WTKA Roundtable 8/9/2018: Mayonnaise the Team Comment Count

Seth

[photo: Patrick Barron]

Things discussed:

  • Is Jack Morris a Hall of Famer?
  • Heard back in the spring that Kekoa Crawford was leaving but Eddie McDoom leaving sucks a little. Oliver Martin and Nico Collins passed them last year, Grant Perry is performing well this fall, Martin is your guy after Perry.
  • McDoom misused: end-arounds were good but don’t throw him fades. We’ll miss the name the most.
  • OL problem last year wasn’t a Drevno and Frey problem; it was a Drevno and Pep problem. The worst line at picking up stunts Brian’s ever charted.
  • Michael Barrett to Viper: athletically it’s a good fit and it’s a spot that needs depth and a future, but he might outgrow the position if he gets up to 6-0/240. Currently he’s a clone of Khaleke Hudson. Barrett’s shuttle time was better.
  • Kelly-Powell and Brad Hawkins stepped up in spring, J’Marick Woods under pressure to hold his spot, Sam wants Woods moved to Viper.
  • Tackle: Runyan (via Warinner) is going to be one tackle.
  • Running back blocking: it’s about ID’ing the block not technique?
  • Offense coming to Shea or vice versa? Some of both: Ole Miss didn’t have a playbook, which made it hard to move the ball at all against decent defenses.
  • The thing about Shea: he can throw a fade. DPJ and Black can make that work.
  • Over 100 people showed up for the Urban Meyer rally, but the online Bucks sound a lot like them.
  • Last year’s coaching staff: was there some disutility? Yes.
  • What Brian meant was you can get HTTV at MGoBlogStore.com, UGP, the Bo Store, M-Den, Literati, and Nicola’s Books.

You can catch the entire episode on Michigan Insider's podcast stream on Podbean.

Segment two is here.

THE USUAL LINKS

How are we going to have a defense without any dreds?

Comments

Swazi

August 9th, 2018 at 6:49 PM ^

I wonder what they mean by it was a Drevno/Pep problem?

 

Why would that fuck up the OL that badly?  Was Pep the one that came up with the terminology for the OL to call out?

Wallaby Court

August 10th, 2018 at 11:42 AM ^

My best guess is that Pep and Drevno had two playbooks with different sets of terminology that got joined together in a shotgun (or is it under center?) wedding. Hypothetically, Pep, as passing game coordinator, has a playbook with pass protection schemes. Drevno, as running game coordinator, also has a playbook with run blocking schemes and as a former OC, he's also got his own pass blocking scheme. Since, Drevno is effectively the offensive line coach, Pep's pass protection gets sent to Drevno to implement. But Drevno also has some larger, quasi-OC duties, so he layers Pep's pass protection over his pass protection and his run blocking, creating a muddled mess.

yossarians tree

August 10th, 2018 at 12:02 PM ^

Reading the tea leaves it sounds as though the coaches think Woods has sort of maxed out at safety because although he's a big hitter he struggles in coverage against slots and WR, and this defense requires excellent cover safeties. JKP and Hawkins may have already demonstrated better ability there. At viper Woods would be mixing up closer to the box and covering tight ends and blitzing. There is very little depth there, and if Hudson goes pro after this year the only vipers are Glasgow, the current freshman Barrett if he sticks, and then whatever freshmen they bring in next year. It could be a good opportunity for Woods.

Blue Balls Afire

August 9th, 2018 at 11:09 PM ^

With regard to running back blocking, the biggest loss IMO was Ty Wheatley Sr. leaving.  His backs were incredible at both pass pro and run blocking.  I was amazed at how his backs were able to identify the right person to block.  As an example, I noticed a lead back under Wheatley bursting through a hole and then not only correctly looking inside for the right person to block, but looking BEHIND him for the correct block.  That's pretty sophisticated . . . and great coaching.  

MGoBlue-querque

August 10th, 2018 at 10:09 AM ^

I thoroughly enjoy feisty Brian, so this episode was a treat.  I loved his "this is a disaster" comment after finding out about JKP and Bush chopping of their dreads.  I nearly spit up my iced tea.  

Sten Carlson

August 10th, 2018 at 2:16 PM ^

The elite ability to drop that fade/deep ball on a dime, perhaps more than anything else, is what wins Patterson the starting QB position.  I am not writing Peters off, by any means -- he did throw a good ball at times (when he had time) -- but it never seemed elite to me, just average for a P5 QB.  After three years of watching Harbaugh's offense its all about the set-up for the knockout punch.  As bad as things were last year, and in the Iowa game, there were still WIDE OPEN deep passes that if hit, change the outcome of not only several games, but the 2016 and 2017 seasons.  We've seen QB's of overmatched opposition maddeningly drop inch-perfect passes against our elite secondary give their teams a glimmer of hope and make games a bit closer that expected (Colorado comes to mind as an example).  Yet, at the same time, we've seen our QB's miss game changing passes time and again, and thus emboldening the opposition defense to "dare us to throw."  If what we're hearing about Patterson is true -- and I have no reason to doubt it is -- I don't think anyone is going to dare him to throw deep.  As a result, I think the RB's have a field day, and when the opposing DC is forced to load the box, the haymakers ensue.

I couldn't be more excited to see how the offense looks and performs this year!