Safeties Moore & Paige w/ minor injuries, Sabb Stepping Up
Didn't see this posted yet but we may be without our starting safeties for week one against ECU. This story reports that Keon Sabb seems to be stepping up and is ready to fill the spot when needed.
August 29th, 2023 at 11:13 PM ^
Sure hope these boo boos are not lingering.
After reading the article, it's good to see young guys are looking good according to the coaches, good for quality depth.
August 30th, 2023 at 8:29 AM ^
Certainly need the starters healthy for this team to max out its potential. As long as they return good to go, some extended run for the younger guys against this non-conference slate could be very beneficial.
August 30th, 2023 at 11:00 AM ^
Well, if Boo Boo is lingering, you know Yogi Bear is out there, somewhere, and he's coming for your picnic basket.
August 29th, 2023 at 11:16 PM ^
The injury situation at DB overall is a bit iffy. Will Johnson is also working through something, and obviously Amorion Walker has been out.
The competition for WR3 will also be interesting as Tyler Morris and Payton O'Leary have been banged up.
August 30th, 2023 at 12:37 AM ^
Speaking of WRs, any word on what’s going on with Clemons?
Have barely heard his name mentioned. It seems like after Roman, CJ, and Morris, the 3 freshmen have been getting mentioned next and Clemons name has largely been absent. I wonder if it’s injury, attempted motivation, or it’s just not happening?
August 30th, 2023 at 6:34 AM ^
Pretty sure he has been banged up this fall too.
August 30th, 2023 at 4:39 PM ^
“The freshmen. Semaj Morgan, Karmello English, Fredrick Moore. Those guys have had a really good camp,” wide receivers coach Ron Bellamy told the media on Wednesday. “Tyler (Morris), Darrius (Clemons), Peyton (O’Leary), everyone stepped up and I’m excited. I’m excited for those guys to get an opportunity on Saturday to showcase what they’ve done on campus.”
August 29th, 2023 at 11:20 PM ^
The Peacock curse
August 29th, 2023 at 11:48 PM ^
Let’s just be glad it’s not the Burrow curse.
No reason to alter the direction of the universe right now.
August 30th, 2023 at 8:35 AM ^
The Burrow Curse has been happening for a few years now on the Buckeyes. It is an absolutely devastating curse and the facts bear it out. We are still trying to study and get a grasp on it.
Officials have announced a nationwide test of the emergency alert system because of it at 2.20pm on October 4th.
August 29th, 2023 at 11:40 PM ^
This just feels weird. Coaches are out, players are out.. I mean East Carolina does have some talent. This whole lead up to the game is giving me some bad vibes and it all started with that bullshit peacock nonsense..
August 29th, 2023 at 11:46 PM ^
Really? I thought about the app st game and this ain't that. Relax.
August 30th, 2023 at 10:35 AM ^
This is exactly what people said to me when I was panicking in 2007.
Although yeah, I will say ECU in 2023 is not nearly as good as the 3x defending FCS champs.
August 30th, 2023 at 12:04 AM ^
This group isn't a bunch of don't give a shit types like the no leadership group from 2007.
August 30th, 2023 at 1:24 AM ^
@FranzWagner Seems a little harsh. They lost some games they should have won in '07 and that sucks, but doesnt mean they had bad character.
August 30th, 2023 at 7:42 AM ^
When was the last time you saw Franz have anything to say about whatever that wasn't divisive in some way? Dude sits in his Mom's basement and troll's the board...
August 30th, 2023 at 10:32 AM ^
The entire team tried to see how high they could get and still win the game. I would say there was a lack of leadership.
August 30th, 2023 at 3:35 AM ^
Mike Hart was a captain on that team, so just stop
August 30th, 2023 at 12:05 AM ^
hol up … might have more pearls you can clutch somewhere
August 30th, 2023 at 12:19 AM ^
I'm not taking it that far...but I do wonder if we're being insanely cautious and looking ahead towards the end of the season. We were banged up last year and I've had a feeling that we're going try to load manage our way through the first 9 games.
I don't love that approach, I'd prefer to go full throttle and then get the backups in. We have to build chemistry and rhythm and that requires playing time together.
For me, this is truly a "trust the coaches" moment.
I'm not going off the deep end, I'm just a little concerned about how we're balancing risk and health with chemistry and cohesion.
August 30th, 2023 at 10:35 AM ^
We're not going to go the whole year without injuries. Get the guys in for snaps when mistakes are much less likely to impact the final outcome. I'm generally of the opinion that if we start a back up (or backups) and still win, it is a significant net positive due to experience gained.
August 30th, 2023 at 1:55 AM ^
Orrrrr our non conference opponents aren’t very good and rather than ask guys to play through injuries we are trying to get them healthy AND allowing guys behind them to develop some valuable in-game experience to build towards a healthy and deep roster later in the year.
no one is overlooking ECU, I can assure you of that. First game of the season for a team with championship aspirations. Also if you haven’t been paying attention ECU was 4-4 against .500 teams last year, lost to 4-8 Navy, lost 42-3 to Houston, their best win was Coastal Carolina and lost almost all of their good players to portal and graduation.
if ECU can stop this offense and score on this defense with regularity the season was “Tucked” (new trademark term, thanks Sparty) from the beginning and also I’ll eat a bag of lemons
August 30th, 2023 at 7:54 AM ^
This is such a bad take. Some people should not be allowed to watch football
August 30th, 2023 at 4:41 PM ^
Its rare that a post applies to itself as equally as the post it replies to...
August 30th, 2023 at 10:01 AM ^
I get that people see "team from North Carolina in the first game of a new TV partnership playing a UM team with NC aspirations" and get spooked but...ECU ain't App St. and this UM team is better than that 2007 squad. I do think it might not be as much of a cupcake game as the OOC last year but this isn't a situation to be worried about. And honestly, these guys sitting out feel a bit like precautions moreso than long-term injury concerns.
August 30th, 2023 at 4:11 PM ^
The gigantic difference here is that UM's defense actually has some clue on how to defend a spread offense now. And this team is flat out better than 2007 talent wise as a whole.
August 30th, 2023 at 12:39 AM ^
"At safety, both Makari and Rod have both had some things that they are working through," Harbaugh said. "Keon Sabb has gone straight to the top. Amazing player who has really come into his own. He did last year on special teams. We didn't play him enough, in my opinion, at safety but he's gotten a ton of reps. Starter-quality player, no question."
August 30th, 2023 at 12:42 AM ^
Fun l From Minter...
"I think a couple of the young safeties, Keon Sabb and Zeke Berry are guys that are going to get some run," Minter said. "I'm excited about their progress. Basically took a freshman year, played and got a little taste of it in some of the earlier games and continued to learn, continued to get better in the spring. They both have made really big jumps, even since spring which is exciting. Kind of what you expect from younger players. Those two guys in particular, just excited to see what they are able to do now in front of 100,000 people."
August 30th, 2023 at 6:00 AM ^
Hill Green was working through something and we saw how that worked out. Coach speak from Harbaugh scares the shit out of me. We have 3 weeks for camp boo boos to heal, if that’s all they are. Walker being on crutches doesn’t exactly scream day to day.
August 30th, 2023 at 6:29 AM ^
Holy shit BPONE has destroyed you all lol. While we do not know the severity of the injury, it makes complete sense to not take chances against a OOC schedule that is to the likes of Groves High School.
August 30th, 2023 at 1:38 PM ^
BPONE =/= anxiety and worry. BPONE is more like, "Of course they got injured. Whatever. We're going to be terrible anyway." Nothing wrong with worrying about both starting safeties out. Hopefully it's precautionary.
August 30th, 2023 at 7:19 AM ^
Thought the same thing. Hope not.
August 30th, 2023 at 7:25 AM ^
Walker’s on crutches? Dang, that sucks. Hopefully it’s a 4-6 week thing and he can be in shape by the Minn game.
August 30th, 2023 at 9:04 AM ^
I also think this is something to watch for due to the lack of confirmation or transparency regarding health statuses of some players last year. I mean, as long as the players know who's going to be starting/playing, whatever but it would be nice to know what to expect instead of the hearsay that gets thrown around.
In any case, Sabb and Berry were some of my favorite recruits and I'd like to see what they can do on the field. I don't know if Walker's timeline is really on track after the position switch like many thought it would do even when he was healthy and playing i.e. spring game. More than anything, I hope they can find a solid and consistent back 4 or 5 DBs who gel and communicate as needed.
August 30th, 2023 at 10:08 AM ^
Walker never struck me as a likely starter at DB this year; he's an athletic guy but going from WR to DB is hard enough and there are guys ahead of him on the depth chart that I have to believe are better options.
Hill-Green is an obvious example of a guy who got hurt and never came back but we haven't heard a ton of camp talk about the two safeties missing meaningful time during practice. It was a year ago so I don't remember all the details but Hill-Green talk was also about how he wasn't really practicing either, which wasn't a great sign.
I do think people should be concerned until they're not but especially with basically a month before playing anyone of note guys are going to be in and out of the lineup for both real and precautionary reasons.
August 30th, 2023 at 6:32 AM ^
Hopefully it’s nothing more than day to day. Safety is one position that Michigan can’t afford to take serious hits to its depth.
August 30th, 2023 at 7:05 AM ^
What? Safety IS one position we can afford to take a hit. We are deep as fuck there imo. Everywhere on D except CB.
August 30th, 2023 at 7:20 AM ^
Deep as fuck? Who behind Moore and Paige are you so confident about? If either one goes out for an extended period I'd be worrying more than just a little.
August 30th, 2023 at 7:46 AM ^
Keon Sabb and Zeke Berry. The coaches have said they're ready to step up - and the coaches have built a National Championship caliber team. So I'll believe them until such time as I cannot based on future demonstrated reliability.
August 30th, 2023 at 7:53 AM ^
I guess my definition of deep as fuck is just a bit different. Those guys may be ready and capable, but we've seen nothing from them so far.
Deep as fuck, to me, would be we have proven back-ups who have played significant snaps - which we do not have at the moment. Not saying these guys are scrubs, we just haven't seen anything from them to warrant me feeling S is a deep position is all.
August 30th, 2023 at 8:07 AM ^
Do you want significant snaps of people who have shown that thier below average, or no snaps of borderline 5* guys who have been raved about for over a year and have been waiting behind NFL caliber vets?
Were more than fine at safety. I hate it when people think just because we have guys as backups that have had playing time, were fine. It does NOT mean that they are good.
August 30th, 2023 at 12:32 PM ^
I am fine with the caliber of our backups, I never said I wasn't. All I am saying is to say we are 'deep as fuck' at safety is a bit much.
But yeah if we lose Rod Moore I am not as confident in our S back-ups as I would be if say, an OL went down for significant time. Not because I think they are bad, but simply because they are unproven is all.
Getting killed here for thinking deep as fuck means we should have proven backups not just kids who were good recruits but haven't played - then again that is what I love about this fanbase!
August 30th, 2023 at 9:07 AM ^
Literally the two people mentioned above.
August 30th, 2023 at 7:24 AM ^
The only proven safeties on the roster are Moore and Page. The guys behind them might be good, but have yet to show it on the field. Safety is a very cerebral position where physical talent is not a reliable predictor of success. I think you’re probably right that M will turn out to be deep at the position, but at present the only people who know that are the coaches and players and whatever they say must certainly be taken with a giant bowl of salt.
August 30th, 2023 at 7:53 AM ^
that probably can be said of vast majority of positions on any teams. In 2023 college football, rarely you have proven veteran players behind your starters as they would've transfered to start somewhere else.
August 30th, 2023 at 8:42 AM ^
Right. And the vast majority of college football teams are not deep AF at safety.
August 30th, 2023 at 4:19 PM ^
I mean the majority of teams do not have guys as talented as Sabb and Berry behind their starters whether they have experience or not. Quite frankly guys with experience regulated to backup spots tend to be guys who are backups because they have shown they are not that good. Virtually no one in college football has the luxury of backups having alot of experience who have shown to be good players, even most top teams, but UM is definitely deeper than most at certain spots when it comes to the raw talent available. That to me does mean you are deep in college football at a position.
August 30th, 2023 at 9:29 PM ^
I was responding to a guy who said M is “deep as fuck” at safety.
M might be deep AF at safety. Heck, for all I know Sabb and Berry could be the second comings of Sean Taylor and Ronnie Lott. But none of us knows that because we are not coaches or players and we have not seen those guys play meaningful snaps against collegiate competition. They are unproven players. Unproven players with talent, perhaps, but unproven nevertheless. So there is not sufficient evidence from which to declare that M is deep AF at safety. That other teams may be similarly situated, or even less-well-situated, is beside the point.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t good reasons to be optimistic about M’s young prospects at the position or that M won’t prove to be deep AF at safety once the season gets going. But anyone declaring M deep AF at safety now, without having seen the backups in action, is just talking out of his ass.
August 30th, 2023 at 9:28 AM ^
Spot on. Good safeties wipe out big plays and poor safeties create big plays - it’s that big a difference and it only needs to happen 2-3 times to totally change a ballgame. Moore is a great example: He is very savvy on the back end and such a good tackler that fans tend to miss the fact that he makes an excellent play at 10-15 yards downfield to avoid 50+ yd touchdowns.
I don’t think it will matter in this game. It creates some risk with the CB shakiness in week 1, but the young guys are talented and need a lot of reps to develop into reliable safeties before the top teams on the schedule.
August 30th, 2023 at 12:07 PM ^
A giant bowl of salt implies that it should be taken very seriously, not the way you intended... Grain of salt...