, 2013 at 12:47 PM ^

....he walked into CCRB with Travis Conlan summer term before freshman season to play a pick-up game and was pinned against glass by a 5'9 guy on my team when Ward went baseline for a dunk. Disclaimer...Ward was wearing a pair of Teva's at the time. The fact that he owned let alone thought it was wise to play b-ball in Teva's was also a red flag.

Joined: 01/13/2013

MGoPoints: 21755

Avant's Hands

January 27th, 2013 at 12:25 PM ^

Some combination of Max Martin/David Underwood. Coming into the 04 season I thought Underwood was going to take over at RB and we would have two talented freshmen to take carries when necessary. Then Underwood underachieved, Martin never got going, and Hart took over the position. Granted, the whole Hart thing worked out pretty well, but we ran him into the ground. I still wonder, if Martin had panned out could Hart have avoided the injury bug he picked up later in his career? We could have had a backfield similar to Auburn's in that year (OK, probably not as good). And if Hart had avoided the injuries in college could he still be playing in the NFL?

And if we are talking injuries can we just put the entire 2007 season on this list? Hart missed a chunk of The Horror with an injury and still went for like 188 yards. If he had been healthy the whole game I think we win and then who knows with Oregon if Hart and Henne are both healthy. And of course the last two games with a one-armed Henne. That was going to be such a good year...

Joined: 10/22/2011

MGoPoints: 9271

PepperHicks

January 27th, 2013 at 12:29 PM ^

I got Drew Henson.  He showed flashes of absolute brilliance while at UM, but ended up being remembered more for getting in Brady's way early and leaving Michigan for the Yankees (which I understand).

He stated recently that he would have come back for his senior season given the choice again.  I think he could have gone down as one of the greats had he stayed and concentrated exclusively on football, and would most likely have been a top-five draft pick.

What could have been...

Joined: 12/13/2011

MGoPoints: 342

DeepBlue83

January 27th, 2013 at 12:31 PM ^

Came in as a total stud, one of the hottest recruits we've ever had, but his career by any measure was a big disappointment. Not entirely for reasons that can be put on him, but still a letdown. He was good to very good, but never great, got hurt, left early.

Joined: 09/15/2009

MGoPoints: 197

MGoStrength

January 27th, 2013 at 12:42 PM ^

A lot of folks have mentioned who they were disapointed on based on their recuriting hype, which is cool because we've had a fare share of those and it's interesting to think back of them and what could have been.  But, I was kinda thinking of guys you were dissapointed in based on what you say of them in their early days at UM versus their recruiting hype.

Joined: 07/29/2010

MGoPoints: 20002

BlueinTC

January 27th, 2013 at 12:49 PM ^

I'd say Drew Henson.  If not for injuries and leaving town for the cash of big league baseball, I think he didn't live up to the lofty expectations of national championships that were expected with him there. 

His time at Michigan also limited the playing time for Tom Brady.  Hard to say, but if Tom had been starter for more than one year, he may have done more.

Joined: 07/26/2011

MGoPoints: 894

mGrowOld

January 27th, 2013 at 12:53 PM ^

Drew Hensen if for only what could've been.  He's the only guy who was able to keep Tom Brady from playing full time in the past 15 years.  If you watch any games from the 2000 season you can see just how effortlessly he was able to throw the ball and he coupled tremendous arm strength with a nice soft touch.  Plus he could flat out run.

That year we lost to UCLA in Cali when he was hurt (welcome to college football John Navare) and then we lost 32-31 to Purdue and 54-51 to Northwestern in a game replayed no less than 1,000,543 times on both BTN and ESPN Classis last month alone.  In a way I kinda think the offense we ran that year will be pretty close to what we are projecting to run this year and beyond.

Joined: 10/04/2010

MGoPoints: 212947

rederik

January 27th, 2013 at 12:54 PM ^

Hands down, Sam McGuffie. The kid had that sick highlight video and could have really been something, but for those darned concussions. (Being on RichRod's '08 squad didn't help much either.) But he generated some real excitement with his HS highlights and defender-jumping abilities...

Joined: 03/21/2011

MGoPoints: 3423

jdub55

January 27th, 2013 at 12:57 PM ^

What about Trevor Pryce?

 

Looked like he was going to be a stud but got kicked off the team for blowing up toilets with cherry bombs in a dorm or something. Transfered to Clemson, ended up being a first round pick going to a bunch of pro bowls.

Joined: 06/01/2012

MGoPoints: 179

rainingmaize

January 27th, 2013 at 1:10 PM ^

I can't decide between Ryan Mallet, Will Cambell, or Justin Turner. All three were highly ranked recruits at positions of need that ultimatly set us back.

Mallet: Kid looked like a taller, more accurate version of Sugar Shane. He played pretty good in his one season with us. However, ultimatly him leaving (or Rich Rod forcing him out) forced us to play a Sheridan/Threet, and then a fresman QB.

Cambell: Big Will looked like a stud. He was blessed with the size and strength to be something special. He should've turned into stud. Unfortanetly that pad level (or lack of coaching in his first three years). 

Turner: Looked like a stud in the Army All American game. I remember a lot of people comparing him to Charles Woodson. Was at a HUGE position of need. Ultimatly he couldn't find any playing time despite the worst secondary in Michigan history.

Also, I don't know if anyone established this yet, but Hart never played for Rich Rod.

Joined: 04/13/2010

MGoPoints: 10458