Safe to say we all overrated DPJ and L. Hill?
Most around here thought DPJ and to a slightly lesser extent L. Hill were superstars. Even when production lacked most blamed it on other factors. Clearly the NFL thinks they are less talented the a host of other players at their positions. What’s your opinion?
April 25th, 2020 at 12:23 AM ^
Put DPJ in Ronnie Bell's spot this year and the guy has 1,000 yards and double digit TD's. A shame they tried to make him the third wheel for a guy who caught 1 TD and dropped more passes than anyone in the nation.
April 25th, 2020 at 12:46 AM ^
There was a reason Bell got more targets than DPJ. He had an opportunity to be in Bell’s spot.
April 25th, 2020 at 12:56 AM ^
Oh great this crowd again.
FFS Maizen, or Shawn L. Martin or whatever the hell your next new post Bolivian made up name is...the contrarian bullshit isn't contrarian when you fcuking repeat it a thousand times.
April 25th, 2020 at 11:07 AM ^
FFS... you responded to one of the top 5 dumbest Board posts this year with something even more asinine and then doubled down on your stupidity with this.
You need a timeout from the internet.
April 25th, 2020 at 12:54 AM ^
Great - it’s the “start JOK so we can win a Natty” crowd
April 25th, 2020 at 10:11 AM ^
No. It was always Peters... err Patterson... err... McCaffrey who we believed in. We'll have that natty in no time!
Just pull the trigger
Imagine telling someone to kill themselves over a sports blog.
You're a despicable piece of shit.
April 25th, 2020 at 10:16 AM ^
Funny, that’s the exact same way Maizen reacts to someone telling him to kill himself.
Bell ran better routes and got open much more frequently. Per the scouts- DPJ lacks quickness (as opposed to top end speed) in confined spaces, and has trouble getting free from press coverage.
Nah. Ronnie Bell got free release lining up in the slot going against safeties and third string corners. And despite that he still had the highest drop rate in the nation and only caught one touchdown pass. Playing the slot in an RPO offense is supposed to be for your best WR (see Bama with Jeudy and Ruggs) but we put our fourth best guy there. Criminal.
April 25th, 2020 at 10:18 AM ^
DPJ lined up in the slot a fair bit as well and didn't blow people away either. In fact, one of the big scouting issues with DPJ was he had decent long speed but struggled to get into it off the line, which is exactly the type of limitation you don't want of your slot guys.
It's okay - if I kept spending $5 to be told again that my opinions are ill-informed and lazy, I'd be cranky to. I am happy at least to see you putting money back into the local economy at a time when we're all struggling. So in that one small way, you are a benefit to this community.
April 25th, 2020 at 11:53 AM ^
wait you have to pay to join mgoblog now?
April 25th, 2020 at 12:08 PM ^
Coding up a perfectly functional website and having tons of moderator isn’t cheap.
April 25th, 2020 at 12:11 PM ^
I want an answer to this as well.
April 25th, 2020 at 12:14 PM ^
That was supposed to deter the trolls from getting banned and rejoining over and over and over again. Sadly, this Shawn Martin/Maizen character has some disposable income and doesn’t mind lighting it on fire so he can bitch about recruiting on a website.
Cue The Doors, “People are strange...“
April 25th, 2020 at 12:22 PM ^
DPJ is a stud he just got bad advice to leave school early for the NFL. He needed one more year of college ball to polish up his skills and he probably would’ve been an early second round pick next year. It’s too bad but he’s not the first player to take bad advice about jumping to the league
April 25th, 2020 at 12:24 AM ^
I didn't. DPJ only had a dedicated WR coach for 1/3 seasons, and it showed.
It absolutely boggles my mind that Harbaugh had two OLine coaches and no dedicated coach for the WR’s. Just shows how disorganized this program is at time.
It’s hard to ignore articles trashing Harbaugh’s recruiting approach and war rooms when you think about what was mentioned above.
Something is missing with Harbaugh.
Having FOUR highly rated incoming freshman WRs, some of whom you need to play the first year, and giving them to a GA for coaching is possibly Harbaugh’s stupidest choice at Michigan. That was so clearly not going to work, and it really stunted all of their growth.
Amazingly, after doing such an awesome job with those guys, we’re having a tough time landing any other elite WRs.
Recruiting and coaching are two sides of the same coin.
He had a class with a guy who college ready to be a starter (Black) a guy who had the upside to be an All-American (DPJ) a guy who was a physical beast who needed about a year to be a starter (Nico) and a slot guy who could be Grant Perry’s replacement (Johnson).
We hold out hope for Nico and Black’s injuries caught up to him, but it is a damn shame what happened with this class. Alabama, OSU, Clemson, etc would have feasted on this class.
Harbaugh needs to figure this shit out. For being an offensive guru and a guy who can take talent to the next level, he has been a massive disappointment. QB play has been average, and the one position he had uber talent at he squandered. We won’t beat OSU in the shoe this year, so he will be 0-6. I’ll give him one more year (2021) if he loses that game, it will be time to let him go and chalk this up as the biggest disappointment in Michigan sports history
I think the ship has sailed on the offensive guru and guy who can take talent to the next level read on Harbaugh.
He was that guy. Hasnt been for a while.
Couldn’t agree more. He may have been / still is a guru for 1985-2005 football but it is abundantly clear he’s no expert when it comes to this modern version of college football which is basically flag football with pads.
Can we find a football version of Beilein? There has to be one in existence.
April 25th, 2020 at 10:47 AM ^
We did. Do you recall the rich rod era?
April 25th, 2020 at 10:59 AM ^
not the same at all
How would those teams have "feasted" on this class? Alabama and Clemson had three WRs taken in the first 33 picks. Those teams made it to the CFP since DPJ stepped on campus. They're fine.
I think Michigan fans are the only ones who thought there would be any feasting. Just like when Shane Morris and Derrick Green signed. Too much gets built up in these guys before they prove anything and it seems that it is not just from the fans.
I think he’s saying that the natural talent was there. The nurturing sucked. If this class was at a top tier school they would have all had monster careers.
April 25th, 2020 at 11:21 AM ^
DPJ’s astonishingly average/mediocre career has nothing to do with his physical abilities. He either didn’t embrace the work, didn’t get the coaching he needed or both.
April 25th, 2020 at 10:22 AM ^
The biggest disappointment is RichRod. At least Jimmy wins ~9 games every year. Otherwise I agree with your comment.
But don't worry, he has a very experienced dedicated RB coach.....er wait, nevermind.
April 25th, 2020 at 12:43 PM ^
Jay Harbaugh is absolutely not the problem. He's not elite like Warinner but he has had a positive impact on every position he has coached.
April 25th, 2020 at 12:24 AM ^
Yes the roundabout answer you are driving at is the lack of usage for Uche is largely caused by the staff lack of planning/management.
EDIT: wow the coding on this site must be extra fucked considering this was a response to a completely different thread.
April 25th, 2020 at 12:26 AM ^
Their cousin made their website.
April 25th, 2020 at 12:26 AM ^
That being said, DPJ in particular is a prime example of athleticism not translating to production. He can run 40 yards straight downfield and jump up for a ball but far from a complete receiver does that make.
April 25th, 2020 at 12:58 AM ^
Nah he's a prime example of why relegating a freaky 5 star athlete to third banana so you can force the ball to a two star basketball recruit is a bad idea.
Maizen, your $5 sign up fees are going to put Brian’s kids through college.
Hell, at least your putting that stimulus check back into the local economy.
April 25th, 2020 at 11:03 AM ^
You are too subtle Sir. Am I to understand that you are not a big booster of Bell?
April 25th, 2020 at 12:26 AM ^
Dangerous to say I overrated your mom
Jk your mom is a saint
April 25th, 2020 at 12:28 AM ^
DPJ never had a half decent QB.
So all the WR that got drafted actually had good qbs, don't think so.
April 25th, 2020 at 12:30 AM ^
I hesitate to blame the player when I never saw coaches that set them up for success. DPJ is this team’s DG, in terms of wasted talent.
April 25th, 2020 at 12:54 AM ^
Yes. It seems like there were various factors that aligned in non-helpful ways for DPJ’s development - bad pass protecting OL during his first two seasons, change in offensive philosophy in his 3rd season, QB who for whatever reason didn’t like to throw the ball downfield his last 2 seasons.
That is a very apt comparison
April 25th, 2020 at 12:52 AM ^
DPJ was a solid college football player and there’s nothing wrong with that - the higher you go the more shake and better hands you need at WR - he’s ending up exactly where he should be in the draft....LH was beat many times by more explosive receivers and got way too handsy - he too was a solid CB but the NFL looks for more - I was happy to have them in the winged helmet but just an honest assessment - I wish them both luck!
Wait, what? A measured, unemotional, reasonable assessment?
April 25th, 2020 at 12:52 AM ^
yes, I am probably guilty
hope I am not overrating McCaffrey ... I think he is going be our best QB since Henne
I mean damn, when the top 3 players drafted once played at OSU, we are going to need to finally get a play maker at QB to break out of this historic big ten drought
April 25th, 2020 at 12:55 AM ^
I thought he had a shot to go in the third round...unfortunately, teams didn't have him as high enough value in the first couple of days.
obviously, his production didn't match his rankings or even physical ability...
i am hoping that he will be able to tap into that in the NFL... could be a steal on day three...but has a chance to flame out too.
I think he needed one more season. He seem to drop passes he should have caught. When an OSU DB hit him hard in the middle of the field in the 3rd QTR he seem to become super cautious running routes. I think he would have made a good 2nd wide out this year with Dylan coming in with a bigger arm.