Roster: Depth Chart & Position Changes
I know it is early, but I would like to hear some oppinions. I was just playing NCAA Football 11 in dynasty mode (Using Michigan of course, but under SDSU playbook.) I'm starting Stephon Hopkins at runningback, and I personally think he would be a great option for starting runningback next year because of the power he would bring to the spot. Any thoughts? What other postition changes might we see in the roster with the CC?
January 12th, 2011 at 6:16 PM ^
to CB or WR
(j/k)
January 12th, 2011 at 6:31 PM ^
Bet he stays at QB and runs some similiar packages as Auburn/Oregon ran and we know he can throw the ball with roll outs and other plays that can take advantage of his running ability.
January 12th, 2011 at 7:00 PM ^
So your saying hes going to play offense....
Cmon. We have no idea what they intend to instill package wise, we dont even know what the staff will be.
If I had a guess, Hoke is going on overdrive putting together some schematic ideas to pitch to Denard. Denard can be just as dangerous a shotgun Q than a zone read Q... the idea is to get Denard in space and let Denard be dilithum-esque.
January 12th, 2011 at 8:28 PM ^
Denard is run like Troy Smith was at Ohio State? It seems like it would be a good medium between the two coaching staffs and Troy Smith and Denard are similar sizes, with Denard having a little more speed.
January 12th, 2011 at 9:23 PM ^
Hoke said at the presser that he had met with Denard and referred to him as "the quarterback" or "our quarterback", not exactly sure which. No way he asks Denard to play anything other than QB. He's not that dumb. Even if Denard will make a better RB or WR in the NFL, his heart is set on QB and that's where he'll stay.
January 12th, 2011 at 9:54 PM ^
Denard has a little more speed than Troy Smith in the same way Stephen Hawking has a little better understanding than me about theoretical physics.
I do very much agree with you about that type of offense though.
January 12th, 2011 at 6:16 PM ^
Where he belongs.
January 12th, 2011 at 7:17 PM ^
hallelujah!!!
January 12th, 2011 at 6:16 PM ^
I think Hoke can make it work.
January 12th, 2011 at 6:50 PM ^
Smart point. A d-line guy like Hoke is gonna love to work with someone like Big Will. We can't assume RR knew what he was doing in that department.
January 12th, 2011 at 7:01 PM ^
A lot of the personnel decisions on D left me scratching my head. I'll be excited to see where MRob ends up after switching positions like 4-5 times last year.
January 12th, 2011 at 9:52 PM ^
It will be interesting to see where most of the hybrid guys end up. Especially Furman, Thomas Gordon and M. Robinson. I was thinking about Wilkins, but I think he stays at DE.
January 12th, 2011 at 7:00 PM ^
wow, would that be a win...what would the d-line be then, Martin, Van Bergen, Campbell, Roh?
January 12th, 2011 at 6:17 PM ^
Pretty sure Stephen Hopkins is a running back already in real life. Not to take away from your coaching skills though, nice move.
January 12th, 2011 at 6:20 PM ^
Notice the "starting" runningback. I know he is a runningback.
January 12th, 2011 at 6:22 PM ^
Well, you did say position changes, not depth chart changes.
January 12th, 2011 at 6:23 PM ^
Still doesn't qualify as a position change.
January 12th, 2011 at 6:17 PM ^
Back to DT?
January 12th, 2011 at 6:28 PM ^
Is Hoke a miracle worker that can somehow keep Big Will from standing up at the snap of the ball? If there was one D coach I was pleased with it was Bruce T. We also have two RS freshman that should help on the Dline next year in Ash and Talbott (the big one).
January 12th, 2011 at 6:52 PM ^
Martin was great. The line, as whole, was okay/decent, but nothing special. Weren't exactly sack-machines. Had trouble with the bigger teams. D-line is Hoke's thing. So let's trust that he can improve us there.
January 12th, 2011 at 7:02 PM ^
maybe due to 3-3-5?
January 12th, 2011 at 7:30 PM ^
Sacks usually come on third and longs, when a 4 man rush can realllly pin their ears back and get after it. Again, this requires coverage of 5 or so receivers with 7 defensive backs..
So, we rushed 3, and tried to cover with 8.. with a secondary that had about 15 semesters of school experience nevermind game experience.
Makes sense...
January 12th, 2011 at 7:45 PM ^
The defensive line was only strong in comparison to the poor linebackers and abysmal secondary. There's a tendency when things are going poorly to think highly of the team's better performing units -- this plays a huge role in the perception of Michigan's offense -- but it's important to compare each unit's performance to its peers, not to the bad units on the same team.
January 12th, 2011 at 9:27 PM ^
Am I reading this correctly? Was that just a string of messages thinking the d-line was "pretty good" last year? I feel like I must have taken a bunch of crazy pills.
It's one thing to be an optomist, it's quite another to be delusional. I think if you asked the d-line how they did, they'd probably tell you that they would have hoped to have been a lot better than they were.
Just accepting a block doesn't get a -1 when Brian does his UFR, but I can guarantee it does when the team grades it out.
We need an active d-line who refuses to get blocked where the offensive lineman wants to take you...which is a trademark of all great big 10 defenses (OSU, PSU, Iowa and now Nebraska)
January 12th, 2011 at 6:17 PM ^
you should think about who will play DT and DE in a 4-3...Van Bergen, DE? Q and MM at DT (maybe move BWC back to DT....assume Hoke sees the talent).
January 12th, 2011 at 6:19 PM ^
Think you missed the obvious choice of Roh as the other DE...hes better there anyhow.
January 12th, 2011 at 6:24 PM ^
Hoke ran 3-3-5 at sdsu. He might not run it here but you certainly can't assume a switch back to 4-3.
January 12th, 2011 at 6:34 PM ^
Hoke's DC at SDSU "invented" the 3-3-5. He is the reason they ran that system, not Hoke. Prior to him joining the staff Hoke had only run 4-3 d's.
January 12th, 2011 at 7:43 PM ^
True that. The 3-3-5 was Rocky Long's defense and the one he was best at. If nothing else you should be happy that Hoke is smart enough not to force his coordinators to run his schemes if there's one they're better at.
January 12th, 2011 at 6:35 PM ^
Bet that a former defensive line coach will want a standard 4-3 defense and will be looking to have a monster defensive line similiar to what appears to be one of the big advantages that Auburn had over Oregon and MSU (Mississippi) had over us.
January 12th, 2011 at 6:34 PM ^
In a four-man front, I wouldn't mind seeing Q and MM at DT, with RVB having the capability to slide inside on passing downs and Black rushing off the edge. Throw Ash/Talbott into the rotation occasionally and you have a five-man DT rotation. No true position changes there, but if successful that would at least avoid shuffling BWC back to defense.
January 12th, 2011 at 6:18 PM ^
I tried playing a few games with the SDSU playbook and hated it. Also I like Touissant as the starting back..
January 12th, 2011 at 6:22 PM ^
I don't mind the playbook actually, but for me it's between Fitz and Stephon.
January 12th, 2011 at 9:42 PM ^
How can anyone really know? None of the backs, except Smith, stayed in games long enough to prove anything. They all had a few nice moments. but Fitz and Shaw weren't durable. And Hopkins kept getting pulled.
January 12th, 2011 at 6:20 PM ^
Seth Brockheisen to waterboy
January 12th, 2011 at 6:26 PM ^
holds water!
January 12th, 2011 at 6:22 PM ^
Hopkins has ball control issues and WC was already questionable during his recruitment for the defensive side... Throwing his weight around and intimidating the other HS players. This was said in the post that explained why RR sent him to the offensive side. So unless cHoke has the ability to get WC back to the Dside and into better shape (without Barwis) then I don't see him moving.
I would like to see where Smith and other little guys get moved to, maybe they switch over to the Dside.
January 12th, 2011 at 6:26 PM ^
Are you an OSU fan or is that a typo?
January 12th, 2011 at 6:26 PM ^
Negged for spelling our coaches name that way.
January 12th, 2011 at 6:27 PM ^
where would he play on D? Think about it-maybe we can line him up at CB opposite Michael Floyd. /s
January 12th, 2011 at 6:27 PM ^
I'm negging you (not that you would know what that means) for using juvenile names which make you look like a teenage fan of Rivals (Brian's words, not mine).
January 12th, 2011 at 6:31 PM ^
QQ just getting myself ready for when the Maize and Blue lose to OSU every year. I thought we wanted to win NC and beat OSU, but instead we're going back to the same old. Not to mention I don't have any confidence in him to recruit anywhere outside of the Mid West
January 12th, 2011 at 6:35 PM ^
QQ just getting myself ready for when the Maize and Blue lose to OSU every year.
Have you spent the last decade in a coma?
January 12th, 2011 at 6:37 PM ^
so I should be excited about returning to a scheme that has proven NOT to work against OSU.... I don't get this. RR did lose to OSU but there's no saying where we would be standing if Denard was given a chance to flourish under RR and become a senior, with a defense.
January 12th, 2011 at 6:58 PM ^
Which team has handed Tressel the most losses? Wisconsin - and they're not exactly a spread-'em-out kind of team. I'm not sure where this notion that OSU is particularly vulnerable to the spread comes from.
But anyway, as you'll see next fall, Hoke isn't married to one specific offensive system.
January 12th, 2011 at 7:06 PM ^
OSU didn't seem to struggle too much against Oregon last year.
January 12th, 2011 at 8:46 PM ^
nationally televised night game they lost to Juice Williams and Illinois. That's what started it. Something tells me Bill Martin had it on the Yacht-O-Vision and things progressed from there. They barely lost to Vince Young and Texas in 05, but he beat "The Greatest Team Ever (lulz)" in USC in the championship game, too. They don't have the horrible history against mobile qbs that we do (I will now go vomit after thinking of Donovan McNabb's game at the Big House in 98).
January 13th, 2011 at 2:22 AM ^
McNabb was a god in cleats that day. We scored two garbage TDs with our true freshmen--Walter Cross had a long run and Henson threw a couple nice passes to Terrell--and we only lost that game by 10 points. Due to that game and the opening loss to ND, Brady was treated like shit the next two years and most fans didn't realize what we had until he was bringing us back (twice) in the Orange Bowl and saluting us farewell.
January 12th, 2011 at 7:33 PM ^