michael onwenu

three for three [Patrick Barron]

This Week's Obsession:

Ten Michigan players were drafted and everyone's angry about it. Where do you fall on the "everything is fine" vs "panic and run around screaming" continuum?

Ace: Should we explain why people are angry? I’ve stayed off the internet this weekend and had no idea this was a thing.

David: Yeah, I missed why everyone is angry, too.

Brian: There's a combination of things.

  1. Josh Uche went in the second round and Michigan took heat for his low snap counts
  2. Michigan had the same number of draft picks as OSU and got nuked for the second consecutive year
  3. Bleed-over recruiting anger because the first round was 24 four or five star players and M hasn't recruited a four star defender.

Seth: Without looking I'm going to guess the responses to today's hello post for a 3-star cornerback from one of the biggest schools in the country will tell you all you need to know about the current fan zeitgeist.

Brian: So this weekend was a resurgence of the fanbase schism. Fun! But also what else we gonna talk about.

Ace: Ah. So the draft bit I think is most worth pointing out in this context is that, despite Michigan getting ten players off the board, Shea Patterson very much wasn’t one of them.

David: That's a very big point...I don't even think he signed a FA deal, yet?

Ace: He has not.

Brian:

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┻┳| •.•)  maybe the charting guy was

┳┻|⊂ノ     right about patterson

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Seth: Neither was Lavert Hill for whatever that's worth. This doesn't so much apply to Shea, but sometimes there's no accounting for NFL taste.

Ace: Hill got snatched up within hours (possibly minutes?) of the draft ending. Also: quarterback is a very important position.

David: Yeah, McKeon signed right after well...so, 12/13 guys had an NFL team by Saturday night.

Brian: Princeton's QB signed with Cleveland.

[Hit THE JUMP for, eventually, a rundown on where Michigan's players went in the draft, plus more of this.]

Called shot. [Eric Upchurch]

A series covering Michigan's 2010s. Previously: best blocks, the aughts.

Of course we would be the last to put out our all-2010s team. We meant to start with this episode but in the process of researching the OL a best blocks list was generated and had to be shared immediately.

Since it's a staff effort we decided these together and split the writeups. Then Brian got to 1200 words on Denard alone and we decided to split it into multiple posts. I'll note the author on each. On the methodology: instead of considering careers we will consider individual years, but the rule is we can only use a player once.

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FULLBACK

Khalid "Hammer Panda" Hill (2016)

BiSB

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We're told this inspired an entire Warcraft expansion

25 carries. 39 yards. 10 touchdowns. Simply glorious. The Hammering Panda was one of the most effective goal line and short yardage weapons Michigan has ever deployed. Virtually every Hill carry was a dive out of the I-formation. Everyone knew it was coming. And it was unstoppable. It was a simple matter of physics.

When he wasn’t vulturing touchdowns, he was a surprisingly nimble and sure-handed receiving option. He was also a plus blocker, especially in space—his +56/-10 UFR grade for the season has a lot of running in it, but it's also ten points higher than the next best total by a fullback this decade. His 13 touchdowns from scrimmage tied with Fitz Toussaint (2013) for the most scores in a season during the decade (non-Denard division)… on 41 touches.

Second Team: BEN MASON (2018)

If you were a running back for Michigan in 2018, your key was often pretty straightforward: follow Bench. Mason was a devastating lead blocker whose entire raison d'etre was to smash into things as hard as possible. As a ballcarrier, Mason accumulated a Panda-esque 33 carries for 80 yards and 7 touchdowns. He was occasionally deployed as a feature back in the red zone, a cruel decision that forced defenders to make some real choices about how they wanted to spend their afternoons.

Honorable Mention: 2017 Henry Poggi (+48/-20.5), 2015 Sione Houma (+46/-19.5), 2013 Joe Kerridge (+39/-14, person capable of pass blocking)

[After THE JUMP: Many names, few necks]

Done. [Patrick Barron]

This is a decennial series covering Michigan's last ten years that were. We could have made an all-2010s team and published it when everyone else did, but how MGoBlog would that be? This time we're doing this as a staff since one guy could forget. Previously: The aughts: ESPN Images, Michigan's offense, Michigan's defense, Worst Plays of The Decade Part 1, Worst Plays Part 2, Best Plays Part I, Best Plays Part II.

We figured the best way to lead off Of the Decade 2020 is with the guys carving out a path. Ten is a nice round number so we'll go with top ten blocks thrown from 2010-2019. These are ranked by gut because the only number you can put on something like this is on the UFR scale. Points are arbitrarily awarded for:

  • Defenders removed
  • Meanness of block(s)
  • General Splattitude
  • Significance of moment
  • Deservedness of recipient

Let us ruminate.

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10. EATING OUT

Dealer: Vincent Smith

Recipient: Troy Stoudermire

Scene of the Crime: First drive of 2012 Minnesota

We'll start with a shorty. Friend of the blog Vincent Smith was the best pass-blocking back at Michigan since Hart, and if we wanted to, this whole article could be #2 flipping blitzers. But then there was the time he got to split out wide and face a Minnesota cornerback. This is a thing spread teams do all the time to unbalance a defense and reveal their coverage, and usually means the back's job is done for the play.

Obviously Vincent was told his job is to bury the corner to clear space for a quick out to Kwiatkowski  He very much obliged:

smith-kills-corner-minn

CLONK-O-METER:

  • Defenders removed: 1
  • Impact: 0/5. There was no throw because—ah 2012—Mealer and Barnum screwed up a stunt, and had there been one it was going to be PI.
  • Meanness: 4/5. That's a cornerback man.
  • Splattitude: 3/5. I'm sure he remembers this. Probably felt it all game.
  • Karma: 0/5. Stoudermire holds the Big Ten record for kickoff return yardage, which he achieved before he was granted a 6th year. He was the only Big Ten-caliber player in the Gophers' back seven, had an injury history, was one of my many inspired late Draftageddon picks, and seems to be a good dude. Planting him like that was a dick move. (Not sorry)

[After THE JUMP: Pads recommended.]

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MOVE

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Stiff hips don't sink ships.