Carvin Johnson Starting in the Scondary. Devin Gardner likely won't redshirt.
My twitter is blowing up this morning. Two true freshmen starters, according to the first official depth chart, Carvin Johnson at a hybrid saftey spot. And Will Hagerup at punter.
And according to Varsity Blue "Rich Rod: Devin Gardner probably won't redshirt."
http://mgofootball.com/ This is the best link I have found this morning to the new depth chart.
August 30th, 2010 at 11:42 AM ^
Can you imagine what this place would've been like back when Chad Henne started at QB for the first time? Freeek outttttt...
It's footbaw week. Be happy and just look forward to Saturday!
August 30th, 2010 at 11:48 AM ^
August 30th, 2010 at 6:14 PM ^
This site was in its infancy, but the message boards elsewhere blew up when word leaked out a day or so beforehand that Henne would start. It was not known at the time that Gutierrez was injured. That was revealed later. People were in absolute disbelief that Gutz, who had been groomed to be Navarre's replacement for two years, could have lost his job.
August 30th, 2010 at 11:43 AM ^
If DG isn't starting, why do you want him to back-up and spot play? The kid should either be starting or red shirting, IMO.
August 30th, 2010 at 11:43 AM ^
Love Carvin. I like that Rich Rod will play the best player regardless of age. That's one thing that Lloyd Carr drove me crazy with. I still think Furman will be a stud. He is a freak athlete.
August 30th, 2010 at 11:50 AM ^
August 30th, 2010 at 11:58 AM ^
There's a reason why DG probably won't redshirt, and no one knows the reasons more than the coaches do. The coaches are around him everyday, and they know alot more than we do. And as fans, I'm certain we'll look back and know why he didn't get a redshirt. But until then..we enjoy the ride.
August 30th, 2010 at 11:51 AM ^
a lot of the ratings and offers are based on "measurables" and "athleticism," which people and scouts automatically equate to "potential." but the fact is that some guys are just flat out players. every testimony i recall regarding carvin's on-the-field abilities have been positive. hes not gonna be the freak athlete that stevie brown was, but that doesnt mean that he cant excel on the field. keep in mind there are plenty of players with great measureables (see brandon herron) who dont contribute all that much. ill take someone who can read the field, anticipate the play, and put himself in the right position to make the stop, over a player with raw athleticism anyday. but these are abilities that tend to be overlooked, in favor of the measureables, at recruitment time. im not saying this kid is a superstar, im just saying it is very possible for him to defy the ratings.
August 30th, 2010 at 11:54 AM ^
on RR's part? By not naming a true starter at QB, that keeps UConn guessing and forces them to potentially prepare for 3 people and not hone in one just one. Just a thought.
Can't wait for Saturday!
August 30th, 2010 at 12:10 PM ^
What would we benefit by telling the opponent exactly which QB is going to be starting on Saturday? The first game of the season allows the best opportunity to take advantage of that type of misinformation. I think it's great strategy.
I also think that DG will absolutely play...if he is the best of the 3. As starved as we are for wins around here, there is no way we sit the person who gives us the best chance to do just that.
Since we haven't had a chance to see TF,DR, or DG take any snaps in a real game this year, it's hard to judge whether the news about DG potentially playing is a) Awesome, as in, TF and DR are good but DG is really good, or b) Oh shit, as in, our best chance to win this year again lies in the hands of a true freshman because the other QBs can't get the job done. I guess we'll find out Saturday.
Note: Please God let the answer be A.
August 30th, 2010 at 12:51 PM ^
I'm sure there is some gamesmanship at play, but if it's all out disinformation....you're (RR) doing it wrong. It's probably a bad idea to straight up say that player X will play unless you are 99% sure he is going to play. I'm guessing that would hurt morale among all the QBs, confuse Devin, etc.
UNLESS THEY ARE ALL IN ON IT! IT'S ANOTHER CLEVER PLOY!
OK mystery solved.
August 30th, 2010 at 12:57 PM ^
RR has notified the QBs as to which one will be starting and in some strange attempt to gain a competitive advantage, decided not to alert the media? What do ya think? Possible?
August 30th, 2010 at 1:43 PM ^
he isn't telling the starting QB he has the first snap till Friday evening.
August 30th, 2010 at 11:57 AM ^
Id like to see carvin and marvin dominating out there together. Saw both of them in that clip from the beanie bowl making some nice plays, and marvin destroying that guy on the PR
August 30th, 2010 at 12:06 PM ^
One thing we can all be happy about in terms of the QB battle is that RR and Co. are showing that they take a back seat to no one in terms of developing a dual threat QB. Both Gardner's and Robinson's developemnt are evidence of that. Though playmaking in actual games is the true test, It does seem that Pat White was no outlier.
August 30th, 2010 at 12:08 PM ^
more stud QB's the next two years, I say if DG's ready then play him. We are going to start reloading again in AA, and there will be other great options by 2014 when DG is gone. (He hasn't even taken a single snap yet, so don't start putting him in the draft after his junior year - yet.)
August 30th, 2010 at 12:48 PM ^
There must be loopholes. I know that B.J. Daniels for USF played in the opening game during garbage time his first year and still redshirted.
August 30th, 2010 at 6:17 PM ^
He must have applied for a medical redshirt. If you are injured during the first 3-4 weeks of the season and aren't physically able to play the rest of the year, you can apply for a medical redshirt. "Regular" redshirts are automatic for anyone who never plays.
August 30th, 2010 at 12:12 PM ^
I think both Denard and Tate can be more than competent as Big Ten QBs. If Devin Gardner is pushing them for playing time, that is a great sign. And besides, you can't teach someone to be a 6'4" gazelle.
August 30th, 2010 at 12:44 PM ^
playing this year. None. We basically have 2 co-starters in Tate and Denard and yet we are going to find snaps for a true freshman who has big problems making reads? I just don't get it.
August 30th, 2010 at 1:04 PM ^
This may be (definitely is?) oversimplifying, but if at any point during the season Gardner gives the team a better chance to win, I see playing him as a positive. I'd love for him to have an extra year to develop but if burning a year means more wins this year, I'm okay with it. i realize how shortsighted that is, but such is college football.
August 30th, 2010 at 1:34 PM ^
Carvin was always one of my favorite players from the class...glad to see he is panning out.
Will Campbell...just shake my head. God, I hope he puts it together.
As for DG...I assume RRod will only play him if we need him. If Tate Or Denard light it up, he could still redshirt. That said, let us admit...DG is the future. Maybe the future will arrive sooner than we all realized?
August 30th, 2010 at 1:37 PM ^
I still don't see him playing this year because Denard and Tate will be over him. He should probably get a redshirt after the year is over because he wouldn't have had any playing time.
August 30th, 2010 at 1:38 PM ^
How big is this dude?
August 30th, 2010 at 1:44 PM ^
For some reason, I can't reply to your comment above. But which prospect are you talking about when you say that you're not good at evaluating talent? Something weird is going on with this thread, and I can't figure it out...
August 30th, 2010 at 1:57 PM ^
I was looking at this earlier; something happened with that post. I can't tell what (no access to server-side scripting, obviously) but it looks like an HTML element was not properly attributed its closing tag, causing things to go haywire.
There's a few tags that have been commented out as well, notably with relation to voting on those items. Either somebody is exploiting the (very generous) permissions granted to the body of commenters' posts, or Drupal flat out screwed up in publishing that comment.
Edit: on closer inspection the aforementioned tags are meant to be commented out. The problem appears to originate in mgolf4's post - it looks like he tried to include something with his post but I can't tell what (unfortunately this is all post-processing HTML). It could be his signature, or something he attempted to copy/paste into the edit-box.
August 30th, 2010 at 4:36 PM ^
Yeah sorry about the confusion, I tried to copy and paste old comments from CJ's original "Hello:" post. I even previewed the post before I sent it and it seemed fine so I went through with it. Sorry about that.
August 30th, 2010 at 2:27 PM ^
I originally thought that Gardner HAD to redshirt, but reading many of the comments has caused me to reconsider. I think the fact that Gardner would probably be gone after 4 years anyway (like Vince Young) means we might as well use him now. I even think he will get meaningful snaps, not just garbage time. He is a head taller than the other two QBs, and with Barwis is probably turning into (an even bigger) beast.
Maybe one of the expert diarists could look into rates for going pro after junior year for redshirted players vs. true juniors.
I'm imagining Gardner in a Tebow-like role as a change of pace, with Tate or Denard as Chris Leak. If Gardner isn't going to redshirt, I think it means that only one of Tate/Denard will eventually settle into the starter role, and the other will hardly play.
August 30th, 2010 at 4:28 PM ^
Carvin is a beast and will contribute big time this fall. As far as DG, if he can help us this year then I don't see a need to redshirt him. However, if after the first couple games its obvious that Denard and Tate can get it done, then hopefully they red shirt him. Either way I'm all in for all the wolverines that step on the field!!