Michigan Football All-Hype Team

Submitted by lunchboxthegoat on

Slow time on the board, so I've decided to put together a short list of my personal All Time Michigan Hype Team. Players who were hyped to oblivion by one sector of the fanbase or media or the other, but never really turned into what was hoped. I refrain from including any current players as their books are not yet written so who knows what might happen. I don't write this list as a "man this guy sucked," but more of a "if only he had lived up to the hype." Many of these guys were just the unfortunate victim of injury or circumstance that never worked out. I encourage you to add your own.

QB: Drew Henson, Clayton Richard,

RB: Sam McGuffie, Kevin Grady, Justin Fargas, Pierre Rembert

WR: Antonio Bass (captain of the team and legend in our hearts), Darryl Stonum, Carl Tabb, Je'Ron Stokes

TE: Chris Barnett

OL: Marques Slocum (Fuck Lion), Corey Zirbel, Dann O'neill

DL: Shantee Orr, Larry Harrison, Eugene Germany, Anthony LaLota, 

LB: Cobrani Mixon, Marcus Witherspoon, Taylor Hill, Kellen Jones

DB: Darnell Hood, Quiton McCoy, Boubacar Cissoko, Vlad Emilien, JT Turner, Cullen Christian, Demar Dorsey, 

 

K/P: Nate DeLong (sentimental pick. my brother was his HS teammate and long snapper, incredible athlete and had a tremendous leg, just never worked out at M, sadly.)

m1jjb00

February 8th, 2012 at 12:50 PM ^

Going in the Way-Back machine.  Some might object as Smith is currently 8th in career yards and 9th in completions, but the guy was hyped to the moon as the greatest combination of passing and running ability.  Not hating, but man was he hyped in an era when you rarely heard about recruiting.

True Blue Grit

February 8th, 2012 at 1:15 PM ^

Hugely touted recruit coming in.  Bo managed to to convince him to play football (WR) vs. signing a major league baseball contract, as he was drafted in the first round by the Red Sox.  He never put up big numbers at Michigan though, averaging 23 catches or so his first 3 years, before getting 41 his last season for 700 something yards.  However, he did end up laying some pro ball in the NFL for the Patriots and another team. 

ChasingRabbits

February 8th, 2012 at 1:54 PM ^

Not to mention..  He wore #1!!!!!  gasp.   And we all know the only non superstar to ever do that was Butterfingers.  So he must have been a superstar.  Partial /s.

GM had more than 20 catches per season, and averaged better than 22 yards a catch in his first two years.  He averaged 19+ypc for his carreer.  It was a different time then and he was very good at what the offense asked him to do.

 

 

 

615Wolverine

February 8th, 2012 at 1:48 PM ^

Glad to see Antonio Bass on there. You get extra points for naming him captain. He is my favorite wolverine of all time. The what ifs???? If he never had that injury. Wish him the best in life and hopefully Amani Bass his younger brother commits to Michigan.

BeatOSU52

February 8th, 2012 at 3:16 PM ^

Henson was hyped up but I think he lived up to expectations in the games he did play in.  Lets not forget he is the last UM QB to win in the Horse Shoe, and he won a Big Ten title, and won the bowl game he started in.

gobluesasquatch

February 8th, 2012 at 3:37 PM ^

Because during his junior year, he had Thomas in the backfield and Terrell and Walker to throw to, and I'm sure there was a TE who I'm forgetting, and yet his team finished 9-3, with losses at Purdue, Northwestern and UCLA (when he was injured). Granted, the defense was awful that year, but I'm still upset at his decision to not tuck and run (taking the sack) and keep the clock running against Purdue instead of trying to complete a tough throw. There is no way Dorsch hits a FG from more than a yard further out. 

I feel bad having Bass on the list given that it wasn't his fault he never met the hype. That knee injury was devastating. 

Seawolve

February 8th, 2012 at 3:53 PM ^

#1 prospect in Michigan after 1995 HS season.  Some had him listed as #1 nationally as HS fullback; others had Ron Dayne.  Dayne turned out to be a bit better.

BubbaT33

February 8th, 2012 at 4:45 PM ^

I met a guy the other day that was one of the high school coaches of the kid you mention (Kapsner) behind Brady and Henson,  he said it was a travesty that he never 'got a chance'.  Hype or not, they were excited he got a great education/degree!

crjorgensen

February 8th, 2012 at 5:35 PM ^

Kevin Grady is my number one. I thought he was going to have an amazing career at Michigan. Agree with most people that Henson shouldn't be on the list and I am still fairly young but in my lifetime the QB's have to be Gutierrez and Forcier. Everyone has made some good suggestions so far. What do you guys think about Mike Williams the DB from the 07 class? Also, for the 08 class Brandon Smith was a 6'3 defensive back who had 4.5 speed. Could have easily been a good one. I think we have had a decent amount of 4 stars who have ended up being pretty bad/never seeing the field (think this is most evident on defense...primarily the secondary and at linebacker).

marti221

February 8th, 2012 at 7:35 PM ^

Don't mean to thread jack, but I don't have enough points to start one. Did any one catch that tweet from Shane Morris a little bit ago? I don't know if he's referring to this blog, but he says something along the lines of " that blog about the 2012 recruiting class are ridiculous. Don't talk about teenagers you've never met. #GetALife"

M-Wolverine

February 8th, 2012 at 9:41 PM ^

Then got hurt, then was really good at USC, then good in the NFL. I'm not sure he belongs other than in the "Mallett" kinda category.

ahnhub

February 9th, 2012 at 12:32 AM ^

Opposite approach-- the player who most out-performed his hype was probably David Harris.   Anonymous unranked 3-star who became the best linebacker of the post-Bo era. You know, we never really had too many of those guys, did we? Most of the stars at Michigan were star recruits.

invisiblespoon

February 9th, 2012 at 11:29 AM ^

I second Walter Cross.  I played against him in HS.  He was a legend here in the DC area, broke most every record.  I was excited to watch him dominate at M but he did virtually nothing.