Karon Higdon Bandwagon
First post ever and exceptionally dangerous since I’ve been consumed with life and have not been keeping up. Call it the hangover from last years sorrowful ending.
But, with B1G media days on BTN and the Karon Higdon info coming out (and maybe knowing I won’t have to deal with MK sleeping on BM this year...jk) I’m super excited.
Karin has put on weight, increased speed and strength but maybe most impressive to me is the passion and confidence that is oozing out of him. He was quick to jump on questions in his team interview, he has had powerful self-reflection that led to improved workouts (maybe I took a shortcut) and his overall demeanor seems eager to show to the world what transformations have occurred this off season
I think Karon’s excitement bodes well for how he is feeling about the offense’s potential and I personally am all aboard the hype train Choo Chooo!!!
anyone agree? Or dare to derail my EUTM!
This info corroborates with some quotes from an insider that Spath posted on the 247 board this morning. I won't copy/paste anything but I'll ask you if you can confirm a couple other summarized points (I think some short summary is ok per the rules?). Anyways:
1) Milton's presence is pushing QB room but Peters is still looking like the backup for this year
2) O line looks much improved under Warriner but JBB probably isn't good enough to stand up to top teams
Both true umbig11?
True on both accounts with some caveats.
Who was the BM that you said Jeter may take some reps from yesterday?
Presumably Bryan Mone.
Ahhh..I thought I had heard that Jeter was moving to OL.
There's a lot to play out in camp, but the fact that JBB appears to be the solid choice at starter and it's due to the fact that Hudson just isn't quite ready, and the fact that people are (reasonably) not expecting some big leap from JBB, bodes quite poorly for both tackle positions next year.
We knew poor was a possibility, but there was (and, I suppose, is still) hope that some serious development and/or a guy emerging could change the calculus. But poor is probably the option on the table that most of the dice will land on.
Twould be nice to be surprised in a good way in fall camp.
I don’t think you need any inside info to see that is the case.
1. It’s clear staff loves Milton and Higdon said as much at media days
2. We have seen enough of JBB to know he probably won’t stand up to top teams at LT. He couldn’t at RT
That's my major concern with our offense this year as well.
Obviously 2017 offense was a train wreck. We saw that early on when we didn't have the ability to demolish the tomato can non-conference opponents by another 4-5 touchdowns.
But even looking at the 2016 offense, we had some concerns. We'd light up Hawaii, Rutgers, and Penn State with a totally decimated linebacker corps, but then really hit the wall with teams fielding even B or B+ defenses.
I certainly hope we are better offensively in 2018 than we were in 2017 (it's hard NOT to be). And I know statistics & offenses don't work like this, but.....
My hope is that in 2018 we can also field a more "even keeled" offense than what we fielded in 2016. I'd gladly sacrifice the 78-0 and 63-3 and 49-10 bloodbaths in exchange for more reliably getting another 7-14 points versus the stronger teams on the schedule.
When two P5 teams are on the field there is very often a fine line between a blowout and a reasonably close game as long as a team isn't completely overmatched and/or in DGAF mode. Things like a punt not rolling into the endzone and instead stopping inside of the 5 and a resulting safety a few plays later (Iowa 2016) can turn a game around in a hurry. The last few Maryland games are also a good examples - in 2016 they had a ton of yards in the first half but had a missed FG and a drive end inside the 1 as the half expired - could have easily had 10-14 points instead of zero. In 2017 Marlyand had a ton of yards again but had a bad redzone turnover right before the half, missed a few FG's and gave UM two super short fields by having a fake punt stuffed and having a different punt blocked. 28-0 was the score at the half but that easily could have been 21-10 or thereabouts.
Jumping on a team early (something the 2016 team did again and again for the first 3/4 of the season) takes a team completely out of their game plan and makes them one dimensional. With M's pass rush and secondary that is a recipe for disaster and will likely lead to a blowout. If you let teams hang around like in 2017 when our offense couldn't put teams away, they can continue to run their normal offense and stay balanced, giving them a much better chance of staying in the game. Again, unless a team is completely overmatched, most P5 teams will "get theirs" in terms of points if they stay on schedule for down and distance and can run their normal offense.
We also put up 45 on Colorado and 32 on Florida State. We would have put up 23 on Wisconsin if not for 3 missed field goals that Kenny Allen usually makes. And Speight's shoulder injury clearly impacted the offensive output against OSU. So really, the only time the offense struggled big time was against Iowa, and weird shit happens at Kinnick (like Iowa putting up 55 against OSU).
I'm guarded about this. For one, we put up 32 on Florida State, but we also needed a pick-six and a startling comeback to pull back ahead. We were dead for most of that game. The 45 on Colorado required us to find an area in which they were weak schematically (and in personnel), which is to say, edge runs, and exploit that (plus a return TD, I believe).
And 23 against Wisconsin would have been plenty to win but isn't all that impressive. Our offense was good in 2016, not great.
But there are also encouraging things to take from that. The OL was a weak spot, we were using ok-but-not-great Wilton Speight at QB, and our receiving corps was only ok. Ten years from now nobody is going to think of Jehu Chesson or Deveon Smith or Wilton Speight as some of the most talented Michigan players of the last generation at their positions, but they were the guys Harbaugh had and they put a good season together.
I think we have potential to have better personnel at every skill position except MAYBE tight end this year. OL is an open question overall thanks to our tackles (but then, it was a question then too) but I think the interior will be fantastic.
So I'm only so-so on the 2016 offense but I think we have the potential to be considerably better than that this year.
After losing kareem walker that was my worry is an injury to higdon or evans and now what, not much depth...and also I think a big loss was not keeping AJ Dillon in last years class....man is it depressing seeing him dominate and he should be at M
I think him and Evans will be the best one two punch in the Big Ten, if not the country.
The Harris' are also a pretty good combo nationally speaking.
True, how could I forget about Bama. That seems like a lifetime ago that D Harris was a recruit.
I've been accused of being optimistic at inflammatory levels. But let's be real. We already have the best WR combo in the country, the best tight ends in the country, and probably one of the best QBs in the country. If all this stuff turns out to be true then we will have a record setting offense that will be talked about for generations. I think we are approaching hyperbole here. We have two good backs, period.
Don't you think it's a tad premature to declare our WR combo the best in the country? They have a ton of talent, for sure. But DPJ struggled last season, and Black got injured prett early on. The only proven guy is Perry, and he's more of a role-player than a true gamechanger.
I do think our WRs will be excellent this season, but I think they need to prove it on the field before we start declaring them the best in the country.
I've been accused of being optimistic at inflammatory levels
I see why, holy cow. Best WR combo in the country? Maybe from a highest ceiling standpoint, but I don't think we even have the best WR combo in the Big Ten right now. Nebraska has Morgan and Spielman who both had great years last year, with less than stellar QB play.
Me too, I think Higdon is gunning to be a 1000 yard back this year, he may have a breakout year abd be one of the best RB in the country. He might be the next Jamie Morris. Go Blue
They way you describe Karin sounds a lot like my mother in law minus the speed and strength part.
Rudddddock
Sorry to be "that guy" that doesn't comment on spelling or grammar, but I'll just respond to your point. Right with you. Had the opportunity to meet the mother of one of his teammates in Florida last year and she went on about what a great guy he was. Plus, he seems to have great vision and if he has indeed gotten faster (sure looks stronger), then we've got a pretty reliable RB1a (with Evans a great complement as RB1b).
I digress - but cool user name!!
At Movie night at the Big House I went over and talked with these three young men (7th graders?) since they had on matching jerseys and cleats and drinking Gatorade. Up walks Karan and introduced himself to me and says that’s my younger brother and they had just come from a 7v7 competition. Any football player that comes up to me like that and is genuine will remain on my A list for life. (Plus rushing for 1500 yds would be nice also).
I met Karan's mom while walking to the OSU game last year. Really nice lady. She knew about the blog and his HS coach(?) hyping him up here. We both hoped that he would run for 200 yards against OSU. Alas that didn't happen. But I really hope that Higdon reaffirms his performance last year and goes for 1000+ and even reaches 1500 yards.
Higdon for 200 Yards September 1st. book it
I'd be fine with a September Heisman. Then let Evans, Higdon and a committee dominate the B1G schedule.
I hope his attitude regarding showing the world what he can do rubs off on the rest of the team and they play with a chip on their shoulder this season. This is something I feel has been missing from the UM football program for a long time.
Been on the Karan bandwagon for a while. He seems able to eke out a few yards after first touch even if it means dragging a handful of defenders with him.
Same here. His strength was a plus last season, I expect it to be even better this year. Can't recall the last time we had a RB with that type of strength and speed (burst and breakaway) combination. Brandon Minor? Either way, I'm rooting hard for Karan this season.
His true potential is going to really shine through this season with the pass game taking a few defenders out of the box. His strength, and ability to shed tackles, is going to mean a lot more with backers and safeties in less proximity to him.
I believe Karan is the best pure runner we've had since Mike Hart, so I'm firmly aboard the hype train and believe that he'll have a memorable season and be an effective NFL player.
Higdon and Evans should combine for at least 2,000 rushing yards, 2,500 all-purpose yards, and 14 TDs. Warriner will help the run blocking almost as much as he'll help the pass-blocking.
This will be our best offense under Harbaugh and best since...well, it's depressing to think back to the last time we had a very good offense.
Ugh... Karan is one of the many reasons I'm way too optimist about this season.
edit: optimistic too!
Woof...just woof
22 baby
Go Blue
Where did Karan’s mgoblog hype man go. He was right about him being a star in the making.
Had he run behind even an average O line last year he would have had 1,300 yards. He does a great job of bouncing and has the extra gear you're looking for in a RB.
If Warriner can get a group of pretty highly rated OL to gel Higdon ought to have a great year -- I am very bullish as the interior of the OL, at least, should be able to gash. There is a lot of size and talent there.
Had he run behind even an average O line last year he would have had 1,300 yards.
Totally true & this just underscores again the completely symbiotic relationship between all parts of the offense. You get a decent OL/QB for the passing game threat & defenses can't stack the box. If you can't stack the box, the run game opens up even more.
Virtuous cycle ensues.
Actually think the o-line did a very good job run blocking last season, especially considering the complete lack of any passing game threat. Higdon would have easily cleared 1,000 yards with a passing offense that could approach 2015 or 2016 levels and keep defenses at least somewhat honest. Penn State in particular seemed to be flinging safeties toward the line of scrimmage with almost reckless abandon, to good effect.
For as bad as the OL was at blocking so was every RB at pass pro. This hurt the passing game just as much as the OL
Our line was actually very impressive running the ball. Especially when you consider defenses were stacking 8-9 players in the box consistently, due to no passing game. I think I saw somewhere Michigan had the 7th best rushing attack in the nation
I've been a big KH fan since we poached him away from Iowa. I knew he was going to be a big time player for Michigan before he was through here. Looking forward to seeing him blast through the 1,000 yard mark this year.
Should have left it at zero posts, mate
Karan was listed as 190lbs last year, I'm curious to see what he's listed at this year. We all know he's put on a ton of muscle but I'm curious to see how much.
Somewhere between 205-208 lbs.
Pretty impressive.
I've put on 15 lbs since last season and none of my wife's comments have even bordered on "impressive".