Spring Football Bits is Suad Goals
This has got to be our last one right? Here’s the offense, but I have some late-breaking bits to add. Some of that was from Steve Lorenz and Brice Marich on their recent podcast. The rest was from Harbaugh, either speaking to the Detroit Athletic Club, or when sharing the same information on Jansen’s pod that only us bits reporters listen to, and you don’t have to because one of those reporters is tireless transcriber Isaiah Hole of WolverinesWire. I left 90% of it at the link because you should be reading him.
- QB: Via the DAC, Harbaugh seems legit excited for Cade. Villari’s playing some special teams. Harbaugh mentioned a special Run QB package for him.
- RB: Corum and Haskins are co-starters, expect some Edwards packages. (via both Pod, DAC)
- WR: Roman Wilson was banged up this spring, via the 24/7 podcast.
- TE: Just gonna quote the DAC guy: “Erick All has really elevated himself. He’s a great catcher. Specifically said that he would be disappointed if he didn’t get 70-75 targets this year. Also mentioned he could really block.”
- OL: This is all from the pod: Zinter, Hayes, and Stueber have locked in OL jobs. Barnhart, Keegan, Filiaga, Vastardis, Rumler, and Trente Jones are the others in the mix, and Crippen got himself on the two-deep then Atteberry asserted himself. Lorenz said it felt like to him that Zinter’s heading towards starting there, and that Keegan is probably the leader at left guard. He too heard Willie Allen leaving was about getting passed by Trente Jones($), something I was guessing at earlier. Harbaugh admitted they have a scoring system for the OL and the versatility means they think they’ll end up going with the five highest scores.
- In general: A lot of players missed time for contact tracing, some quite a lot of it. Nothing to be done.
The most interesting bit is Andrew Vastardis isn’t among the locks (and presumably not one of the top five scores). I agree with Lorenz: that can only mean they really want Zinter to pick up center. Gun to my head, the starters against WMU are (L->R) Hayes-Keegan-Zinter-Stueber-Barnhart, with Jones a darkhorse to pass Barnhart.
The parts about All are nice but probably just mean he’s still the starter. The stuff about Villari garners attention because he’s a quarterback, but it’s not hard to read this one: 1) Harbaugh likes how Villari practices and wants to reward it, and 2) They had three scholarship QBs this spring, two teams in the spring game, and most of the family members who saw practice couldn’t tell you much more of what they saw than who was under center.
Let’s do the D.
[After THE JUMP]
Defense Overall
What we want to hear:
closing off this childrens' playground until i am done filming parkour montage which i will use as psychological warfare against my landlord
— wint (@dril) September 5, 2012
What we’re hearing: My practice observer said they’re a LONG way from that. There was a lot of confusion on both teams on where they were trying to get lined up. The Blue team (coached by Gattis and Macdonald) was burning clock between snaps, possibly to let the defense figure it out.
He said what stood out to him is Macdonald is featuring his best player’s skills. This (my fault—I made an ass of ume) turned into a conversation about Dax Hill and things the Ravens wanted to do with Earl Thomas, but then he came back to this and said really he meant if you squint at the “OLB” position and imagine Aidan Hutchinson back there, that’s what he meant.
The only valuable thing I got from the insulting spring video is a tiny bit more evidence that “Multiple” means they’re a 3-4.
Mike Morris (#90), previously an SDE, and Caden Kolesar (#35), a safety, are on the wings, with Jaylen Harrell (#32), an OLB/DE next to him (his arm is behind Kolesar in the still). Then Harrell comes.
What it means: It would have been nice to see the whole coverage but this is what they’re talking about with the “multiple” approach. Like the Ravens have for most of the last decade, I think Michigan wants to start with a lot of beef on the line of scrimmage. Most of the time that will mean three guys at 300 pounds or more lined up somewhere from one offensive tackle’s outside shoulder to the other’s. One of the more common alignments will be this:
In some nickel situations the nose will come out for what’s technically a 2-4-5, like Wisconsin does. Since the two “outside linebackers” are indiscernible from 4-3 defensive ends, you can just call it a nickel. In other nickel situations they’ll remove an inside linebacker, and you’ll get the 5-1-5. They’ll also have a dime where two of the big heavies are lifted, and we’ll call it a 1-5-5 even if it’s the same exact people Don Brown had on the field for his 3-3-5.
Defensive Tackle
Local bear Mazi Smith had the right defense come to him. [Patrick Barron]
What we want to hear:
" And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. " pic.twitter.com/CUq8FtiQ3s
— wint (@dril) December 19, 2017
What we’re hearing: Michigan offered Illinois State transfer DT who chose Arkansas a few days later. It’s of interest only because this was the first name Michigan’s been associated with in the DT portal since making at run at PSU’s Antonio Shelton, but shows they still very much want help. I’m not going to get angry about the fact that Minnesota, Northwestern, and USC, all excellent academic institutions, don’t seem to have a problem with transferring credits from Clemson, Old Dominion, and Alabama, which are academic institutions.
Okay I am.
Sam Webb collated his defensive line notes($) into one insider article that focuses on Mazi Smith (had a solid spring), Hinton, and Jeter as the only scholarship DTs getting discussed, with walk-ons Jess Speight and Joey George apparently ahead of the rest. ITF agrees re: Smith:
This source was really impressed with defensive tackle Mazi Smith, too, saying he did a really nice job plugging the holes on the interior gaps. He also felt the Blue team had the more experienced guys up front, one of the reasons Cade McNamara had a better day Saturday.
The name not getting much mention all spring was Julius Welschof, at least until Harbaugh went on the Jansen pod:
“There’s guys like Mazi Smith – you talk about ascending really, really doing well. Mazi, Chris Hinton, Julius Welschof, Kris Jenkins, Jess Speight, Joey George had a heckuva good spring. And Donovan Jeter – veteran guy, staring at defensive tackle. That interior defensive line is really, really coming along. As I said, Mazi had a heckuva spring, and so did Chris and then the young players like Julius Welschof, Jenkins, to go along with Donovan Jeter. Feel like we’re getting stouter in the middle as well.”
Jack Stewart hasn’t been heard from since moving from guard.
What it means: It’s nice to hear Kris Jenkins has grown enough that he’s mentioned with the tackles, since that’s where his upside’s up, and we weren’t hoping for more than that this year. Welschof was coming along in Don Brown’s system, and you’d think a guy who was on the field as a 3-tech in that defense would translate to an off-tackle spot in this one. It makes more sense when you consider the Ravens have had a 350-pound dude as their off-tackle the last five years.
Clearly they’re worried about this position, especially regarding depth. They’ll keep working the transfer market, but if any of the freshmen can play they’ll be on the field.
Projected depth chart: I’ll make a box.
| Left Tackle | Nose Guard | Right Tackle |
|---|---|---|
| Chris Hinton | Mazi Smith | Donovan Jeter |
| Jess Speight | Chris Hinton | Joey George |
| Julis Welschof | Jack Stewart | Kris Jenkins |
Defensive End/OLB
Butts wanted. [Barron]
What we want to hear:
there is no such thing as a baby animal. they are all adults from birth. sorry if my opinion offends you
— wint (@dril) July 10, 2015
What we’re hearing: Aidan Hutchinson has been out this spring with last year’s broken ankle, so that’s why we’re not hearing much from him. Nobody on the yellow team (Morris, Harrell) got to McNamara in the spring game but David Ojabo and Taylor Upshaw “made things uncomfortable”($) for JJ McCarthy, though against mostly 2nd string OL. Upshaw got a few bat-downs my guy said.
Jaylen Harrell stood out to Sam Webb’s insider($):
The player I heard the most about in the front seven was Jaylen Harrell. He had a good day from his OLB spot. Really physical. He can rush the passer, but is comfortable standing up.
The other guy he’s hearing about a lot is Mike Morris at DE. It seems he was responsible for batting as many as four of McNamara’s passes. Rivals says Morris is OMG shirtless($)-ripped.
Jansen said on his podcast that he was “seeing” David Ojabo. It’s more interesting to me that Harbaugh mentioned the defensive ends first when asked about young guys stepping up: about young guys stepping up:
“Taylor Upshaw, Mike Morris, David Ojabo, Gabe Newburg, Jaylen Harrell and Braiden McGregor – those are players that were defensive ends that now are stand-up outside linebackers. Really, it fits their ability, fits their talent and I saw them make huge strides. Talk about their energy, talk about the fun of those guys – all young players, all ascending players in a new role that all really had good springs. That’s probably the best example.
What it means:
i have trained my two fat identical sons to sit outside of my office and protect my brain from mindfreaks by meditating intensely
— wint (@dril) November 15, 2013
Harbaugh mentioned everybody. Upshaw, Morris and Newburg were guys Don Brown meant to grow into Anchor types once they grew some butts. Ojabo, Harrell, and McGregor were the more hybrid OLB/DE types who stood to benefit most from the move to a 3-4. The emergence of Mike Morris here was unexpected because I thought of that guy as a potential Chris Wormley.
I have a guess why we’re hearing more about big guys, and it goes back to those Ravens fronts. Baltimore’s method of moneyballing the salary cap has been to skimp on elite pass rushers:
While the Ravens allowed their productive pass-rushers to hit the open market, PFF’s Research and Development team was finalizing their thoughts on the actual value of pass-rushers, especially when compared to coverage players. Depending how much you were taught that football is won in the trenches, the results may have been counterintuitive, as strength on the back end proved to be more valuable than getting after the quarterback, and the Ravens’ team-building effort appeared to be following a similar blueprint.
The short version is the OLBs have to be excellent run-stopping edge defenders first, because they’re already positioned so that a B-level pass rusher can pick up plenty of sacks. My HTTV article gets into the why and what for, but I want you to start envisioning in your mind players like Aidan Hutchinson and Kwity Paye, not Jake Ryan or Josh Uche, as the ideal “OLB” in the new Michigan defense.
Projected depth chart: In order (side doesn’t matter yet): Hutchinson, Upshaw, Morris, a tie between Harrell/Ojabo, McGregor, Newburg, but in reality this is like a classic American League pennant race where the Yankees and Red Sox are locks to take the AL East and Wild Card berths, and there are five other teams going into September within three games of the other two division titles.
Linebacker
Who says hybrids aren’t in fashion anymore? [Bryan Fuller]
What we want to hear:
eating 1/2 lb of beef boulougnase and getting roid rage from it
— wint (@dril) December 6, 2016
What we’re hearing: Sam Webb wrote ten days ago that Michigan was “giving chase” in the hunt for Tennessee transfer LB Henry To’oto’o, but looks like they’ll finish third behind Ohio State and Alabama. The 24/7 staff believe Junior Colson “could be a star in the making” after a spring, with one of Sam Webb’s sources predicting All-American before he leaves.
Harbaugh had praise for his senior on the Jansen pod:
“Before we leave the defense, Josh Ross is also that kind of class, I would put him in there up with Aidan Hutchinson. Mike Barrett had an extremely good spring. Some real good, young linebackers came to the floor: Nikhai Hill-Green, Kalel Mullings and then mid-year freshman Junior Colson stood out.
That list does not include Cornell Wheeler or erstwhile viper Anthony Solomon. Also 2021 LB recruit Tyler McLaurin, whose season just wrapped up, is hearing there’s a chance he could contribute early this fall.
What it means:
pissing in to the toilet without getting over 10% of it on the floor and legs is Suad goals
— wint (@dril) April 25, 2021
This is about as bad as the talk can be without actually saying anything bad. Josh Ross really came apart last year and not acknowledging it makes me fear that’s because they don’t see a substantially different player. It’s clear he’s locked down his starting spot though, so they don’t much like what else they have. Barrett was the natural WLB candidate as last year’s Viper starter, but this is a much less straightforward role. It’s good that Colson is competing early, but when you read a true freshman’s on the two-deep before he’s supposed to be out of high school, that’s not great for anyone behind him. Also when the program thinks it has something to offer over two programs that can promise to be in the playoff, what else can that something be but a starting spot?
Projected depth chart: Again, an order because the positions are interchangeable: Josh Ross, Michael Barrett, please send help, Junior Colson, Nikhai Hill-Green, please help, Kalel Mullings, re-reading Jaydon Hood’s profile, watching Tyler McLaurin games, and the hope that this was a normal cost of this specific transition.
Safety & Nickel
Preparing for takeoff. [Bryan Fuller]
What we want to hear:
the games they're putting out these dsys. Damn. Theyre so good that you never even see gamers with depression anymore
— wint (@dril) July 26, 2018
What we’re hearing: Sam Webb’s been hearing Dax Hill’s been all over the place($).
What was most interesting was his usage. He played a lot of nickel today. I’m told he made five or six plays all from the nickel spot. It makes sense to use him there to take advantage of his outstanding versatility and the abundant talent in the safety room as a whole.
Multiple observers mentioned he jumped a route but dropped the INT. My friend said Dax has been doing “Peppers things.” That seems to track with ITF’s observation:
Dax Hill is going to be a stud. He was used in so many different ways, be it in the slot, or in nickel formations, setting the edge and making hits in the run game, and coming up in run support.
Brad Hawkins missed a bit of practice with an injury so RJ Moten (at strong safety) got some opportunity to earn a spot in the rotation with Makari Paige (at free). ITF notes the emergence of these guys is what’s allowing Dax to play more nickel.
Harbaugh in the Jansen pod:
“Dax Hill and Brad Hawkins – other guys that lead by example, had extremely good springs. Young safeties really asserted themselves. RJ Moten and Jordan Morant and Caden Kolesar and Makari Paige are all ascending as well on that defensive side.
What it means: There’s less nothing than the usual nothing being said here, but RJ Moten coming along enough that they’re comfortable playing three safeties is good news for him. Names not mentioned when Johnny Kolesar’s kid made this bits twice are probably not happening anytime soon.
Projected depth chart: Dax Hill and Brad Hawkins, with Paige and Moten the guys coming in when they play three safeties.
Cornerback
What we want to hear:
they should make dunce caps that have positive reaffirming words on them, like "speed demon" or "Wolf"
— wint (@dril) July 3, 2014
What we’re hearing:
i try to have fun on here, i try to post something nice, and all of you freaks brutally piss all over me. Im done
— wint (@dril) March 31, 2018
Sam says Gemon Green has been the best corner in camp($), to the point where they’re pulling him to give younger guys more reps. Further evidence that he’s #1 with a bullet: Green got to represent the defense to the media, said the new coaches expect different things, that Linguist is teaching more NFL skills. There’s usually not much to learn from these, but Gemon is clearly new to it, which unintentionally created the most genuine five minutes from the program all offseason:
More Gemon please.
Meanwhile DJ Turner is coming for Vincent Gray’s job—from everybody it’s been neck and neck with the advantage Turner. Those three are clearly the top three corners. Isaiah Hole’s editorial thoughts on why he chose Gray over Turner on his depth chart are a good rundown of the battle in general:
Gray’s return as a starter isn’t as set as Green’s, especially with reports DJ Turner has really stepped up his game this spring. But Gray also improved in 2020, though it wasn’t nearly as apparent as it was for Green. The turnover in coaching doesn’t help Gray’s case either, as there are fresh eyes both at his position as well as at defensive coordinator.
There’s also this from Marich’s depth chart:
And then there's Turner, who has a blend of speed, technique and tenacity that make him a genuine candidate to start. It sounds like he missed some time during fall camp last year that may have cost him the starting job. If he can string together a few strong practices, he can make up some ground.
Gemon also mentioned his brother German Green has been moved to cornerback. Safety/viper Quinten Johnson was seen at cornerback($), getting beat on a fade to Cornelius Johnson. Jalen Perry has moved to safety, and I haven’t heard Sammy Faustin’s name since last year’s preseason hype. There were some rumors that Andre Seldon was considering entering the portal, but those got definitively squashed by Seldon’s dad. Balas said Seldon’s “had a nice spring.”($)
What it means:
im bad at running and moving around but my upper body speed is incredile
— wint (@dril) March 30, 2014
Projected depth chart: Gemon Green
In which case, if it is just a matter of academic integrity, I'm cool with that.
I transferred into Michigan from a community college after two years and had few issues with courses transferring, having focused my efforts on taking core classes in my first two years. They did cap transfer credits at around 60 credits though, requiring you complete at least half of your credits at Michigan in order to earn a Michigan degree. I wonder it is this requirement that some transfers are balking at.
I'm with you in that I would be interested in some more concrete examples of this happening that is not a story about Seth's credits from a University in France not coming over 20 years ago. I could see it being true but I don't feel like I've seen anyone come out and say player x or player y isn't considering Michigan because of transfer credits. Like others have said, basketball has gotten Charles Matthews and Leigha Brown in, so why is it different with football?
Course work aside just look at Lance Dixon - LB from PSU who wanted to transfer here - hell we hired his HS coach and need guys at his position. He’s going to West Virginia now. The issue is true for non-sports transfers as well. You have to have a one to one comp for the class at UM that you took elsewhere or it doesn’t count.
Yes, this. Some want to believe it's Michigan's superior academics, but it's simply about having the same class at Michigan. They're not calling up professors at other schools and asking about attendance or anything like that. It's just a dumb transfer system specific to Michigan that hasn't changed.
Maybe Dixon chose WVU because they guaranteed him a starting spot, or maybe he realized he didn't pick Michigan the first time for a reason and its because he doesn't want to play college in michigan for some reason.
Yes, not only did I live through it, I've spoken to people involved in these transfers. 80% is not the credits, it's 80% of transfers Michigan can't even approach because of it.
We're not talking about coasting and fake Ohio State classes, for the most part. We're talking about Michigan the school's policy of taking transfer credits only if a class can be matched with a Michigan course. It's more complicated than that. Some courses are pre-approved; it's actually fairly easy to transfer from MSU or Oakland University because of these precedents. Many schools have perfectly good courses we just don't honor--in my case, eg, A History of Early French Cinema and History of Parisian Architecture from La Sorbonne, which is the Harvard of France. At best they'll give you general credits that don't count towards a major and don't count as prereqs for Michigan classes.
Michigan also offers some kinda bullshit classes that athletes take and other schools don't offer.
The football program has a number of exceptions to get high schoolers in who wouldn't otherwise get in, with extra course work and program incentives (they lose counters) if their exceptions aren't model students. The rest have to be accepted on their merits. That means transfers to the football program are being held to a higher standard than not just other Michigan athletes, but most of the general student population. What good does that serve?
I think we're a uniquely great school for a world where there are free transfers. Kids get to college and learn they're not who they thought they were. Kids who get excited about SEC football get there and realize they actually should have gotten the hell out of there. Kids who go to Texas get there and learn they're subject to the whims of racist administrators and donors and have to sing what they're told when they're told. Kids who got straight A's in high school get to MAC schools and discover they're good enough to kick ass in the Big Ten.
Ironically the grad transfers are the easiest to get in, because the programs--who are more focused on the individuals--are making the decisions themselves. Do you think our B school is hurting? Because they take more athletic transfers than the entire undergrad operation.
We could be a fantastic up-transfer location, because everyone knows you come to Michigan for the education, which means we're the first place you think of if you're getting a shit education at Alabama and are smart enough to realize after two years of college that you need a greater challenge. They're transferring with a better understanding of what college course work is about, and benefit from the simple fact that 20-year-olds are more mature--and therefore more understanding of the value of a degree--than 17-year-olds.
Just think for a moment: What kind of athlete says, after a year of bullshit classes at Ole Miss, "I wish I could be doing more work?" Just from the fact they want to be here you know they're serious about academics, and want it.
Northwestern has already discovered this and improved their quality of athletes. I don't think anyone believes it has hurt their academics reputation.
And this is something Michigan was great at before. In fact the more I learned about the origins of our football program, the more I saw how transfers shaped it. Willie Heston faced the same kinds of comments you shared when he transferred in 1901--oh he's only going for football he's not a real student bler bler. He became one of the greatest college football players in history, put Michigan football on the national stage, and then became a big-time judge. This is in our DNA. This is what made Michigan so great in the first place: We were the school that said to hell with the normal way of doing things: Give us the most inventive, the most ambitious, the ones who know what they're getting into and want to be challenged.
Our problem is simply pedantic. And now that free transfers are the norm and it's putting the football team at a disadvantage, I want my alma mater to fix it.
I'm starting to think the University does not want to fix it. There are probably many who may not want a prestigious football program, since it is too violent of a sport and basketball, soccer, baseball should be the main sports.
That's a lot of words of really nice words that doesn't answer the question. What do you mean they can't even approach transfers about? Unless they illegally have access to those kids academic records they wouldn't know if they can or couldn't approach those kids until they actually started recruiting them. I fully believe Michigan has a shit policy as it regards to taking transfer credits, its in line with the schools desire to milk every single dollar it can from people. I don't really believe it limits the ability to take transfers of the kind of players that change anything about the outlook of the team. As you acknowledged with Charles Matthews, kids who transfer early in their college career the transfer credits issue is basically meaningless, it was for Matthews, it was for Duncan Robinson. That means they could have gotten a guy like Arike Gilbert who is transferring after one year at LSU. We've also established its a non-issue for grad transfers. So Dreshun Miller, the top defensive back available in the portal would have been fine if they could have convinced him to come.
This basically means you have limited the pool of players this meaningfully impacts to guys transferring after their junior year who did not graduate early. Beyond not believing there are actually that many of those guys, the only players in that situation who Michigan should be going after are guys on NFL radars. In which case the sell isn't a Michigan degree, its a chance to start at a higher profile school, playing higher level competition to improve draft stock. In which case the number of credits don't matter because that player is going to the NFL next year since he only had one year of eligibility left anyways. And if the player isn't on NFL radars I don't think the outlook of the program is being changed by bringing in an up transfer.
So we know our transfer rules aren't preventing us from getting the guy who didn't like ole miss or Texas after a year, or the five star who couldn't get on the field after one year at Bama because we've seen players like Charles Matthews and Leigha Brown transfer in for other sports from not exactly academically elite institutions. And we know our transfer rules don't stop grad transfers. Where is this 80% of meaningful transfers Michigan doesn't have access to coming from? You seem caught up in what is likely a very bad policy, but that doesn't mean its a policy that is dramatically impacting what Michigan can and can't do in the transfer market. This feels a lot like when everyone claimed Michigan admissions wouldn't accept jucos but if you just take a quick look at the baseball roster you realize the admissions office does in fact accept juco's.
It's not just guys who transfer after their junior year. Shea Patterson transferred here after his sophomore year at Ole Miss and lost 18 credits (according to Sam Webb). Patterson is a unique case (he grew up a Michigan fan and even went to Michigan games with his Dad when he was living in Toledo) but how many other players would want to deal with that headache when there's so many other options available?
Pretty much every football player? Losing credits doesn't matter all that much if you aren't having to pay for those credits. All these guys are doing things to graduate in three years, Patterson lost 18 credits and still graduated in four years. If the pull of a Michigan degree is meaningful the loss of credits doesn't mean that that much. Who are all these high level transfers places like NW or MSU or PSU are pulling that Michigan is missing out on? And the reality is that for 99% of kids who are impacting the teams ability to win a Michigan degree isn't the pull because they plan on being in the NFL before they get a degree. If Michigan is able to sell kids on the development and opportunity to turn themselves into a day 1 or 2 draft pick they will come even if it costs them 18 credits. The problem isn't the transfer policy, its that Michigan can't sell these kids they are the best path to the NFL for high level transfers. We lost out on top, high level transfers for the same reason we don't get the highest rated recruits out of high school and academics isn't the issue for either one. I'm still not sure who these transfers are that Seth is lamenting about that could be meaningfully impacting Michigan's ability to win that we aren't getting because of transfer credits. The top transfer this year at nose tackle according to PFF was Cory Durden, who was a grad transfer. Michigan could have gotten him, based off what Seth said. The top defensive back transfer Dreshun Miller, grad transfer, could have gotten him in.TJ Carter, second best defensive back, grad transfer, could have come to Michigan.
The problem isn't the admissions department. And like I said, we have no idea that this isn't the case in more places. Very few schools want to give degrees to people who only take one years worth of classes at their school.
It's incredibly ironic that the coach whose football program is apparently harmed by his institution's unreasonably high bar for admission is the same coach who said this:
"Michigan is a good school and I got a good education there, but the athletic department has ways to get borderline guys in, and when they're in, they steer them to courses in sports communications. They're adulated when they're playing, but when they get out, the people who adulated them won't hire them."
If JH wanted to remedy this situation, what would have to change? Does this go all the way to the top of the school administration? It seems that places like UM would value football enough to not put themselves in a disadvantageous position. Why can't they simply adopt similar policies as other B1G schools when it comes to scholarship athletes?
Nobody at Schembechler Hall can do squat.
Michigan currently has an interim vice provost for enrollment management and when a permanent one is chosen the question of transfer applications should be considered.
What does that even mean? The school isn't rejecting transfers, they are potentially just rejecting credits. A guy who is a junior only having a sophmore's worth of credits doesn't impact his eligibility. Charles Matthews transferred from Kentucky, Leigha Brown from Nebraska. Michigan baseball has taken multiple guys from the junior college ranks, and guys Jordan Brewer are just regular transfers. Players transfer to Michigan every single year to play dozens of sports, if the staff could get a guy, they could get him in.
Who was a legitimate transfer target that Michigan could have gotten but didn't because they were upset all their credits wouldn't transfer? And how you do know that other schools don't have similar policies?
"Maybe the reason Michigan struggles to get these players at Michigan is because the football coaches are as shit at recruiting elite transfers as they are at recruiting these guys out of high school."
Are you really that unaware of Michigan's recruiting rankings under Harbaugh? They've been quite good actually. Recruiting out of high school is not the problem (besides them just straight up not recruiting DTs). Michigan just put a lot of talent in the draft.
They've been fringe top 10 and usually include 2 or 3 top 100 guys. Getting 4 stars ranked 150-250 who don't have committable offers to Bama or OSU because they are plan b or c to come to Michigan isn't that hard, its consistently getting multiple guys in top 50 to choose Michigan over other elite options that is hard. And there are other guys out there who do it at schools without recent championships Cristobal does it at Oregon, Fisher does it at A&M. Harbaugh hasn't done that in years. Don't know why we would suddenly expect him to beat out Bama for a WR target as a transfer.
Harbaugh is ascending into madness.
There’s actually a decent country song with that title. If you watch the video, you’ll see our front 6 on defense.
My current frame of mind regarding Michigan football can be summed up in one quote from the movie Tombstone:
”Are you gonna do somethin’? Or are you just gonna stand there and bleed?”
Thanks for the update?
Re Turner: " It sounds like he missed some time during fall camp last year that may have cost him the starting job."
OK, but they didn't wanna get him in the game against MSU? Ehhh...
The transfer credits issue is a substantial one the school needs to figure out - it's not just for athletes but it absolutely rears its ugly head in that circumstance in particular.
My general read on the defense this early on is it's going to be full of confusion - it's a new system with new coaches and that's going to lead to guys figuring stuff out, especially if players are ALSO out due to contact tracing concerns. I'll be the minority here again and say that we'll likely see dramatically different comments coming out of fall camp and so getting too worked up about anything scheme/play construction right now is unnecessary.
The tackle spot worries me the most because of depth concerns; after Smith and Hinton it does get shallow pretty quickly. You can mitigate that somewhat schematically but they'll need bodies, and other than a flyer they'll likely have to rely on who's on campus. That looks like a lot of walk-ons and young players.
Ends/OLBs feels decent enough, assuming Hutchinson bounces back. Again, hard to know how much of the struggle is due to poor play and how much is a good offensive line and, again, unfamiliarity with the defensive staff.
I know the joke at the end is that UM only has one corner but that's not true and, as I am apparently the only one to believe this, thought that position improved as the season progressed last year and am happy to see Green emerge and there be a real fight for the second spot.
Safeties look to be really good; should be a strength.
Linebacker concerns with Josh Ross feels a bit overstated - all LBers struggled last year and combined with the coaching transition I'm not surprised there's upheaval there. I'd point everyone to last year's preview in which Ross was coming in as an al-conference-level player. His struggles should be noted but considering how the defense overall struggled last year I do have hope that some of his issues were scheme/coaching/fixable via a new staff.
DT depth chart confuses me. Are we really playing 3 DTs? I assume we'll be in nickel on most downs so that 2 of these 3 would actually start.
This preview lists the starting DL and OLBs as:
DL: Smith, Hinton, Jeter
OLB: Hutchinson and Upshaw
That is a lot of size. Maybe we would play this lineup against Wisconsin and MSU, but I can't see those five together for more than 10% of snaps overall.
I can see starting 2 of the 3 DL listed above and subbing in the 3rd along with Welschof and being ok but starting all three leaves no depth.
Overall I see a defense with little depth that could be passable if the offense is golden.
The season hinges on having a game manager or better level QB to take advantage of all the offensive weapons and outscore people.
Yeah, I thought the DT chart was a little weird, but might be due to some uncertainty about the fronts being run under the "multiples" umbrella. And honestly, only Wisconsin really has the size up front to justify going that heavy, and at least last year what got UM was at the edges with both Paye and Hutchinson out. So having more beef inside might not matter (as would playing Wisconsin after the Badgers have basically 3 weeks to prep and UM was coming off two bad losses and suffering numerous injuries).
I think the defense has more depth than people are giving it credit for, only it's largely unproven/unknown. Some of that falls on the talent development but I also think Brown's penchant for playing starters deep into games means we don't have a great sense of what the depth actually looks like. And with only 6 games for guys to emerge, it's even harder to figure out if, say, some of the younger LBers would have worked into a rotation.
I think the offense should be a strength of the team but I think the defense will still be better than last year's unit (if for no other reason than the fact they'll have an offseason to teach guys and all be in the same room). It won't be the usual top-10 units we saw under Brown but it'll be better than last year's 36th ranked one.
I'm with you. Given the nature of modern football, I would expect them to be in something like a 2-4-5 nickel a lot of the time. This seems to be the case given how much talk around Dax at nickel there's been.
This defense has enough pieces to be pretty good. They're a little thin at DT, but they can get by with what they have. You can rotate Mazi, Hinton, and Jeter as your two DTs and mix up personnel formations to keep guys fresh. I think the biggest question will be guys learning the different plays and understanding the defense. I can see that being a work in progress, but I don't think they'll be terrible.
It’s nothing but blind optimism at this point but I’m personally really excited to see a line that goes Hinton, Smith, Jeter, and I think they will be in that formation a lot. It works for the Ravens and it works for Wisconsin in the big ten. We’ve been complaining for 2 years about Don Browns small NT like Dwumfour and Kemp getting run over. Brian talked about how inept his 3-3-5 was. They tried to turn everyone into Hurst who was a unicorn. As Seth keeps pointing out, going all in on a Ravens like D and putting that beef up front is going to make the defense more flexible and allow the best players like Hutchinson and Dax to just make plays (ie Wisconsin LBs). Every scheme has advantages and disadvantages but I like where they are going. Let the big guys command doubles and let the smaller faster guys clean up behind them.
Three tackles. For real. Here are the starters for the Baltimore Ravens since 2014:
| Year | Left End | Nose | Right End |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Haloti Ngata (6'4/340) | Brandon Williams (6'1/336) | Chris Canty (6'7/317) |
| 2015 | Tim Jernigan (6'2/300) | Brandon Williams (6'1/336) | Chris Canty (6'7/317) |
| 2016 | Tim Jernigan (6'2/300) | Brandon Williams (6'1/336) | Lawrence Guy (6'4/315) |
| 2017 | Brandon Williams (6'1/336) | Michael Pierce (6'0/340) | Carl Davis (6'4/315) |
| 2018 | Brandon Williams (6'1/336) | Michael Pierce (6'0/340) | Chris Wormley (6'5/300) |
| 2019 | Brandon Williams (6'1/336) | Michael Pierce (6'0/340) | Chris Wormley (6'5/300) |
| 2020 | Calais Campbell (6'8/300) | Brandon Williams (6'1/336) | Derek Wolfe (6'5/285)* |
* Started for Pierce, who sat out the COVID year
Finding targeting stats is difficult but based on the 2019 numbers if All was targeted 75 times he would have been in the top 10 for TE. Ronnie Bell lead the team with 48 receptions in 2019. I'm going to skip the obvious joke about dropping passes and just say that All is not going to get that many targets.
At least, I hope so. That offense would be anything but speed in space. Although, it would be very on brand to recruit all these dynamic WR and then throw the ball exclusively to a bunch of TE.
Missed your comment when I wrote mine, but you hit the nail on the head. 75 targets would have made All the #1 target (tied with Bell) in 2019. Unless the offense becomes much more pass-happy, 70-75 targets for All would not be good. But if they do open it up, 70 targets would not be unimaginable. A comparison could be 2017 Penn State, where Mike Gesicki had 76 targets his senior year.
For people who don't know, the top photo caption is also from an @dril tweet. It's very well-known on Twitter. I can't say I've read any of those other tweets from him before though.
I've got another dril quote you'll see once this article has been pushed down by some others.
I think people are being too pessimistic. Good QB play can completely change a team. I know people aren't sold on him, but I think McNamara is the real deal.
I am a sucker for kids who were All-American level performers in high school but are somehwat overlooked because someone decides they don't pass the eye test (see Hart, Mike). I know Nevada isn't a hot-bed of high school football, but McNamara was state player of the year TWICE. He holds every record you can have for Nevada high school football. And in his limited game action last year he looked really good. Yeah I know he struggled against Penn State but he was hurt.
A good, accurate QB makes everything on offense look better. It opens up room to run the ball. It keeps the defense off the field.
I'm not saying Michigan will be great, but I'm not writing them off before we see what kind of starting QB McNamara is. If McNamara plays like I think he can, this could be a solid team. They will still lose some games, but I don't see the doom and gloom that others do.
I hope McNamara is lights out and Gattis (read: Harbaugh) finally gets our offense humming…
But our defense will be for shit, so the only we are going to win games is if we run up the score which, again, brings us back to Harbaugh… and that’s where the narrative comes to a sad, tragic end.
I agree. I feel pretty good about McNamara. We'll see how good he really is though. I like that they're basically calling him the starter. In the past we all thought it was just Harbaugh speak when he'd simply talk about competition and act like it was up in the air. Maybe it kinda was. Even though Michigan has had a lot of problems in the program, poor QB play has been the most consistent and damaging theme.
It will be a rough September, but the defense will be much better come November.
How much of a difference it will make remains to be seen.
If Warde is truly giving Jim two years with this new staff to turn this ship around, then I think any type of winning record/bowl game should be cause for celebration.
Yep, people are going to go all "Fire Harbaughssssss"!!!!! No matter what happens this year aside from a miracle. Decent QB play, defensive improvement as the year progresses, and maybe steal a win, will be a successful season IMO.
He isn't going anywhere for 2-3 years, so i'm will to see if the new staff can gel. I'm still more worried about being only on the losing side of the portal. That puts them in a really bad spot if other teams can grab players to fill holes and UM can't do the same.
The name not getting much mention all spring was Julius Welschof, at least until Harbaugh went on the Jansen pod
One of the things I've noticed about Harbaugh is he's fairly good at simply reciting a list of players. Whether there's anything behind his list is less clear. Harbaugh made reference to Welschof as a 'young player,' which surprised me as he's a senior.
Welschof is one of those players where I made a mental note when he came in initially, and I tried to keep track of his progress. There's not been much on him. Last year he played a bit because of the woes at defensive line, and according to some write-ups I read, he wasn't that dominant. Which is a shame: I really had high hopes for him. The "pure athleticism can translate to defensive lineman" hype is something I truly wanted to believe. I wonder if he was one of those dreams Don Brown had: "I can make this guy into a terror on the defensive side of the ball."
I see a lot of coaches do that, where they just sort of rattle of names. So that doesn't surprise me, even though I agree it doesn't necessarily mean anything.
I believe Welschof is a RS Jr. this year and was coming from Germany and having to transition to a new position, so I can see how he'd still be viewed as a "young" guy to the staff. For various reasons the school seems to not recognize redshirts and the like when it comes to listing guys' classes. I do get a sense that he's always been a project and was going to be contributor, if at all, as an upperclassman. This would be the first year you'd really hope to see him breaking through, so it's a bit disheartening that he hasn't thus far. But he's got at least 2 years is my guess.
Problem was he was forced to play DT where he was too small.
Everyone relax, its May. Take a nap, enjoy the summer and dont try to convince yourself of some kind of magical season. Harbaugh is getting 2 yrs at least with this younger and seemingly more energetic staff. Sit back enjoy and realize this program at least has some young new minds on it.
Dude, how long of you been a Michigan fan? That's just not what we do. Were not happy unless we can complain and predict dire consequences. Good becomes bad, mediocre becomes evil, only near perfection is tolerated. You don't expect us to actually have fun and enjoy pastime to you?
could not agree more.
Specifically said that he would be disappointed if he [All] didn’t get 70-75 targets this year.
Top receiving targets in 2019: Bell (75), Nico (59), DPJ (54).
75 targets would have made All tied for #1 targets in 2019. I'm really hoping this comment means that we are going to be a pass-heavy offense, with 100+ targets for the top WRs, and *not* that we are going to rely on TEs as the main targets in the passing game.
The problem with comparing to 2019 is the passing offense wasn't that good. Bell only had 750 yards that year.
I'm sure Gen Ludendorff was legit excited for the Spring 1918 offensive.
when sharing the same information on Jansen’s pod that only us bits reporters listen to
That's amusing. I actually listen to the Jansen podcast whenever I can.
A lot of the starters seem problematic. But the reserves! The horror, the horror.
Special QB package = setting downs on fire
lol at 70 targets for All
i miss the yellow pants for road unis
I think if we switch back to the Maize pants on the road it should at least buy him one more year
i despise aaron rodgers, but he got one thing right.
relax.
besides, if you're going to lose your minds now, you won't have faux outrage in september. my advice - what i do, when i'm about to pop a rivet - is to think about baseball. that helps settle things a little bit.
Good advice. But what if we don't care about baseball?
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