August 2nd, 2019 at 11:22 PM ^
Pumped for all the guys who will line up in the slot! New offense will mean more opportunities but I think the main reason we haven't seen much PT/production out of the position is that the primary slot Michigan has had the last several years averaged fewer YPR than any TEs.
Exciting to finally have several playmakers at a make plays position. I'm interested to see if Giles can get in the slot mix. Obviously behind Sainristil in term of time in the offense but seems the cleanest fit as a run threat slot based on HS tape/experience.
Beyond those two (and outside the topic at hand) I'm hoping to see DPJ get a few more carries this year at least in the big games. He's going to have a bigger workload generally but he's been really effective on extremely limited carries.
August 3rd, 2019 at 12:01 AM ^
Giles is FAST!
August 2nd, 2019 at 11:25 PM ^
what about Trente Jones? I didn't see him in any South Africa Pics or at the OL Dinner last night at Warriner's house.
August 2nd, 2019 at 11:44 PM ^
Maybe they didn’t make it to dinner, Might of had other plans with a lady friend or something
Trente Jones was in high school during the South Africa trip.
That's quite a first post for you.
August 2nd, 2019 at 11:34 PM ^
Action Jackson!!
August 2nd, 2019 at 11:52 PM ^
Isn't this exercise kind of pointless with the new rule?
With 4 free games there are going to be a lot more freshman who get snaps.
Those guys may push for the 2-deep, but of course they'll see the field.
I'm more interested to see how the coaches play things out. Especially at QB. If you're going to play 2 QBs, you're likely not going to get 4 QBs in any game.
If we have 4 blowouts where we go to #3. Is that McNamara even if he's technically QB4? Just to get him game reps without burning the redshirt? This was Milton over Peters. Wondering if the same thing could play out.
Because McCaffrey is going to get a TON of reps in blowout games. As I've mentioned Hurts typically got about 7 passes a game. But he got a ton of late snaps and Bama never went to QB3 until REALLY late. You had to get Hurts reps. Same for McCaffrey.
It'll be interesting to see how it plays out.
Off season/ preseason caveats apply, but im genuinely excited to see how tight that QB1 competition is. First legit time harbaugh has a returning qb with an actual, legit stud backup. Im not calling for Dylan to start, but competition is always good, and im curious how tight that position is.
August 3rd, 2019 at 10:13 AM ^
Even with the new rule, quite a few of last year's freshmen didn't see the field. Expect the same this season.
I expect Milton to get a fair number of snaps as QB3. Maybe the occasional package in a non-blowout like last season. That's assuming he is making some progress. You don't want to go into 2020 with only one QB with any experience, especially with a new starter. They'll find McCaffrey some meaningful snaps, so he can split the blowout time.
August 3rd, 2019 at 10:27 AM ^
They played 4 QB’s in games last season if I recall correctly. In a blowout just give each QB a drive late in the game. Wouldn’t be surprised to see a walk on QB get in
August 3rd, 2019 at 12:22 AM ^
Has Harbaugh ever been this vocally optimistic about a team he has coached? I took my two oldest boys up to Al Glick Field House for the Kids Go Blue Club "training camp." He came out and talked to the kids and parents. He basically said that this year was going to be special. Could be common coaches talk, but with his comments at the B1G media days, he sounds very optimistic.
August 3rd, 2019 at 10:28 AM ^
Felt he was confident about the 2016 squad
Where is vilain right now in terms of PT/reps?
Thank you sir. This list seems pretty much what was expected - these are all either elite players or guys who showed out in Spring.
Im guessing DJ Turner will see the field some too. Won’t burn the redshirt unless things go very sideways, but I think he’s good enough and we are thin enough at DB that he gets thrown in sometime.
I could see Cornelius Johnson seeing some PT.
August 3rd, 2019 at 10:17 AM ^
Redshirt the OL!!!!!
August 3rd, 2019 at 10:50 AM ^
I’m curious about Joey Velazquez. If he’s not expected to “see the field” during the football season, but Erik Bakich believes that he could “see the field” as a starter for the baseball team in 2020, would it be better for him to be practicing with the baseball team when the fall baseball season starts?
August 3rd, 2019 at 11:08 AM ^
I’m thinking Sainristil, Giles Jackson battle will be a good one. I think with relative lack of RB depth Jackson’s ability to satellite into the backfield for 5-8 carries a game could be very beneficial
August 3rd, 2019 at 11:50 AM ^
You'll see at least one OT get some blowout time and at least one CB.
Thanks for posting this, but how can you be so sure? They were what, 2 fall camp practices in, when you wrote this?
I remember at the start of training camp in '04, Mike Hart was an afterthought. 3 weeks later, there was no doubt in anyone's mind that he was playing.
Interesting that for all the hand-wringing about the defense, there’s only 3 true FR who are expected to play.
If you had to bet right now, would you wager that the offense will finish higher in S&P+ than the D? The narrative has been that this is going to be an offensive team, but don’t forget how far the defense was ahead. Even with the late-season implosion, they finished 16 spots apart. That’s roughly the distance in overall S&P+ between U-M and MSU.
Yeah iMBlue2.... my money on Giles Jackson....