CTK Day 8 - Scrimmage #2 Highlights
August 23rd, 2013 at 8:21 AM ^
I thought Shane looked reall goo for a freshman actually. Good pocket awareness and not afraid to let one fly. He's gonna be good.
August 23rd, 2013 at 8:16 AM ^
Shane has an absolutely ridiculous arm. I see some Matt Stafford in some of those throws, mostly the sidearm ones (take that as you will)
That run by Smith was fantastic. Made my day
August 23rd, 2013 at 8:30 AM ^
Made my day too. But its 8:30 am and Ive been awake for 2 hours. *Sample size.
August 23rd, 2013 at 8:56 AM ^
That was a good use of "Sample size"
August 23rd, 2013 at 10:31 AM ^
That's what she said.
August 23rd, 2013 at 8:19 AM ^
Shane Morris dime-ing on people damn..Defense does look good. I like the interchangeable parts. Lots of different faces. Still high quality play. Wilson was in there with a nice PBU. Anyone know if T-Gordan was held out? Never saw him.. Also no Lewan either?
August 23rd, 2013 at 2:09 PM ^
I think T. Gordon might have been held out. It seems like guys who have locked down their spots (Lewan, Countess, Gallon, Fitz) are being held out to give other guys more reps.
August 23rd, 2013 at 8:17 AM ^
Idk how you keep De'Veon off the field*.
Stribling!
The defense looked inpenetrable.
Shane Morris made me less scared if had to come into the game for a series or two.
*sample size and all that jazz
August 23rd, 2013 at 11:10 AM ^
looked like his pass protection left something to be desired.
August 23rd, 2013 at 8:18 AM ^
Small sample and all, but it seemed like Gardner and Shane were under pressure on 90% of those pass plays. Either our d-line engaged beast mode or our o-line has some work to do.
August 23rd, 2013 at 8:23 AM ^
It looks like they cut up the last scrimmage video to make the offense look good and this one o make the defense look good. It's probably been pretty even in reality.
August 23rd, 2013 at 11:01 AM ^
Yes, I kept saying to myself "They must be saving the Offense's highlights for tomorrow's CTK. Right? . . . Right? There were some Offense highlights, weren't there??"
August 23rd, 2013 at 8:25 AM ^
Keep in mind that we are not only dealing with a sample size issue - but also with selection bias. This is different than if the few samples were chosen at random.
The interesting question is, did they choose to emphasize plays where the pocket broke down, or did the pocket break down on most plays?
August 23rd, 2013 at 8:19 AM ^
We haven't seen a lot of Shane yet but he looked fairly capable in this video. Obviously a very small sample size but that made me feel a little better.
August 23rd, 2013 at 8:20 AM ^
He has the arm atleast
August 23rd, 2013 at 8:22 AM ^
That and accuracy of his throws are really all you can judge because there's so much you don't know when you watch these videos. For example, what if the WR runs the wrong route? What if the 2nd or 3rd string OL misses a block? What if the freshman RB who will be redshirted doesn't pick up a blitz?
That said, I thought Shane had a great feel for the pocket.
August 23rd, 2013 at 9:18 AM ^
Makes my comment seam like a duplicate. Sorry. So I'll. add, I noticed Bryant at left as well as right guard. I also wonder, would the line switch w Shane since he is a lefty?
August 23rd, 2013 at 10:28 AM ^
yeah i believe they do switch since the LT is usually the best in pass protection so you want them protecting the QBs blindside
August 23rd, 2013 at 8:20 AM ^
...Stribling became an All-B1G player, lol. Gotta love the overreaction to these. Great practice plays though.
August 23rd, 2013 at 9:28 AM ^
I didn't see that. I saw a lot of folks giving him an at-a-boy for a 3:26 of very well played football. I did not see even a hint of anyone calling for a starting spot for him. There were even people still asking about a red shirt. And since none of us have seen him play yet, i'd say that is about the "just right" amount of reaction. But maybe that's just me.
August 23rd, 2013 at 8:21 AM ^
Shane looked pretty good and Smith reminded me of A-Train on that one run. Seems to run very upright but is a load when he runs.
August 23rd, 2013 at 9:47 AM ^
To me, Green looks more like the Train, whose balance was never a strong suit. Until late in his career, he used to get tripped up at the line with maddening consistency. But his size/speed at the second level made him a force to be reckoned with.
I gotta agree with Brian - hard to think of a better comparison for Smith than Mike Hart but big.
August 23rd, 2013 at 8:24 AM ^
That makes Shane remind you of Henne! On second watch he really has big boy arm strength. The Reynolds play was acrobatic but that has to be a clean pluck. He can make that play and he will need to. Deveon Smith has been the forgotten man and he has the build and skillset to help us this year. Is Matt Godin 99? Looks like our D line is going to be the best in thd B1G. Adolphus and Spence are great along with Schutt...but the depth and quality overall of our line is the best since 06. Stribling looked very fluid and disruptive and he might play this year too. Just tough to burn those shirts! The boys are looking good so far. One more week fellas!
August 23rd, 2013 at 8:25 AM ^
Looks like Schofield playing LT in the early snaps. He and Kalis getting beat out there by Gordon is good news for the defense, not for the offense.
Obviously the 2's. Bosch too slow and misses the hole on his pull -actually gets in the way of Hill but it doesn't matter because Burzynski and Kalis blow up Ash and Godin and Green runs through.
August 23rd, 2013 at 8:31 AM ^
There's no way to know how representative this video is of all of the plays, but it looks like the defense is way ahead of the offense at this point, especially up front. QBs had almost no time to throw and other than Smith's one run, running lanes were few and far between.
Morris looks more impressive than I expected, given his plummeting in the rankings the past year. Arm strength was never in question, but his accuracy looks really good in this video too.
August 23rd, 2013 at 8:38 AM ^
Looks like the defense controlled the scrimmage for the most part
August 23rd, 2013 at 8:43 AM ^
EVER! I know...I know That's what she said. But seriously...
August 23rd, 2013 at 8:43 AM ^
For a team that is going to the pro style that is a hell of a lot of shotgun...
There were a few plays on there were it's seemed for the first time in quite some time that Gardner seem very unsure.
The defense is looking good though.
August 23rd, 2013 at 8:51 AM ^
Was no one else nervous when DG stumbled in his drop back?
August 23rd, 2013 at 8:55 AM ^
None of us was as nervous as Hoke was!
Shane looks decent, but we are one boo boo away from season collapse.
August 23rd, 2013 at 8:58 AM ^
Ok, I'll jump on the hype train for Stribling. Guy was all over that video and made some excellent plays.
August 23rd, 2013 at 9:02 AM ^
DG didn't do anything nearly as impressive this time. Only made the easy throws. Threw into tight coverage many times. This means nothing- just an observation.
August 23rd, 2013 at 9:50 AM ^
That's putting it nicely. Should've been picked multiple times
August 23rd, 2013 at 9:05 AM ^
Impossible to tell if d-line is good or o-line is bad until we play Notre Dame. Darboh injury may make the offense real ugly especially if we cant establish a consistent running game.
August 23rd, 2013 at 9:11 AM ^
The defense looked pretty fast and pretty solid, I thought. Recruiting bigger CBs is paying off and you can see it in Channing Stribling being back there, not allowing much of anything to happen in terms of big pass plays.
Someone else mentioned it, but I am having trouble seeing De'Veon Smith NOT on the field at some point this season. He already looks like he might be able to put up significant numbers back there. Shane Morris was impressive in these limited glimpses into the scrimmage - what they showed was someone with good footwork and someone capable of throwing some lasers and for quite some distance, I might add.
Hard to get much from these, but there are some bright spots here. These highlights make it difficult to wait the remaining 8 days though.
August 23rd, 2013 at 11:05 AM ^
The only think I can think of is that Smith doesn't offer a whole lot that Fitz doesn't, where as Green would be a better option (maybe) in short yardage situations with his size. Smith may well be the 2nd best back we have but with the 1st best guy being similar, it might make sense to RS him and give him an extra year, especially since it doesn't look like class of 2014 will include a RB.
*sample size yada yada
August 23rd, 2013 at 11:07 AM ^
Here's what I get from these, small sample size, yada, yada, . . . it will suck to be Tommy Rees.
August 23rd, 2013 at 9:12 AM ^
Shane moves in the pocket well. Impressive footwork for a true freshman that missed much of his senior year.
August 23rd, 2013 at 9:14 AM ^
Number 8 was everywhere in coverage. Not sure if qb`s were picking on him or not, but he handled it really well. Will Stribling red shirt.
August 23rd, 2013 at 9:26 AM ^
Probably. He's just so light. But maybe he'll be this year's inexplicable burned RS for no apparent real reason.
August 23rd, 2013 at 9:23 AM ^
I see we haven't moved Shane to receiver yet.
August 23rd, 2013 at 9:30 AM ^
Fort Schembechler man. Gotta wait until ND for Borges to pull that one out... best trans-continental ever though...
August 23rd, 2013 at 9:24 AM ^
nickel?
August 23rd, 2013 at 9:25 AM ^
Game over.
August 23rd, 2013 at 2:12 PM ^
Jack Wrangler catch as well.
August 23rd, 2013 at 9:25 AM ^
Stribbling is looking good. Damn good. He was everywhere in coverage. And Morris is also looking pretty good for a kid who missed most of his senior year. Stood tall in the pocket and made some good throws. But then again its only practice.
August 23rd, 2013 at 9:25 AM ^
Hayes is going to have a significant role on the team this year. He'll get a lot of the zone carries (he fits that zone blocking scheme best) and in a lot of pass situations. I bet he gets more touches this year than V. Smith did last year.
Morris has a live arm, but I also love the selective editing of these. No one is really worried about DG, so it's alright to show plays of his that aren't that good or make the defense look good. But Morris only really gets his good throws in there, so on and so forth.
August 23rd, 2013 at 9:52 AM ^
I've yet to see a single impressive play from Hayes in these clips. He goes down very easily from what I've seen, and there hasn't been any evidence of remarkable speed or quickness. Maybe he's much better than those few plays show, but I'm not seeing anything that fills me with confidence beyond his recruiting profile.
August 23rd, 2013 at 9:57 AM ^
Seems to indicate he's getting reps for a reason. Just because the selection of a few plays from probably close to 200 doesn't show many great things, doesn't mean he isn't the #2 back right now. He appears to be getting the most reps and he appears to be playing in situations where other backs aren't, again, a lot of pass situations and when Michigan is zone blocking from a single back set. There's a reason he's in there almost exclusively with Gardner and in the 1 v 1 situations. Limited selection of clips doesn't make up for the rest of the scrimmage and the rest of the practices.