Camp update from Sam Webb
Pretty good stuff, as always.
From his "Inside the Sub" series, this one is free.
If Ulizio has really inserted himself into the mix at RT, that is outstanding news. Would mean at least another viable contender (and depth) at that spot. CB race is going to be so interesting, but as a poster in another thread mentioned, Metellus locking down the other safety spot has to be one of the best developments this spring/fall. Funny I don't think I've heard Glasgow's name once during this camp, after so much visibility in the spring.
In the comments there's a minor panic about a Hurst injury, but it seems to have been talked down.
August 19th, 2017 at 8:10 PM ^
August 19th, 2017 at 8:14 PM ^
It has very little to do with his ranking and more that the race has been presumed to be between JBB and Runyan, which was already nothing to get excited about, and now late august we're talking about someone else competing for the spot like it's a positive. Once again, are you guys serious? I'm gonna post this shit to R/CFB. It's laughable.
August 19th, 2017 at 8:23 PM ^
August 19th, 2017 at 8:39 PM ^
That's the way it goes man. I see you've been around for a while. How do you not realize that?When is it ever a good sign that three unheralded dudes are competing for a spot as critical as RT? I'll save you the thinking, as to prevent headache and what not, the answer is close to never.
August 19th, 2017 at 10:52 PM ^
I forget - were either of those Glasgow linemen "heralded"? I seem to remember them as unheralded guys who became starters and kicked butt. Sounds like describing two unheralded dudes that competed for critical spots, and their success breaking the lineup sure was a good thing.
Thanks for preventing my potential headache though.
August 19th, 2017 at 8:11 PM ^
So you're thinking, what, that JBB and Runyan have gotten worse? RT is still a big question mark, but it's not ridiculous to think that Ulizio has made himself a legitimate option for the job. If you have 3 guys competing for it, you have a higher chance that at least one of them will pan out.
August 19th, 2017 at 8:17 PM ^
August 19th, 2017 at 8:25 PM ^
If JBB is the same or marginally better, does that make you feel good? I know this all for show. People just want to argue with me, which of course I understand, but I feel like I'm the only one making genuine arguments.
August 19th, 2017 at 8:38 PM ^
Or, people are arguing with you because you're not making genuine arguments. You're making an assumption that Ulizio entering the competition says bad things about JBB and Runyan, which the only way I could see that being logical is if you think it means JBB and Runyan have gotten worse. If you make the safe assumption that players generally get better under Harbaugh, then it's fair to say that JBB and Runyan have improved, but Ulizio has also improved to the point where the coaches think he's a legit option. Other people are making good arguments, you just don't want to read them.
August 19th, 2017 at 8:49 PM ^
Here's how I see it, and I finally have to sign off--music to your ears I'm sure--it takes a lot more rigamarole to explain how Ulizio vying for a spot is a positive compared to saying any one of the three had won the spot outright. Since we already have a sense of the level of play for one of these players, it takes some pretty wishful thinking that the two struggling to beat him out are going to be anything remotely positive. Once again it's as simple as that and I don't actually thin anyone disagrees with me. They just want to neg for negs sake, which please go ahead.
August 19th, 2017 at 11:02 PM ^
August 19th, 2017 at 8:10 PM ^
Do you by chance go by "Windy City Blue" on Touch the Banner? You sound a slightly angry version of him/her.
August 19th, 2017 at 7:49 PM ^
I'm going to assume that since all three are third-year players your reason for preferring JBB or Runyan over Ulizio is that both were more highly rated recruits (JBB #28 OT #335 overall, Runyan #124 OT #1139 overall, Ulizio #141 OT #1295 overall).
I would counter that the difference between Runyan and Ulizio in the rankings is not that significant in a relative sense. Furthermore OT is notoriously difficult to project, with many NFL OLs coming out of (seemingly) nowhere.
August 19th, 2017 at 7:54 PM ^
The first real response. My concern starts simply with the fact that someone hasn't already claimed the position outright. Anytime someone grabs a position outright, barring it being a Stribling/Clark type battle, to me it's a good sign. A 3-way with JBB, Ulizio, and Runyan does not sound promising to me since we saw one of them last year and they were not up to snuff. So just tossing in another name to a batlle we presumed was two-headed, certainly doesn't mollify any of my concerns.
August 19th, 2017 at 9:23 PM ^
August 19th, 2017 at 8:12 PM ^
He said he'd instruct Frey and Drevno to hold off on making any OL decisions until you contacted them. They're waiting to hear from you, so don't delay.
August 19th, 2017 at 8:16 PM ^
Good one Donnnnnie. Keep it up.
August 19th, 2017 at 8:17 PM ^
August 19th, 2017 at 7:30 PM ^
I thought that the "look at Harbaugh's history of developing excellent OL from his own three star recruits at Stanford" argument was fairly coherent.
August 19th, 2017 at 7:56 PM ^
August 19th, 2017 at 10:56 PM ^
I posted the same thing, but you beat me to it by a mile . . .
August 19th, 2017 at 8:01 PM ^
I find it odd when people stir up big stupid shitty arguments and then when they get called out on it, they say something like, "Oh, I'm just having fun now."
Really? That's what constitutes fun for you? Here are some things I find fun:
- Spending time with friends
- Having a nice dinner with my wife
- Building Duplo creations with my son
- Watching Michigan athletics
- All kinds of things that have nothing to do with stirring up big shitty arguments with internet strangers
I mean...honestly.
August 19th, 2017 at 8:10 PM ^
How do you feel about responding online to those "shitty arguments." What part of my argument is "shitty?" Don't even bother responding, okay?
August 19th, 2017 at 8:14 PM ^
The obnoxious asshole part, for starters.
August 19th, 2017 at 8:28 PM ^
Just think about what you said. How does someone being an asshole or not an asshole have any impact on their argument? I don't care if you think I am one or not. I have my own thoughts on that. But honestly, sometimes I'm a little embarrassed by the level of rational thinking for a "Michigan" blog like this. Maybe it's because of the general youth of the board?
August 19th, 2017 at 9:37 PM ^
I'm old enough to be your grandpa and have been listening to people like you in the stadium, on the radio, and everywhere else for over 45 years. People like you are nothing new.
Every fanbase is a diverse ecosystem comprised of a variety of niches, one of which is occupied by pompous, speaking-truth-to-the-ignorant-masses soothsayers who are uniquely possessed of knowledge that even the coaching staff lacks. It's a good niche for you.
There isn't a single person on this board who wouldn't be more optimistic if we had an OL stuffed with experienced 5-stars backed up by equally talented 5-stars followed on the depth chart by 4-stars who should have been 5-stars.
But, as you implicitly acknowledged yourself in response to a comment upthread, OL is the most difficult position on the entire fucking roster for which to predict success coming out of high school. This is coupled with the fact that we have two accomplished and very highly-regarded OL coaches in Drevno and Frey led by a head coach who made his lunch at Stanford with a punishing OL by the time he left.
All this suggests there are very strong reasons based on recent history to be optimistic that this coaching staff can put together the kind of OL we need with the people we have on the roster, and most of us are able to accept the situation. For whatever reason you've chosen to be the irritating mosquito in the tent on this question, "bruh."
August 19th, 2017 at 9:46 PM ^
for the mere fact was-and I imagine everyone else was as well- thinking the same damn thing. if our biggest concern at each spot is which top 300 h.s. AA is going to emerge as the starter, then we're going to be bored but extremely happy. However, because such is not the case and the lone poster trying to defend him was actually making our argument for us, i.e., 'Right tackle is a concern.' With that being true, those emerging as possibilities for all the right reasons, and they've been well documented, can only be seen as a good thing.
Per Bredeson: "Nolan has been working really, really hard this fall. Nolan and Jon have had excellent camps...........on and on." I have learned, through the years, to place a lot of weight on the words of teammates solely because its normally good, honest stuff.
Facts are we've got young, good talent - some of them high 4s - and they're not nearly as ready as Jon or Nolan,nor should they be. These are two young men receiving their third year of some of the best line coaching in cfb. The fact the coaching level went up even higher this year,with the addition of Frey,does nothing to improve their recruiting rankings, but it sure in hell increases the likelihood of improvement, something that will take place anyway. These young men are in the right place. They are both very hungry players. They've been working their asses off, competition has gotten better, along with the depth.
You can look at our depth at a number of positions and conclude those emerging as starters and even their backups are going to be among the best this conference has to offer. As stated, this is the third year for these two on a team that has improved overall probably moreso than any other given team in cfb. That shit matters. Going forward, those who win the starting jobs are doing so against solid competition. Naysayers can worry all they want and lay down a bunch of negative shit that no longer has merit. Talent improves annually and this is one more year.
August 19th, 2017 at 11:57 PM ^
August 19th, 2017 at 8:16 PM ^
I feel pretty good about it, actually, because (for the most part) I really like this community and enjoy most of the discussions, even arguments when they are civil. So I don't mind taking a minute to comment when someone gets so negative and combative with everyone else.
And I said you stirred up a shitty argument, not that your argument was shitty. I don't really have a strong opinion on Ulizio, you may well be right. The shitty part was your attitude and tone.
August 19th, 2017 at 8:29 PM ^
That's a reasonable take. So we are in agreement.
August 19th, 2017 at 8:44 PM ^
You should listen to the last line of your own post.
August 19th, 2017 at 10:02 PM ^
August 20th, 2017 at 2:30 AM ^
Thanks man. Doing pretty well. Hope the same for you.
August 19th, 2017 at 9:40 PM ^
It was a good thing for the Patriots when a sixth round draft pick stepped up and suprassed a number one overall pick.
Or for Kansas City when an undrafted running back, Priest Holmes, siezed the opportunity in 2001.
James Harrison, Antonio Gates, Arian Foster and John Randle all went undrafted...
You shouldn't estimate the future on how people were rated in the past but how they've performed since that rating. Also, having backups actually step up and put pressure on starters is always a good thing. Competition is always better than no competition.
August 20th, 2017 at 11:23 AM ^
That's like demanding a good counter argument for there is a god when you can't offer any arguments for it in the first place!
What argument do you have that he hasn't improved, gained strength, gained experience, learned/honed technique, that yoga hasn't helped, that the new coaches haven't helped, that he hasn't trained harder, that he hasn't studied the playbook and film harder, that the light hasn't come on? What argument do you have that he was no good previously just because he hasn't been ready to play yet? What's your argument against the whole history of football that says it usually takes an Olinemen a few years to be ready to play in the BIG or in big time football?
August 19th, 2017 at 10:03 PM ^
Are you the Don that calls the MGoBlog roundtable?
August 20th, 2017 at 7:57 AM ^
Naw, that's some other dick. Don't pay any attention to that loser.
August 20th, 2017 at 8:51 AM ^
August 20th, 2017 at 12:08 AM ^
It's called being a spectacular dick.
August 19th, 2017 at 7:16 PM ^
August 19th, 2017 at 7:25 PM ^
Really just going for visibility at this point. Seems to be working.
August 19th, 2017 at 7:38 PM ^
August 19th, 2017 at 7:44 PM ^
I mean, only my original comment was not to be taken dickishly.
August 19th, 2017 at 8:24 PM ^
August 19th, 2017 at 8:30 PM ^
Licks lips.
August 19th, 2017 at 7:22 PM ^
August 19th, 2017 at 7:33 PM ^
Pretty sure somewittyname is female. At least, IIRC.
August 19th, 2017 at 8:07 PM ^
Does that mean it isn't a dick?
August 19th, 2017 at 8:11 PM ^
Correct
August 19th, 2017 at 8:59 PM ^
Went from being slightly annoyed to aroused. Sassy!