Hoke presser, 8/22/2013: Shane will backup Devin, etc.
Hoke: Referenced the 3 J's (Jeremy + Joe + Jehu) as rotational replacements at WR for Darboh. Has no problem with rotating. #Team134Camp
— Michigan Football (@umichfootball) August 22, 2013
Hoke: Starting center still not determined #Team134Camp
— Michigan Football (@umichfootball) August 22, 2013
Hoke: Shane Morris participated in scrimmage today with 1's and 2's. He will backup Devin Gardner. #Team134
— Michigan Football (@umichfootball) August 22, 2013
UPDATE:
Also from today, Brady Hoke says Dennis Norfleet will be Michigan's primary kick and punt returner.
— Nick Baumgardner (@nickbaumgardner) August 22, 2013
And MGoBlog rejoiced.
August 22nd, 2013 at 6:22 PM ^
Good news re Shane. Would be a major disappointment if he didn't start to slowly track toward his perceived potential.
Bad news re center position. At this point I'll put the over/under on Fitz rush yards vs ND at 50. Neither team will run the ball well, and if Rees performs as he should given his seniority and experience, he'll cancel out Devin at which point the game will come down entirely to turn overs.
August 22nd, 2013 at 6:26 PM ^
August 22nd, 2013 at 7:01 PM ^
Good Lord CLORD are you kidding me. Earth to CLORD Devin Gardner is for real. Tommy Rees......................huh? who? That guy that has cement blocks for feet and does not know what color his teams jerseys are? No comparison to BIG SMOOTH #12!
August 22nd, 2013 at 6:26 PM ^
Rees will not cancel out Devin, but I agree we won't run the ball that well. I just think we have more mismatches at WR/TE than ND and Devin can make things happen with his legs that Rees cannot.
August 22nd, 2013 at 6:29 PM ^
August 22nd, 2013 at 10:33 PM ^
If they were both equally meh, you'd think the coaches would just pick one with the higher ceiling and roll them with the ones in the hope that focused coaching and chemistry would get them beyond mediocre.
August 22nd, 2013 at 10:49 PM ^
August 23rd, 2013 at 12:00 AM ^
August 23rd, 2013 at 2:55 AM ^
August 23rd, 2013 at 2:40 AM ^
August 23rd, 2013 at 7:51 AM ^
brings about some hope. If the two battling for the spot were still battling because they were both terrible, I think someone else would have entered the mix (whether that be Kugler or switching someone else), but since it is still the same guys I think it is just that no one has seperated themselves more than both of them being terrible. That's what I am choosing to go with anyway...It helps me sleep better at night.
August 23rd, 2013 at 9:50 AM ^
...we likely will not play any true freshman OL this year.
August 23rd, 2013 at 8:15 AM ^
It could be like last year where Barnum was the better center, but Mealer was far and away the better snapper. Mealer won because we were in the shotgun so much.
We really won't know until the coaches tell us what is going on.
But I think it's telling that when Bryant and Braden were out, Glasgow switched to LG and not Miller.
Also people forget about Joey Burzynski. If Glasgow was the C, why wouldn't we put Burzynski at LG during that first scrimmage and keep Glasgow at C?
August 22nd, 2013 at 6:31 PM ^
August 22nd, 2013 at 6:54 PM ^
Remember, we basically nuked ND last year on defense and in all non-turnover areas of the game. Denard just couldn't stop throwing picks.
August 22nd, 2013 at 7:13 PM ^
WTF are you smoking?
Why don't you let us all have some of that?
No way does Rees cancel out Devin!
August 23rd, 2013 at 10:22 AM ^
That is the oldest & lamest sports forum comment ever.
Please stop.
August 22nd, 2013 at 9:26 PM ^
If it comes down to Devin vs. Tommy, I'll take Devin every time. There's a reason Tommy lost his job to a freshman last year.
August 22nd, 2013 at 9:39 PM ^
I will happily take the over ALL DAY LONG.
August 22nd, 2013 at 10:25 PM ^
We're worried about the center, USC still doesn't have a starting QB determined. I think we're way ahead of the curve.
August 22nd, 2013 at 6:26 PM ^
Hoke says both De'Veon Smith and Derrick Green looked much sharper at RB in the scrimmage. Had way more reps.
— Nick Baumgardner (@nickbaumgardner) August 22, 2013
August 22nd, 2013 at 6:27 PM ^
A strong running threat from the RBs this year would be rather huge. I on the one hand hope Smith gets his RS so that there's effectively a 2014 class RB, but on the other hand it's good that he's getting noticed.
August 22nd, 2013 at 6:31 PM ^
August 22nd, 2013 at 7:05 PM ^
August 22nd, 2013 at 7:16 PM ^
Had way more reps than who? Or, did they get way more reps compared to previous practices?
August 22nd, 2013 at 6:28 PM ^
toying with the fan base. Grumble, grumble. I assume this bodes well for a Kugler run at the spot in 2014. Anyway, back to thinking positive thoughts. Positive thoughts. Positive thoughts.
August 22nd, 2013 at 6:43 PM ^
August 22nd, 2013 at 6:44 PM ^
The best players should play. As Hoke always says, at Michigan, there are expectations for each and every position.
August 22nd, 2013 at 7:26 PM ^
crazy talk, but not for the reasons you mention. How do the expectations at each position relate to a potential redshirt year that won't happen. In conclusion, this is Michigan, fergodsakes!
August 22nd, 2013 at 7:42 PM ^
Next year, you have
Rs Sr: Devin
Rs Jr: Bellomy
Rs So: Cleary
So: Shane
Fr: Speight
Devin, with Bellomy and Cleary as backups means that Shane and Speight can RS. That's good depth next year at QB, assuming Bellomy is a good QB (that is the key assumption) and that Cleary is a good 3rd string QB (likely true).
August 22nd, 2013 at 9:10 PM ^
August 23rd, 2013 at 7:58 AM ^
but your proposal could easily be done. People seem to forget (or just ignore the fact) that anyone can redshirt at anytime during the season provided they don't play.
This year Morris will get some run in games that are blowouts so he will have some game experience (hopefully that is the only time he gets and not injury related). He will have that under his belt so next year they could plan to redshirt him and as long as Devin remains healthy they could stick to that plan. If he goes down...there's nothing stopping the staff from saying, "Well...it was a nice idea but Shane...get your ass in there."
August 22nd, 2013 at 6:54 PM ^
"if Gardner doesn't enter the draft" talk. He's only started a few games in his career, and people are thinking he might enter the draft EARLY? We've had Henne, Brady, Griese, Collins and Grbac all end up as starters in the NFL, and none of them left early or were even serious threats to, and they all started for a lot longer than Gardner has. On top of that, Gardner does not have the kind of supporting cast that will let him put up eye-popping numbers this year. He's playing behind a shaky Oline, with only one go-to guy at receiver.
Gardner is not leaving early...trust me. Very, very few of even the best QBs do, even after starting and starring for 2 or 3 full seasons. After two years as the full-time starter, Gardner may well be an attractive draft pick, but not before.
August 22nd, 2013 at 7:27 PM ^
August 22nd, 2013 at 7:28 PM ^
The NFL has scouts, they are smart enough to know who has the potential to have a great career in the NFL. Plenty of QB's go high after just playing one year. If Devin has a great year he will have a choice to make. Let's not act like nobody has or ever will leave Michigan early.
August 22nd, 2013 at 8:26 PM ^
are the QB's that you are thinking of that went high in the draft after only starting one year in college?
August 22nd, 2013 at 8:32 PM ^
August 22nd, 2013 at 9:02 PM ^
August 22nd, 2013 at 9:14 PM ^
August 22nd, 2013 at 10:15 PM ^
August 23rd, 2013 at 10:13 AM ^
my reply was because the other poster said there are plenty of QB's who only play one year and are taken HIGH in the nfl draft. Neither Cassell nor Gutierrez were early selections. Cassell was a 7th round pick and Gutierrez was an undrafted free agent . So far we've got a whopping total of 3 QB's who played one year and were drafted high.
Gutierrez didn't play for Iowa St. It was Idaho St.
August 23rd, 2013 at 10:26 AM ^
It's a bit of a stretch to say Gutz had a 6 yr NFL career.
2007 and 2008 he was with the Pats.
2009 he was with the chiefs. After that he hasn't really been in the nfl.
The bears signed him August 18, 2010 and then released him August 30, 2010. He was signed to a UFL team 9/28/10.
The bears signed him in 2011 but waived him August 8, 2011
The Redskins claimed him off waivers on August 10, 2011 but cut him September 3, 2011.
On December 7, 2011 the Rams signed him to the practice squad and then cut him December 9, 2011.
August 22nd, 2013 at 7:10 PM ^
Is he still on the team?
August 22nd, 2013 at 7:46 PM ^
Yep, he just tore his ACL in the spring.
August 22nd, 2013 at 7:20 PM ^
Your scenario above almost never happens unless the player used the redshirt for disciplinary reasons.
August 22nd, 2013 at 6:44 PM ^
August 22nd, 2013 at 7:00 PM ^
It's certainly not unexpected, but the fact that the coaches are comfortable naming him the backup (where previously he was "battling" with Cleary) does point to some progress. Especially with the news coming after his first scrimmage, while it's not unexpected news it's certainly good news.
August 22nd, 2013 at 7:01 PM ^
There had been plenty of talk about who was the back-up between Cleary and Shane. Cleary obviously had the leg up on the playbook while Shane is presumably still rusty from his mono-bout. While Shane is a 4/5 star guy, he's still a true freshman. I still wouldn't be surprised to see Cleary be the first QB off the bench (at least to start)
August 22nd, 2013 at 7:12 PM ^