You say walk on like it's a bad thing

Submitted by Blue in sec country on
This BS of our defense not being very good because we are going to start a walk on is crap. Maybe we should be more upset that our higher rated players aren't living up to their hype. It could also be possible that he is one hell of a player and the scouting services screwed up on their evaluation of him. I think our issues are more than the fact that a walk on busted his ass to get a spot on the team and had enough drive to continue to push himself. He has had to work harder than everyone else but he gets dumped on like he's the reason our d sucks. He's one hell of a football player in my book. Edit: yes I'm talking about Kovacs.
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Blazefire

August 29th, 2010 at 5:46 PM ^

Who are you and what are you upset about? Did you mean to post this somewhere else? Is this in reference to a particular article or topic?

Or are you just spouting to spout.

Joined: 04/17/2009

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Stephen Y

August 29th, 2010 at 5:56 PM ^

Or Moundros?  Really though, MGoBoard should be left for more informational posts.  Posts like these should be posted in Diaries, where there is a character or word minimum to mitigate people just spewing random thoughts onto the internet.

Joined: 07/11/2008

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Irish

August 29th, 2010 at 5:52 PM ^

Not sure why you are so mad.  If it really matters the scouting services didn't make the player a walk-on, the 120ish D1 football teams did by not offering him a scholarship.

Joined: 06/05/2009

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jmblue

August 29th, 2010 at 9:31 PM ^

i think a guy named griese was a walk on.

It's the meme that won't die.  Once again, Griese was a regular recruit who committed after we'd run out of scholarships.  Moeller promised him one as soon as one opened up, and one did that fall. 

Joined: 11/07/2008

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MGoShoe

August 29th, 2010 at 5:54 PM ^

...is not a walk on.  He's a former walk on who has earned a scholarship because of his performance in games and on the practice field.  If the OP has any point, it's that it's time to stop assuming doom because Kovacs (and I guess Moundros because he's also a former walk on scholarship student-athlete) are likely to be defensive starters. 

Joined: 04/23/2009

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baorao

August 29th, 2010 at 6:13 PM ^

85 scholarships to give out, it kind of is. Its great for the player, but more often than not it really doesn't bode well for the team.

Joined: 08/08/2008

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goMichblue

August 29th, 2010 at 6:13 PM ^

I think that people make the assumption walkons rarely turn out to be very good starters.  Had a classmate who played O line for Purdue tell me that some of the teams best players are walkons/former.

Anyway you look at it, Kovacs and Moundros are high effort/talented/ and overall good football players.

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 112

umchicago

August 29th, 2010 at 6:39 PM ^

i don't begrudge any walk on working their tail off to earn a starting spot.  however, it's possible that we could have 3 walk ons (or former walk ons) starting on D.  that's disturbing to me.  add to the fact the several highly rated players who have failed or yet to prove themselves ahead of these walk ons is also disturbing to me.  there' s no getting around the fact that the coaches have misfired on their player analyses or have yet to "coach up" the talent they have.  they better coach em up this year.

Joined: 02/05/2009

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Garvie Craw

August 29th, 2010 at 6:41 PM ^

I was really ticked a couple of years ago when Blair White from MSU was carving up our secondary. A WALK-ON? But it turns out he was a good player. You just never know. Don't forget that Rich Rod was a walk-on, so I imagine he's not afraid to start one.

Joined: 06/30/2008

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Not a Blue Fan

August 29th, 2010 at 7:56 PM ^

Just so I'm clear on this, you're not mad that the defense is expected to struggle, instead you're mad that people are expecting the defense to struggle because there is a walk-on (who has earned a scholarship, as noted) starting? I think I see your point of view, but there's a subtle difference and I'm not entirely sure that I understand. I think your point about a walk-on outworking scholarship players is valid, but I think you should remember that he's won a starting job at a position of particularly shallow depth. If a walk-on had beaten out all of your scholarship RBs or WRs, I think that would be a hell of a lot more concerning.

Joined: 08/03/2009

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Magnus

August 29th, 2010 at 8:06 PM ^

I'm definitely more upset that our highly rated players haven't panned out.

However, this "He doesn't suck just because he's a walk-on" crap is a bit ridiculous.  The bottom line is that our defense was horrible last year and probably will be again this year.  It's not entirely coincidental that Kovacs (a starter) is a former walk-on and the defense sucks overall.  Better, more athletic safeties would be able to make plays that Kovacs can't.

Good for Kovacs.  He works hard, he's pretty good for a former walk-on, and I want him to be as successful as possible.  However, that doesn't change the fact that I want someone just as fundamentally sound but more athletic to beat him out ASAP.

Joined: 07/17/2008

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Blue boy johnson

August 29th, 2010 at 8:15 PM ^

I can't decide if Kovacs is a born again walk-on or a recovering walk-on. Either way, I have a dream that starters on our D are judged not by the # of stars on their profile but on their conduct on the gridiron. I hold these truths to be self evident.

Joined: 03/15/2009

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TESOE

August 29th, 2010 at 9:15 PM ^

he get's a pass on the freshman mistakes (being out of position on Darius Willis' 85 yard TD run)...but not on the lack of speed to catch his fellow freshman.

Joined: 09/21/2009

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Magnus

August 29th, 2010 at 10:12 PM ^

Exactly.

I think it's funny that a lot of people hold Vladimir Emilien's lack of speed responsibile for Carlos Brown's long TD run in the 2009 spring game . . . but they gloss over the fact that Kovacs had a good angle on Darius Willis and went from about 1 yard behind him to about 6 yards behind.  Willis is no slouch in the speed department, but Kovacs had an angle and still got torched.  I can't blame Michigan fans if they're not excited about having that kind of speed at safety for the next three years.

Kovacs has a role on this team, but I hope we have a better answer at safety.

Joined: 07/17/2008

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Blue in Yarmouth

August 30th, 2010 at 8:11 AM ^

I have a hard time believing anyone on this blog is very sincere with all this Kovacs love. Rather I think it is people just trying to convince themselves things aren't that bad.

No one here dislikes Kovaks, it is the fact that he is potentially going to start (a former walk-on) on the U of M defense. For anyone who follows football this is cause for concern. Kovacs simply doesn't have the athletic ability to perform the way UM need him to. Is there theie best option as of now? Perhaps. Is this cause for concern? Definitely.

If anyone can sit here and say that they are thrilled we have Kovacs as our clear starting Bandit for this season instead of say, someone far more athletic, I would say they are borderline insane.

I love Kovacs but I would prefer to have a better option at his position. Sorry.

Joined: 02/18/2009

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Geaux_Blue

August 30th, 2010 at 5:00 PM ^

it seemed this was as good a spot as any to post this - we have a very good set of walk-ons making some noise on offense as well. really pushing the team to be better by playing great in practice while some of the scholarship guys have been banged up... definitely worth noting

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