Gordon
September 26th, 2008 at 6:03 PM ^
September 26th, 2008 at 6:15 PM ^
Is this a waste of a scholarship? I think we have enough safties in the pipeline, with Brown, Chambers, Mike Williams, B. Smith, Feagin, JT Floyd, and Mike Jones.
Always room for a top notch safety given our luck, but this guy's a MAC talent.
September 26th, 2008 at 6:22 PM ^
Brown is going to be a senior during Gordon's freshman year, so not sure why that matters.
Feagin hasn't changed positions yet.
Floyd hasn't played anywhere yet, hard to say whether he'll be a corner or a safety.
Mike Jones, along with Isaiah Bell, is going to be an outside linebacker.
September 26th, 2008 at 6:32 PM ^
September 26th, 2008 at 6:38 PM ^
September 26th, 2008 at 6:53 PM ^
Fantastic to get Gordon. I wouldn't be surprised to have him outperform expectations given the speed with which he got UM/MSU offers and the lack of exposure he's had at his projected position.
Our 2009 secondary class seems fairly set. Where does UM stand with Dennis Thames/Mywan Jackson/Vlad-a-million at this point?
September 26th, 2008 at 7:29 PM ^
Thames I believe is injured and has put recruiting on the back burner for now.
There was a story out earlier this week where Mywan Jackson said UNC is #1 after his visit there, so who knows.
Emilien seems to be the best bet right now. He's visiting for the MSU game, and UM seems to have shot back up his list once they contacted him a few weeks ago.
I still think UM could use another corner. I'd love to see them reel in Travis Hawkins (along with his teammate, DE Jason Ankrah), but Hawkins seems a bit odd. A week ago he wasn't even mentioning Michigan, and a couple days ago UM is suddenly in his top three, so I'm not especially confident.
September 26th, 2008 at 7:10 PM ^
September 26th, 2008 at 7:51 PM ^
As other said, lots of those players you named are not safeties.
Look, while most 3-stars DON'T turn into Hart, Lauranitis, David Harris, etc., some do. But, plenty of 3-stars turn into absolutely useful players. So, being 3-star doesn't make him a "MAC talent", it means he's not that likely to be a star. But he's a kid that the staff obviously sees some potential in, and they think can grow at a position where we do, actually, have a need.
If he redshirted (which, I think he would, there wouldn't be much use for him next year) that means that, as a freshman, we'd have Artis Chambers in his senior year, Michael Williams in his junior year, and Brandon Smith in his sophomore (as Smith is red-shirting). That would put him in position to potentially start as a redshirt junior. So - depth isn't an issue.
September 26th, 2008 at 7:52 PM ^
Other Brian - I thought that Emelien was largely not a possibility?
Does Thames' injury hurt his chances with us, or vice versa?
September 26th, 2008 at 8:01 PM ^
Emilien was thought to be an OSU lock for the longest time, but he cooled on them as they loaded up with other DBs. Since then, UM got in touch with him. He said he hadn't mentioned Michigan because he thought he was low on their list, but that changed when Magee, Gibson and RR got in touch with him three weeks ago. Michigan's right in it now with Wake, Stanford, USF and Wisconsin. After that, it's a tossup. He's visiting Wisky on 10/10, UM on 10/25, and Stanford in mid November.
As for Thames, there really hasn't been a peep about him in a long time. Nobody has a good read on where he's leaning. It's just assumed that UM and Miss. State are at the top, with LSU lurking around (they haven't offered yet, I don't think).
September 26th, 2008 at 8:04 PM ^
September 26th, 2008 at 8:24 PM ^
September 26th, 2008 at 11:29 PM ^
It sounds like Thames is more and more likely to stay down south.
Mywan Jackson is being recruited to play corner, not safety.
I think we might be done at safety, so Emilien is probably less likely now. We have 19 commits and we'll probably have 24 or 25 open scholarships. We need another corner, a DT, an offensive lineman or two, and a linebacker or two. We could also use another DE, but it's not a necessity.
September 27th, 2008 at 2:13 AM ^
September 27th, 2008 at 8:33 AM ^
September 27th, 2008 at 11:13 AM ^
I think its far easier to add 15-20 lbs of muscle over a couple of years of college S&C vs. high school, while it takes much, much more work to develop DB quality speed.
While their 40 times are pretty fast, and we do have the cult of Barwis, I don't think he can convert these guys to 4.4 40's to play as a FS/SS. Also, if I recall correctly, Edgewater uses Jones as an Ernest Shazor-type safety, walking him to LB or line depth and having him play there.
September 27th, 2008 at 11:19 AM ^
September 27th, 2008 at 11:15 AM ^
I said I think we MIGHT be done at safety. For next year we have Michael Williams, Artis Chambers, and Brandon Smith in the mix. Thomas Gordon is definitely going to play safety, and Justin Feagin might switch to FS. We also have JT Floyd, who may be a safety, and Justin Turner who might move to FS. And I think Bell OR Jones will move to linebacker, but probably not both (Jones is more likely to move, in my opinion). That's 8 guys for 2 positions.
Remember, we all thought we were set at LB for a few years...and then Taylor Hill and Marcus Witherspoon disappeared. With the graduations of John Thompson, Brandon Logan, and Austin Panter, we're left with Marell Evans, Jonas Mouton, Obi Ezeh, Kenny Demens, Brandon Herron, and JB Fitzgerald to fill three spots (plus Barnes, Hawthorne, Bell/Jones, and any other commits). None of those guys has produced much except Ezeh. Mike Marry and Jelani Jenkins are two linebackers who could still end up in this class. That's 8 guys for 3 positions (not counting Marry and Jenkins). We could use another linebacker or two.
It seems to me that they're going to try to get as many small-ish LB's as they can and then mix and match. If you look at WVU's defense right now, they have a bunch of guys between 200 and 220 who play LB and SS.
September 27th, 2008 at 10:01 AM ^
The point he's making is that a 17 or 18 year old high school kid:
a) isn't done growing. They may have the frame, but not bulk.
b) has likely not been exposed to big time S&C (this isn't a Barwis argument - lots of high school football players I knew didn't know a fucking thing about working out)
I see 3 different sizes listed for Bell - 6'3", 215, 6'2, 210, and 6"1, 200. I understand that weight fluctuates, but 2 inches is a huge variation in height. Regardless, if he's more of the 6'3 or 6'2" sizes, there's plenty of room for added size.
Mike Jones, Scout lists at 6'2" and a half, 200 lbs - again, lots of room. Jones himself even says there's plenty of room to grow.
Considering that RR clasically likes using smaller LB's (not the Ezeh and Thompson types), I think it makes sense.
September 27th, 2008 at 11:23 AM ^
September 27th, 2008 at 11:37 AM ^
September 27th, 2008 at 12:42 PM ^
They put him in there on third downs to play DT because he was a good pass rusher
That's why he lost a little weight for the 2007 season, to play DE.
Right. So he didn't "get switched to DT" for any reason other than scheme - not his size, as you alluded.
September 28th, 2008 at 8:04 AM ^
September 28th, 2008 at 9:44 AM ^
Sometimes arguing with you is like trying to prosecute Bill Clinton the way you parse words.
September 28th, 2008 at 9:23 PM ^