What players have exceeded/fallen short of your expectations?
This board is boring today. Maybe we can have a discussion about this.
What player(s) has exceeded your expectations in your time as a Michigan fan? Conversely, which player(s) has fallen short of your expectations? I'm not looking for anyone to bash any players, but I'm just curious to know - who were you really wrong about?
EXCEEDED: I was not a big fan of Ryan Van Bergen when he came out of high school. I thought he was a Pat Massey clone. I figured he would bulk up to play defensive tackle but he would get pushed around. But he had a good season last year and now I expect him to have a good season replacing Brandon Graham at DE in 2010.
FELL SHORT: I really thought Marcus Witherspoon was going to be a great linebacker at U of M. He was fast and aggressive and I was extremely excited about him when he signed in 2008. He had a problem with admissions, which has nothing to do with his football ability. But then he ended up at Rutgers, couldn't get any playing time, and is no longer with their program. I don't know if he's transferred to an FCS school or what exactly he's doing now, but I guess I was wrong about him. Hopefully he gets his head on straight, whether he continues his football career or not.
Even though referring to Sheridan in that way displays an exceeding amount of callousness and ignorance, what part of
I'm not looking for anyone to bash any players
dont you understand?
I wasn't trying to bash the kid in anyway. If it appears that way, my apologies. I just thought that is what everyone around here calls him? He was very painful to watch in 2008. But I really think him for his efforts.
People around here generally respect Sheridan as a person, as a Michigan man, and understand that it was the lack fit between him and the system that caused our DEATH. Folks have generally chosen to abandon that nickname for him after it became clear all he did for this program (e.g., unselfishly mentoring Tate and Denard last year).
+1 for the apology - a lot of new guys would have went on the defensive. Nicely done.
Don't get me wrong, he is an awesome kid. He just didn't pan out as a football player for us. I have nothing but respect for him and what he has gave to this wonderful university. I will no longer call him DEATH. Sorry for the confusion.
was a walk on. How could he possibly even be considered for this category. For Nick's sake lets just remember him for the Minnesota game in 2008 and the fact that he did all he could for us during his playing career. Hopefully, his time spent on the field in AA makes him a better coach.
I agree w/ the talent being there thats why i feel he has fallen short of expectations. I still feel Stonum has time to turn it around for his career but so far i expected him to be more of a top flight big ten receiver than he has. Plus Tate's scrambling and lack of QB play in yr. one hasn't hurt Tay Odoms productivity.
I agree, the talent is there, just need to throw at him more. Kid is amazing.
They were the best team in the country and have nothing to show for it.
The reason they have nothing to show for it is because they weren't the best team in the country. As you pointed out in your post, they weren't as good as OSU or USC. Those things are obviously contradictory.
Forgot a huge bust.
Kevin Grady.
But that's what he'll be, forgotten.
Exceeded- David Molk, though injured his presence was sorely missed.
Fallen (Way) Short: Justin Boren
Exceeded: Roh - I could have never guessed he would have turned out so good so early. the next couple of years should be great for him.
Fell short: Rountree. Literally. Against Illinois. At the 1-yard line. I keed, I keed. I love me some Roundtree. In all seriousness, a tie between Minor Rage and Carlos Brown. And for the same reasons - not because of athleticism or ability. Because being injury-prone sucks.
Exceeded: Mike Hart, Roy Roundtree, Braylon Edwards.
Fell Short: Kevin Grady, Prescott Burgess, Pierre Woods, Boubacar Cissoko.
exceeded: Charles Woodson. After his freshman year I knew he was going to be good. But never in my wildest dreams did I (then) think he would win a Heisman trophy.
Fallen short: I second me's nomination of Cato June.
I'm going to do current players only:
Fell Short: Mike Williams. A four star safety to both Rivals and Scout - he got absolutely burned last year and does not appear to be in the two-deep at any position this year.
Exceeded: Roy Roundtree. If you had told me he'd be our top receiver last year, I would have called you both a fool and a liar.
Exceeded: David Cone. I never thought he would do much, but his rapping skills and dope acting have shown me to never doubt him. Not to mention that spring game...
Fell Short: the Freep.
+1 lol.
Oh, forgot one:
Fell Short (as a human being): Justin Boren.
exceed: Glad to see Mike Cox doing well, hope it translates on the field in sept.
Fell short: without listing the givens who left the team, J.B. Fitzgerald has not lived up to his HS hype
Exceeded: Jordan Kovacs. Nuff said.
Fell Short: Obviously still way early and the kid hasn't even played but Justin Turner has fallen short of the unrealistic expectations i had for him. Still time though.
Kovacs was my second. A good, sure tackler. I'm not sure about J.T. I have not heard anything about him in a while. Is he still playing CB? How is his progress coming along?
Exceeded: J. Kovacs, kid was a walk-on and started ahead of a couple scholarship starters. He was not great by any means but played his ass off and gave more effort than anyone not named Brandon. He can start for the next 3 years and I will be his biggest supporter.
Fell Short: D. Warren just for the opposite reasons I picked Kovacs. Had all the talent, but just seemed lazy at times and possibly one of the players that didn't "buy in" to Rodriquez. He was expected to be a shut-down corner and towards the end of the last year teams started to pick on him and stay away from Woolfolk.
I expected Craig Roh to literally tear a man's limbs from his body at some point this year. I was severely disappointed.
I can't believe we're 32 comments in and no one has said this...EDIT: wlvrine beat me to it
Exceeded: Charles Woodson. This was still before the time of Rivals, Scout, and 24/7/365 coverage of 17 year olds so even if someone was a sought after recruit, no one really knew about it.
Fallen: Boo Boo. While I never thought he shouldve been a 5 star recruit in the first place, he still was a major disappointment.
Woodson was absolutely a beast of a recruit and he came in with a TON of hype. I mean, yeah, even then, he definitely exceeded it. But there were still recruiting services around back then, and Woodson was a stud coming out of HS.
I was going on 10 years old during his freshman year so I obviously wouldn't know anything about that hype. Just curious, I know that Rivals started in 2001, so what are these other services and when were they launched?
He was also the number one rated RB in the state of Ohio his senior year of HS.
Exceeded: Tom Brady, I was in Drew Henson's camp from the beginning and never really gave Brady a chance. Alabama game says it all.
Fell Short: Kevin Grady, I was extremely excited for him coming after what he did in high school only to fall short his whole career.
Great Topic!!!
I couldn't figure out why they weren't starting Henson. Whose this Brady guy?
Fell Short - Grady, definitely.
True story - I once saw Grady fumble a pizza.
Great topic Magnus!
Well there is David Bowens, Jon Ritchie, Fargas who all went on to play pro ball but didn't finish @ UM.
There is June, Burgess, Butterfield, Grady Brooks, Shazor, Watson, Massey, Rasheed Simmons, and I'll say Schilling as well although he isn't done. These guys were all 4-5 star guys who never really lived up to 5 star status. Sazor and Watson for sure had their moments but I was always expecting more. Hell Branch could go there as well and Mouton although he went through different coaches and positions.
Exceeded - Hart is the ultimate. It's hard because I've followed recruiting for such a long time, getting The Wolverine paper delivered even before I had internet access. Michigan always recruited so well and there was so much hype for most of the players in the class. D Jones was one here. I believe he had some injury which cost him his Sr yr and camps and such and was I think one of the last players to sign that year. He was an incredible LB for Michigan. Andre Weathers was a good story and really did well opposite of Woodson. Roundtree for sure is one who has exceeded so far. There could be alot to add to this list after this year.
Exceeded - Braylon Edwards. I don't remember how much hype he had, only that he hadn't played football for very long before destroying every corner and safety in his path. I do remember scout giving him the usual unknown 3-star rating
Fail - I'd roll with Gabe Watson or Kevin Grady
Drew Henson disappointed in a way, but only because he left. I can't blame him for following his pro baseball dream. I remember reading his dream was to play 3rd for the Yankees. I wish he would have really given football his best shot.
Tom Brady and Mike Hart are the obvious candidates for exceeded expectations.
Fell short: Greg Mathews. His senior year, I really expected him to approach 1000 yards recieving, yet for whatever reason, the QBs had difficulty getting him the ball. That's partly because they were freshman, yet he seemed to make less and less plays as the year went on.
Exceeded: Brandon Graham. There are five star recruits, and there are five star recruits that live up to their hype.
But never have I seen a guy with the raw talent of a future 1st rounder combined with the grittiness and pure fire of , say, Michael Hart. He simply produced game in and game out. Michigan's next future Hall of Famer in my opinion.
was a 7 star in my book, and he still exceeded expectations
I have a hard time agreeing that Mathews fell that far short of expectations, when you pointed out the reason (freshman quarterbacks) in your post. Expecting a 1,000-yard receiver in a run-heavy offense with freshman quarterbacks was a bad idea in the first place.
Fell short: Stevie Brown. Going into his sophomore year (also my sophomore year) I thought he was going to be tremendous. Up until that point he was a great playmaker on special teams, and based on recruiting hype and measurables I figured that he was going to be a stud. Although he finally put it together his senior season after a much-needed position switch, he never panned out as a safety despite the number of games that he started.
Exceeded: Kevin Koger. If I remember correctly, he came in as a DE (or at least as a DE/TE), and I figured he was destined for a redshirt with all of the older guys in front of him on the depth chart. Instead, he ended up as a full-time TE, a freshman starter, and one of the best players on our offense.
Stevie Brown exceeded expectations because after his first 3 years nobody expected him to do anything but came out and one was one the better players Michigan had last year. You also can't discount the loyalty and pride he showed last year after getting bashed the previous year, making the position shift, and not laying down like some of his other teammates.
Indeed -- as far as his senior year goes, I agree. But I was comparing his performance to my expectations coming into his sophomore year, when I expected him to be a solid three-year starter at safety and eventual All-Big 10.
I'm sure that nobody could have predicted the exact nature of his roller coaster of a career, but I'm glad that it finished with some great play as a senior and an eventual selection in the draft.
+1 on Stevie B. I'm a big fan, he stood tall after a tough year and came out with a solid last year, and got drafted to boot, if i remember correctly.
Koger was pretty much a TE from the beginning. Some message board posters wondered if he was going to be a DE, but that was all just speculation, AFAIK. He did play DE in high school, but then again, so did John Navarre...
Exceeded: Hart and Edwards.
Fell Short: Cissoko and Kevin Grady. I hope Turner turns things around, because he could end up here as well.
Exceeded: Graham, Woodley, Hart, and Manningham (plenty more, but I'm going from since I started watching UM football, which was in like 2002, 2003-ish)
Fell Short: Threet, Grady, A-Air, Witherspoon, Cissoko, Grady (both of them really, although, Kelvin to a much lesser extent), DWarren (Prolly could've done with another year... lol)
I'm surprised at the number of people who have said that Craig Roh has exceeded their expectations. I really thought all (well, most) Michigan fans thought he was going to be good in the first place.
I would say that winning a starting job as a true freshman is usually above most fans' expectations for almost all players, outside of those who are extremely highly-touted 5-star types or who come in at positions of extreme need. At least that's how I look at it.
I can see that, I guess. Not many people would expect him to be a starter as a freshman, even if they did think he would be good at some point.
I think we all thought that he would be good, but I remember people saying he needed a few years to add weight, etc. Glad we were wrong.