This Week’s Obsession: Things We Want To Hear in Spring, 2017 Edition
An onlooker or two literally fainting at something Gary does
this spring would be nice. [Bryan Fuller]
Our annual rite. The Question:
What do you want to hear out of spring practice?
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Adam: There's depth on the D-line. Not "there are humans and they are large and they have played football before so yes, they are football players" depth. I'm looking for reports gushing about how much the backups have developed.
We've seen this a bit with Michael Dwumfour in last season's bowl practices. That assuages fears about NT depth a bit; Mone still has to stay healthy for a full season, but at least five-star Aubrey Solomon is available and, if his high-school highlights are any indication, ready to enter the rotation.
Every other spot on the line, though, is returning a starter with a fair bit of on-field experience and really unproven backups. Rashan Gary will start at SDE/Anchor, but he'll need Carlo Kemp or Donovan Jeter to spell him. Mo Hurst is the best 3Tech in the conference; positional nomad Lawrence Marshall or true freshmen James Hudson and Deron Irving-Bey are ostensibly his backups. Chase Winovich got to live out his dream and actually chase things down last fall, and if Don Brown's effusive practice reports are any indication then he should continue to do so this fall. There's a veritable stable of options behind him in Reuben Jones, Ron Johnson, Corey Malone-Hatcher, Luiji Vilain, and Kwity Paye; this group has a combined four games of collegiate playing experience. There's a ton of talent along the line, but it still has to be cultivated if Greg Mattison is going to have the eight-man rotation he prefers.
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| Kemp has been around long enough now that we have a photo of him in the old jerseys. It’s time for one of those guys to emerge. [Fuller] |
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Ace: Charles Matthews is hitting his jump shots. Wait. Shit.
Seth:
/reaches over to Acebot
/flips switch
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Ace: Okay, Cesar Ruiz is on track. With the depth at tackle in its current state, Michigan needs interior linemen to step up so there’s at least the option of shifting someone (probably Mason Cole) to tackle to get their best five out there. While there are a couple other bullets in the chamber in Jon Runyan Jr. and Stephen Spanellis, freshman Cesar Ruiz seems like the best bet to crack the starting lineup, whether at center or guard. He’s far from your average true freshman interior lineman: he played center, not tackle like most D-I OL prospects, at IMG Academy, so he’s already acclimated to playing on the interior. He was consistently talked up as the best interior lineman at the Under Armour All-American game. He’s got the build at 6’3, 320. Michigan doesn’t need him to be the star this year that he should become; it’ll be encouraging to hear that he’s on track.
[After THE JUMP: can you play tackle? No asking seriously do you have eligibility and really quick feet for your 6’7/310 frame?]
Brian: Similarly, anybody can play tackle. Look at this team. Look at it. It's all right, you know? It could go places. As long as barely-blocked hell-demons are not flying off the edge with eyes on Wilton Speight's bird-bones, this could be a real good season. I just don't know what the hell they're going to do there.
I assume the Grant Newsome talk is just that and we won't see him until 2018, so Michigan's options there include 1) starters on the interior last year, 2) guys who got passed by a starter on the interior last year, and 2) freshmen. None of whom are enrolling early. (I believe JaRaymond Hall is a guard.) Soooooo... just exiting spring with a plan would be great. To be honest I kind of want that plan to be moving both Cole and Bredeson outside and rolling with Onwenu/Ruiz/Kugler on the interior, in whatever order you want.
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David: While we’re on the line, I want to hear Mike Onwenu is crushing more than grapes. IIRC, Onwenu looked solid in his spotty mop-up minutes in 2016. He's always had the size and nimbleness -and apparently he's even slimmed down a bit to enhance his efficiency. So, it is not a stretch to think he can compete for and win a starting job, but getting positive returns early will give Michigan more options moving forward...and put bloggers minds at ease.
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Seth: Yes yes yes to all of these OL things but specifically the one I want to hear most is Ben Bredeson is competing at left tackle. Remember last spring when Little Ben was supposedly giving Newsome a run? They’re not even suggesting it now. We got a very early glimpse of the OL status recently and the configuration had Ruiz at center and Mason Cole flipping back out to LT, with JBB at RT and Bredeson remaining at LG. Of all configurations that one probably has the lowest ceiling for this year: Cole will never be more than adequate at left tackle, Bushell-Beatty should have cracked the lineup by now if he's going to be better than mediocre, and I don't care how IMG you are, a true freshman at center when the two guards are true sophomores is a recipe for Borgesian levels of blown assignments.
The best chance Michigan had of avoiding that this year was for Bredeson to emerge from a freshman season that was, at best, excusable. After recently rewatching the Orange Bowl, where Bredeson made a ton of non-opponent-dependent blunders, the likelihood of a big leap since is low. But lights can go on. If Bredeson locks down a tackle job, Michigan can either solidify the other side with Cole, or JBB or one of the freshmen can actually play. The ideal lineup would have Cole stay at center with Ruiz at his left as understudy. Every lineup that doesn't give me heebie jeebies has Bredeson outside.
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| We questioned the eligibility of a 250 year old building but if a retired professional Australian football player can get 4 years at Ohio State why not a famous landmark? |
Ace: Little Ben?
Seth: Big Ben = Braden. These things are relative. Also last year's left side after the Newsome injury was Ben and Ben. I can't be the only person to have made this connection.
Ace: I guess he’s smaller than the clock.
David: The clock at LT is not the worst option.
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Ace: Since we’ve focused entirely on the trenches, I’ll throw out a short and somewhat obvious one: David Long and Lavert Hill have locked up the starting corner spots.
That’s 100% the expectation; it’d be disconcerting if it didn’t come to fruition.
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Brian: Switching to explosion based desires, I'd like to hear that Chris Evans can break tackles now and Donovan Peoples-Jones is ready to go right now. Evans was about five broken tackles from having an absurd YPC, and most reports have him the clear #1 back entering spring. Another ten or fifteen pounds to run through the arm tackles opponents have to resort to on him frequently would presage a breakout year.
Meanwhile, DPJ is already causing exclamations in winter conditioning. This guarantees nothing, but these days maybe a third of five star wide receivers can make an immediate impact. The opportunity is there, and I'm down with Braylon 2.0 (with hands!).
BiSB: Obligatory:
Alex: "Braylon but with hands!" initially struck me as Fred Jacksonish but I'm not gonna bet against DPJ eventually being a star.
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Seth: With quarterback I think we'll have to trust our eyes more than anything the coaches say, but given how Speight's year ended I'm gonna be watching carefully for signs that he's completely healed and has his pocket presence back. After Indiana we got a small sample baseline for the rest. Peters was redshirting so he was excused, but one thing I don't want to hear is that O'Korn is the anointed backup. Ideally we'll get some raving about Peters followed by a Spring Game where he and Speight are taking turns lobbing bombs to all manner of receivers.
Adam: As far as Speight's pocket presence is concerned, he lost 20 pounds in the offseason. I'm interested to see the way that translates to the field.
Ace: I’m here for the raving about Brandon Peters.
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Seth: Anything else guys? Wheatley crushing a known quantity at DL? A favorite in the VIPER position battle? In-house fluff piece about Kekoa Crawford that suggests he's secured a starting job?
All: Nope. Just a tackle.
Not to be the downer guy, but we should all keep in mind the eternally true maxim that you should believe half of all good practice buzz and all of the bad practice buzz.
March 29th, 2017 at 11:57 AM ^
"O'Korn is the best QB on the roster and tearing it up in practice"
-95% of this board last year.
I'm VERY surprised that no one seems at all concerned about the defensive backfield. Four new starters, only one of which (Kinnel) has seen any real time on the field, and everyone's fine with this situation?
I'm having visions (read: nightmares) of 75 yard pass plays becoming an all-too familiar sight next season.
March 29th, 2017 at 12:45 AM ^
for defense. They lose the 3 CBs (kind of 2 because Clark was hurt so early in the season) plus Hill/Thomas at S. That's a lot of talent to replace. I expect the passing defense to regress.
March 29th, 2017 at 10:05 AM ^
I agree this is a little weird. In normal years, it seems like we would be wringing our hands if we only had to replace one of the best CBs (Lewis) to come through here. Replacing all four starters should be terrifying. We do know that our DBs will receive good coaching though. Hopefully that overcomes the lack of experience.
They were picking on Joe Haden who eventually became a pro bowl CB. Joe Haden was a true freshman and didnt' look like he belonged on the field. No matter how talented you are, if you're inexperienced DB, it's going to be a tough road because you have to learn coverage, techniques and how to defend certain route combinations.
Unfortunately, I agree that you're probably right. But we can hope the defensive line gets enough pressure that spotty coverage is less disastrous. We were spoiled this past year, but a team that gives up passes, even big ones, can still win football games.
March 30th, 2017 at 10:04 AM ^
On that:
FS: Kinnel, the elder of the group as a true junior, has played enough now that we at least know what he is. Losing him would be a huge blow since nobody else seems ready to compete with him. Starter: B+, Bench: C-
Rover: Metellus emerging last year makes this way less fearful. Apparently Metellus was leading the Viper sweepstakes but got moved back to Rover because they trust him in coverage more than the other guys. Pencil him in as the starter as long as that holds. As for backups, well those are the guys competing at Viper. They also moved JKP back to Rover for now, so that depth chart appears set. Starter: B, Bench C
Viper/Sam: This is no longer a guy who stays on the field all the time. Against spread teams it's now a two-man race between Glasgow and Hudson, but I think the coaches want to see a lot more out of both of them: Glasgow has tackling issues and Hudson is still very raw in coverage. This battle could go into the season or become a platoon. Starter: C+, Bench C+
They're already platooning with a standard SAM, who is Furbush. Furbush's backup right now is Uche, though since they have different abilities they may be situationally played. Furbush is the guy they'll play against run-heavy teams like Wisconsin and MSU (and Ohio State's 2TE sets). Uche draws in as the 3-3-5 SAM and maybe pass rush specialist. Kwity Paye will be on this depth chart too though he may redshirt this year to get some separation between him and Uche. Starter: B-, Bench C+
Cornerback: We saw plenty of Lavert HIll last year and he looks a lot like a sophomore Jourdan Lewis. There was one play he made in the Orange Bowl that got a hellaciously bad PI flag, but on that play Hill was in the hip pocket of a very good receiver and made an underthrown ball impossible to catch. A guy making that play is ready to play, and Michigan was putting him out there in non-garbage time to get seasoning. He's a lock to play and could be really good.
Practice buzz is never more than 60% right and sometimes 100% wrong so I don't know what to make of the consistent flow of good things about David Long, but that they were totally expected. I wouldn't expect Ambry Thomas to be competing with those two yet, but given the progression of good cornerbacks I bet you'll see a lot more of Thomas by mid-season. Washington played some last year and still looked so unusable as an edge defender we can't even gauge his pass defense. And it should be a year before St-Juste is ready. Watson is a one-trick pony and if the others haven't passed him that's a problem. Michigan will dip into its safeties for the nickel and dime packages before playing too many cornerbacks, but an injury or two in this group could be a big problem.
Starters: B-, Bench C-
Basically we're looking at adequate with a floor of mediocre, but 2009-2010 levels are off the table, hopefully. With a great defensive line you can afford to be adequate in the secondary or the linebackers. Given the outlook is an A defensive line with B linebackers and a B- secondary, I expec this defense to fall somewhere among the Top 25 at least with a ceiling of Top 10.
March 30th, 2017 at 11:21 AM ^
Do you think 2nd year in the Don Brown system uptick will have some impact as well? Would like to think that scheme familiarity takes some pressure off too, but maybe the loss of a million starters mitigates that.
Is that what they're calling it these days?
Yeah, these all sound good, but what I'm waiting to hear is "HTTV is ready to ship".
It wasn't ideal. Some guys don't come out of the womb fully formed.
New receivers will help a bit. Chesson in particular could not get any separation at all, forcing Speight to make perfect throws that weren't his specialty. Neither could Chesson adjust to the ball in the air and beat other defenders, something I am optimistic DPJ may be able to do out of the box. That would be an instant upgrade if so.
I expect Speight to improve significantly this year; whether he has time to demonstrate this behind our OL is an open question.
Before he was injured, you mean.
I agree it was partly on Speight ... but part of it was Jehu's physical state as well.
I want to hear Brandon Peters is so good, we can't keep
I want to hear Brandon Peters is so good, we can't keep
off the field
He's just in a really bad spot. His strength (for an FBS lineman, anyway -- I'm sure he can break any of us here in half) is mediocre, so he can't take on NTs by himself. That's far from rare for centers -- they're usually expected to get a guard's help -- but the guards on either side of him last season were inconsistent at best. His lateral movement is good so he's serviceable at LT, but he lacks the length to handle speed rushers. He'd do well on zone stretch but the team sucked at it so they had to scrap it.
Point is, by circumstance, a coaching staff that's usually exceptional at making the most of each player's strengths couldn't utilize Cole's, because he's sort of a weird bird among linemen.
and Anthony Carter actually have one more year of eligibility left to play on the same team.
March 28th, 2017 at 10:30 PM ^
I want to hear Coach Frey cackling with glee....not sobbing into a towel.
Also Ty Kinnel being protected in bubble wrap. I can live with young corners - all young safeties would frighten me.
Big Ben refers to the bell in the tower, not the clock at Westminster. That said, David's argument still holds though, a big bell might be more effective at LT than some of the options we have ;)
March 29th, 2017 at 11:36 AM ^
- If he's not running for his life, especially against good team,
- If the O-line can get as much or, god willing, a little more push in the running game,
- If the defense is better than competent -- perhaps good-ish, and
- If the team gets better throughout the course of the year
then win all the games you're supposed to win, beat PSU on the road and OSU at home -- and you are playing for the B1G championship.
Until we see evidence to the contrary, I will believe that this is very possible.
Yes, there's not enough depth yet to survive major injuries and receivers will have to be on par with last year. If they know their routes, can catch the ball, and can block, they'll be fine -- and I think we've already seen evidence of this last year.
March 29th, 2017 at 12:59 PM ^
Will show flashes early on. The potential to really grow and mature into a threat by end of season. Given that we have the best coaches on the planet. Team 138 could be pretty special. So could Teams 139-150 for that matter.
GO BLUE!!
I would like to hear "Bunting is turning into a monster"
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