5 straight home games is nice when you're breaking in a new QB and O-line. Since going on the road early against a cupcake is never going happen, the alternative (Texas and/or USC on the road) isn't very attractive.
Can't help but notice Deone Walker at 8. I can't recall exactly how close Michigan was to getting him before he chose Kentucky, but I thought it was perceived to be quite close at the time.
Unless I've forgotten, wasn't Rece Davis all too happy to follow the wind when it came to sign-gate? If so, I'm not sure that anything else he has opined on matters all that much.
Sure, but I wouldn't be comfortable picking a team # 1 when the most important position on the field is unproven.
Kyle McCord threw 2 interceptions against Michigan and Michael Penix went 27 - 51. OSU will be starting a QB who could potentially do a lot worse - against Michigan or any of a number of other top defenses.
Apparently the losing team members keeping their helmets on is standard protocol for the post game handshake.
I noticed this last night and asked my son about it - he’s been playing for about two years and told me that’s how it’s done. However, a quick internet search on my phone has produced absolutely nothing I can share here for more background.
Any insight into why Maye would have been their guy?
I'm not exactly sure what the knocks on JJ are other than the readily contestable claim that he doesn't have enough experience/hasn't truly proven himself. The biggest legitimate concern is clearly size/susceptibility to injury, which is obviously why he bulked up. Another could be accuracy/consistency, especially on deep throws, but he's thrown - very accurately - into some incredibly tight windows. And from the limited tape I've seen, this is a much bigger issue for Maye than it is for JJ. The only other area I can think of where some quarterbacks might have a clear edge on JJ is speed/elusiveness - and those are strengths for JJ.
I don't gamble, but I couldn't resist (I can't even remember the name of the site) giving away money for the super bowl: I bet $5 on KC and $5 on SF, risking 24 cents on the vigorish for a possible gain of $200 in betting credit. Won the $5 on KC and then made offsetting basketball bets on the $200 to come away with about $90.
We could use a few UDFAs as backup receivers. Hopefully Amorion Walker will soon appear on this depth chart and provide some really pleasant surprises during the season, but at this point we can't count on that.
And, thankfully, we have a coach who isn't afraid to rely on the running game if the WR corps is compromised by injury, but it would be really nice if we can pick up a proven commodity in the portal.
Here's a link to currently uncommitted WRs. Is there anyone in here we want to bring in? (Note that the list does not indicate what year in school each player is in -- I guess that really doesn't matter anymore).
I didn't think Alabama deserved the playoff spot, but they did prove to be a very worthy opponent. I can't speculate on how they would have fared against Washington or Texas or in a 12-team playoff, because I don't have insight into the specifics of how different teams match up against each other. The NFL clearly thinks very highly of the players they put on the field in the Rose Bowl.
If Sam Walters isn't a plus defender and rebounder at the 4, it would be awfully nice to have someone to plug into that spot when needed. I think there are guys out there, but probably not enough minutes or NIL to go around.
I recall that in the last few years under Nick Saban Alabama often showed up surprisingly low in the early recruiting rankings. Maybe as low as the 40s or even 50s. And perhaps lots of Alabama fans freaked out at the time...and then Alabama ended up at #1 or #2 in the rankings.
Michigan is not and never will be Alabama. And I think most of us don't want them to be.
The last coaching staff proved that you can win a national championship -- and not by luck but by having a truly dominant team -- with a few really highly sought after recruits and the right mix of really good players. If the current coaching staff is as capable as we think they are -- they'll do fine with whoever they recruit and will find a way to get enough high-level talent to keep Michigan competitive. If they are not quite as capable, but they are better recruiters and have more backing from the university in terms of NIL, they may very well do better in recruiting than the last regime -- potentially enough to make up for any drop off in coaching.
As much as I'd like to see Alex Orji excel, having Jayden Davis Warren start at QB would be a lot more fun - especially if I could figure out to how embed this simple jpg of Rosey Grier and Ray Milland from The Thing With Two Heads.
I'm no lawyer, but it seems that we're beyond the point where NIL has any actual relationship to name, image, or likeness -- I'm not sure there's an issue here.
Based on this analysis, receiver and O-line look like a definite step back from last year, which is not exactly a surprise. And QB.
I do not want to recalibrate expectations, so I won't. I'll just hope that the coaching staff works some magic with development and/or portal additions, that the training staff can also continue to work magic, and that injury luck is on our side.
Good for him was my exact thought as well. I have no idea how he'll do. While I hope he does well, it will be unpleasant if his performance at UConn becomes something of an indictment for how he was developed at Michigan. Assuming we're in a non-zero sum world, let's hope everybody learns from their experience and gets better -- I'm still working on that myself.
Does Penny Hardaway get to stay at Memphis forever and continue to take players we might be interested in? Will pressure start to build if he doesn't get past the 2nd round of the tournament in another year or two?
I’d love to see Michigan beat Ohio State for the third straight time a second straight time. If they don’t (and with a new quarterback on the road it will certainly be the tallest order in this most recent stretch of the series), I look forward even more to a slightly more seasoned Michigan QB beating Ohio State (again, for the first time) in the playoff.
What exactly has Purdue gotten out of foster loyer in this game? About what you’d expect. Can’t beat a team as good as Connecticut with a guy who gives you absolutely nothing. Purdue has only one player who is better than the guy going up against him, and it’s not nearly enough to make up for his teammates.
if the game went 60 minutes, maybe Purdue could foul out enough Connecticut players to get back in it.
I remember Isaiah Todd, Josh Christopher, and Greg Brown. I was wondering the other day if landing any or all of them would have changed the trajectory of the program. My gut says no.
More exciting team to watch? Probably.
More wins? Not so sure -- none of them would have stuck around for more than a year anyway.
Depth is the issue. We might not have last year’s good fortune with injuries. While we did have a few injuries last year, the early ones (DBs) turned out to be a blessing in disguise and we had enough depth to work around the late ones (Zinter).
If there's a way to calculate WAR for football coaches - and there must be - I'd like to see those ranking. I have to imagine that Ryan Day wouldn't be in the top quartile, let alone at the top of this list. He's clearly better than average in some categories (recruiting, offense), but not obviously better than average in others.
Fine, maybe Harbaugh is acting on an ulterior motive. But that isn't his only motive - I don't think there's any question that Harbaugh thinks JJ is a really good quarterback with lots of NFL potential.
As others have already pointed out here, there are plenty of people in or behind the media that have their own ulterior motives working in the opposite direction. If they were actually doing work AND capable of making an unbiased assessment, they would have to write about more JJ's physical attributes and skills he has demonstrated with the ball in his hands. And they wouldn't be so quick to compare JJ to anyone else solely on the merits of those two things. How many college quarterbacks have been a key contributor to a 3-year turnaround like JJ has, won a national championship, and done it without the benefit of an endless supply of high 4 and 5-star talent beside him?
While seeing positive results on the scoreboard would be really nice, seeing how Michigan executes will be a much better way to assess May's impact. Whatever the talent is on the team,
Can May figure out what they can and can't do well and run the offense and defense in a way that plays to their strengths and covers up for their weaknesses?
Is the team fundamentally sound?
Do they get better over the course of the season?
Can the coach make in game adjustments that work?
Can he get the team not to tank in the 2nd half of every game? (I would only give him a C for this)
If Edwards can improve his vision and/or decision making (and that's a huge if for a returning senior), I can easily envision him in the conversation for the heisman at some point during the year.
I'm surprised he went into as much detail as he did in his comments. It comes across as defensive, and I don't think it helps much. He's clearly aware of the criticism, and it understandably bothers him.
I think it would have served him far better to acknowledge the criticism, educate/reframe for the audience what an AD's job is, and then make his high-level case for how he has tried to do that. If he were to make a credible claim for a few key successes and then highlight where he thinks he can improve (and almost anyone can point to communications), that would help.
Completely agree. Michigan did incredibly well last year with injuries and turnovers. There’s skill and strategy in minimizing the risk of each, and there’s also fortune. Michigan has a bit of both last year.
I'm not saying that OSU couldn't have won. The score certainly was close, but this was not a nip and tuck game where both sides could claim they outplayed the other or they were even and it came down to a coin flip.
Michigan looked like the better team and was the better team. If Ohio State ending up winning the game, we would have all felt like Michigan gave the game away and not that they were beaten by a better team.
While OSU came within 7 points of beating Michigan last November, they weren't really that close. And despite their talent, last year wasn't a year in which they should have beaten Michigan - not with a 1st time starter playing on the road against JJ.
This November - at Columbus - is when they are supposed to win. Michigan will be the team with the first time starter, and OSU will...oh wait, they didn't actually...yeah, they really did take out their pitchforks and drive away the one player best positioned to beat Michigan in 2024.
If they lose in Columbus, well...I don't even need to finish this sentence. And even if they win, they might have to face a more seasoned Michigan team again in January.
The town Goldin is purported to come from is fairly close (~200mi) to the northern border of Iran, so perhaps this will reignite our friend Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's vocal support for Michigan athletics. And open up the floodgates for central Asian wrestlers to join any and all sports teams. I live in Brooklyn, NY, and there's nothing quite like spotting a 14 year-old wearing an I heart Kazakhstan t-shirt.
I'd really like to see Michigan focus on Vlad Goldin - not because of his skill as a player but because there is at least a sliver of hope that he is a descendant of Mountain Jews, a group that has gotten short shrift when it comes to basketball.
Recent Comments
5 straight home games is nice when you're breaking in a new QB and O-line. Since going on the road early against a cupcake is never going happen, the alternative (Texas and/or USC on the road) isn't very attractive.
Can't help but notice Deone Walker at 8. I can't recall exactly how close Michigan was to getting him before he chose Kentucky, but I thought it was perceived to be quite close at the time.
This would make for a great PSA about the importance of pad level.
Unless I've forgotten, wasn't Rece Davis all too happy to follow the wind when it came to sign-gate? If so, I'm not sure that anything else he has opined on matters all that much.
Sure, but I wouldn't be comfortable picking a team # 1 when the most important position on the field is unproven.
Kyle McCord threw 2 interceptions against Michigan and Michael Penix went 27 - 51. OSU will be starting a QB who could potentially do a lot worse - against Michigan or any of a number of other top defenses.
Apparently the losing team members keeping their helmets on is standard protocol for the post game handshake.
I noticed this last night and asked my son about it - he’s been playing for about two years and told me that’s how it’s done. However, a quick internet search on my phone has produced absolutely nothing I can share here for more background.
Any insight into why Maye would have been their guy?
I'm not exactly sure what the knocks on JJ are other than the readily contestable claim that he doesn't have enough experience/hasn't truly proven himself. The biggest legitimate concern is clearly size/susceptibility to injury, which is obviously why he bulked up. Another could be accuracy/consistency, especially on deep throws, but he's thrown - very accurately - into some incredibly tight windows. And from the limited tape I've seen, this is a much bigger issue for Maye than it is for JJ. The only other area I can think of where some quarterbacks might have a clear edge on JJ is speed/elusiveness - and those are strengths for JJ.
Looking at Vlad Goldin I can't help but notice a very slight resemblance.
His comment was surprisingly pointed - without actually pointing.
It still seems like a good bet.
I don't gamble, but I couldn't resist (I can't even remember the name of the site) giving away money for the super bowl: I bet $5 on KC and $5 on SF, risking 24 cents on the vigorish for a possible gain of $200 in betting credit. Won the $5 on KC and then made offsetting basketball bets on the $200 to come away with about $90.
I'd like to see a line up of a center, a QB, Ben Mason, and then 8 appropriately placed dumbbells.
We could use a few UDFAs as backup receivers. Hopefully Amorion Walker will soon appear on this depth chart and provide some really pleasant surprises during the season, but at this point we can't count on that.
And, thankfully, we have a coach who isn't afraid to rely on the running game if the WR corps is compromised by injury, but it would be really nice if we can pick up a proven commodity in the portal.
Here's a link to currently uncommitted WRs. Is there anyone in here we want to bring in? (Note that the list does not indicate what year in school each player is in -- I guess that really doesn't matter anymore).
https://247sports.com/season/2024-football/transferportalpositionranking/?positionkey=14&status=uncommitted
It may simply be a question of scale. 2 - 4 hamburgers is a violation. 250,000 hamburgers gains you admiration for its sheer audacity.
I didn't think Alabama deserved the playoff spot, but they did prove to be a very worthy opponent. I can't speculate on how they would have fared against Washington or Texas or in a 12-team playoff, because I don't have insight into the specifics of how different teams match up against each other. The NFL clearly thinks very highly of the players they put on the field in the Rose Bowl.
And if he doesn’t receive what he believes was promised, he’ll probably leave. And as it seems we are learning, maybe he’ll be back.
We know that this Lions management team seriously knows what they are doing, but this choice gives me flashbacks to Lynn Boden.
I think pro-style must be a reference to NIL.
This is good.
If Sam Walters isn't a plus defender and rebounder at the 4, it would be awfully nice to have someone to plug into that spot when needed. I think there are guys out there, but probably not enough minutes or NIL to go around.
I recall that in the last few years under Nick Saban Alabama often showed up surprisingly low in the early recruiting rankings. Maybe as low as the 40s or even 50s. And perhaps lots of Alabama fans freaked out at the time...and then Alabama ended up at #1 or #2 in the rankings.
Michigan is not and never will be Alabama. And I think most of us don't want them to be.
The last coaching staff proved that you can win a national championship -- and not by luck but by having a truly dominant team -- with a few really highly sought after recruits and the right mix of really good players. If the current coaching staff is as capable as we think they are -- they'll do fine with whoever they recruit and will find a way to get enough high-level talent to keep Michigan competitive. If they are not quite as capable, but they are better recruiters and have more backing from the university in terms of NIL, they may very well do better in recruiting than the last regime -- potentially enough to make up for any drop off in coaching.
I thought Dunlap looked quite a bit quicker hitting the hole than in the past.
Jayden Davis Warren.
It looks like one of the rings has each of their opponent's signs inscribed on the inside.
As much as I'd like to see Alex Orji excel, having Jayden Davis Warren start at QB would be a lot more fun - especially if I could figure out to how embed this simple jpg of Rosey Grier and Ray Milland from The Thing With Two Heads.
Isn't this why we have federal education funds? Hopefully there will soon be NIL directed to pre-schoolers with advanced motor skills.
I'm no lawyer, but it seems that we're beyond the point where NIL has any actual relationship to name, image, or likeness -- I'm not sure there's an issue here.
Based on this analysis, receiver and O-line look like a definite step back from last year, which is not exactly a surprise. And QB.
I do not want to recalibrate expectations, so I won't. I'll just hope that the coaching staff works some magic with development and/or portal additions, that the training staff can also continue to work magic, and that injury luck is on our side.
Good for him was my exact thought as well. I have no idea how he'll do. While I hope he does well, it will be unpleasant if his performance at UConn becomes something of an indictment for how he was developed at Michigan. Assuming we're in a non-zero sum world, let's hope everybody learns from their experience and gets better -- I'm still working on that myself.
Is there a call a fan line? Or is he supposed to simply go out in the street and hail a fan?
Does Penny Hardaway get to stay at Memphis forever and continue to take players we might be interested in? Will pressure start to build if he doesn't get past the 2nd round of the tournament in another year or two?
I’d love to see Michigan beat Ohio State for the third straight time a second straight time. If they don’t (and with a new quarterback on the road it will certainly be the tallest order in this most recent stretch of the series), I look forward even more to a slightly more seasoned Michigan QB beating Ohio State (again, for the first time) in the playoff.
I hate to be that guy, but it is early in the thread, so let's set this right -- it's Jaydon Hood.
If only certain posts could be edited...
What exactly has Purdue gotten out of foster loyer in this game? About what you’d expect. Can’t beat a team as good as Connecticut with a guy who gives you absolutely nothing. Purdue has only one player who is better than the guy going up against him, and it’s not nearly enough to make up for his teammates.
if the game went 60 minutes, maybe Purdue could foul out enough Connecticut players to get back in it.
I’ll be shocked if Edey can continue to be this effective without rest. UConn has 6-7 guys why can hurt you. Purdue has maybe 2???
I remember Isaiah Todd, Josh Christopher, and Greg Brown. I was wondering the other day if landing any or all of them would have changed the trajectory of the program. My gut says no.
Depth is the issue. We might not have last year’s good fortune with injuries. While we did have a few injuries last year, the early ones (DBs) turned out to be a blessing in disguise and we had enough depth to work around the late ones (Zinter).
Let’s hope.
I’m more interested in beating OSU in the playoffs next year than in Columbus, the thermonuclear equivalent to last weekend’s hockey victory over MSU.
If there's a way to calculate WAR for football coaches - and there must be - I'd like to see those ranking. I have to imagine that Ryan Day wouldn't be in the top quartile, let alone at the top of this list. He's clearly better than average in some categories (recruiting, offense), but not obviously better than average in others.
Fine, maybe Harbaugh is acting on an ulterior motive. But that isn't his only motive - I don't think there's any question that Harbaugh thinks JJ is a really good quarterback with lots of NFL potential.
As others have already pointed out here, there are plenty of people in or behind the media that have their own ulterior motives working in the opposite direction. If they were actually doing work AND capable of making an unbiased assessment, they would have to write about more JJ's physical attributes and skills he has demonstrated with the ball in his hands. And they wouldn't be so quick to compare JJ to anyone else solely on the merits of those two things. How many college quarterbacks have been a key contributor to a 3-year turnaround like JJ has, won a national championship, and done it without the benefit of an endless supply of high 4 and 5-star talent beside him?
We’ll get back there.
While seeing positive results on the scoreboard would be really nice, seeing how Michigan executes will be a much better way to assess May's impact. Whatever the talent is on the team,
If Edwards can improve his vision and/or decision making (and that's a huge if for a returning senior), I can easily envision him in the conversation for the heisman at some point during the year.
I've noticed the same thing about Edwards. He could still use a little more polish at times, but the difference in his presence is really impressive.
I'm surprised he went into as much detail as he did in his comments. It comes across as defensive, and I don't think it helps much. He's clearly aware of the criticism, and it understandably bothers him.
I think it would have served him far better to acknowledge the criticism, educate/reframe for the audience what an AD's job is, and then make his high-level case for how he has tried to do that. If he were to make a credible claim for a few key successes and then highlight where he thinks he can improve (and almost anyone can point to communications), that would help.
Completely agree. Michigan did incredibly well last year with injuries and turnovers. There’s skill and strategy in minimizing the risk of each, and there’s also fortune. Michigan has a bit of both last year.
I'm not saying that OSU couldn't have won. The score certainly was close, but this was not a nip and tuck game where both sides could claim they outplayed the other or they were even and it came down to a coin flip.
Michigan looked like the better team and was the better team. If Ohio State ending up winning the game, we would have all felt like Michigan gave the game away and not that they were beaten by a better team.
While OSU came within 7 points of beating Michigan last November, they weren't really that close. And despite their talent, last year wasn't a year in which they should have beaten Michigan - not with a 1st time starter playing on the road against JJ.
This November - at Columbus - is when they are supposed to win. Michigan will be the team with the first time starter, and OSU will...oh wait, they didn't actually...yeah, they really did take out their pitchforks and drive away the one player best positioned to beat Michigan in 2024.
If they lose in Columbus, well...I don't even need to finish this sentence. And even if they win, they might have to face a more seasoned Michigan team again in January.
The town Goldin is purported to come from is fairly close (~200mi) to the northern border of Iran, so perhaps this will reignite our friend Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's vocal support for Michigan athletics. And open up the floodgates for central Asian wrestlers to join any and all sports teams. I live in Brooklyn, NY, and there's nothing quite like spotting a 14 year-old wearing an I heart Kazakhstan t-shirt.
I'd really like to see Michigan focus on Vlad Goldin - not because of his skill as a player but because there is at least a sliver of hope that he is a descendant of Mountain Jews, a group that has gotten short shrift when it comes to basketball.