Phoenix

January 24th, 2011 at 12:38 PM ^

... is my radar off, or are you suggesting we drop our Pahokee pipeline? (?!?!?)

Considering Odoms is one of my favorite players on the team (his tenacity and blocking for a WR reminds me of Hines Ward), dropping a Pahokee pipeline... that is just unfathomable, so I'll assume you mean you'll drink later to having a Pahokee pipeline, yes?

michgoblue

January 24th, 2011 at 12:48 PM ^

While I am psyched for any inroads into places like Texas, Ohio or Cali (especially Texas), I don't see why re-establishing these pipelines means that we have to give up on places like Pahokee.  If we are a truly national team, then we should be able to draw from all areas.

I assume that our Pahokee pipeline was RR (or his staff) generated, so it might not be as strong.  But, Hoke and Co should be able to maintain it to some extent with guys like Odoms, etc.

Philbert

January 24th, 2011 at 1:04 PM ^

 

Im not trying to bash on pahokee and yes i love odoms too but it just seems like those guys don't do well in cold weather. Odoms can remind you of ward but I just don't think hes the same talent. Pahokee is a great place for football I just don't see allot of those kind of styles fitting into our pro style scheme in a few years. Maybe a fast little db or slot reciever. I don't think the Vincent smiths and the martavious odoms of the world our going to be the guys this staff is after. i could be wrong but I would like to think were going country strong then rabbit chasing fast. Please don't hate me for it but FL wasn't a main pipeline when hoke was on the staff to begin with and i know somebody will list off 5 or 6 guys for me and make me look stupid but if i remember correctly allot of the talent was midwest texas and california??? am i right? I would like to see those states be our bread and butter again but thats my wish list.

Phoenix

January 24th, 2011 at 2:04 PM ^

I'm in agreement with michgoblue. Texas, Cali, Ohio, Florida, Mars, any pipeline with schools that produde D1 talent is great with me. But I've loved watching the Pahokee kids play. And Odoms may fit into Hoke's style better than you/I think - Steve Smith is small(ish) and does just fine as an outside receiver in a pro-set offense. (/man-crush on Odoms.) And of course Pahokee has some bigger dudes, as Ash (DT) demonstrates...

Anyway, we can agree to disagree, but it's a non-issue since I'm sure all we really care about is that we want the men who we recruit to be thrilled to be attending Michigan. Our current team, who I think is expressing an amazing amount of solidarity, is showing that, as are our current recruits. (As am I, since I am originally from California and am thrilled to be here. Ha, it's just too bad I'm not a D-1 athlete, or else I'd recruit like Miller/Hayes and help to develop a Cali pipeline!).

Kal

January 24th, 2011 at 6:27 PM ^

You know who else is fast and from Florida? Denard. Also saying Odoms can't play in cold weather is dumb considering he got injured in early October and didn't get a chance to play again until the bowl game where he caught one of our two TDs. I'll accept the fact that you can have a dislike for smaller players, but I don't think it was the weather that ever hindered them.

912Jeff

January 24th, 2011 at 3:31 PM ^

I agree but Drew Brees, Kyle Orton, and Dustin Keller say what's up. You can add Kerrigan to that list after this year too. Purdue produced some OL in the NFL but I can't think of any off the top of my head.

dennisblundon

January 24th, 2011 at 11:49 AM ^

I find this interesting because it may mean that our offense continues to implement a dual threat QB in the future. Maybe the offense being adapted to fit Denard and also Devin isn't a passing phase on our way to a pro style offense. I may be reading too much into this but it is worth a thought none the less.

Don

January 24th, 2011 at 12:11 PM ^

In general a UM degree is going to be more "prestigious" than one from Purdue, but if he's interested in engineering, most engine school rankings I've seen put Purdue just behind Michigan. USNWR, FWIW, slots UM at #7 with PU at #8.

Smart QBs are always good. I like his height and the fact that he can run. He's got a really good TD-to-INT ratio, too.

mGrowOld

January 24th, 2011 at 12:24 PM ^

To your point on "smart" QBs.  The NFL combine gives the Wonderlic test to all attendees as does my company BTW.  We use a baseline of 22 (out of 50) as a cutoff for potential employment.  Here are some interesting Wonderlic notes:

1. QBs and Kickers consistently score the highest (average score over 30)

2. Defensive lineman score the lowest (average score of 16)

Here are snippits from an SI article on the topic:

Teams aren't supposed to release the scores, but they're usually leaked anyway. Among quarterbacks Brian Griese is said to have scored a 39, Drew Bledsoe 37, Steve Young 33, John Elway 30, Troy Aikman 29, Cade McNown 28, Mark Brunell 22, Tim Couch 22, Trent Dilfer 22, Brett Favre 22, Daunte Culpepper 21, Vinny Testaverde 18, Dan Marino 16, Randall Cunningham 15 and Jeff George 10. Kicker Sebastian Janikowski reportedly got a 9, though he offered $500 to the test proctor to give him a 10. (Kidding.) This year Florida quarterback Jesse Palmer is said to have scored a 32, and TCU star running back LaDainian Tomlinson only had a 13. Anytime your Wonderlic approaches your cleat size, it's not good.

Trust me...they are VERY accurate.