Concerned about DT/NT recruiting
After reading the Rashan Gary post (which was great by the way), it made me realize we are going to be dangerously thin at DT next year and the year after that. Gary and Dwumfour were signed last year and Peaea is committed this year, but outside of those three we aren't really in on any inside DL other than Greg Rogers. Meanwhile we signed 6 WR's last year, which seems like overkill. Anyone else perplexed or concerned by this?
Yeah, I figured this would be a popular response and I feel the same way to, to an extent. But unless I'm missing something the numbers are going to be what they are and even Brian has commented on the fact that Brady Pallante is going to be in the two deep, which unless we want a repeat of what OSU did to us this year isn't a good thing.
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The fact that we haven't yet is what concerns me. By the end of last year we were very thin on the DL and he couldn't get on the field. And the fact that he was shuffling from DL to FB back to DL and was a 2 star recruit kind of puts the writing on the wall for me.
Um, Hoke actually DID know how to develop DL. Was kind of his thing.
The transitional class in 2015 was tiny and mostly mediocre. Any time you have the 37th nationally ranked class, you're going to feel it when that class is three and four years into the program. There's a reason to expect a bit of a dip in 2017, maybe 2018 and it's the small 2015 class and high turnover in the 2014 class.
I wouldn't yet give up on Pallante though, and Mone, Dwumfour and Gary should hopefully be able to hold down the fort until reinforcements come. And they should be on the way...because Harbaugh.
The reason we have a bunch of graduating starters is that we've had very uneven recruiting classes (and more importantly graduating classes) in terms of numbers over the last 5-8 years. We had huge classes in 2012 and 2013 to make up for transitional classes and attrition from the RR regime, and because of that bubble, we had a small class in 2015.
The good part is that having consecutive years of huge classes that mostly stuck around means we have a TON of experience this year. The bad part is that we'll be very reliant on young players the following year or two. So it's fair to look at the roster for 2017 and have a little concern that there's, as you say, "going to be a mass infux of youth all over the roster". That's obviously not ideal.
It's certainly not a concern about the current staff's recruiting decisions or anything long term. The OP implied the staff made a mistake taking 6 WR's in the last class, and you're right, that is not concerning, because there's a ton of guys graduating at that position too. The staff inherited a concerning 2014 and 2015 class situation and has done the best they could do with it.
Have you compared UMs & OSUs rosters? We will be very senior-laden this year and OSU will be playing lots of new starters. Next year it will be the other way around. I think we have a very good chance to beat them this year in Columbus, but count me as surprised if we beat them in 2017. That will be a rebuilding year a lot of positions, particularly on the offensive & defensive lines. We will lose our starting RB, 2 WRs, TE, 3 OL, all 4 starting DL (depinding on who you call starters), all 4 starting DBs (Peppers in now a LB), and 2 of the 3 starting LBs (McCray & Gedeon), and most think Peppers goes after this year in the draft.
I agree we don't have a ton of numbers at DT/NT and I think it remains an important position for recruiting (as well as OT), but I don't think that will be our biggest problem in the OSU game in 2017 and it shouldn't be a problem this year either unless someone important goes down again. There's still time to recruit and develop contributors for 2018.
If we land Jay Tufele, we will be set for years. The kid is 16 years old and already looks the part. Not to mention, if you watch his film he lights people up. He is a football player first...and he has all the tools. He is a DUDE.
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"I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT THE DEFENSIVE LINE!"
- Harbaugh, probably
situation when you were here?
Come on. The responses here are pretty ridiculous. We have Harbaugh so we're not allowed to talk about the roster apparently? It's not like MaizeHaze is bashing Harbaugh, and I'm certainly not one to defend MaizeHaze usually.
Besides, although Harbaugh is surely a better coach than Hoke or Rodriguez, Michigan's cratering came about in part due to stupefying recruiting oversights at QB and OL despite a whole staff getting millions and millions of dollars. And even then, people used the "He's a professional head coach, and you're not" defense.
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And Fukishima radiation, stickcing to beef and chicken.
Why did someone downvote this guy? This is a legitimate concern/discussion to have about recruiting.
I actually worry a bit about this too. We saw how important depth is there after Glasgow went down last year, and it seems like a position where guys usually don't jump in immediately and contribute. So yeah i share this concern.
It's Wolverine Devotee. Guy downvotes every thread I start for some reason. He was actually on twitter yesterday bitching to one of the mods to ban me. For what, i don't know. I guess I was semi critical of the softball team. But his actions were all kinds of pathetic.
Kid doesn't know how to handle someone having a different opinion than he does, or even worse, questioning anything Michigan does, so he'll shout them down and shit all over them. You get used to it after awhile and I just ignore him now.
I was just answering the gentleman's above me question. There is a voting details chart at the op of every thread.
You can see the votes on the thread itself, but not the downvotes on individual posts. It has been brought up in the past that perhaps those should be made visible too, but I don't think the present version of Drupal makes that practical, and I am sure it was decided that this would create a world where vendettas became uncomfortably personal potentially (even if it meant you could track down who just trolls with the voting function), and that would suck for everyone.
neutralizes his downvote
I'm getting great entertianment from the bitch fit he's throwing on twitter over me. He's all kinds of rustled right now.
That's strange because I'm pretty sure WD started a very similar thread a few weeks ago in which he raised the same concerns.
Not strange at all. WD complains about people making similar posts to him all the time.
Don't worry. He's just going after you on twitter.
You have to deal with guys who are habitual downvoters. Goes with the territory. Remember a couple rules about points.
- Don't talk about points.
- Points don't really matter . . . once you have enough points to weather a bad negbang or two, and to post whatever and whenever you want to.
Sometimes WD has good stuff, sometimes, he cares too much about being "first," etc. When guys try to be "first," I'm always reminded of this scene from the movie "Colors."
Dude has a lot more issues than just being first. But your point stands nonetheless.
He's young. He'll learn.
I'm guessing it's more about the poster than the post. I don't think MaizeHaze is the most beloved poster here these days. MaizeHaze upvoted MaizeHaze's post, though, so there's that.
I'm not beloved by a few people who aren't mods but post here so much they think they've earned the right to trample on anyone who disagrees with them.
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Well said. The way I see it is we all love Michigan otherwise none of us would be here, but it's ok to have different opinions. What fun would it be if everyone was just a lemming and fell in line with the group think mentality? As long as everybody is respectful to one another I don't see a problem. Everyone is entitled to their point of view.