Which member(s) of Team 135 will have a breakout year?
I think we can all agree that there will be atleast 1 player who has his "coming out party" at a game or 2 this fall at the big house. Besides the obvious choice of everybody (Peppers), who would you say is in line to really turn some heads this year?
My choice happens to be on the OL with David Dawson. I think he's going to be a popular name by the end of the season.
might be the best of the bunch but I dont see Morgan being the odd man out. He is way to experienced and seems to always be in the right place.
I guess I always seem to remember him chasing a play the past three years more than being in the right spot. I suppose when Hyde knocked him back like two feet last year in the endzone, he was in position there. Morgan is a slow wussy ass. I can't see him in the pros.
Drake Johnson on offense. Just a feeling.
Devin Gardner on O - Some of the pounding stops this year and he plays well with his arm, feet and brain.
Frank Clark's play finally catches up to his hype.
Frank (Money Man) Clark shines againest the run and pass and gets his own page in the next ESPN Body edition - LOL.
Freddy Canteen and/or Ty Isaac if he gets the waiver. Green is severely overrated and will never be a great RB at Michigan. I said that when watching his HS tape a couple years ago, and stand by it now.
Mone will be Money by the end of the year.
I think both Pipkens and Henry are going to be dominant this year. With good depth from Wormly, Hurst, and Godin.
and surprisingly, they both will be freshmen. The coaches and teammates alike have given so much praise to Freddy Canteen that it's impossible to believe it's all hype. I think his route running, which I guess should be further along than others his age given the fact he attended a "football factory" possesses great speed and will probably receive single coverage when Funchess is lined up outside him bodes well for him contributing early and large.
We all saw what he did in the state 100 meter finals and just a few days ago saw him shirtless thtat gave immediate credibility to all those that stated "It is extremely rare to see someone his age already possessing an NFL body." We also have all seen his highlight film which, of course, is just that, the best of his work. But damn, I don't care who the competition might have been the things Peppers did make it obvious why both coordinators would love to call them their own. And each will, but Nuss getting a much smaller percentage of that split. With an already deep and talented db - can't think of a deeper one at UM, possibly ever - Mattison will be able to actually scheme certain defenses simply to take advantage of what this kid is capable of. Whenever we go into a nickel D this season, you are going to have a young man, albeit an obvious passing situation, that Mattison might just decide to send him after the qb which will take all of about 1.1 seconds.
And for the not so obvious, and although my hope is with those of you who chose an OLman, I think Devin will put it all together this season. We've all witnessed the best and worst of this young man, from physical greatness to terrible mental mistakes. I believe Nuss is going to provide the coaching he needs to "Tom Brady" it and come in after a pick and throw a TD on the very next series. The young man is so bright that I think he is already aware of that being so hard on himself does absolutely no good. This has been, by far, the one part of his game that has held him back and have led to the mental mistakes mentioned above; trying to make up for a mistake in one play. Expect a much more mature qb and an actual leader in the huddle.
with it all Wolfman. If I weren't so lazy I'd copy and paste later on.
A lot of these sound like wishful thinking. We want the OL and DL to do well because they sucked last year. That's understandable, but neither strike me as realistic possibilities for a breakout year. The offense hasn't had enough time (I expect them to go from horrible to tolerable and that's still a rather lofty expectation) and the DL has consistently failed to live up to its hype. I get the love for the linebackers but "breakout" seems disingenuous to me because they were solid last year and project to be solid this year. I'll be happy with them but not easy to surprise. Peppers is a fan favorite but he's yet to play a down, and in fact I think he won't be turning heads for no other reason than he won't be in a position to -- they won't put him on an island until they're sure he's ready.
So I really think the "breakout" will be from the rest of the cornerbacks. They showed off plenty of promise last season along with inexperience. Mattison had them play soft coverages against anyone with Dangerman factor and they were maddeningly inconsistent at times, getting up in a receiver's grill and then losing the jump ball battle. They were also ridiculously young as a unit. This year I expect Mattison to take off the leashes, and now we gon' see what these dogs can do. And we got a lot of guys who can play.
As Space Coyote said, aggressive defenses aren't good; good defenses are aggressive. Last year the secondary was passive because Mattison knew they weren't ready. This year I think we won't recognize them.
Morgan.
On O -- one of the running backs. I'll spin the wheel and say Hayes.
Offense: Sione Houma. I like the way he targets, and I think in his junior year he finally has the size/strength to deliver the blows they expected when they recruited him. He looked great as an H-back blocking in the spring game. Because he's not huge, he doesn't pulverize people (though he rocked Gedeon), but he moves them enough to get the RB through. And more importantly he's quicker to get there than Kerridge and seemingly less confused on who to hit. If he can catch some balls out of the flat and show some run after the catch ability, he can add a low-risk, short/flat passing game threat to an offense with questions at WR.
Defense: I'm going to be silly and go with Mone. He just looked great to me in the spring game. He will be immovable at some point, but he's also quick and showed some pursuit by getting to a RB 5-7 yards downfield. I don't know if it will be a "breakout year", because I think there are so many options at NT/DT for Michigan this year, but I think he'll turn heads at a game or two this Fall. Just incredible natural strength for a true freshman, he's going to be great eventually, and help this year. This is of course an outrageous prediction based on just a few series in a meaningless spring game.
EDIT: cheating, but still well before the season. For Defense I'm going with Taco Charlton. Looking at some of the games last year, he was a few blatant holding calls away from really making an impact. And he was great in the spring game, albeit against weak competition. Great athleticism, holding up better on the edge, will be a true pass rush threat. That is my hope.