IF we do land Baxter........

Submitted by trueblue262 on

Obviously that would be a good thing, as well as having depth at any position is good. But does anyone see some position changes from RB? One guy that I am so looking forward to seeing is Toussaint, and I just hope a guy like that doesn't get buried in the depth chart.

Plegerize

January 10th, 2010 at 12:03 PM ^

Yeah and especially seeing how we are losing three seniors who provided the greatest depth and talent, we need to replace them with recruits who do the same.

Competition isn't a bad thing, and if there are players who aren't at the top of the depth chart right away, they know that they'll have fight to get to the top.

It's always possible, seeing how many good athletes we have at RB already, if we do land Baxter we could redshirt him.

FenkellCru

January 10th, 2010 at 11:34 AM ^

Has started. My question is this - How serious is/was Baxter about Michigan??

This article (Cnnsi.com) states:

"The most intriguing case is Baxter, who had no contact with any schools other than USC and Michigan. Baxter took an unofficial visit to Ann Arbor, but he never seriously considered the Wolverines."

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/highschool/01/09/usc.recruiting/i…

How good of a chance do we have?

bouje

January 10th, 2010 at 11:37 AM ^

Considering that he almost switched to Michigan after the visit but decided to stick with Pete Carrol after going home and (presumably) talking with him. Now that Carrol obviously lied IMO he's ours to lose.

Mr. Maize

January 10th, 2010 at 11:39 AM ^

I think he was much more serious than he let on publicly. Insiders here said we almost flipped him. However, national articles like this state he "never seriously considered" it. I think Michigan has a great shot at him.

UMaD

January 10th, 2010 at 12:04 PM ^

Rojo is a Michigan lock. It was only the devil himself that made it otherwise. Insiders are almost always right and not at all prone to fanning the flames of their fanbases wishful thinking. Its completely ridiculous to do anything other than count Baxter as part of the class. Therefore, we should only think about the impacts of getting the next Jim Brown for 4 years on campus. Clearly every RB on the roster may need to transfer or switch to LB because they won't be good enough to get carries. Our new star RB is never going to get hurt. He is just too good and will just dodge any hits coming his way. Afterall, he is a 5 star and Mike Hart was only a 3 star.

UMaD

January 10th, 2010 at 12:14 PM ^

Baxter will probably hold till signing day. He is bitter at Carrol, which means he probably won't commit to the Seahawks. As soon as USC gets their new coach they can pitch the same stuff that Carrol did and 90% of it will still apply. He's a SoCal kid who committed to the local school. We have no idea how close Baxter was to actually flipping to Michigan. What we've heard is from biased sources that tend to spin everything Michigan-related in a positive note. I don't think the USC people were ever very worried...though they probably are now.

M-Wolverine

January 10th, 2010 at 2:21 PM ^

Because what gain do they have by being biased and slanting it? They'd just piss off us, their readers, for every "oh, yeah, the top player is a lock to come here" followed by readers giddy, followed by a lot of WTF?!?! when they go somewhere else, with loss of credibility added to it. IF anything, I think they err on the safe (read negative) side. Because we'd all rather be pleasantly surprised. I get no sense that any of the MGoBloggers try to paint a too sunny picture...because Brian has always acknowledged that throwing a bunch of false stuff out there to see if it will stick is bad for business.

In reply to by M-Wolverine

UMaD

January 10th, 2010 at 2:54 PM ^

RoJo, Grimes, Murphy...just off the top of my head. Its in their interest to keep people excited and checking the sites. Same tactic ESPN uses. Report BIG NEWS and then again BIG UPDATE when BIG NEWS turns out not to be correct, as rumored.

M-Wolverine

January 10th, 2010 at 3:10 PM ^

But ESPN is a huge Network that has it's fingers everywhere, appealing to Millions. If they continue to be wrong here, they're going to turn off their small and loyal fanbase. And then Brian has to go get a real job again. And none of us want that.

As for examples like Grimes and Murphy, it's not like they weren't reporting the same info that every other site had. There's a difference between situation changes, and blowing smoke up one's ass just to attract attention and get hopes up. Otherwise we'd be in on every top recruit according to this site. Because, by your logic, it would be good for the site for them to do so. So why isn't this the case?

No one's going to be right every time with high school kids making decisions, and all the influences they are under, but we just want the best information that's out there, and we can all be surprised or assured together. When I hear that Seantrel is a lock to come here, then find out he hasn't been considering us for months, then I'll look with a quizzical eye. Grimes? A non-starter.

UMaD

January 10th, 2010 at 3:18 PM ^

They do have to maintain credibility. But they also have to keep fans interested and checking the site. They go for a happy medium. It seems they have a tendency to exaggerate the side that would get a Michigan fan excited. I'm not saying they flat-out lie, just that they can overstate a player's interest, skills, ability to make an immediate impact, etc.

M-Wolverine

January 10th, 2010 at 4:55 PM ^

I do find that like everyone who is affiliated with some school that are so-so recruits are really "sleepers", but you get that with everyone, or even with the national guys depending on where the media they are talking to is from.

I mean, if you don't believe what comes out of the site, why read it at all? Or at least anything to do with recruiting.

Mr. Maize

January 10th, 2010 at 11:35 AM ^

The RB spot will be wide open. Plus we've already moved Teric Jones. For all we know, Toussaint could be a bust. I'd say the depth chart is still very favorable for everyone involved, and any HS kids looking to step in.

FenkellCru

January 10th, 2010 at 11:50 AM ^

We've "heard" from insiders that he almost switched his committment after the visit, but how plugged in are these insiders to Dillon Baxter and are they/we looking at this thing with Maize and Blue colored glasses????

Let's hope that he comes...we know that we at least have a chance.

UMaD

January 10th, 2010 at 12:11 PM ^

may know more about Michigan recruits than national guys who are more spread out. BUT, they're also not immune from overstating Michigan's position. We can agree on that right? I think direct quotes and more objective positions from analysts not program-affiliated should be incorporated into our fan perceptions. If USC guys start saying he's Michigan bound, that'll mean a lot more, IMO.

Magnus

January 10th, 2010 at 12:00 PM ^

Toussaint will be a running back from now until the day he dies. He does not have the potential to become a FB, LB, CB, WR, or S. He's a running back.

jtmc33

January 10th, 2010 at 12:26 PM ^

My prediction (mostly unsupported and based on hope more than educated analysis) is that Toussaint gets a huge amount of carries next year and the 5th or 6th week is the #1 back. V. Smith evolves into the B.Westbrook of the team and Shaw the "change of pace" back that is a receiving threat as much as a running threat

And with that said... if Baxter wants to be at UM... he has a spot and the chance to play/start as a true freshman. Any of Baxter, Toussaint, Shaw, and V. SMith are unproven --- but you know that at least 2 of those players would rise up and give UM a great 1-2 combo in 2010.

UMaD

January 10th, 2010 at 3:11 PM ^

RB is one position I've never worried about. We always have talent back there. Its just a matter of the 1st (and 2nd) string guys staying healthy and getting the practice reps.

NEPrep

January 10th, 2010 at 12:28 PM ^

That quote is taken directly from a Rivals article (SI has essentially outsourced recruiting reporting to them). What it means is that Baxter did really like his visit, but took his USC visit the next week, and his interest was essentially a flash in the pan. It's great that we got him on campus for a game, but I don't think we have a huge leg up on any school who will come after him now.

michelin

January 10th, 2010 at 12:29 PM ^

More evidence is emerging that these sanctions are coming and on the NFL pregame show today, an announcer said that Carroll may have left USC because of the coming penalties. USC had just asked the NCAA to self impose sanctions on the FB program and the NCAA told them "no."

NJWolverine

January 10th, 2010 at 12:39 PM ^

There's going to be competition no matter where he goes, provided he goes to a top school. We do have bodies, but none of them are established. At the more often used spread back position (as opposed to the power back, where Cox will probably take over for Minor), there's the injured (and diminutive) Vincent Smith, Shaw and Toussaint. Shaw hasn't established himself and if he doesn't do so in the spring, then IMO he's a transfer/career backup. Toussaint hasn't played. With none of these guys established (and with Smith injured), Baxter will have a real chance to win the position. That's probably not the case at other top line schools.

Dallas Wolverine

January 10th, 2010 at 2:07 PM ^

Looks like some of the best competition will be from the DB's and the RB's I can't wait till this is all over to see how everything shakes out. Should be interesting to say the least.