Also 22/23 freshmen are enrolled. Just waiting on one more per the U-M directory.
Do we know is the missing freshman is planning on enrolling?
Not going to mention who? Is it top-secret?
Not super surprising, tho a bit of a bummer. Hopefully he’s a stud CB, would have loved to have seen him with the ball in his hands, but we need the CB depth
I think it makes sense. Dennis would have been exciting on offense but with AJ Henning and Roman Wilson coming in the same class, and Michigan having at least 2 years more of Giles Jackson and Mike Sainristil, Dennis would just become a redundancy. I don’t see him beating out all of those players for playing time no matter how dynamic he is.
That being said, he’s not too shabby at corner either
Don't forget about Cornelius Johnson. He looked danged good the few opportunities he got last year.
Agreed. I just picked those players because they’re more likely to operate from the slot (where Dennis would play if he was on offense)
Yes but he plays a different position than the slew of slot bugs that are now all over the roster. Johnson is exclusively an outside receiver, so Dennis wouldn’t be competing for the same spot anyway
Yeah that’s why I said it wasn’t super surprising. This is the exact reason they took him; he offers them options at a few positions. I just hope he doesn’t get the reassignment treatment that has consumed some careers. I have a feeling he sees the field for a bit while here.
Side note: is Wilson not being utilized as an outside guy? For some reason I thought he was going to be an outside guy that blows the top off the coverage regularly
Wilson has the ability to contribute from both positions, sorta like DPJ and Bell last season. His future is probably on the outside based on roster structure, but his path to early playing time would probably be in the slot. Collins, Bell and Johnson are going to command the majority of the outside targets, and nobody has really solidified as the primary slot target so there’s a path to get some targets there along with Sainristil and Jackson.
I hope he makes a lot of receptions - at Cornerback!
Just like the pic above with the Woodson-like Int!
The picture in left center makes it look like he was on Joe Rogan's podcast
The picture on bottom center makes him look like Woodson.
Eamonn is one of the world foremost experts on shooting a bow and arrow and doing MMA while on psychedelics.
I’m honestly not that concerned about CB depth. Obviously it would be nice to see an elite option emerge, but Gray is a solid option (not great but he’s serviceable), Jalen Perry was a four star recruit so it’s yet to be seen what he turns into, DJ Turner was turning heads last fall camp, and we just brought in Seldon and Green-Warren. So even after Ambry leaves this season we have a handful of promising options. Might be lacking in star power, but depth isn’t really a concern imo.
Still great to have a quick twitch athlete the caliber of Dennis back there though
I understand what you mean, but I think we are defining depth differently. I mean depth as in growing the pool of options to choose from, in hopes the cream rises to the top, and there is plenty of cream (or just some cream in general). Gray was very solid. But if CB1 is Gray as he was last season, that’s an issue for our defense. And once Ambry leaves, well, that’s about where we stand currently. The more quality bullets in the chamber the better
But I doubt redshirt freshman Vincent Gray is the Vincent Gray we will have the rest of his career. He’s a bit limited physically, but he isn’t going to just not get better.
As it stands, we have three four star corners and a three star who was garnering a lot of hype last year. That’s before we get into having a guy in Vincent Gray who received a ton of playing time as a redshirt freshman, and again we’ll ignore Ambry since this is his last year.
I’m all for adding quality athletes and adding depth. I just wouldn’t call it a concern at this point. It’s definitely unproven and you never turn down the ability to add elite talent or athleticism, but it’s not something I’m concerned about.
There is going to be a time crunch at slot so this move makes a lot of sense. I think Sainristil is the other guy with some positional flexibility, but he was able to come on campus first to establish himself at WR. Hopefully Dennis can get up to speed quickly at corner because the depth chart is pretty wide open other than Ambry.
Interesting. I always pictured him as more of a gadget APB guy
Neither of the posts I found here mentioned defense except in passing, so I guess this will be one of those guys who'll hit the field in a couple years and I'll have no idea who he is.
Of course, I hope he's the next Charles Woodson.
Harbaugh, from the Attack Each Day podcast:
"(Dennis) is a player like Mike Sainristil. It was like watching Sainristil again when I first watched Dennis on tape. He could be a receiver or corner, and he was leaning toward corner last time I talked to him."
Makes sense. He's a smaller guy with plus athleticism, so corner makes a good spot for him if the slot is filled.
Well Michigan needs bodies at the corner position, that's for sure. Or more specifically, bodies who are more than just guys.
After Ambry Thomas, there doesn't appear to be a whole lot there (yet) for guys who can go out and make plays at the corner position. Here's to hoping Dennis can be one of those guys.
This.
It's going to be a very interesting camp for the defense. Every spot outside of Viper has an experienced option who'd have to be considered a heavy favorite to start, but the top backup spot will be an absolute war. Cornerback will be one of the fiercest considering the youth at the position and need for at least a third guy to get a lot of snaps. Have to think DJ Turner is the most likely to get a lot of time but someone like Dennis or Seldon may be a better fit covering the slot if that's the way Michigan ends up going. Can't really afford an injury here but feeling a little better about depth moving forward after Ambry leaves in light of this swap.
I like this move. His plus athleticism could translate well if he has the instincts and physicality.
And we are so loaded at slot.
I feel like this is a good thing. The top backup always gets serious playing time and it’s totally up for grabs. there’s 3-4 legit guys battling for that .... something something iron sharpens iron
I thought we knew this months ago. I guess this means it's official now.
We have known this for a while now considering it’s been in his bio about 6 months. I guess nobody’s noticed.