Michigan Recruit Alex Malzone
I have had the opportunity to watch Alex Malzone play and feel he very well may start for Michigan. Alex doesn't have exceptional size or speed but has arm strength and pinpoint accuracy. He also comes from the Brother Rice program which I'm sure most of you know already. I would assume he's been well coached. So while everyone seems to be talking about possible QB recruits, Malzone may be our answer IMHO.
Simply go to Alex Malzone Senior Year Highlights on YouTube if you wish.
January 2nd, 2015 at 4:22 PM ^
January 2nd, 2015 at 4:24 PM ^
January 2nd, 2015 at 4:27 PM ^
I believe he has a chance in 2015. Call me crazy!
January 2nd, 2015 at 4:31 PM ^
You crazy
January 2nd, 2015 at 4:34 PM ^
Too much party time, not enough excellent.
January 2nd, 2015 at 5:05 PM ^
Cray
January 2nd, 2015 at 5:05 PM ^
Cray
January 2nd, 2015 at 5:23 PM ^
January 2nd, 2015 at 6:28 PM ^
should write us a nice diary about what we've got in these four guys, what their prospects might look like.
January 2nd, 2015 at 11:21 PM ^
Morris: Sucks
Bellamy: SUCKS
Speight: Hasn't had a chance to suck yet in games
Malzone: Doesn't suck only because he CAN'T suck because the other three guys either suck or likely suck.
In all honesty, Bellamy never sees the field again, so I think we can rule him out of this conversation.
I remember last summer Angelique was on the B1G Michigan preseason show in August and when she was asked who was winning the Gardner/Morris battle, she offered (unprompted) a pretty strong compliment of Wilton Speight and how highly the coaches regarded his work and progress. That stuck with me.
I think Morris is given the first snap in spring practice with Speight right behind him. I think Speight will look better to the fanbase in the spring game and the fanbase will increasingly call for him to start (because the backup QB is ALWAYS the most popular player on the team) but Harbaugh goes with Morris at Utah because he can do more with Morris than he can with Speight. Whether that means Morris starts the OSU game or not, I don't know. But Harbaugh can do with Morris what he did with Kapernick in terms of using his feet to open up throws better than with Speight.
If this is 2005 instead of 2015, with Lloyd Carr's staff, Speight is the starter.
January 2nd, 2015 at 4:24 PM ^
He'll get his chance. The new staff has no preconceived notions and Malzone is an early enrollee. Come spring practice Malzone, Morris and Speight will be in a dogfight and winner starts.
January 2nd, 2015 at 4:25 PM ^
I'd hope the winner starts
January 2nd, 2015 at 5:28 PM ^
Everybody will start out even in the spring. Morris should have an edge due to experience, but his time with Brandon, Nuss and Hoke may have "Lionized" him. Then again, if we have a Kevin Hogan sighting, it will probably change everything.
January 2nd, 2015 at 7:51 PM ^
January 3rd, 2015 at 1:47 AM ^
I like how you put down Brandon as if he were one of the coaches. He probably was.
January 2nd, 2015 at 11:25 PM ^
+1 to you. OP should have included it, as it is highly relevant to any Malzone starts in 2015 post.
January 2nd, 2015 at 4:25 PM ^
January 2nd, 2015 at 4:41 PM ^
i don't know, man. i'm pretty sure jim harbaugh's used up all his eligibility.
January 2nd, 2015 at 5:01 PM ^
We seem to have forgotten about Wilton.
January 2nd, 2015 at 6:34 PM ^
Wilton who? /s
January 2nd, 2015 at 5:15 PM ^
Based on what exactly?
January 2nd, 2015 at 4:26 PM ^
Is not a running threat starts next year we have a real problem.
January 2nd, 2015 at 4:28 PM ^
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January 2nd, 2015 at 6:31 PM ^
How tall is Aaron Rodgers?
January 2nd, 2015 at 8:37 PM ^
Not to mention Drew Brees and Russell Wilson.
January 2nd, 2015 at 11:59 PM ^
But he has Hanz & Franz for strength and conditioning.
January 2nd, 2015 at 4:35 PM ^
I don't care how short he is. If he can play well, he should start.
January 2nd, 2015 at 4:54 PM ^
Ho-ho-hoooooooooold on... Caillou??? How the hell have you been on here since september and I haven't seen you, you weird, whiny, little bald canadian bastard? Your theme song makes me want to punch a puppy.
January 2nd, 2015 at 4:57 PM ^
I remeber how freaked out we all were that a true freshman might start at LT, that turned out really well for us. I trust in Harbaugh and believe in whomever he chooses. He knows what he is doing. If he has pinpoint accuracy as professed and our O line can block, we should be in good shape.
That being said, I think it highly unlikely he would be able to surpass Shane and Wilton and be named the starter.
January 2nd, 2015 at 5:28 PM ^
I think what scared people about Cole was that all of the supposed depth at tackle still led to a true freshman starting. And while he was fine for Michigan, it still wasn't a "good" thing he was starting. And Michigan will miss him when he's gone in 4 years and not on his redshirt senior season.
The concern with QB is that everything flows through that position, and Michigan isn't good enough at running the ball to protect a young QB. True freshman Tate Forcier had a 13:10 ratio (plus 3 TDs on the ground), and the team struggled to move the ball against better defenses in a system designed to offset for a smaller, younger QB's weaknesses. So while Malzone is absolutely a piece of the puzzle going forward, I'd be worried if he beat out Morris or Wilton for the starting spot, and frankly I'd be nervous is Speight beat out Morris too.
January 2nd, 2015 at 6:38 PM ^
Way too many people around here put too much worry on redshirting. If a kid can play, they can play. While yes it would be nice to have Mason Cole in 2018, we'll have 5-6 kids just like him by then. Same with essentially every other position. These kids aren't here forever and I'd rather use them than figure out in year 4 of eligibilty that they were better than the guy we played in that spot the previous 3 years. If a kid can play, they can play.
January 2nd, 2015 at 9:48 PM ^
not to mention the possibility he enters the draft early. Taylor Lewan staying for his senior season despite being a projected first rounder was the exception to the rule.
If Cole continues to improve and is projected in the first one or two rounds after his senior (or junior) season, the redshirt he didn't get may not matter one iota.
January 3rd, 2015 at 1:17 PM ^
But it's all relative. Him being able to "play" as a freshman and beat out good talent ahead of him is rare; Cole was fine this year, but he wasn't a stud at the tacklet spot. You'd have hoped a guy, some guy in the system for multiple years could play better than average, which is what Cole was as a freshman relative to other players at his position. That isn't surprising given his age, and I do think he'll be really good in the future.
But the reason you redshirt guys and try to have upperclassmen is because they tend to be better, more physically mature and know your system. With a tackle, even a good true freshman one still is making a huge leap from HS to college, to say nothing of learning a new offense, getting in sync with his teammates, and acclimating himself to the life of a college student. So yeah, if he truly is a great player and deserves to start then by all means do it, but the reason he started this year is at least in part due to Hoke and co's inability to convert the other, similarly-ranked players before him into suitable replacements for Lewan and Schofield.
January 2nd, 2015 at 5:08 PM ^
Fortunately no recruiting service has him listed as shorter than 6'1.5 and less than 200 pounds.
January 2nd, 2015 at 4:26 PM ^
Yeah, I think he's awesome. That's why I think most people are too pessimistic on our QB situation.
January 2nd, 2015 at 4:27 PM ^
he may have talent and ability to lead but I bet he ends up being a RS next year.
Let's wait and see what JH has in store for Shane and Wilton, I bet one of those two will be the starter. Speight has a lot of ability and a very impressive film from HS.
January 2nd, 2015 at 4:28 PM ^
From your lips to God's ears, but the transition from HS to college ball, the speed and complexity of the game, takes a while to learn except for the occasional exception. Not every QB handles the transition well or quickly
We thought the same thing about Shane, and perhaps it is unfair to judge him based on our previous coaching staff, but so far, his development is less than stellar.
January 2nd, 2015 at 4:28 PM ^
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January 2nd, 2015 at 4:28 PM ^
did the complete unexpected in SF by benching the former 1st rounder and going with Kapernick. So who knows what he will do? He'll put whoever on the field that he feels give him the best shot at winning.
January 2nd, 2015 at 5:24 PM ^
Didn't Smith get hurt?
January 2nd, 2015 at 4:29 PM ^
QBs can start as freshmen and be fine especially under Harbaugh. When we had true freshmen starting for the OL or DL a few years ago that was a different story since players normally need a few years to mature in the trenches.
January 2nd, 2015 at 4:36 PM ^
Not counting those of the RR era, I point to Henne and Leach as proof. Like I said earlier, come spring practice Harbaugh will see what he's got in Speight, Malzone and Morris and winner will start. If he's not comfortable with any, maybe you see the graduate year transfer since many of those potential options will not have the credits to graduate (and subsequently transfer) until after Winter semester.
January 2nd, 2015 at 4:44 PM ^
Did Grbac start as a true freshman? For some reason I remember him being very raw.
January 2nd, 2015 at 4:47 PM ^
Not sure if he was redshirt or not but he played in '89 when Taylor got hurt. Grbac might have been raw but he performed fairly well in '89.
January 2nd, 2015 at 4:49 PM ^
Think he was a redshirt freshmen when he was pressed into playing time and impressed against ND (The rocket game)
Taylor was the starter and had a bad shoulder
January 2nd, 2015 at 4:30 PM ^
Looking forward to the Spring game this year to watch these guys. Should be interesting.
January 2nd, 2015 at 4:31 PM ^
Look for Shane or Wilton to be the man in 2015.