Hoke's OL as of today & other presser bits
At today's press conference when asked "if the season started today" Hoke's response on the OL was:
Cole - Mags - Miller - ??? - Braden
Kalis is back practicing today, could be him, Bosch or Burzynski at RG. Hoke claimed he likes Miller at C, Braden and Cole have been good - "you don't notice Cole" which I guess is a good thing for a Tackle, he's not getting constantly beat.
Where will Glasgow fit when he's back from suspension?
Also despite Peppers looking awesome at corner Hoke says he's going to start at Nickel before they throw him out at Boundary often. That said, my guess is we'll see a lot of him.
August 20th, 2014 at 5:55 PM ^
Maybe Green had the right idea last year when he came into camp a bit plump....
August 20th, 2014 at 4:13 PM ^
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August 20th, 2014 at 4:20 PM ^
August 20th, 2014 at 4:31 PM ^
For me, it's not that I dislike Miller, it's just that I have visions from last year of him getting blown up in the middle. I hope he's physically stronger this year.
August 20th, 2014 at 5:37 PM ^
Players DO improve as they get older. Hoke being positive and Miller potentially taking over Glasgow is a very good sign.
August 20th, 2014 at 6:29 PM ^
... you watch the SUTL.
August 20th, 2014 at 11:38 PM ^
or at least visibly better, according to LSASuperstar's detailed analysis of the Michigan Drill practice video [EDIT: bumped to Diary from Board?]. Here's his desciption of one of Miller's reps:
REP 28 @ 3:07 O: J. Miller (C) D: W. Henry (DT) T: D. Green (RB) Interesting. Miller stands up Henry, who uses pure strength on Miller to push the opposite way than he'd prefer to go; Miller says "sure" and seals the backside while staying in control. Green reacts with a jump-cut to get free. Miller looks very strong here.
August 20th, 2014 at 4:16 PM ^
Can't wait till Glasgow is off suspension so they can get miller off the field
Top line is gonna be Cole, Magnuson, Glasgow, Kalis, Braden
August 20th, 2014 at 4:20 PM ^
It seems the coaches have wanted it to be that way (kept talking about it), but between Mags/Kalis injuries and Glasgow suspension...can't make it set. A lot of fans want this too...including me.
August 20th, 2014 at 4:29 PM ^
Let's see Miller in a game and see if he's has gotten better before we discount him. Yeah, he didn't look good last year, but RS SO to RS JR could still be a big step up for a OL.
August 20th, 2014 at 5:15 PM ^
But he didn't exactly light it up in the scrimmage either.
August 20th, 2014 at 5:23 PM ^
This is where I was before the night scrimmage (and I was a critic of Miller last year: he's a smart, decent player but too small to start at M... a good back-up).
But doesn't the scrimmage give you pause? I wasn't there, but Sam Webb gave a pretty comprehensive play-by-play of the event., along with the thread on this board and Baumgardner at Mlive. Hurst and Henry were blowing up everything. I know they were second team, but even during the 1-on-1's. Pretty sure I saw Miller mentioned as getting blown up pretty regularly. Which is consistent with last year.
August 20th, 2014 at 5:38 PM ^
Miller is 6-4, 299 lbs. That is not that small for an offensive lineman. He's actually bigger than Molk was, if memory serves.
August 20th, 2014 at 5:50 PM ^
I didn't see Miller get blown up. I thought the 1st team held their own actually. Obviously, they didn't make a lot of yards, but they generally stalemated a really aggressive and probably pretty good defense. The one play that was reminiscant of last year where Hurst burst through might have been partially on him, but that was a missed assignment, not a strength thing. Either way, he didn't seem distinctly less capable than anyone else, including Glasgow while he was next to Miller. Kugler, the only other option at C, had an even worse day IMO and if I remember correctly had a snapping issue or two as well.
August 20th, 2014 at 4:23 PM ^
Green is #1 RB but he needs to be pushed; which is why you continually hear that DSmith and DJohnson are battling for position.
August 20th, 2014 at 4:38 PM ^
Word was last week that he needs to pass block better and that's what was holding him back.
August 20th, 2014 at 4:54 PM ^
Or the other guys are just good? The amount of sacred cows people have here for their preferred player/recruit is just ridiculous. The best guys will play, it's ok if it isn't your favorite guy.
August 20th, 2014 at 4:24 PM ^
I'm happy as long as Miller keeps earning starts at C.
If Miller is really better than Glasgow at C, our worst case scenario is that we have Kalis as a 6th OL. Assuming Kalis can play either G spot in an equally mediocre way, then we'd be in a position where, in case of an injury, Mags could take over for Cole, or Kalis could take over for Mags or Glasgow, or Glasgow could take over for Miller. The only possible spot where we could lose 1 OL and not have a serviceable backup is at RT, though maybe even there you can just shuffle Mags over and have Kalis draw into the lineup at LG.
That, perhaps sadly, would give us more serviceable depth than last year, which is ok by me. I know not everyone agrees that Miller at C is a good sign but I just don't see a scenario where he's starting at C over Glasgow without being the best center on the roster. We just aren't that hard up for guards.
August 20th, 2014 at 4:31 PM ^
I keep seeing recruiting scouts say over and over that guys like Cole aren't big enough to be a Tackle. They see anybody who isn't 6'7 and automatically say: too short, not enough wingspan, Guard. But I see reports on their atheltecism, technique, pad level, aggression, footwork, agility, and strength, and I think: why not? Duane Brown in Houston is 6'4 and made back to back Pro Bowls and All Pro, so I'm excited about Cole being a true freshman Left Tackle over taller, more experienced kids like Braden and Mags, because to me it means he's probably going to be really good.
August 20th, 2014 at 4:37 PM ^
Isn't wingspan more important than height? I thought I saw somewhere that Cole's arms were long.
August 20th, 2014 at 5:37 PM ^
August 20th, 2014 at 4:35 PM ^
Hoke: The offensive line learned a lot from Saturday's scrimmage. Greg (Mattison) doesn't make it easy for them.
— Michigan Football (@umichfootball) August 20, 2014
August 20th, 2014 at 5:01 PM ^
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August 20th, 2014 at 5:08 PM ^
DJ Steve Porter remix
August 20th, 2014 at 5:07 PM ^
You don't say.
August 20th, 2014 at 4:49 PM ^
guess this Cole thing really IS happening. Hope he is as good as Hoke sees him
August 20th, 2014 at 4:52 PM ^
August 20th, 2014 at 5:00 PM ^
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August 20th, 2014 at 5:40 PM ^
August 20th, 2014 at 6:21 PM ^
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August 20th, 2014 at 8:57 PM ^
August 20th, 2014 at 9:43 PM ^
August 20th, 2014 at 5:02 PM ^
Is reaching levels that were previously uknown
August 20th, 2014 at 5:06 PM ^
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August 20th, 2014 at 5:18 PM ^
Presser bits....mmmm delicious.
August 20th, 2014 at 5:40 PM ^
August 20th, 2014 at 6:01 PM ^
August 20th, 2014 at 6:35 PM ^
LT- Mags
LG - Kalis
C - Miller
RG - Glasgow
RT - Braden
I buy that Cole has been exceptional for a true freshmen, I don't buy that he's better than Mags at this point in a game situation. The current "starting" line has to do with Glasgow's suspension and Kalis' injury.
Pure conjecture...
August 20th, 2014 at 5:47 PM ^
August 20th, 2014 at 5:59 PM ^
If Cole is good enough not to worry about, which believe it or not seems to be the case, that allows the coaches to put a more seasoned guy at LG in Mags. Despite what Hoke is saying I think we all expect Glasgow to be at center once his suspension is over. The coaches talked up Miller last year too and we know how that worked out. It seems like Braden is at the very least not a huge concern, at least in terms of the effectiveness of the run game. I'm starting to get the feeling that our running game hinges on the development and health of Kalis. I just hope he's healthy enough to get reps so that this line can actually work together as long as possible and gel.
August 20th, 2014 at 6:07 PM ^
August 20th, 2014 at 6:36 PM ^
There was congruency between what the coaches said about Cole and how he looked in the scrimmage in my eyes. The same was not true of Miller. I saw Miller struggle last year too and have no evidence that anything has changed. I'm no o-line coach, so maybe I'm wrong, but that's my impression. Do you really beleive what you're insinuating...that you're concerned about Cole and not about Miller? I don't blame any concerns regarding the line at this point, including Cole, but I have very little confidence in Miller until he proves me wrong. I guess it's more that Cole hasn't proven that he can't do the job yet, whereas Miller has. So, I'm more apt to beleive the coach talk on Cole than Miller.
August 20th, 2014 at 9:48 PM ^
August 20th, 2014 at 10:25 PM ^
I see what you're saying. I don't know that I want to believe one over the other. It's hard to have strong optimistic beliefs with anything o-line related these days. More, it's just I've somewhat already closed the book on Miller, but Cole's book is still wide open in my eyes. I think it's more about gettting excited about something new than it is about where they fall in the recruiting rankings. The next big thing is always more exciting than the run of the mill thing you've already got. The new thing may not be any better, but at least there's still excitement about it's possibility.
August 20th, 2014 at 10:35 PM ^
August 22nd, 2014 at 9:29 PM ^
I posted this in another thread too. I don't know if you're familiar with any of Chip and Dan Heath's books on psychology and change. But, one of the things they talk about is that bad is stronger than good. Of all the English words on human emotion 62% are negative. In a review of literature of over 200 scholarly articles one thing stood out...bad is stronger than good. People focus on the negative, remember negative events, and harp on negative things longer than they do good things that happen. So, in this particular situation once you've been exposed to poor play by Miller, that bad memory will stick with you longer than any good vibes that may be coming out of camp. But, with no negative memories on new guys like Cole, there's nothing to get in the way of our optimism. That could quickly change however.
August 20th, 2014 at 6:23 PM ^
Most of the comments above have to do with the OL, understandably so given the problem there. Here are a few other notes:
- Starting safeties will be Jarrod Wilson & Jeremy Clark.
- Green/Smith 1 & 1a at RB, while Hayes & Johnson are 3rd down RB.
- Funchess is catching more consistently (thank goodness.)
- Mo Ways won't crack depth chart, but contribute on spec. teams.
- Gardner is clearly the starter (like we didn't know) because of "intangibles."
- (as noted above) Peppers stays at Nickel, not starting as boundary corner yet.
Can't wait for season to begin. Would also like to hear pressers from Mattison begin.
August 20th, 2014 at 6:29 PM ^
I'm not weighing in on the OL thing, because what the hell do I know right now, but boo to burning Mo Ways' redshirt just for special teams play. I understood the need to do that a couple of years ago when we probably didn't have enough non-true-freshmen to handle special teams well. That can't be the case now, can it? Grrrr.