This incoming class is remarkable
Mods please delete the last OP's post about Harrison live feed (what a dumbass)..
We just landed the top RB and the top S, at two positions that have evaded us, the past decade, in Dax and Charbonnet (the only Zach that matters).
We also landed two OT much needed,
and two top 5 DT in Smith and Hinton....
This class IS different....
December 19th, 2018 at 4:41 PM ^
A few ways of looking at that. Yes, we have a very good class - top 10 and yes, like you pointed out, because of 27 recruits. But OSU not being in the top 10 is misleading because of small numbers - I believe 14 or 15 recruits. But 3 of those 14 are 5 stars so the quality is there. The other thing to keep in mind, a small class just means they have a lot of talent returning next year - not a good thing.
Same with Penn State. Probably won't have the numbers, but like OSU, very good quality. They could end up with the highest rated class when all is said and done in February. Should be a very competitive BIG East the next few years.
December 19th, 2018 at 5:23 PM ^
I choose to just enjoy the fact that we have a higher rated class than OSU at the moment. This is something we have not had for a very long time.
December 19th, 2018 at 5:48 PM ^
Agree, but in reality it all comes down to development. Keeping my fingers crossed as we now have an OL coach (Ed Warinner) who actually can get the most out of the OL recruits we're bringing in.
December 19th, 2018 at 12:49 PM ^
Much credit to the coaches, who many on this board have crapped on for the last 4 weeks, and to the recruits for choosing the greatest University in the world.
December 19th, 2018 at 12:50 PM ^
Well, the last impression that they left us with was not exactly the greatest. Hopefully they follow this up with a strong showing in the bowl game.
December 19th, 2018 at 1:24 PM ^
James Earl Jones does not lie!
December 19th, 2018 at 12:49 PM ^
Hill, Charbonnet, and Hinton will be instant contributors. I'm sure Giles Jackson will get some early run in the slot too. Ojabo may get in on a pass rush situation.
December 19th, 2018 at 12:56 PM ^
Someone should tell Pep that we have these studs at WR. Will be really curious to see how the offense looks in the Peach Bowl.
December 19th, 2018 at 1:03 PM ^
Easily the most frustrating ongoing thing about this team. I don't care about Harbaugh's style. We have studs all over the field and play like it's 1985.
I'm not talking about going spread or anything like that. There were (and are) plenty of regular pro-style offenses that still toss the ball all over the field.
December 19th, 2018 at 1:05 PM ^
They're not going to have a choice in the Peach Bowl. No way the defense plays as well as it did pre-OSU with all the starters sitting out.
December 19th, 2018 at 1:27 PM ^
We don't know how many starters will sit. We've seen that, when playing well, the Paye/Uche combo can reasonably fill in for Gary.
It's losing Bush that's the difficult part. He was the QB for the offense. Remember how even in garbage time when all the other backups were in, Bush was out there? His value extended beyond his terrific athletic ability. He was the guy that got players into the right situation. I don't think it's a coincidence that the Campbell jet sweep scored a TD after Bush was off the field, and not just because Bush could have chased it down--I think he would have seen what was going on.
I hope Josh Ross is ready to step into the same role.
December 19th, 2018 at 1:14 PM ^
Michigan ran the ball only slightly more than Alabama and Clemson this year (2 or 3 carries more, a pass or 2 fewer) but the way Harbaugh deliberately establishes the run first is frustrating. Early drives were treated as less important than late drives (I haven't done a full rundown on this, but I believe the only time we scored a TD on the opening drive was against Penn State? Regardless, opening drives were seldom successful) and were consequently more predictable.
This was a Harbaugh thing this year. Michigan rarely even cracked 200 yards passing despite having a good QB and good WRs to throw to. But the times that they actually used those players were limited.
I would like it better if Michigan were legitimately a threat to use the whole field on every down.
December 19th, 2018 at 1:54 PM ^
These points are valid, and even though the pass pro was decent to good, how much of that was being a primarily run first team? I wonder if Jim/Pep/Ed knew that our line wouldn't hold up if we were throwing a lot and teams would start teeing off. Runyan/JBB definitely improved, but they are still the same guys that got run over at ND. If a D coordinator knows that over 700 pounds of beef could be just plowing huge holes on M's right side 2/3rds of the time, I'm sure you have to make some sacrifices to your pass rush/blitz game. You definitely don't want DE's flying upfield against those guys every play, leaving your second level to constantly deal with multiple O Lineman coming right at them.
There are definitely improvements to be made, IMO mainly in the short pass game. Seemed a lot of our stuff was either PA deep shots and "easy yards" reads (screens and outs with corners playing off or bailing deep at the snap).
December 19th, 2018 at 2:10 PM ^
The pass pro issue is a good question. It was, of course, abominable in 2017, so an offense that doesn't put a lot of stress on the tackles in pure drop-backs has some advantages to it. With that in mind, given Harbaugh's affection for play action, I would still have preferred more play action stuff from base run looks on standard downs. There was an occasional RPO and other quick stuff, but it was underused.
In your last paragraph, I partly disagree: Michigan had a lot of medium-length stuff as well. Honestly, I thought there could be more short stuff in the gameplan. But I think a problem Michigan had was that Shea Patterson struggled to read and pick apart zone defenses all year. I'm not on the "scrap the Brown offense and go to a base cover 2 bend-but-don't-break zone" bandwagon, but it's possible that Michigan's man emphasis makes it harder for our QBs to read and attack well-played zones in a way that, say, Iowa doesn't struggle with.
December 19th, 2018 at 2:19 PM ^
Yes sir. This is exactly how I have felt, but this is better stated. I don't know why it isn't blindingly obvious that the only reason our O-line appeared competent pass blocking is because they became competent run blocking, and had an offense that would literally run it every down if you let them.
That doesn't excuse the game plan against Ohio State however.
December 19th, 2018 at 1:57 PM ^
My issue is not w/ the run/pass ratio. It's with timing/downs (as you note) and overall style not taking advantage of athletes downfield and in more creative ways.
December 19th, 2018 at 12:50 PM ^
Perhaps the most remarkable part about this class is how many states we recruit.
- Ohio (6)
- Florida (4)
- Georgia (4)
- California (2)
- Connecticut (2)
- Michigan (2)
- District Of Columbia (1)
- Illinois (1)
- Kansas (1)
- Massachusetts (1)
- Nevada (1)
- New Jersey (1)
- Oklahoma (1)
Compare that to Michigan State:
Obviously this requires an insane amount of work from Matt Dudek and Michigan's coaches
December 19th, 2018 at 12:56 PM ^
You're forgetting about Dantonio's Intergalactic recruiting!
But in all seriousness, I think Michigan's method of targeting top players in the region, while also reaching out to big players out of state is huge. It's a mark of the coaches different backgrounds and their ability to form relationships with high schoolers around the country. It's basically what Urban and Saban do as well - ensuring that local talent bring the understanding of the rivalries, and infuse it into the blood of out of region athletes
December 19th, 2018 at 1:35 PM ^
That may be true, but Michigan still won out for Zoltan!
December 19th, 2018 at 12:57 PM ^
Staee recruits galactically and the DOC though.
December 19th, 2018 at 1:04 PM ^
I'm sure someone will start bitching because Michigan only got two in-state recruits while MSU got nine.
December 19th, 2018 at 1:10 PM ^
Already happened on other threads. MSU's class is panic time in EL. Only Dobbs prevented a total fail. 1 5 star and 1 4 star......woof
December 19th, 2018 at 1:13 PM ^
And a biiiiiiiiiiiig drop off after those two.
December 19th, 2018 at 1:21 PM ^
And Dobbs is overrated. Julian Barnett is a keeper though.
December 19th, 2018 at 1:22 PM ^
Wow. Michigan State kicked our ass in the State of Michigan!
Shit we have almost as many 3 stars as 4 stars. This program is falling apart at the seams.
You can’t win Championships with only top 5-10 ranked classes year over year.
I see you sweating in your fetal position on your bathroom floor Maizen. Don’t quit now buddy there is always the next class to try to trash.
December 19th, 2018 at 1:22 PM ^
I'm sure when Dantoni rings the doorbell of recruits in most of these other states, he gets the door slammed like he's a vacuum cleaner salesman.
December 19th, 2018 at 1:38 PM ^
We also had zero commits flip to Rutgers ... and we didn’t poach recruits from WMU & CMU at the 11th hour. MSU is fading fast.
December 19th, 2018 at 1:43 PM ^
The Florida and Georgia pipeline will continue
UM is developing many connections there and more will be coming in years to come.
With Mathis switching OSU doesn't have a Michigan kid.
December 19th, 2018 at 12:50 PM ^
First a comment, now a board topic - you gonna make a diary next?
December 19th, 2018 at 12:53 PM ^
Next he's going to start another thread about how the other wasn't deleted and that only the title was changed.
December 19th, 2018 at 12:50 PM ^
Charbonnet (the only Zach that matters).
No love for OG signee Zach Carpenter?
(kidding, I know what you meant, but had to call it out)
December 19th, 2018 at 12:51 PM ^
The guy was a dumb ass for linking the announcement of a targeted recruit?
Cool Hook'em
December 19th, 2018 at 12:53 PM ^
Don’t know why you have to shit on the other poster for his thread. Yes, the chances of Harrison coming were slim, but given his recruitment and Hills chaotic recruitment, it was completely board worthy, even if the eventual outcome was not to our liking.
Just think the hostility is unwarranted and not good for the community.
December 19th, 2018 at 1:01 PM ^
Yeah I came here at 1pm to see what Harrison decided, even though I was 95%sure...
December 19th, 2018 at 12:53 PM ^
I’m not deleting the Zach Harrison thread because people pretty much knew he was going to OSU. Deleting it would be almost as petty as stating that Ohio State currently has the #19 class in the country. This is a good day.
December 19th, 2018 at 12:55 PM ^
For all the kvetching we did, this class is fucking awesome. Kudos to the coaches for reeling in those LOIs.
December 19th, 2018 at 12:55 PM ^
We also closed by re-flipping a five star and landing three four-stars in the last five days. And currently have the top class in the B1G. OSU lost two highly-ranked kids today (although they landed Harrison) and MSU is resorting to flipping MAC kids at the last minute.
So yeah, a pretty good day.
December 19th, 2018 at 1:11 PM ^
I wonder if Michigan State is done being relevant for a while for all practical purposes. With us, Ohio Stat, and Penn State mopping up the top talent in the Midwest where do they go? They have no resources or brand enthusiasm to recruit nationally.
December 19th, 2018 at 1:15 PM ^
The BIG is definitely a better league than it was during the Spartan glory days. It will depend on whether Mork can make another deal with the Devil.
December 19th, 2018 at 1:22 PM ^
Come on, we said that after 3-9 and then they came back and inexplicably beat us and won 10 games the next year. Stop underestimating Dantonio, they're not going away as long as he's there. He's never needed good recruiting classes to do well. If Lewerke stays healthy next year they could be pretty good.
December 19th, 2018 at 1:44 PM ^
They didn't inexplicably beat us. We were in the middle of the O'Korning during that game. MSU was decent last year. Decent teams beat Michigan during the O'Korning.
December 19th, 2018 at 2:05 PM ^
What was inexplicable was the coaching staff continuing to throw in a monsoon with said O'Korn. Dantonio outcoached us in the game pure and simple (as he has done many times). That said, I think the talent gap is getting back to being enough to carry us most years.
December 19th, 2018 at 2:07 PM ^
State will be a tough out for us next year. We punked them in every possible way and they won't forget it. Their defense looks to be really good though they could lose Willekes, the stud DT (?) and the CB Layne has already declared.
December 19th, 2018 at 1:00 PM ^
Why the F should that be deleted?
It's relevant regardless of our class.
I cannot believe how ridiculous people on this Board are, as if it is some kind of sacred, safe space.
If you don't like the thread, don't click on it.
December 19th, 2018 at 1:01 PM ^
Are we in on anyone else?
December 19th, 2018 at 1:02 PM ^
Excellent class.
Harbaugh has turned the corner from a complacent program when he arrived to a hard working and truly competitive program. Recruiting is also building a foundation with guys like Partridge, Moore, and Washington.
UM’s arrow is ascending. Next up: winning the breakthrough game(s) and pulling even more elite talent.
December 19th, 2018 at 1:06 PM ^
"Recruiting is also building a foundation with guys like Partridge, Moore, and Washington."
^This.
Recruiting is a grueling process and the younger and charismatic types are vital.
December 19th, 2018 at 1:04 PM ^
Cue the "Waaaaaayyy to early depth chart for 2019: Post early signing period edition". Full disclosure: I'd push off work to read every word of it.
December 19th, 2018 at 1:04 PM ^
#3 RB** overall but yes this is a great well rounded class
1 QB
1 RB
2 WR
4 ATH - 2 of these guys will probably be slot WRs
1 TE
3 OT
3 OG
2 SDE
1 WDE
2 DT
1 ILB
2 Viper
2 CB
2 S
pretty well rounded, have lots of highly ranked guys mixed in with some potential under recruited guys from the NE
December 19th, 2018 at 2:54 PM ^
I bet a dollar that tomorrow there will be a "who's the next early departure" post.
"...with all these great athletes coming in, who falls down the depth chart yadda yadda yadda"