Defensive Changes Spotted
I know a couple members of the football support staff and spoke to one today about the defense...I was definitely happy to hear that a few changes or "test situations" were spotted on the field.
What I wanted to share was regarding sub packages, situational subbing and changes on the defensive side of the ball. Here are some things that ARE being worked on:
Defensive Line:
("Normal Downs")
WDE - Roh/Black (rotating)
NG - Martin
DT - Campbell
SDE - Van Bergen
("Running Downs")
WDE - Heininger
NG - Martin
DT - Campbell
SDE - Van Bergen
(Passing Downs)
WDE - Ryan
NG - Martin
DT - Van Bergen
SDE - Black
Linebackers:
("Normal Downs")
WLB - Hawthorne
MLB - Demens
SLB - Gordon/Ryan (rotating)
("Running Downs")
WLB - Gordon/Hawthorne (rotating)
MLB - Demens
SLB - Ryan
("Passing Downs")
WLB - Hawthorne/Jones
MLB - Demens/Jones
SLB - Gordon (remember, Ryan is at WDE)
I think this is a work in progress, and a lot depends on the health of Hawthorne and Cam Gordon...but it's good to see they're trying things and making personnel adjustments after the first two games. Not to say they weren't practicing these groups before, they were...just more time now. I personally think they're going to try a few "new" things over the next game or two to find out who can play and where he should be playing.
Sidenote: As Wolverines we don't want to be compared to a Buckeye...but when I heard about Ryan playing WDE in passing situations and asked about it, it was "yea, it's crazy, he looks SO much like Bobby Carpenter did late in his career at Ohio, SLB and rush DE on passing down with the locks flowing out the back. But the real similarity is that both are sound and smart players from Ohio who love to HIT!" I looked up Carpenter and they're similar height/weight wise too (I ALMOST said "and they're similar in size too).
September 14th, 2011 at 8:11 PM ^
I like that he is getting some love now ... Hopefully he builds off last game we will need him come B1G play
September 14th, 2011 at 8:17 PM ^
Im really excited to see what he brings to the table. He should be a very athletic LB, and I think he is compact enough to bring some powerful hits. He must have some talent because he had been at the top of the depth chart as long as they've had one.
September 14th, 2011 at 8:30 PM ^
Hoke said Cam is healthy now, but because of being out he's lost conditioning. So we shouldn't be surprised if he's worked back in gradually.
September 14th, 2011 at 8:35 PM ^
I think he could do a lot of Kovacs-like stuff in terms of blitzing/bluffing, and dropping back to get in passing windows. His safety skills should be great for those types of plays.
September 15th, 2011 at 6:15 AM ^
Did you watch last year? Back pedalling 40 yards from the LOS while a TE runs past you for a 90+ yard TD is not a skill.
September 15th, 2011 at 9:09 AM ^
dont talk about that.
September 15th, 2011 at 9:41 AM ^
That was more mental than physical. Plus he was a freshman. It still sucked, but I think he has potential. Tommy Hendricks and Cato June both made the change to LB in the NFL. Good to see this staff making the switch now, as opposed to leaving him at safety where he'd probably never be anything special.
September 14th, 2011 at 8:17 PM ^
Sad Roh is losing playing time. I had such high hopes this year for him.
September 14th, 2011 at 8:23 PM ^
He does deserve the loss of playing time though, doesn't he? I feel like he has been invisible in the last two games, which has been talked about countless times. Even when I've made an effort to watch his play, it greatly disappoints. I feel like Jibreel Black brings much more aggressiveness and speed to the table at that WDE position. I sincerely hope Roh steps up and becomes the playmaker people have always expected him to be...but I'm really starting to doubt it.
September 14th, 2011 at 9:02 PM ^
he has been invisible.. He hasn't made 1 tackle in either game
September 14th, 2011 at 10:36 PM ^
"Where'd that hit come from?"
September 14th, 2011 at 8:23 PM ^
He could still emerge. Everyone was pretty discouraged by the BWC situation just a few weeks ago.
September 14th, 2011 at 8:25 PM ^
He needed a redshirt year. He was thrown in the mix too soon.
September 14th, 2011 at 10:16 PM ^
I agree that it would have been better to have redshirted him in 2009, but I don't see how that affects him now.
September 15th, 2011 at 9:37 AM ^
I think it affects him now because he's had 1 less year in the weightroom. He has gained a bunch of weight, but learning to play with that extra weight takes time. Especially for a person Roh's height. It's hard to find your center of gravity and maintain your coordination when you're adding 20 lbs every summer.
September 14th, 2011 at 9:50 PM ^
If I recall Brandon Graham didn't have a sack until his 5th game of the season, now I know its different than tackles, but he ended up having a monster season regardless and was the Big Ten MVP, so lets give him a chance....
September 14th, 2011 at 8:20 PM ^
Why is Roh on normal downs if he's not on passing or running downs?
September 14th, 2011 at 8:42 PM ^
My guess it is because we have better pass rushers than Roh in Ryan and Black, however...you can't play Black over Roh in "normal downs" because he tends to over run plays and Roh is MUCH more fundamentally sound. He hasn't had a tackle, but he's at least been trying to do what he's supposed to do, just for whatever reason he hasn't been able to do it.
Roh is the "smarter/safer" choice, and I think he has to see the field in some capacity. You just don't want him in there on 3rd and short or 3rd and long. He's not going to lose contain like Black will, he's going to hold his man so Kovacs, Ryan, Hawthorne, etc. can blitz from the back 7 better than Black will. So he still has "value," if you will.
Hopefully that makes some sense. It's just my opinion, but after watching the first two games...I think that has to be the reason. We simply can't use Black all game...we'll get screen, draw, read-optioned to death. Black right now has one speed and one goal. That's full speed and get to the QB, obviously that's not the only role of a defensive linemen.
September 14th, 2011 at 8:49 PM ^
"black Will" ... I thought you were referring to BWC for a sec.
September 14th, 2011 at 9:17 PM ^
I quickly glanced at your post and immediately thought "OH SHIT! What have I done!?"
September 14th, 2011 at 8:23 PM ^
No more Brink switching out w/ Heiniger? Glad to see our scholarship players are finally turning it on! Good for BWC too. Love seeing him double teamed and two yards in the backfield.
September 14th, 2011 at 8:35 PM ^
Anytime you see Heininger, I think you can assume Brink is the backup right behind him. But Heininger is the clear #1 right now and Brink the clear #2. Just look at the first two games, Brink doesn't play as much as we thought he would a few days before the season began.
However, yes, you could put Brink behind Heininger wherever you Will's name listed. Even at WDE on "running downs" instead of Roh and Black.
Coaches were VERY disappointed with us getting hit in the mouth a couple times vs. ND and Roh and Black simply can't hold up against a power running play, and you know our obsession with running and stopping the "power play."
September 14th, 2011 at 8:32 PM ^
I thought Heiniger was a walk on too...
September 14th, 2011 at 8:32 PM ^
since he married a girl from my home town hell hole and they bought land in this shitty place. Plus he played for the cowboys. I expect more from Wolverines than that.
September 14th, 2011 at 8:44 PM ^
His Cowboys career went so well that he left being known as Barbie Carpenter by his teammates and coaches. lol
September 14th, 2011 at 8:48 PM ^
...does that help him?
September 14th, 2011 at 8:34 PM ^
Fantastic to see BWC starting and RVB getting kicked out to SDE where he belongs. Who does QWash back up now? Will or MM?
September 14th, 2011 at 8:47 PM ^
This isn't a depth chart...just groups that are getting a lot of PT right now. And likely some things they're going to try over the next couple weeks.
BWC has to practice better if he wants to start. One game isn't going to do it. Our staff believes that starting and playing in the game is the reward for a good week of practice. He hasn't practiced full speed or had great practices and that's why he seemed to be down on the depth chart.
I do think the media attention Hawthorne and Campbell are getting will help a little, but obviously the main thing will be the fact that when you watched them...they both truly played well on Saturday. Hawthorne has been hurt and Campbell hasn't practiced well, here's to Brandin being healthy and Campbell playing like he did on Saturday on Monday-Friday.
September 14th, 2011 at 8:39 PM ^
What's the deal? He hasn't done much in these two games.
September 14th, 2011 at 8:59 PM ^
I expect Craig Roh will rebound and have a really nice career at UM. He seems like a good kid who works hard and has his head on straight. I wonder if his recent illness is having some residual effects. I remember him showing such fire in last year's ND game, and this year he doesn't seem to have the same energy level.
September 14th, 2011 at 9:46 PM ^
So many allusions to his illness, but no specifics. Does anything know anything concrete? If in fact he had mono, which has been tossed around some here, then that should certainly be accepted as an excuse for a downturn in play. As somebody who had it a couple years after college, it took me a long, long time to feel myself, and I wasn't an athlete. I somehow missed getting it when my freshman roommate and another very close friend had it, and I pooh-poohed it as a nice excuse for a two-week vacation. But when I finally got it a couple years later, I had trouble lifting the NYC phone book to call my doctor, and later had trouble lifting a paperback or keeping my eyes open long enough in bed to read. A VERY boring couple of weeks, and another few months before I felt capable of going back to NYC to live on my own. And I didn't have to tackle anyone on Notre Dame's line.
September 14th, 2011 at 9:55 PM ^
said it isn't mono. He has had an infection and is still recovering.
September 15th, 2011 at 1:30 PM ^
I think we all need to give Roh a chance to heal up, and not be riding the kids back about his decent (not getting out of position) play while he has been sick. Here's to hoping he gets well.
September 14th, 2011 at 9:19 PM ^
taking this as gospel? No offense, but I could have posted line-ups with my bunghole at SDE. My bunghole doesn't lose contain
September 14th, 2011 at 9:36 PM ^
If that's the case, you must be one bloated and sore individual.
September 14th, 2011 at 9:41 PM ^
I just do a lot of squeezing and spilling
September 14th, 2011 at 9:50 PM ^
Some of this was already used...really the only new I put up there was Heininger/Brink playing some WDE.
Ryan has already been used some at WDE in passing rushing situations
RVB has already been playing some SDE with Campbell playing DT alongside Martin.
Hawthorne has already played and played well.
Mike Jones has been a little banged up (see Hoke's most recent presser).
Cam Gordon is finally back (see Hoke's most recent presser).
I think you're taking it like I just said we're starting Frank Clark, Q, Ash and David Cone.
September 15th, 2011 at 2:08 PM ^
I had thought that for passing downs Mattison usually switches into his Nickel or Dime package, which is based on a three man front? So Ryan is still playing the SAM position, and the WDE has been eliminated in favor of another Safety/CB covering a slot formation receiver. I just bring this up because I think it means Jake Ryan isn't trying to learn the skills of two positions, but maybe it's a moot point from a performance point of view. But I think it explains the "dissappearance" of Roh in everyone's perception. It's because Roh is pulled on obvious passing downs, not because he isn't skilled, but because his position does not exist in the formation/scheme called in those situations.
And as far as visibility goes, Mike Martin is quite reduced on the stat sheet, but I think it's because his job is not to compile stats, but to swallow up three OL or plug a gap with bodies such that the only path for the RB is into the Mike or Will's open arms. At least on running plays. So we might learn by the end of the season that Mattison's defensive scheme favors the LB's as far as the stat sheet goes, and specifically in regards to running plays. Not saying the DL won't end up penetrating and doing the job, but that will occur when the talent/execution on the opposite side fails, rather than just equalizes.
September 14th, 2011 at 9:31 PM ^
Im excited to see that package, Ryan, Gordon, and Hawthorne will be a great rush package that will give Roh some more 1on1's on the outside.
September 14th, 2011 at 9:36 PM ^
maybe your friend shouldn't be sharing team secrets to that friend of his that runs off and shares it with the online world??
September 14th, 2011 at 9:55 PM ^
All media has access to that info...
It's not like I put up the gameplan or the playbook. I'm not that connected and he wouldn't have access to that, I'll be the FIRST to admit that. And I wouldn't put it up even if I was BFF's with Coach Hoke and he shared it with me.
Any intern from the student paper, a GA for the equipment staff chasing around balls that go out of bounds, an assistant trainer on the sports medicine staff, a marketing coordinator taking pictures for a flyer...anyone that has access to practice could stand there and see who's getting a lot of reps on the field, who's starting, who's working together and share it. Yet none of those positions I just rattled off the top of my head would have any knowledge to the inner workings of our beloved football team.
September 14th, 2011 at 11:51 PM ^
Hawthorne really impressed me in the ND game... I mean, he wasn't perfect, but he showed some play-making ability, which is something that you can't say for any of the other WILL guys.
September 14th, 2011 at 11:55 PM ^
Yeah Brandon Herron really couldn't make any plays against Western...
September 15th, 2011 at 7:43 AM ^
NCAA said it didn't happen ..Michigan still gets the win and Western still gets the loss but no plays ever happened in that game...Seems strange ...
September 15th, 2011 at 1:33 PM ^
these aren't the plays your looking for [waves hand in front of top dog]. Nothing to see here, keep moving.
September 15th, 2011 at 1:45 PM ^
Mr. Yost, would love to know if Q and/or Ash will ever make a contribution -- especially considering depth next year. And how soon will Countess see the field? He seems to have elite talent.
September 15th, 2011 at 2:38 PM ^
As for Q and Ash, I haven't the slightest...maybe some of our vets or some of the moderators can shed some light on this, I'd be interested to know as well. I do know Q is still playing too high, he got belted to the ground and pancaked at least once during the ND game.
As for Countess, his time is coming. I think it's just a matter of they haven't had the need to play him. They've gone with 3 CBs and 3 S's in their dime package in Avery, Woolfolk, Floyd...Gordon, Robinson and Kovacs. Countess seems to be the #4 CB from everything I've seen and heard. I know he's practicing pretty well and personally *opinion alert* I think he plays this weekend vs. EMU.
I remember Donovan Warren, Leon Hall and Marlin Jackson all coming in highly regarded...people kind of asked "where are they" and then halfway through the season each one of those guys helped us win a game. I think Countess is right there. I look for him to get some PT over the next couple weeks and then be ready for the Big Ten season. Hopefully he can get some PT over Floyd who's just be "okay" and over Woolfolk who we'll need to be healthy for the B1G season.
I'd be interested to see if Raymon Taylor and/or Gregg Brown get some PT as well. These next two games are going to be VERY telling. Home games, a bad MAC team having a good year so far, a good Mountain West team having a "meh" year.
September 15th, 2011 at 5:18 PM ^
Nice to see Will Campbell showing up in the depth chart. He played very well in the 2nd half of the ND game and seemed to fire up the defense while he was at it. A fumble recovery and blew up some plays at the line of scrimmage.
Comments