Starting Safeties for today
From TomVH's twitter,
"I was told that the starting safeties for #Michigan will be Donovan Warren and Brandon Smith, w/ Woolfolk and Floyd at corner."
http://twitter.com/TomVH
November 14th, 2009 at 11:22 AM ^
Warren at Safety? Should prevent the 60+ yard play for the most part.. but will probably give up a few more of the 10-20yd variety. Interesting.
November 14th, 2009 at 11:23 AM ^
I definitely never thought they would go this route.
November 14th, 2009 at 11:24 AM ^
well, we'll see how this works out today.
November 14th, 2009 at 11:24 AM ^
That's really surprising. I like Smith back there...anyone but Williams.
November 14th, 2009 at 11:26 AM ^
Wow. Hopefully this move pays off. Very surprising, but also nice to see considering how badly both Kovacs and Williams have played.
November 14th, 2009 at 11:26 AM ^
I am guessing he will be in the box alot to try and stop the run.
November 14th, 2009 at 11:44 AM ^
But what makes this interesting is that is what Kovacks is supposed to be good at. He was terrible as a deep safety but up at the line he did ok. We'll see how it works out.
November 14th, 2009 at 11:26 AM ^
might as well give it a shot
November 14th, 2009 at 11:26 AM ^
good i was afraid that kovacs and and b. smith would be at safety which would be the equivalent of two in the box safeties, i kinda wish warren would stay at corner with woolfolk at saftey but oh well, wisconsins recievers aren't that great, then again they havent played michigans secondary
November 14th, 2009 at 11:26 AM ^
Smith I'm not sure about because of his reported lack of speed, but Warren should definitely help. I'm just glad they are trying whatever they can.
November 14th, 2009 at 11:31 AM ^
Yeah, I'm thinking they might start with Kovacs to see how he performs, then go to Warren. Use Kovacs for running situations, and throw Warren back there for passing downs.
Whoever said Brandon Smith is going to play up in the box, is right. Wisconsin runs a lot, so they wanted to see if Smith could help with the run game.
November 14th, 2009 at 11:37 AM ^
Well, Wisconsin is definitely the team to try this "experiment" out on. Should be an interesting game. Thanks for the updates.
November 14th, 2009 at 11:32 AM ^
Glad we are doing something, honestly we need a win - maybe this change should have come against Purdue, but then again we were winning that one into the third quarter.
November 14th, 2009 at 11:32 AM ^
wanted to see a little bit of vlad today but looks like he didnt make the trip http://michigan.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1015914
November 14th, 2009 at 11:42 AM ^
so either he somehow really got himself in the doghouse or this just confirms he's been having troubles with his knee. I had a really simple knee surgery (plica removal) over the summer and it's still bugging me, can't imagine football on an ACL
November 14th, 2009 at 11:36 AM ^
but no need to bag on Kovacs or Williams. Kovacs is good in the box and Williams hits like a linebacker, but covers like one as well. Neither are meant to the play centerfield safety position on passing downs
November 14th, 2009 at 11:37 AM ^
is a big hitter - this will help against a smashmouth team like Wisconsin.
November 14th, 2009 at 11:40 AM ^
That is a lot of moving parts for one game. I guess it's too late in the season to make one change at a time - then again, ironically, it's awfully late in the season to make a whole-sale move like this.
November 14th, 2009 at 11:41 AM ^
is 4 scholarship players in the secondary, none of whom are named Mike Williams.
November 14th, 2009 at 11:45 AM ^
Eh, I am a little leery of moving Warren away from CB. Let's hope it works out.
November 14th, 2009 at 11:46 AM ^
Yeah, that's why I'm thinking they start with Kovacs. I was just telling you what I was told. I think it will be more packages with Warren, than the whole game.
November 14th, 2009 at 11:47 AM ^
i'm okay with it. what else do we have to lose?
November 14th, 2009 at 11:48 AM ^
I feel like we'd be better off moving Woolfolk back to safety since he's played/practiced there a decent amount, at least relative to Warren. Overall though, I'm excited for this. How much worse could it be?
Of course, we joke about that. But here probably comes Toon's signature game for his Heisman campaign, which also begins today.
November 14th, 2009 at 11:49 AM ^
Interesting strategy, we'll see how it plays out for umm cotton
November 14th, 2009 at 12:11 PM ^
They pullin a Marlin Jackson on us? Hopefully this works out.
November 14th, 2009 at 2:57 PM ^
Looked like Warren at CB and Kovacs at safety for most of the game. I'm glad B. Smith got to play though. He seemed to always be the first guy down the field to make tackles on kickoffs so he looks to have a nice motor.