Michigan squandered Nico Collins' talent
Not going to rant about the whole OSU performance, just wanted to point out one thing that's been bugging me: Michigan squandered Nico Collins' talent.
From a pure talent perspective, Nico Collins could have been one of the greatest WRs in Michigan history. Like Heisman Trophy good.
But unfortunately this coaching staff is extremely risk averse and afraid of letting it fly. They love their little slots and burly TEs, but when an elite giant WR signs they are too afraid to use him properly.
By and large, the OL did their job this season and can't be blamed. The QB play leaves something to be desired. OK, fine. But when you have a guy like Collins, you launch him the ball early and often.
How will UM recruit WRs of his quality if they can't even showcase them? Nico will get a nice NFL paycheck but no thanks to Michigan's staff. He have done so much more if the staff wasn't so stuffy and conservative.
Nico Collins -- one of the most talented WRs in Michigan history -- we hardly knew ye.
December 1st, 2019 at 12:08 AM ^
...add DPJ and Black to that list too.
December 1st, 2019 at 12:12 AM ^
Black isn’t that good. Injuries destroyed him. Hope he proves me wrong in 2020. DPJ good but has flaws. Needs to work on catching the call. Nico is a stud and he should be insulted you put Black/DPJ in that same sentence.
December 1st, 2019 at 12:06 PM ^
DPJ was one of the highest Michigan recruits of all time, the #1 player in the State, and #12 player in the country. Black was the #1 player in his state, a high 4 star and the #15 wide receiver in the country. Throw in Nico and Oliver Martin, the #1 player in Iowa, the talent from the entire wide receiver recruiting class of 2017 will be remembered for having underperformed. Nico and DPJ with the right coaching may have great NFL careers, and we can wonder what could have been at Michigan.
December 1st, 2019 at 12:51 AM ^
Hard to figure what happened to Black. Seems like he slipped to 5th on the depth chart. Jackson got more offensive snaps than him today.
He did manage to run a 9 yard route today when they needed 10. Feel like we've seen that movie before.
December 1st, 2019 at 8:03 AM ^
Black hasn’t done jack shit since he’s been here. It seems he’s living off the reputation of the Florida game where Wilton Speight hit him with a long TD pass. Ronnie Bell is 100 times the competitor as Black.
December 1st, 2019 at 8:31 AM ^
Yeah, should have called more deep passes to Collins.
Against perhaps the best secondary in the country.
With Chase Young rushing your QB.
A QB with an average at best arm.
With swirling winds.
December 1st, 2019 at 12:12 AM ^
You spelled Young Megatron wrong
December 1st, 2019 at 12:13 AM ^
As always, people are over emotional and have dumb hot takes. Nico is a good WR but he’s not a generational talent. Will probably be a third round pick.
December 1st, 2019 at 12:19 AM ^
Well, Brian was saying it all season and aside from one game, they didn't throw Collins many bombs at all. I didn't see anybody saying Brian was wrong about that, but then again I am just some guy.
December 1st, 2019 at 12:32 AM ^
So you are just parroting what Brian said and passing it off as your own original thoughts?
December 1st, 2019 at 12:56 AM ^
No, I'm more using Brian's credibility as a kind of bulletproof padding to protect myself from blowback from the Harbaugh lovers. In general, Brian avoids being too hard on the staff, so the fact that he complained a lot about the misuse of Collins just shows how glaring the issue was.
December 1st, 2019 at 12:46 AM ^
Brian was saying Patterson is a "pretty accurate passer" all preseason and through the first part of the season. Until he stopped saying it.
December 1st, 2019 at 12:16 AM ^
What did Michigan ever really accomplish with Tom Brady throwing to David Terrell?
December 1st, 2019 at 12:33 AM ^
An Orange Bowl winnover Bama
December 1st, 2019 at 2:17 AM ^
Bowls are meaningless
/s
December 1st, 2019 at 2:57 AM ^
What did your mom ever really accomplish with you? Besides the pest part of you dripping down her leg that is!
December 1st, 2019 at 9:31 AM ^
If only the pest part of me had dripped down my mom's leg....
December 1st, 2019 at 1:39 PM ^
Ha! 3 AM drunk post.
December 1st, 2019 at 12:24 AM ^
OSU’s Number 1 CB blanketed him today. Collins is a great talent, we’ll see what his 40 time is at the combine in a couple months.
December 1st, 2019 at 12:51 AM ^
This is not true. Okudah did not follow Collins around the field. He covered Nico half the time or less. Michigan didn't take shots down the field.
December 1st, 2019 at 2:59 AM ^
Michigan did take shots down the field. 3 of them in the 1st quarter alone. On all three the Michigan WR got mugged by the ohio DB.
December 1st, 2019 at 7:59 AM ^
Sure did. Two straight DPI's directly in front of an official in the first quarter. TV replay showed both clearly - and they weren't close. Why the fuck was Klatt not calling them out on it?
That's not why we lost, but it sure did help kick start the scoring race for one team...
December 1st, 2019 at 1:40 PM ^
+1.
Just to be clear, I'm not making excuses based upon the reffing.
Just addressing the notion there was a problem with the offensive game plan or not utilizing weapons.
December 1st, 2019 at 12:26 AM ^
We’ve squandered a lot of talent over the last 15 years.
December 1st, 2019 at 8:02 AM ^
That's why all that talent is flourishing in the NFL right now. Stop it, we haven't had a ton of talent the last 15 years. No offensive skill talent, and very few starters period.
December 1st, 2019 at 8:41 AM ^
They haven’t had a game changer on Offense since Denard. That and O-line talent have been their biggest issues on O. Psu had Barkley and now they have Hamler. Osu has obviously had many. UW has a running back every year. Even teams like MD and Purdue have game breakers on O. They seem to have addressed the Oline hopefully they can recruit a game changer or develop Jackson Sainristil Charbonet or Haskins into one. Or get one from the Portal.
I like Collins and DPJ. I think Black will be good next year. Before yesterday I would’ve said they were one of the top 5 WR corps in the country. The drops changed that but they’re still very talented. Bell DPJ Black and Collins will all be drafted by the 4th round this year or next. Not many teams have that many WRs. But none of them are the type of player that can break a game open on their own.
December 1st, 2019 at 12:30 AM ^
Very good player, not quite as good as you are saying.
He also had a few drops.
December 1st, 2019 at 1:02 AM ^
OK, that is fair. I still think he could have made a bigger impact if given the chance.
BTW Franz Wagner is going to be a great player too. So glad Juwan is letting him play through his mistakes and get more confident.
December 1st, 2019 at 2:36 AM ^
Michigan should have targeted him more. But once Michigan had to keep up every possession, things gets out of whack.
December 1st, 2019 at 12:56 AM ^
Baffins = over priced/under perform
December 1st, 2019 at 1:10 AM ^
A lot of talent has been squandered by UM football.
December 1st, 2019 at 1:26 AM ^
In other news, water is wet.
Thanks for the revelation.
December 1st, 2019 at 1:28 AM ^
Why is it every whiner snowflake feels the need to make a new post instead of posting to the snowflake threads?
December 1st, 2019 at 1:44 AM ^
although I am definitely a whiner snowflake as you say (no denying that), my comment wasn't about the OSU game but about the last three years, and i didn't see an existing thread called "last three years snowflake thread"
December 1st, 2019 at 2:45 AM ^
Yes, your sentiment is completely unique.
December 1st, 2019 at 3:01 AM ^
i didn't see an existing thread called "last three years snowflake thread"
Oh, okay... that makes it all better.
Carry on Mr. Pedantic.
December 1st, 2019 at 5:42 AM ^
instead of posting to the snowflake threads?
Who cares why?
December 1st, 2019 at 5:35 AM ^
Collins was targeted but he didn't catch the balls. Maybe we should have been more ruthless with trying to get him the ball. Those plays in the endzone where we got cute before the fumble took a bit.
December 1st, 2019 at 5:40 AM ^
But unfortunately this coaching staff is extremely risk averse and afraid of letting it fly.
Or maybe Josh Gattis isn't what he was billed to be?
December 1st, 2019 at 6:14 AM ^
Our OL has been pretty dogshit in pass protection Over the last couple of years.
December 1st, 2019 at 7:12 AM ^
A lot less true of this year's group though, right?
Seemed like we were better in pass pro overall, and yesterday too.
Run game, not so much....
December 1st, 2019 at 7:52 AM ^
Why does this board insist on beating a dead horse?
December 1st, 2019 at 8:09 AM ^
I guess I’m not really sure why everyone thinks all these receivers are leaving? Nico is the 14th ranked receiver (#85 overall) right now on the CBS draft board. The other two are nowhere to be found.
December 1st, 2019 at 9:12 AM ^
Aside from the Indiana game, Nico Collins' talent was indeed wasted. As for the OSU game, Collins must have covered a whole lot. He was targeted but like other receivers, he had dropped some passes. Can't blame Shea or Nico for that performance yesterday.
December 1st, 2019 at 10:16 AM ^
Speaking of squandering, Collins squandered a bunch of catchable passes yesterday.