Summer Workouts

Submitted by umbig11 on
As many of you know, only S&C coaches can observe summer workouts, but S&C coach Kevin Tolbert is raving about four Frosh that could see the field early in 2017. Luiji Vilain, O’Mary Samuels, Nico Collins, and Jordan Anthony have been singled out. In addition, those that showed up in the spring that drew high praise are Ben Mason, Ruiz, DPJ, Black, and St. Juste. Notables left off the list were Solomon and Thomas. Both need to make some personal gains to compete early. Other than Ruiz, all the other lineman need to get bigger, stronger, and quicker. It’s hard to crack the two deep as a lineman in your first year. The coaches need to see them with the pads on in order to evaluate them further. You can probably add Robbins to the list of Fr. That will play right away. This Freshman class is very deep! Other notes: The fastest RB times still belong to Karan Higdon. The 4 WR sets are real. A lot of preparation taking place in the 7-on-7's. The addition of Scott Turner and Pep Hamilton have created some buzz regarding new route trees and schemes.

JayMo4

July 13th, 2017 at 8:17 PM ^

Really hope Solomon gets with the program.  We're going to need him.

Big boost to the D if Vilain is ready to go, and Anthony could help the two deep as well.

 

Samuels seemed like an obvious RS to a lot of people, but he was one of my favorite recruits.  I think he might be just that good and force his way on to the field.  No point in saving a fifth year for a high-level skill position player.  He won't be around 5 if he's as good as I think he might be.

Blueblood2991

July 13th, 2017 at 8:31 PM ^

No. He said himself that he wasn't prepared for the intensity of the workouts, and said he needs to lose 10 pounds before the season if he wants to see the field.

This is about physical shape. Let's not start maturity rumors without evidence about a guy that's only been on campus a couple weeks (although your reason for concern is completely justified, I want to give the guy the benefit of the doubt until proven wrong)

BigBlue02

July 14th, 2017 at 1:59 AM ^

I actually have no idea what you're saying. Because he said "fuck Michigan," it means we could have expected him to not be on a list of freshmen contributors because of his strength and conditioning? I guess I'm full of shit because that didn't cross my mind. Like, at all.

Mr Miggle

July 14th, 2017 at 12:07 PM ^

must be for linemen to stay in shape on their own. I note that Vilain is the only one on with a positive mention and WDEs are usually a different body type than the rest of the line.

Ambry Thomas getting singled out with Solomon could be more concerning. Being behind the other freshmen DBs should serve as motivation

1VaBlue1

July 13th, 2017 at 8:47 PM ^

No sense in worrying about Solomon's maturity, he'll be fine.  He immediately took it on himself to get Harbaugh's number and apoligize/explain before he heard about it in the media.  That is a sign of a kid that has his shit together.  Forget what he said, he said it in a lockerroom full of kids dissing everything, and with a phone he didn't know was recording.  Aside from all of that, everything else I've ever heard about him is that he's a great kid with a great mother.

I'm not worried about him, at all...

Maizenblueball

July 13th, 2017 at 8:20 PM ^

I'm excited about seeing more 4 WR sets to open up the passing game, especially if the OL struggles in the running game early on. We are stacked with young talent at WR. 

JayMo4

July 13th, 2017 at 8:25 PM ^

Also, in regards to Pep....

I think a lot of us shrugged at the hire... unlike with Brown on D, it didn't get a strong reaction one way or another.

But I think the offense just got a lot more adaptable and dynamic.  We'll see a wider variety of formations and personnel groups than before, and with all the depth at WR the occasional 4 wide can't be a bad thing.

If we manage to put together a solid OL and get good QB play out of Speight or Peters, look out.  This will be a tough offense to prepare for, because they'll be able to attack in so many ways.

Mr. Yost

July 14th, 2017 at 5:17 AM ^

I was JACKED.

I was "meh" about Jay Harbaugh replacing Wheatley, but Magnus talked about how being a RB coach is more about recruiting than anything else. Which helped, but I saw firsthand what Wheatley did with that group and the on-field coaching was beyond impressive.

Back to Pep...I absolutely LOVED that hire and still do.

Whole Milk

July 14th, 2017 at 8:46 AM ^

I don't think the reaction was bad, but I agree that it might be slated as an under rated hire. Pep was the OC for the best passing attack in the NFL in 2014. Granted, he had Andrew Luck, but the NFL is a coaches game, you have to be able to utilize the talent. Then he was scapegoated when the entire organization went to shit in 2015, and was picked up by one of the most well respected offensive minds in the NFL. And after all of this, he chooses to leave to go be a passing game coordinator instead of staying with Jackson, who wanted to keep him. His track record speaks for himself, Pep Hamilton is a fantastic hire. 

Birdman

July 13th, 2017 at 8:34 PM ^

O'MARY
Damn man, I have trouble not making super bold predictions about how that kids gonna turn out.

Cool the heat on Soloman for real though.. It might be disappointing he can't contribute from the first game but its just unreasonable to expect that from a DT. Check your self.