BTN at Michigan practice tweets are trickling out

Submitted by stephenrjking on

There's interest in these every year. One of the things I lament about the new site is that it no longer posts full tweets, so we'll have to do with blockquotes:

Seems to be some interest in this fella pic.twitter.com/gm1D7Q1dFV

— Dave Revsine (@BTNDaveRevsine) August 13, 2018

 

Impressive young O Lineman -Jalen Mayfield pic.twitter.com/sij5U5c483

— Dave Revsine (@BTNDaveRevsine) August 13, 2018

 

Figures to give O Lineman some trouble this year. DL has a really good practice today. Such a physically impressive group pic.twitter.com/ToimtwNgDk

— Dave Revsine (@BTNDaveRevsine) August 13, 2018

 

Would be surprised if run game doesn’t improve this year. Good backs, and, more importantly, what looks to be a significantly better OLine pic.twitter.com/cXuIDsyNDV

— Dave Revsine (@BTNDaveRevsine) August 13, 2018

JHumich

August 14th, 2018 at 12:09 PM ^

Listening to coach's presser from yesterday, he seemed much more enthusiastic in his praise of the other positions than the "ascending" and "coaching the heck out of it" that he offered about the offensive line.

Is this an "under promise and over deliver" situation? A misdirection to try to keep it under the radar? Or, do you think it's a factor of "it's felt good in camp before then didn't translate into game performance?"

Thanks for every tid-bit you throw us. When there's not much else to gather, it's like cool drinks in the desert.

stephenrjking

August 13th, 2018 at 7:32 PM ^

I posted this in the Wimbush thread, but I'm just killing that and putting it over here. Revsine's first tweet from practice, and the first quoted in the thread, featured a single rep of Shea throwing a pass to Zach Gentry in a drill. And what Michigan blog worth its salt wouldn't have some whacko overanalyzing every second of random footage? So, here we go:

This is video of a two-man drill with Shea taking a 7-step dropback with a play-action fake, passing to Zach Gentry. My vocabulary isn't good enough to identify the route by name (EDIT: It's a slant corner, per user Greg McMurtry); Gentry, starting on Shea's right, slants in, breaks downfield, and then breaks out toward the sideline, catching the ball approximately 15 yards downfield. It appears that Harbaugh is "snapping" Shea the ball, and Pep Hamilton is simulating a rush from the blind side.

Positive Observations:

  • It's a drill, so you expect players to be confident, but I like the confidence Shea has here. He easily steps up in the "pocket" as Pep approaches, keeping his eyes downfield, and throws a very catchable pass.
  • His feet look quick with good footwork, and he made the throw look easily despite simulating a situation where he didn't have room to set his feet properly, as will happen in besieged pockets.
  • The throw was very catchable and Gentry gathers it easily. See my nitpick below, but even with that nitpick there aren't many defenders that could keep Gentry from getting that ball if he wants to get it. I'm not Brian, but I would guess Brian would give this a "CA."
  • Shea and Gentry appear to be on exactly the same wavelength here. This is just a drill, so it's not worth much, but they both knew where the ball was going to be.

Nitpick observations:

  • Shea's play-action motion was ok, not spectacular.
  • The throw was actually a bit behind Gentry; Shea appears to double-clutch here, and that seems to make the throw late. Gentry is visibly slowing up as the ball approaches. This is not a DO pass, IMO.
  • Gentry's route is fine, but it could be sharper.*

*I'd love to have someone who understands the technicalities of route-running do a write-up on it for the site. I'm not that well-versed on it (what looks like a sloppy route to me may be deliberately rounded off, I wouldn't know) and it would be great to learn more about the vocabulary and the different techniques.

So, this evening's craziness. Just wait until we have dozens of minutes of reps to watch on BTN tonight.

TheTeamTheTeam…

August 13th, 2018 at 9:45 PM ^

Without seeing the film, I highly doubt it is a slant corner. Slants being three steps up and breaking in at an angle and corners breaking sharply at an angle opposite a slant would not make any sense. There is a “Sluggo” meaning slant and go which would be a 3 step forward, 3step at an angle in, and then breaking down the field. There is also a “Post-Corner route in which the receiver runs 7-10yds vertical breaks towards the goal post for 3 steps and then to the back corner of the end zone. I played all four years of high school ball and did grad work at Akron U (not exactly football blue blood I understand) but I have never come across a “slant-corner” I guess it could just be a terminology difference, but a corner break after a slant break would literally either run your receiver square into the defender, force a complete stop and start making it too long of a route, or round the receiver’s route so much that it would not be effective. Being that this was Zach Gentry (6’7” above 240) I highly doubt they have him attempt that. Post-Corner is more likely due to Zach being a TE and matching up mostly with Safety/LB types and a Post-Corner is known as a safety killer. Just my 2 cents.

FauxMo

August 13th, 2018 at 7:39 PM ^

PLEASE BE BETTER O-LINE. PLEASE BE BETTER O-LINE. PLEASE BE BETTER O-LINE. PLEASE BE BETTER O-LINE. PLEASE BE BETTER O-LINE. PLEASE BE BETTER O-LINE. PLEASE BE BETTER O-LINE. PLEASE BE BETTER O-LINE. PLEASE BE BETTER O-LINE. PLEASE BE BETTER O-LINE. PLEASE BE BETTER O-LINE. PLEASE BE BETTER O-LINE. PLEASE BE BETTER O-LINE. PLEASE BE BETTER O-LINE. PLEASE BE BETTER O-LINE. PLEASE BE BETTER O-LINE. PLEASE BE BETTER O-LINE. PLEASE BE BETTER O-LINE. PLEASE BE BETTER O-LINE. PLEASE BE BETTER O-LINE. PLEASE BE BETTER O-LINE. PLEASE BE BETTER O-LINE. PLEASE BE BETTER O-LINE. PLEASE BE BETTER O-LINE. PLEASE BE BETTER O-LINE. PLEASE BE BETTER O-LINE. PLEASE BE BETTER O-LINE. 

Berger04

August 13th, 2018 at 7:44 PM ^

Why did I get a so excited when I read that last tweet..... I had to read it twice to make sure I read it right.

Oh for the love of God and everything holy, please be a correct observation!!!! 

Mr Miggle

August 13th, 2018 at 10:51 PM ^

Thanks for the link. 

Their comments are always on the positive side, but his wording was telling. He said they were athletic, with potential. He never said the line would be good or even improved. What he said about the right side of the line was about as negative as BTN gets in previews.

DTOW

August 13th, 2018 at 7:54 PM ^

Mayfield has much better size than I was anticipating for a true freshman.  Looks to have relatively quick feet to match.  We might have a good one with him.

Kevin13

August 13th, 2018 at 7:56 PM ^

Wow Mayfield looks bigger then I expected him to. He looks like he has a B1G body already. Nice to see is getting talent and depth on the OL again 

Watching From Afar

August 13th, 2018 at 8:05 PM ^

I understand why, but just find it funny watching OL going up against other OL "pass rush".

Obviously getting technique down first is paramount and then going full speed is how you avoid bad habits, but can't read a lot until Mayfield and Co see Gary and Winovich going 100 mph.

reshp1

August 13th, 2018 at 8:26 PM ^

Mayfield looks impressive. Those are some pretty quick feet for a big man. I'm really excited about him and Hudson, if not for this year then for the next season. 

 

getsome

August 13th, 2018 at 8:40 PM ^

dinardo will no doubt roll with his standard "this OL looks much more physical than last year" - be nice if hes finally correct with that annual prediction.

whens the 1st scrimmage?  im sure theyve already done some full squad 11 v 11 but i havent heard anything about scrimmages (with refs, etc)

OwenGoBlue

August 13th, 2018 at 8:40 PM ^

Al Washington coaching up the DL with that pass rush drill. 

He's already an obvious choice for Matty's spot whenever he retires, but this is just more to support that idea. 

cheesheadwolverine

August 13th, 2018 at 9:10 PM ^

That offensive line tweet is great news, but I didn't think that the problem with the O line was the run blocking.  Don't get me wrong, that wasn't good, but it wasn't their big problem.