Who is showing they belong being a starter on this football team?
It's very easy to point out who isn't doing their job and who isn't making this team better but who is doing their job and who actually is pulling their weight and trying to make this program compete. Unfortunately I find that list very small. On the offensive side of the ball I would say Ronnie Bell has showed real heart and desire and is making plays that matter and on the defensive side I would say that Daxton Hill is doing the same. Unfortunately 2 out of 22 players actually showing heart and playing with some fire lands you squarely in the predicament that this teams currently finds themselves in. Am I missing anyone? Is there any other starter contributing at a level that would allow them to compete with the likes of OSU?
November 15th, 2020 at 7:05 PM ^
I really like Sainristil and Jackson. Just wish they were taller.
McGrone is doing yeoman's work out there, between his responsibilites and covering for Ross all the time.
November 15th, 2020 at 8:09 PM ^
Funny, because I was just saying McGrone has regressed this year.
November 15th, 2020 at 8:15 PM ^
He played alongside a dawg in Glasgow last year. A guy he never had to worry about picking up his slack. This allowed him to run like a mad man. This year he’s playing alongside a guy who runs a 5.5 40 and takes 2.5 seconds to diagnose what is happening.
November 15th, 2020 at 8:28 PM ^
Thats because he is being forced to play zone, which brown has no fucking idea how to coach so he isn't getting to blitz as often
November 16th, 2020 at 11:48 AM ^
He has regressed. It's a mistake to blame McGrone for Ross' mistakes, especially when McGrone is reading the wrong gap a lot. McGrone's eyes should be on his responsibilities, not on Ross's job. I've rewatched plenty of plays in which McGrone has guessed wrong and gotten caught in either the wrong read or in the hands of a pulling guard.
Gemon Green has actually held his own for someone who doesn't know how to catch the ball as much as he holds his WR. Dax is doing well.
How can we tell which RB has earned a job when they each get like touches a game? Filiaga has earned his job. The line is not the reason for a poor run game. It's all in the predictable scheme and play calling. Again, they call plays right into the heart of the defense and get surprised when they didn't trick very good DCs with their zone-read rollouts or flat routes.
Milton should know pre-snap his first two options, yet doesn't. They line up, call plays with 20 second on the play clock, so he should have a quicker read progression than he does. Identify the coverage, identify two likeliest openings, and focus post-snap on mechanics and trusting the reads.
November 15th, 2020 at 7:06 PM ^
I mean, if only 2 guys look like they wanna play, maybe it's not the players but the coaching that's the problem.
November 15th, 2020 at 7:19 PM ^
Ding ding ding ding
November 15th, 2020 at 7:11 PM ^
Dylan McCaffrey?
November 15th, 2020 at 7:15 PM ^
It is incredibly arrogant and disgusting to say only 2 out of 22 starters are "actually showing heart".
Fuck off.
Let's hope no player or recruit reads this board...
November 15th, 2020 at 7:17 PM ^
"Let's hope no player or recruit reads this board..."
I'd never want any of them reading the shit we post here.
November 15th, 2020 at 7:18 PM ^
Why is that disgusting? Most of the players aren’t showing any energy or passion on the field. That is due to the fact that they no longer believe in harbaugh. The truth can hurt but it’s still the truth. This entire team should be booed off the field. They are an embarrassment and it all goes back to the head coach. FIRE HARBAUGH!
November 15th, 2020 at 7:29 PM ^
That is due to the fact that they no longer believe in harbaugh.
Any evidence for this statement?
The truth can hurt but it’s still the truth.
You haven't provided any such truth. Just your own speculation that you are masquerading as the truth.
November 15th, 2020 at 7:34 PM ^
Agreed. We really don't know what the underlying problem is. People are just making guesses and declaring the guesses to be truth.
November 15th, 2020 at 7:41 PM ^
If a player isn’t giving 100% on the field, it’s about the player. Competitors compete, no matter who the coach is.
November 15th, 2020 at 8:12 PM ^
The offensive line is just young and inexperienced. They seem to be trying. Carlo Kemp seems to be giving it his all, and so do the corners. Green is improving for a guy that's just starting for the first time, and Gray just isn't very good, but he is trying his ass off.
November 15th, 2020 at 9:21 PM ^
I mean what do the corners have to do to show you they care? You want them to grab a handful of jersey every play/time they get beat?
November 15th, 2020 at 10:40 PM ^
Kemp would make a great LB in a non gimmick defense, at his normal weight.
November 15th, 2020 at 9:11 PM ^
Well, if they're reading this board, I'd assume they are watching the games as well... so whatever it is we are seeing, they're seeing, regardless of any shitposts on here.
November 15th, 2020 at 7:15 PM ^
Hutchinson, Paye, Barrett ... OP, 2/22 is a wild exaggeration
November 15th, 2020 at 7:16 PM ^
So will muschamp just got canned at South Carolina. Meanwhile we still have harbaugh. Things are going great!
November 15th, 2020 at 8:17 PM ^
Harbaugh's record at Mich, 48 - 21
Muschamp at S Carolina, 28 - 30
November 15th, 2020 at 10:02 PM ^
Dude... not a good comparison...Muschamp competes in the SEC...where the level of conference competition is significantly greater...look at the facts...we were taken to the woodshed by them when we - at least on paper - had a significant talent advantage...wake up and smell the coffee...the ONLY meaningful win in Harbaugh’s UM tenure is ND last year...Muschamp was fired because there is no chance he can beat his in-state rival...whereas the previous Head Ball Coach owned that rival...we’ve split with our in-state rival (who could never compete in the SEC, refer to CFP 2015), and no one on the planet...not even our greatest homey DH21, believes we can beat our real rival with the current leadership...let’s face it, the real issue is the fear that if JH can’t get it done who can?
November 15th, 2020 at 10:21 PM ^
"Muschamp was fired because there is no chance he can beat his in-state rival"
I had to think about this for a second. It's just weird when your in-state rival plays in a different conference.
November 16th, 2020 at 5:37 AM ^
Not a good comparison? He was wondering why Harbaugh hasn't been fired when Muschamp has. All coaches have to go by, is their record, and their character. He has lost a greater percentage of games than Harbaugh. 5 years in and a losing record. Harbaugh hasn't done a good job, but his record is light years better than that. He can't beat OSU, but Muschamp can't beat anyone in his conference.
November 16th, 2020 at 9:48 AM ^
The SEC East has not been the murderer's row the SEC West has been over the past decade. 3 SEC West schools (Alabama, Auburn, and LSU) have won 7 NCAA championships since the SEC East last produced a winner. The West has won 10 or 11 conference championship games.
South Carolina's conference schedule is similar to Michigan's. In a typical recent year under Harbaugh (2019), what would Michigan's record be against Missouri, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Florida, Georgia, and a random team from the West (how about Mississippi)? I'd say 5-3 against this group. Pencil in a loss to Clemson and 3 wins overs tomato cans and UM would be 8-4 overall. A good coach at South Carolina should be 8-4, give or take, each year against this schedule. Muschamp was fired because he couldn't go .500.
JH is on the hot seat because of the greater expectations at UM, the trajectory of the football program, and his inability to beat OSU. Being taken to the woodshed by Muschamp's team despite superior talent is a further indictment of JH.
UM has the history and facilities to attract a better coach than South Carolina. I agree this is not a good comparison but for different reasons.
November 16th, 2020 at 1:49 AM ^
Your seriously comparing resources and recruiting at South Carolina to Michigan? Lmao you really don’t know anything about college football do you. BTW muschamp is 1-0 against harbaugh....just saying
November 15th, 2020 at 7:18 PM ^
I mean the players that actually play well never touch the ball so it's hard to say. Magnus wrote on TTB that there were like 6 Wisconsin players who rushed for more than Charbonnet did and that Haskins who's averaging 8 yds/carry got only 1 touch this game.
Like what is this RB rotation? JayBaugh sucks at keeping the hot hand in the game. We don't use our fast speedy guys appropriately, and we don't use our power guys either. Idk wtf this is.
November 15th, 2020 at 7:46 PM ^
I agree about the RB rotation. It's frustrating. But this isn't specific to JayBaugh. Wheatley was the same way. I think he actually said one time that there is no such thing as a "hot hand" at running back.
November 15th, 2020 at 7:49 PM ^
Highly unlikely it's JayBaugh's call. That goes to the play caller typically. I do agree with your point though. Giving 4 guys 5 carries a game is a horrible way to manage a backfield.
Ideally you'd like to see 2 guys handle the vast majority of carries. Maybe you run a few series (when things are going well and you can at least pick up a first down in the first quarter) for guys like Corum and Evans with a few special packaged plays.
Honestly, our offense is so far away from what looks like a competent and rational game plan it's useless to talk about what's ideal. Ideally, we'd also have more than one yard a quarter through a game.
November 15th, 2020 at 7:23 PM ^
You should feel bad of your insinuation that any player has just quit much less the entire team. This is a stupid take and stupid thread. I'm as pissed off as anyone but you can't just lump our players together as a bunch of quitters. Trying to keep the insults at a minimum but you are making it difficult.
November 15th, 2020 at 7:28 PM ^
yes, this bugs me, too. 'quitter' is about the worst thing you can say about an athlete, and, short of jay cutler, i don't think you can say that about anyone. arm-waving and screaming don't mean anything either way, and getting your ass kicked doesn't mean you quit.
November 15th, 2020 at 7:23 PM ^
Brad Robbins, he's getting lots of practice.
November 15th, 2020 at 7:24 PM ^
Jiles Jackson looks good in the return game. Maybe give some reps at receiver.
November 15th, 2020 at 8:18 PM ^
Giles is very good also.
November 15th, 2020 at 9:17 PM ^
Giles Gackson?
November 15th, 2020 at 7:25 PM ^
i think almost all of the offensive skill positions have been fine (qb is a different discussion entirely). the o-line has been lousy for three weeks, they can all go. and kwity pay, hutch, and daxton hill have all been very good. that's it.
November 15th, 2020 at 7:28 PM ^
ALL of these guys are more talented and harder working than we can imagine. So I reject the basic premise of the post.
Of the players that are playing the ones who have stood out the most to me are: Ronnie Bell, Chris Evans, Hassan Haskins, Zach Charbonnet, Joe Milton, Kwity Paye, Aidan Hutchinson (bummer), Julius Welshof, Cam McGrone, Dax Hill, Giles Jackson, Brad Robbins
November 15th, 2020 at 7:58 PM ^
Corum
November 15th, 2020 at 7:39 PM ^
I think the guy everyone should be looking at right now and asking why we haven’t seen him before is Mazi Smith.
Watch him on the plays when he was in the game. He was able to stand up to the Wisconsin OL on the interior and maintain his position. He didn’t get blasted downfield. His reputation was that he’s unusually strong, even for a college defensive lineman. That’s exactly what he showed.
He did have a play where he missed a tackle near the goal line and Wisconsin scored. But the fact is he got through the blocking and was in position to make a play. He needs to be playing much more.
November 15th, 2020 at 8:04 PM ^
Agree with this. I saw Mazi out there and thought he looked like their best interior linemen next to Hinton while he was out there. I think across the board the coaches have done a terrible job defining what is required to see the field. we've seen this before at plenty of other positions, where a guy that gets the starters rep struggles for an extended period of time and when he finally gets pulled the guy behind him looks obviously better.
I obviously have no insider information, but from an observers point of view, it looks like the coaches award playing time to the guys they think show the most effort / "program guys", not necessarily the best players. An unfortunate truth with that is talent wins games, not school spirit.
November 15th, 2020 at 8:31 PM ^
You are spot on. McGrone last year is anotjer example.
November 15th, 2020 at 9:03 PM ^
People said the same thing about Jordan Glasgow playing. "He's just an effort guy, not as good as Ross!" Turns out he was pretty damn good.
They said the same about Mettellus and Brandon Watson and John Runyan. All four on NFL rosters.
We're seeing their backups now. Not so good.
People complained about playing Ronnie Bell over Tarik Black.
Fans thought when John O'Korn came in and won the game versus Purdue, the coaches were idiots for not playing him over Speight sooner.
Do the coaches get it wrong sometime? Sure. But if it was up to who the fans thought was the "best player," our roster would be half true freshman and half 5 star guys like Kareem Walker and Aubrey Solomon ... and Josh Ross over Jordan Glasgow.
November 15th, 2020 at 7:44 PM ^
I can tell you who should NOT be starting....not due to effort but due to liability...
Ross, Hawkins, Gray
Steuber, Vastardis, Mason.
November 15th, 2020 at 7:54 PM ^
How could one possibly evaluate that? It's like trying to determine the scientific apptitude of English speakers with a test written in Spanish.
November 15th, 2020 at 8:03 PM ^
I don't know if the team quit as much as they were put in impossible situations they had no chance of winning so it appears that way.
Howard Griffith on BTN talked about how UW ran the same thing over and over and UM had no answer for it schematically.
If anyone has quit, it is the coaches.
November 15th, 2020 at 8:18 PM ^
100% agree. From what little I watched, it seemed UW was doing exactly what UM should be doing, getting to the edges. How many times did they have their tight end/h-back leak across the formation and catch a short pass and get a big gain because no one seemed to cover him? Seemed like it was multiple plays per drive, but I’m sure it wasn’t that much...
November 15th, 2020 at 8:15 PM ^
Really hard to assess the individuals, when the overall product is this bad across the board and everyone is out of sorts trying to coverup the next guy’s shortcomings.
I guess you could attempt to do this by position group, But Football is such a team sport that when a couple pieces aren’t clicking, it causes failure across the entire system.
QB is generally obvious, but is still very reliant on the O-line protection.
Beyond QB play, CB is easy to assess, especially in man to man scheme where they are on an island. Let’s just say ours have not been good this year...however, the pass rush has done nothing to help them out of their slump.
I would also say that our tight ends have dropped a bunch of really catchable balls.
November 15th, 2020 at 8:24 PM ^
I see players playing hard. They maybe aren’t as energetic as some teams, but the play hard. I see disjointed game plans and schemes. I see players who maybe aren’t as talented as the guys they’ve replaced.
November 15th, 2020 at 8:56 PM ^
Dax hill. That's about it.
November 15th, 2020 at 9:03 PM ^
Dylan McCaffrey.