David Pollack: Michigan Doesn't have Enough Dynamic Offensive Weapons to Beat Alabama

Submitted by MGoVoldemort on

This morning on Mike&Mike, David Pollack, in discussing the upcoming CFP rankings, was asked which team could theoretically beat Alabama. His reponse when it came to Michigan's chances, was that they did not have enough dynamic threats on offense to challenge Alabama. This seems like extreme SEC based logic, and sounds very much like a man who hasn't spent a lot of time watching Michigan play this year. I'm not going to say we can beat Alabama quite yet, but to say that we don't have the weapons to do so is absurd.

MGoBoard
Football

lhglrkwg

November 7th, 2016 at 11:09 AM ^

my favorite from this past week was when he declared he didn't even have Jabrill in his top 5 for Heisman but thought Jonathan Allen should win it. The dude is a brainless and seems to try to take a shot at Michigan whenever they come up

Joined: 07/03/2008

MGoPoints: 88099

League54

November 7th, 2016 at 11:10 AM ^

Most of the guys at espn didn't even know that we beat 3 top 15 teams. They clearly don't know shit. We haven't even had to open up our playbook this season, we're beating teams with very basic plays. Win out, and we'll make some noise come January

Joined: 02/03/2009

MGoPoints: 250

MotownGoBlue

November 7th, 2016 at 11:13 AM ^

We have the playmakers (Jabrill is the ultimate X factor.) Pollack is ignorant on that point. Had he questioned whether or not our OLine could stand up to Alabama's front 7, I'd be open to debate... I think our TEs and backs would need to execute near flawlessly to keep the chains moving against Alabama (pretty much the entire offense would need to run like a well-oiled machine because the Tide is no joke in the trenches). Speight's not side-stepping that rush.

Joined: 08/09/2014

MGoPoints: 25375

Ali G Bomaye

November 7th, 2016 at 11:25 AM ^

I agree, but I don't think that's a concern we can't overcome. Harbaugh has shown the ability to put together a game plan that doesn't rely on the OL winning battles against the DL - for instance, see Brian's UFR of the offense from last year's OSU game.

And if any coordinator can take apart Alabama's spread-option attack and confuse a freshman QB, it's Don Brown.

Joined: 07/08/2008

MGoPoints: 17704

JohnnyV123

November 7th, 2016 at 11:14 AM ^

To David Pollack..."It doesn't matter what you think!"-The Rock

If we win the national championship beating whoever gets there ESPN will be salivating all over us until the end of Harbaugh. Every strength will become the greatest in the nation and every weakness will be glossed over with trust in Harbaugh or "these are highly talented guys they are just young and need to learn Harbaugh's system" to explain away early losses.

Alabama and Ohio State deserve ESPN's slobber based on results in previous years...which will be annoying if they win and it seems to confirm their point.

Joined: 04/08/2011

MGoPoints: 1007

uncleFred

November 7th, 2016 at 4:24 PM ^

These guys have a great deal of disdain for Jim Harbaugh. It seems personal and in some cases comes across as dislike or worse. If Michigan regularly, say every three years, is in the playoffs and makes and wins say 50% of their available national championship games, they might get to grudging acknowledgement, but that's probably about it. The SEC butters these guy's bread and they know it. They are already worried that the SEC will only win if it's Alabama and then only one out of every three or four years, destroying their myth of SEC superiority. They aren't about to contribute to the narrative that the top every team of the power five conferences can compete head to head.

Joined: 10/14/2011

MGoPoints: 2399

brad

November 7th, 2016 at 11:15 AM ^

TV analysts seem to be about two full years behind current reality in almost all of their college football commentary. So this is all perfectly natural. When M eventually backsides a bit in between excellent teams, we will benefit from this. Just not there yet.

If you're looking for media takes that over-value Michigan, wait until this time in 2018.



Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 15904

Ali G Bomaye

November 7th, 2016 at 11:17 AM ^

People talk about Alabama like they're some kind of Goliath. They're not. They only beat LSU - which lost to Wisconsin - by 10 points, and they only beat Ole Miss, which currently has a losing record, by 5. They were trailing against Texas A&M in the second half.

They're an excellent team, for sure, but they're not unbeatable. And somehow, despite our "lack of playmakers," we're scoring 48 ppg, good for third in the country (and more than a TD more than Alabama, on average).

Joined: 07/08/2008

MGoPoints: 17704

charblue.

November 7th, 2016 at 11:17 AM ^

and I certainly agree. But if your team is composed entirely of 4 and 5-stars on both sides of the ball and you are in the hunt for the best running back in the country every year, and usually get him, then asserting this claim seems a pretty safe contention. Not that LSU actually presented any threats other than their primary running back on Saturday night, which Bama simply eliminated from competition. I mean if you want to believe that LSU had a legitimate chance of winning Saturday, and then you argued that if the Tide took Fournette away, what would LSU counter with? And you saw that response: nothing. Their qb looked to throw the ball to one guy all night long  when he wasn't getting his butt handed to him.

 

 

Joined: 05/25/2010

MGoPoints: 11479

tspoon

November 7th, 2016 at 11:18 AM ^

i think JH will try to throw all over Bama.

Saban's defensive braintrust is less well equipped to handle creativity.  If they can pin you down and put you in a box, you are done for.  They excel at eqiupping their guys to a tightly defined task.

But O$U stomped them pretty hard in the '15 game precisely because Meyer was willing to break tendencies and attack with creativity (would he have done this with Barret healthy? not sure).  Harbaugh is capable of that.

Also, we don't have a game breaking RB to lean on.  O$U had Zeke Elliott in their game, and that mattered a lot.  So I think JH would put the ball in Speight's hands and use our piles of athletic TEs plus the SR wideouts.

I actually wouldn't expect a ton of Peppers on O in that game.  Certainly not much at wildcat ... Bama has been there, done that.  Would play right into their hands.  I just wouldn't see us focusing our attack on near-LOS action ... moreso hit 'em intermediate and downfield.

 

Joined: 07/30/2008

MGoPoints: 3814

gord

November 7th, 2016 at 11:26 AM ^

He was asked his opinion and gave it.  He has a point.  We don't have as many elite, future NFL players like some of the championship teams of the past.  Please don't whine to him on twitter.  It makes us all look bad.

 

Joined: 11/02/2013

MGoPoints: 8104

Yeoman

November 7th, 2016 at 3:39 PM ^

...and there seem to be plenty of expected elite future NFL players: a cornerback, a safety/LB hybrid, a defensive tackle, a defensive end....

Ohio State's got a free safety and two corners. Alabama's similar, and pitched a bit higher on the chart: a corner, a defensive end, two linebackers, an offensive tackle. Maybe O.J. Howard, but I don't think that's the kind of playmaker Pollard's talking about.

On the flip side, some are projecting Kizer to be the first pick. By itself, I don't think a dynamic offensive playmaker gets you very far.

 

Joined: 06/08/2011

MGoPoints: 21391

mgowild

November 7th, 2016 at 11:26 AM ^

I think part of the problem is Michigan has so many weapons, not one sticks out. We have 4 running backs who get significant carries, plus McDoom and Peppers. So even though we have large team rushing totals, we don't have a workhorse back. Same with receivers, Darboh and Chesson split the load. So to outsiders, it probably seems like we don't have weapons because no one has big numbers. But we can beat you a lot of ways with a lot of different personnel. 

Joined: 08/10/2016

MGoPoints: 1631

hfhmilkman

November 7th, 2016 at 11:27 AM ^

One advantage of being a fan, we can talk about this.  Harbaugh is more interested in figuring out how to beat OSU which may be more of a challenge.  I think as other posters have pointed out UM's skill players are more than adequate and useful.  Even if you make an argument that the vast majority are not the five star blue chips that Bama excepts it is more than enough for Harbagh and his staff to scheme with.  UM is also the more experienced team.   Thus we have players who are more capable of grasping and running more RPS stuff.

My biggest concern with Bama is not that we do not have skill players but will our line hold up against probably the best Dline in the country.  The good news is that our offensive players are used to going up against this kind of talent as UM is probably top 5.  If they hold up and Speight plays a good game I think our offense has a decent chance to score adequate points to compete in such a game.

Joined: 04/15/2009

MGoPoints: 781

jblaze

November 7th, 2016 at 11:30 AM ^

I tend to agree, which is why Jabrill needs to play offense enough for Michigan to get creative and score.

I love Darboh and Chesson, but don't think they are super explosive. They will not take over a game (like say Braylon), but are sneaky fast and can slip ahead of DBs.

I think the point is that other than Butt (and Peppers, but lets call him a defensive player for a second), Michigan doesn't have a skill player that would be rated as a top draft pick, even though they have the measurable attributes (height, speed, experience).

Joined: 08/29/2008

MGoPoints: 19411

jblaze

November 7th, 2016 at 11:52 AM ^

I would agree with that as well. I think Harbaugh certainly gets the most form his players and his schemes compliment his talent (this is no Sheridan/ Threet read option gameplay).

I also think this is why Harbaugh has so much variety on Offense, because he knows he can't beat OSU or Bama on talent alone.

Joined: 08/29/2008

MGoPoints: 19411

UofMCraZ

November 7th, 2016 at 11:41 AM ^

The only thing he has familiarity with is being on an overrated team with alot of talent but a lack of leadership (QB and coach)

We have both so F#$& David Pollack and Mike&Mike. 

GO BLUE!!!

Joined: 10/14/2015

MGoPoints: 3160

Chitown Kev

November 7th, 2016 at 11:41 AM ^

Personally, I think that this is even more true for Alabama's offense and, like'Bama, we shuffle in a lot of players on defense, so we won't get that tired and 'Bama doesn't have that bruising running back

Joined: 10/01/2011

MGoPoints: 4970