Rome Wrap: Defense
Obligatory Harbaugh item left out of yesterday's post
When in Rome, Jim Harbaugh sings operahttps://t.co/zYxpwc0NvT pic.twitter.com/rNbzMnVMe7
— The Detroit News (@detroitnews) April 28, 2017
Obligatory Waffle House Nation take
Steve Spurrier zings Jim Harbaugh over Rome trip: ‘That sounds like a recruiting advantage’ https://t.co/1n7ny2kPwf #GatorNation pic.twitter.com/7wDYoV4eGM
— SEC Country Florida (@SECCountryUF) April 26, 2017
I would have titled this article "Spurrier points out obvious thing," but I'm no good at headlines.
Defensive items
Mattison and Dline pic.twitter.com/bTWgnKke5S
— angelique (@chengelis) April 28, 2017
Status quo on the line, in which the starters are set in stone, Carlo Kemp is the only certain two-deep guy behind him, Mike Dwumfour is hurt, and nobody else draws serious mention. Baumgardner:
Michigan's going to have to get some really strong performances from its freshman defensive line class later this summer. Aubrey Solomon, Luiji Vilain, James Hudson, etc.
Because, right now, it still doesn't look like there's much consistency behind the top five of Rashan Gary, Maurice Hurst, Bryan Mone, Chase Winovich and Carlo Kemp.
Webb is hearing some of the same things we are about Dwumfour, at least:
Dwumfour has a great shot. They're calling him "a bigger Mo Hurst." The other payers rave about him too. But he was injured this spring and wasn't in on all the contact drills, so I'm not ready to call my shot there.
"Bigger Mo Hurst" is very much in the "Mike Hart, but fast!" vein of Fred Jackson hyperbole; I will take plain ol' Mo Hurst every day and twice on Saturday, thank you very much. Dwumfour was one of our key players going into spring, so for him to miss out on all the publicly available time is a major disappointment. At least the things we're hearing are still very good.
So. The two deep is going to feature a freshman nose tackle 99% likely to be named Aubrey Solomon and a freshman weakside end 99% likely to be named Luiji Vilain. If Michigan has to rely on them as much as they relied on Rashan Gary last year that's fine. Solomon is a five-star ready to chip in, and Vilain ended the year not far off from that status. Any injury to the starting line immediately puts Michigan in crisis mode.
This gap is the consequence of the collapse in Brady Hoke's recruiting after it became clear he was not Vince Lombardi and is the difference between Michigan right now and an elite program. It'll take another year or two before Michigan is stacked front-to-back with Harbaugh recruiting classes.
No changes or even much commentary on the linebackers. There's a top three; Webb asserted that he felt a final member of the two-deep would be arriving in fall with the rest of the freshman class. This is obviously not great news for the linebackers already on campus. They have sufficient numbers there that the backup situation will probably be fine; again this is a spot which will require another year or two before they have guys lined up three deep.
The slightly ominous noise you heard recently was Don Brown talking about the cornerbacks:
Michigan's defensive coordinator doesn't operate in coach-speak, the truth always seems to seep out -- whether he wants it to or not.
And when it came to the question of whether or not he's happy with where cornerback Lavert Hill is heading into Michigan's 15th and final practice of spring ball, he couldn't help but get real.
"No," Brown said Friday after Michigan's practice in Rome, a slight chuckle coming through in his voice.
Lavert Hill missed too much of the spring with minor injuries and the lack of talk about David Long is creeping towards worrying. (Long was one of a few players who did not make the Rome trip, FWIW.) Keith Washington following up that spring game with a major move in fall practice would be most welcome.
Meanwhile reports have Jordan Glasgow as Khaleke Hudson's backup at VIPER(!!!), which is sensible but a wee bit disappointing to your author after his strong performance in the spring game as a safety. He's second string at either position but at safety he is a potential dimeback* like Kinnel was a year ago. As the backup viper that's unlikely. Glasgow continued to impress observers in Rome, FWIW:
After a Brandon Peters 20 yard scramble for a TD... Jordan Glasgow makes a great play to pick off Speight pic.twitter.com/76mQmOfNhk
— Sam Webb (@SamWebb77) April 29, 2017
That is a diving INT on a crossing route, which you don't see every day. Webb noted that they're "thrilled" with Glasgow's emergence as the viper and that between those two guys they're set there. Furbush and Uche come in for mentions as well, which emphasizes the depth at that spot.
At safety the starters are locked in, and then like DL there are major question marks behind them. Michigan did get to see both freshman S as early enrollees, and the injury that held J'Marick Woods out of the spring game did not prevent him from practicing in Rome:
The J'Marick Woods rudely greets a jet sweep.... pic.twitter.com/rFO9N8HExc
— Sam Webb (@SamWebb77) April 29, 2017
Safety is almost the last place I want to see a freshman heavily involved—QB is #1—so even if Woods and Jaylen Kelly-Powell are promising I'm hoping their deployment is restricted to blowouts. Webb says Michigan will be monitoring grad transfers for a potential backup S—again, if Glasgow can play S it really feels like he should play S.
At least it seems like the starters should be high quality. Tyree Kinnel put in good work in 100+ snaps a year ago and Don Brown is super enthused about Josh Metellus, a "savant".
*[MGoBlog convention is that Michigan is a 4-2-5 base defense so this is equivalent to a nickelback in a 4-3. IE, the dimeback comes in on passing downs.]
Solitary special teams note
The Quinn Nordin bomb was no fluke:
He booted a few in practice today that looked like they'd have been good from 60.
I have to think he's Michigan's kicker next season. That basically looks like a 99 percent certainty.
Distance is about 20% of a kicker's value so let's not get ahead ourselves. #CollegeKickers is always a possibility. But we can say that Nordin has A+ upside.
Clark would be really, really helpful right about now.
He should have been made practice player of the week. He could have gotten that 6th year then.
Guy, dude, and now savant. I love Coach Brown.
I'm not worried about CB because there are plenty of bullets in the chamber. I'm starting to relax about safety because we at least have four players for three spots - much like the linebackers.
As for defensive tackle, I'm worried but you know the names there now - Mone/Hurst should be very good and Dwumfor/Solomon are unproven but have potential. Heck, you could even slide Gary inside to DT if you had to.
What freaks me out is DE, and I don't think this site has touched on it enough. Kemp is the only name we've even heard come up at DE. I'm less optimistic that Vilain can be viable in anything more than situational use than I am that Dwumfor/Solomon can be space eaters next to a proven veteran.
Look at OSU's depth chart on the D line in each of the last 3 years and you will find a very similar situation. They have been young and thin on the line and have been insanely good.
we';ll be better there than many currently think by mid-season. I think we'll view our receiving corp next season like we viewed those DL last year. As you say, it's a constant, and certain years, despite idealy always wanting a certain number at every position, that Sam Darnold, Fournetter, etc., come aloing and change your strategy, at least toward one position. Also one of the beauties of the sport i think, meeting new players each yr
is it doens't change your strategy since Derrius Guice is arguably a better RB than Fournette. Guice is really good. He probably is the best RB in the country along with Saquon Barkley.
we';ll be better there than many currently think by mid-season. I think we'll view our receiving corp next season like we viewed those DL last year. As you say, it's a constant, and certain years, despite idealy always wanting a certain number at every position, that Sam Darnold, Fournetter, etc., come aloing and change your strategy, at least toward one position. Also one of the beauties of the sport i think, meeting new players each yr
I logged on to state the same thing. Bosa and Hubbard and even back a few years with Spench and others. OSU was young and unproven last year and was good because of 1) young 4 and 5 start talent and 2) a (ugh) great coach. We have those same things now.
Look at how three OSU DBs get drafted in the first round despite very little experience.
I think we are worried mostly about health when we worry about our depth.
Wasn't "Mike Hart but fast" regarding Thomas Rawls?..
I thought Rawls was "Mark Ingram, but fast"
is that Fred Jackson was partially right. Rawls was horribly coached at Michigan and not given a true chance. After watching him at CMU (during my undergrad) and following him in the NFL, I would take him today over Ingram.
Glasgow's INT was not diving. The pass was so far behind the receiver that it was also behind Glasgow, hitting him near his back shoulder pad. Him turning to catch it and becoming off balance is what made him dive afterwards. Still impressive though.
reeling it in to his body. that was a heck of a pick on a ball that had some mustard on it, albeit behind the receiver some.
Talk of recruiting advantage is so stupid. So are weather, good looking coeds, winning, upgraded facilities, fancy dorms, good coaching staffs, and great education. Some schools provide some things, others don't.
The southern coaches (or former coaches) talking about unfair recruiting advantages provide some of the most ironic commentary in sports.
It's all the schools who lead in "impermissable benefits", who cry the hardest when we provide legal benefits they don't which are allowed by the NCAA.
Wonder why that is?
Yeah maybe we should decrease the size of The Big House while we're at it to level the playing field.
And superior academics...
Having differing learning opportunities is unfair; they should make it so that all schools are equal in the academic opportunities for their student-athletes. /s
This just in; all University of Michigan athletes, upon graduating, will receive a diploma with both University of Michigan and Michigan State University listed on them. The reason for adding Michigan State to the diploma is because if it were just the University of Michigan, it would be too great of a recruiting advantage.
The article uses "amazing," "terrific," and "fantastic" to describe Spurrier's comment. Looks like someone recently discovered thesaurus.com.
Yea it sounded like andrew assholeford had the problem with the overseas trip. It sounded to me like spurrior was poking fun at the ncaa. Maybe I am wrong, but it sure seemed to me assholeford was trying to create controversy that just was'nt there. Unless spurrior actually thinks the ncaa is stupid enough to take educational oppurtunities away from college students.
Trumpsaurus.
The NCAA rulebook should be increased by several thousand pages until all such advantages are removed, and then we can count on the NCAA to enforce these new rules rigorously and even-handedly so that each team's roster is the same and everyone goes 6-6 each year.
Rutgers....
I'm having flashbacks to "Harrison Bergeron" right now.
All Vonnegut references get instant +1 from me.
Spurrier's comments came across to me as sarcastic, especially the part about making a rule against it. The author clearly didn't take them that way.
in one of the many other threads covering this same subject, Miichigan has many advantages, especially over any other in-state program. He did not say
"unfair" and i don't think many people listen tio Spurrier any more, although I found many of the things he said very funny when he was a coach. Was it TN where they werjucational, uncultured football employees to bitch about one of the coolest things that's happened in college football, for the players, well since I've become a fan I would hope other schools could do the same.e burning books, and he said "the worst part was that 20 of them hadn't been colored yet"But I do recall him stating Harbaugh would not cheat and it would take some very anti-educational, uncultured people to speak against something so damn many feel so very positive about. I'm wonderinf what both, cuirrent parents and future M parents think about the trip.
The coaches will earn their pay this year. Having such a young team with so little depth is going to require more creativity and prudence in both calling plays and even running practice--how much to use the starters, how much to train the back-ups, etc.
We have major depth question marks at S, CB, DT, DE, TE (blocking), OT, and OG. And WR is pretty much a wide open race.
Looking forward to seeing how Harbaugh, Brown, Drev, Hamilton, et al. are able to balance the challenges of an inexperienced roster with their desire for complex schemes.
Why would a young guy like Long not make the Rome trip? Doesn't seem to make sense. Didn't he know the "optional" was in quotes?
Maybe final exams? Who knows
Exams, not getting a passport in time, family stuff happening stateside, etc. are all possibilities.
Sam Webb said four guys didn't make the trip; it's tough to get 100+ people across the world at the same time.
Spurrier is looking old. He is the biggest hypocrite out there. The one who would run it up on anybody and everybody back in the day.
to be FURIUS over Harbaugh who does everything BY THE RULES unlike the SEC who CHEATS
Waffle House Nation might be the greatest thing I've ever heard the SEC called. I'm definitely stealing that for the future.
Any injury to the starting line immediately puts Michigan in crisis mode.
That could be said for just about every position. The team is darn near close to having a veteran at every spot, and a forest of saplings on the bench.
They also feel that having first rate academics is an illegitimate recruiting advantage.
Very disappointed Marshall gets no talk. That is exactly the type/age of guy that should be a depth player at least on this year's line. Sounds like a washout.
The depth on DL is going to be an issue if there is any injury to the top 4. I still remember how badly play fell off when Glasgow went down late in 2015 and that DL had more depth than this one. November in the Big 10, if you are relying on these backups to play starter minutes it will be a problem.
Barring any new information or radical change in fall practice, washout is looking pretty much a lock here. It's too bad. Because the team could have really used him to be a major contributor this fall.
I feel confident we'll be fine at DL. There are enough good freshmen coming in, plus Dwumfour, Kemp, and maybe Johnson that it'll work out.
We really do have 2015 two game no Glasgow PTSD when the consensus is subbing an underperforming 4 star onto the two deep = crisis mode.
Michigan is 6-8 deep with good to great play depending on Dwumfour and performance of freshmen. It's going to be fine. Also if faced with a Tom Strobel at 3T-esque situation, Don Brown isn't going to be predictable and let people murder that spot.
All that said, if Marshall, Ron Johnson or someone turn into a player this summer, the line gets that much scarier. Hoping Johnson spends more time at end in fall camp and the position move was a "get enough bodies at DT" for spring thing.
At first I thought you were talking about Marshall the school and was like what in the heck is he talking about. Then I remembered Lawrence Marshall is still on the team. He is the new Freddy Canteen - the guy you forget about that is still on the team.
"Dwumfour has a great shot. They're calling him "a bigger Mo Hurst." The other payers rave about him too."
Zoinks! Hopefully the payers are keeping out of sight of any NCAA monitors!
dcontinuing to work hard and where that clumsiness might have been obvious in high school, also obvious were players like Peppers, Gary, Singleton, et. al., and of course, Coach Partridge. The point I'm trying to make and the kids use it every damn day and inasmuch as I haven't yet, don't think I will. But as obvious as PCC players becoming better due bioth to superior coaching and simply being pushed everyday by superior players until one day you start to win some of those battles and shit becomes clear, the same trabnsformation is taking placce right now in AA,k and in only two full seasons, Coach and staff are selling results and in EL they're back to selling dope. Pretty sure that's what Marcus said. I'm loving what this program is becoming.
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