I know it is popular and deserved to kick Ole Miss while there down but I really feel for Matt Luke. He has been one of the nicest and kindest coaches I met in my 5 years covering the SEC. He took this job when no one wanted it knowing he would be fired at the end because he played at Ole Miss and coached there under Freeze. He really is a good man, better than most deserve.
I think it is worth pointing out there are several other options off the formation and pre-snap motion that allow you to take advantage of any defensive tendencies seen during the game or leading up to the game.
The first one was kind of touched on but I believe Shea was reading for a "keep" read. Who he was reading is impossible to know but his first step after the snap are forward toward the B or C gap on the weakside. So a keep seems possible.
Second, that route for Bell could easily turn into a speed option with Bell and Shea.
Third, use a "return" motion fora quick pass in the flat. If a defense is letting the corner follow as suggested above with Gray then you could use this to take advantage of the aggressive approach. Bell starts what looks like jet motion hard slamming on the breaks once he gets even with Eubanks reversing field looking for a quick pass in the flat. This would give Bell leverage against the corner that was focusing on trying to get over linebackers. Add in a corner route for #84 and you'd have a very easy read for Shea on the pass.
Lastly, turn Eubanks from blocker to receiver. Eubanks has the same motion at the snap but instead of setting up for a trap block he sprints into the flat, most likely bluffing an edge defender. The line would block this differently to not allow the free runner that Eubanks blocked above. 85 runs a corner, Bell stays on almost a flat line in the backfield with a flare route, Shea pulls and does a half roll using his eye to either puller the corner up on Bell or dropping on the corner which create space for Eubanks. Any chasing linebacker would most likely get lost in the wash. The play would create 4 easy reads... Corner for 85, flare to 8, flat to 82 or call his own number and run.
I love plays like this because no one defensive call can stop every option, so when called and executed correctly the offense should always win.
I hope to see this "play" run 30+ times this coming season.
Always thought he would be good but I understood why he left. He was probably 3 at best and fighting with Watson for that. Kid made the best choice for him, hard to argue with that.
Best of luck to him and I look forward to him having a great career.
I don't understand the Jeremy Clark comp. Height? Check. Weight? Check. But Clark was a 4.4 and high school and was a sub 4.5 at 6'4" 220 pounds before his senior year. Clark was explosive in Kentucky returning INT and punt for TDs.
I said then and I still believe now that Clark was a much better player than Channing as Clark could tackle. Strib was picked up and run at all day once team found out he was as light as a feather.
There was a reason Clark was drafted because he was an NFL athlete. Something that Strib was not.
This will probably be unpopular but I really see the positive on the play by our defense posted... We gave up what looks like 4 or 5 yards on the play. Taco sets a good edge and Godin does a decent job of getting down the line and trying to keep a guy from getting to the 2nd level.
But the rest is kind of poor. Gedeon doesn't get down hill attacking the LOS and ends up catch a block which gives up the biggest gap in yards. Glasgow gets cut and creates the cut back lane. I believe that is Gary who gets walled off by a TE, the 2nd TE actually ends up blocking two guys by himself.
Anyway...
I've talked to you guys before if you want more All-22 vid I can help with that. I've sent several plays from Shea last season but I haven't seen any of it used.
It's actually pretty easy and you can plan it out day 1 when you arrive. I advise all student-athletes when that they should plan on finishing school in 3 years. Sounds hard but not as hard as you'd thinking.
Every school is different but when I was in school we had three summer sessions. Session 1 max credits were 9, Session 2 was 12, Sessions 3 was 9 again. Add that to the average student doing 15 credits in the Fall and Spring each you can get to 126 credits (most degrees) in 3 years.
Sadly this also points to the lack of "real world" experience that most SA get. Students don't go to year around, they work and tend to get internships in the summer or a fall/spring semester.
Point is every SA should have an advance graduation date. Devin Gardner is a great example of that. He got his masters in 5 years. That's HUGE.
For the record that Washington game could be a HUGE match-up. We will most likely be breaking a new QB after two season of Shea but Washington should have a fromer Georgia QB Jacob Eason, ranked #5 overall by 247 in 2016, in his senior season.
That 2019 schedule looks tough but appealing. A big game to open the season will create a lot of off-season buzz. then a tough three game stretch v Wisky, v Penn State and @ Michigan State.
I really like playing Wisky, PSU and MSU early as possible. Their QB always seems shaky early.
Looks like the quicker than fast type. A guy you want to just get the footbal. But I wonder what position is he. They use him as an A-Back more than anything to get him carries.
Do like the clips of him playing safety as he has no problem laying hits.
I like all these long DBs... I just hope some of them can run. I think that's our problem at saftey. We don't have the guys that can run or have the quicks to stay with a 6 foot slot.
There is no surprise here and no issue. Willie Taggart was with Michigan and the team on New Years Eve night as was Norv Turner (Scott Turner's Dad). This also isn't a surprise to players or parents.
You mention Deebo Samuel near the top of the article... I am guessing you were joking about him being pushed to the bench and being a bad returner... right?
Deebo broke his ankle this year against Kentucky. When healthy his is the best player on the SC team. He might be the most explosive player in the SEC.
Moore is a PROBLEM. He would be our best LB at all three spots and VIPER. Moore is tied for schools career record for INTs with 14. He is closer to 225 as I saw him step on a scale at 221 mid-season.
Having covered the SEC since 2014 there are two plays (games) from Skai that really stand out to me.
The first is against UNC in the season opener in 2015. Moore had two INTs in zone coverage in the endzone. On both he showed the ability to open his hips both ways before making the leaping catch. The second won the game.
The second game was 2017 against Vanderbilt. 1st and 10, 14:51 in the 2nd QTR. There was a defensive flag on the play so it was called. SC played Cover 1 man under and Moore played deep saftey on the play. He ends up intercepting a seem through and returns it around 60-yards. Moore started the play 18-yards deep.
This is a guy we should avoid and NEVER attempt to throw over his head.
Well If I might he SIGNED with Missouri State. I think that changes how a coach looks at him. He also never camped, visited, or showed any serious interest in playing football. I don't have a feeling on this one way or the other but I was trying to answer your question about why no football coach had offered him.
Hell to be honest there is nothing to confirm he is even 6'1" 170 because he has never been to a camp.
I think it is important to note the type of offenses these guys are playing in and the quaterback play they are getting.
Spread offenses:
-Jhamon Ausbon TAMU (25-263-1)
-Jalen Reagor TCU (19-308-4)
-CeeDee Lamb OK (33-591-6)
-Isaiah Hodgins OSU (23-223-1)
-Jamire Calvin WSU (30-266-3)
Pro-Style or multipe:
-OrTre Smith SCAR (18-224-3)
-Hunter Rison MSU (16-211-0)
I think that it stands out that freshman that play and produce early tend to play in offenses that are easier to run and easier to learn. They don't play too many different formations or line up at different spots or even different sides of the field. They also don't have to hear play calls, they get hand signals from the sideline that tell them routes, not plays.
Jerry Jeudy, Henry Ruggs III from Bama belong on this list but they run as much spread as they do pro style. Jeff Thomas from Miami does too but I don't know their offense.
But of the names above the only questionable QB play is from Texas A&M. Everyone else has elite to very good QB play.
It's kind of one of those things where I think it might have hurt us in the first half some but it also allowed Hurst to play his best game of the season.
While I try to explain why it happen it is hard to be super critcal when you look at the entire game.
Moving forward I wonder how we will play PSU. I'd think you want the 4 man line again to control the line and knowing the best way to stop a strong run game is with penetration (Hurst) but when they motion Barkely out or just split him out having one less coverage option (Hudson) on the field will hurt. The other side of that coin is when Bush is covering that mean McCray most likely is the LB set to contain a running QB. MSU exploited this and PSU can too.
I expect a lot of mix. It would really help coach Brown if we could get up by 10-14 points early and make it harder for PSU to run the ball. Then you can lean on the 3-3-5 more knowing the have to throw just that much more.
This is called "formationing guys out the box". I just talked to Kevin Sumlin about this a couple weeks ago on SEC Film Room. The offensive formation forces the defense to move a LB outside to cover.
Since we played more 4-3 (with a SAM) than we had recently that put a LB in coverage outside. Of course Bush is better at doing that than Furbush or McCray.
In one of your clips they have an empty set and we have 3 down with McCray still in the box. Again seems like that what you want.
So the question is how do you stop that? Well we play a lot of 2 high safety looks. Play 1 high and you'll have another guy to cover and leave a high saftey look. We also didn't play Hudson too much, he would help against PSU.
Another option is playing more zone coverage and zone blitz looks. But that seems risky, I don't want Barkley getting that much room.
Lots of question but I don't have too many concerns. I do think it would be nice to see Bush in the box more.
For those concerned about night games what is your plan for the College Football Playoff if we ever make it?
If you can't show up for a night game at home or on the road the night games aren't the ones to blame.
It's a great chance to play a great time on a huge stage. This is how you become an elite program. Show up for big games on the biggest stages and play above your talent level.
I actually wouldn'r trust ESPN rankings for high school sports at all anymore. I'd remove them from all eveluations. If anyone knows me on this board you know me saying that means a lot.
I have to agree with this take. First with your point about youth and concern with understanding and ingesting an offense that uses that much movement like we saw with three seniors last year.
I also agree that I'd like to see some shorter passes... Lay-ups if you will that allow our QB to feel good. Plays to get the ball out of his hands and into the hands of a play-maker. We have far to many to not spread the ball around and just get guys in space. Screens, quick passes and then deep shots would be great.
It makes me wonder if Speight struggles with throwing screen passes. I know that there are some QB's that struggle with those small toss passes and the timing to get the ball out while facing the rush.
We do a ton of jet sweeps and reverses I don't see why we don't have the other side of the short offense.
Perry, DPJ, Higdon, Evans, Issac, Gentry, Eubanks... None of these guys are getting enough touches. This offense needs to do a better job of getting playmakers the ball.
I agree with you for the most part but even your top play... I'd like to see Watson playing more heads up on giving the top reciever a hard jam. Even without the Jam he doesn't trust his eyes and waits before trying to fire up. Either way what he did left him in no-mans land.
The seconds play is one reason I give Cincy credit... Actually both plays are. The top does a great job of running Bush out of the play and the bottom puts Bush out on an island. I think he would be fine to cover there but he wouldn't be use to play tight press or knowing how to ready a tunnel screen from outside the numbers.
I really love when you guys do stuff like this. Great worrk as always.
I will however have to disagree with your solution. I believe the solution could be seen in 2015 and 2016 Michigan defenses. In those years Peppers and Lewis played up on the line tight press coverage. They had the quickness, aggressive nature, confidence and toughness to play so tight that they couldn't be scrapped off by a slot.
What you did a great job of pointing out is the angle that the outside DB creates by taking a step or two back off the line (either because the WR drives hard up field one or two steps or because the defender is playing a little off. What I believe we say Lewis and Peppers do is play so tight that they had their hands on the defender being he could enter the tunnel and duck under the incoming blocker. This allowed them to make the tackle at the catch and sometimes even break up the pass.
One thing that stands out from all the clips above is how the primapry defender "catches" the block everytime. Long, Watson, Hill, Bush, Furbush as shown above were all blocked by either the slot of the tackle. In the first clip Long is the guy who should have blown up that play but he didn't trust his eyes and fire up, insted he caught the block from the tackle.
The questions is can this group play that way. We all know Lewis and Peppers had no fear playing in your back pocket coverage and they would be tackle you and put their nose in there to do it.
I give Cincy credit for the motions that ran which either sent Bush away from the play or turned him into the Primary cover man taking away his ability to read and react from the middle of the field and run and hit.
Have to believe we see a ton of this against OSU both with their tunnel screens and flair routes that run away from the playside.
I'd also like to point out that having The Game at noon on Fox is a killer. It will most likely cost us Game Day as ESPN won't want to put so much behind a match-up not on their network. I don't think anyone can argue that not having a Game Day crowd for that match-up doesn't hurt.
Game Day will most likely go to one of these...
Alabama @ Auburn
Washington St @ Washington
FSU @ UF
ND @ Stanford
Clemson @ South Carolina (I'm picking SC to win the SEC East)
The Game will most likely be the top ranked on ranked game that weekend. Terrible missed chance but I know Michigan didn't have a say in this one.
Very happy to see a later start time. Noon start times hurt the Big Ten where it counts... Recruiting!
The fan base has to stop being selfish. Noon start times are bad for the program. When you are fighting top level programs for players and you have noon starts while the likes of Alabama and Georgia have night games under the lights... That's not good.
I get that later in the year we have the earlier start to help with the weather but everytime we have a noon game we are giving ground to the other top flight programs in the country espcially in the SEC where they hate noon starts.
I agree with you and many other posters. Ths seems like a great hire no matter what the position is. I can't remember who but there was a scout that said Michigan was run like an NFL team, this will only promote that feeling going forward.
One point I didn't see made, sorry if I missed it, was that having Gamble will probably become the NFL Liaison, a position we currently don't have. If anyone remembers Vance Marrow he holds that position at Kentucky along with TE coach and recruiting coordinator.
Adding Gamble to all the other NFL coaches/personal will only help guys get drafted when NFL teams are making tough choices.
He is also a guy that players should be able to go to understand where they might fall in the NFL draft. He should have a feel for the pulse of the NFL.
It might only be a year or two but I think it is a great move and I am really interested to see how it plays out.
High school football - Probably Tyrod Taylor, Hampton High School. I was in college at Hampton University at the time. Just mentioning this because he was really impressive.
But the best ever was sadly LeBron James... May 31st, 2007. I was in the building as LeBron scored the final 25 points and 29 of the last 30.
This is a move that has been talked about since day one, either him or Ahmir Mitchell. Back then I didn't like the idea of either Michell or Hawkins playing defense as I thought they both lacked the quickness needed to cover.
Now having seen the prep film I feel differently and I looked forward to seeing what Hawkins can bring to a secondary that doesn't appear to have anyone like him in it. His quickness and ball skills really stood out.
Hoping his profile ends up looking like Malik Hooker who was seen as a 3 star by 247 and a 4 star by ESPN, ranked the 50th ATH 2 spots behind MSU's Byron Bullough.
I'm actually hoping for a RS season, like Hooker got, to allow him to really step in after building up his body.
I find these rankings interesting but nothing more than that. For starters as some have said, each offer has its own value however.
Secondly, some players don't get offers because schools don't think they have a real chance or the a kid is out of the schools league. For example JKP had more offers than DPJ, someting Donovan asked me about once.
With that said it is still interesting to see at the very least which kids at some point peaked the interest of top ranked schools.
ok. I'll take that. One reason I said I'd like to see more film. I agree on the knee bend. That does appear to be strong, part of the reason he is able to block on the move and drive his man on contact. My concern came in when I see his shoulders so far out in front of his feet as often as I do. Also since shoulder blocking is encouraged it makes it so you can't judge his ability to punch or his hand strength when he locks onto someone.
I also agree with your other statements about this being the type of guy you want with how he moves and the cut of his body. With this height I will assume he has long arms.
He takes some good projection because he doesn't do things currently that he will need to do at Michigan.
Grey Frey has proven he sees talent that other programs do not see. I wasn't questioning Frey as much as saying I thought I'd be more impressed by his film.
I have to say I was pretty disappointed with his film.
I don't want to overstate it. His height and length is awesome. When he hits people they move. He moves well and seems to hit targets on the move well.
What disappointed me is he is a waist bender and he doesn't appear to naturally block with his hands, instead throwing his shoulder and momentum into people. That is highly troubling. Being a waist bender is not usually something you can coach out of players, kind of like a throwing motion or shooting motion you can only change so much on most players.
I don't care about his weight.
I'll be really interested to see him in some pass block sets as there wasn't much of that on his junior tape.
I'm actually surprised the thought isn't free saftey actually. There are so many questions that jump out to me about this move. Harris doesn't profile like most WRs that move to CB. He isn't a guy you can tell go press and be an athlete, he isn't the quick twitch that you see at times. As said above, where are his hips? I haven't seen anything to suggest he has quick hips or an ability to open and turn.
Looking at him as a free saftey in our system the plays a lot of single high could be interesting. I would have to assume he has the ability to run hash-to-hash and fighting for a jump ball would appear to be something that he has the talent to do.
Going to see what inside info I can get on this one for sure.
Wagner seems sure to come back. Wilson on the other hand will probably stay. He seems like he would be a great fit for any of the contenders (Warriors, Cavs, Spurs). He is a "3-D" big and will be able to switch on screens. However coming back and improving his rebounding and ball handling could move him into the lottery area.
That's one of the questions you have to ask if you are on the edge. Can I improve my game enough to be able to move up next year? What factors play into that?
For example if I were Swanigan I'd stay in the draft because I don't see how he improves on last season. Contending teams will value a smart player off the bench who can rebound and play with length, while having touch around the basket. The only thing he can really do is get in better shape and even then there is no way he puts us stats to compare with this past season.
Wagner and Wilson both have a wide range of things they can improve on but if I'm Wilson I do wonder about the type of shots I'd get without Wilson. Could he get more? Yes, will they be as easy or as open without Walton? Probably not.
On top of that WIlson had the injury to think of. Will he be able to workout for teams? If so, when?
Lots of questions for Wilson, hard choice to make.
Recent Comments
I know it is popular and deserved to kick Ole Miss while there down but I really feel for Matt Luke. He has been one of the nicest and kindest coaches I met in my 5 years covering the SEC. He took this job when no one wanted it knowing he would be fired at the end because he played at Ole Miss and coached there under Freeze. He really is a good man, better than most deserve.
Wish the best to him and his lovely family.
Very good write-up. Thanks for posting.
I think it is worth pointing out there are several other options off the formation and pre-snap motion that allow you to take advantage of any defensive tendencies seen during the game or leading up to the game.
The first one was kind of touched on but I believe Shea was reading for a "keep" read. Who he was reading is impossible to know but his first step after the snap are forward toward the B or C gap on the weakside. So a keep seems possible.
Second, that route for Bell could easily turn into a speed option with Bell and Shea.
Third, use a "return" motion fora quick pass in the flat. If a defense is letting the corner follow as suggested above with Gray then you could use this to take advantage of the aggressive approach. Bell starts what looks like jet motion hard slamming on the breaks once he gets even with Eubanks reversing field looking for a quick pass in the flat. This would give Bell leverage against the corner that was focusing on trying to get over linebackers. Add in a corner route for #84 and you'd have a very easy read for Shea on the pass.
Lastly, turn Eubanks from blocker to receiver. Eubanks has the same motion at the snap but instead of setting up for a trap block he sprints into the flat, most likely bluffing an edge defender. The line would block this differently to not allow the free runner that Eubanks blocked above. 85 runs a corner, Bell stays on almost a flat line in the backfield with a flare route, Shea pulls and does a half roll using his eye to either puller the corner up on Bell or dropping on the corner which create space for Eubanks. Any chasing linebacker would most likely get lost in the wash. The play would create 4 easy reads... Corner for 85, flare to 8, flat to 82 or call his own number and run.
I love plays like this because no one defensive call can stop every option, so when called and executed correctly the offense should always win.
I hope to see this "play" run 30+ times this coming season.
Always thought he would be good but I understood why he left. He was probably 3 at best and fighting with Watson for that. Kid made the best choice for him, hard to argue with that.
Best of luck to him and I look forward to him having a great career.
I don't understand the Jeremy Clark comp. Height? Check. Weight? Check. But Clark was a 4.4 and high school and was a sub 4.5 at 6'4" 220 pounds before his senior year. Clark was explosive in Kentucky returning INT and punt for TDs.
I said then and I still believe now that Clark was a much better player than Channing as Clark could tackle. Strib was picked up and run at all day once team found out he was as light as a feather.
There was a reason Clark was drafted because he was an NFL athlete. Something that Strib was not.
This will probably be unpopular but I really see the positive on the play by our defense posted... We gave up what looks like 4 or 5 yards on the play. Taco sets a good edge and Godin does a decent job of getting down the line and trying to keep a guy from getting to the 2nd level.
But the rest is kind of poor. Gedeon doesn't get down hill attacking the LOS and ends up catch a block which gives up the biggest gap in yards. Glasgow gets cut and creates the cut back lane. I believe that is Gary who gets walled off by a TE, the 2nd TE actually ends up blocking two guys by himself.
Anyway...
I've talked to you guys before if you want more All-22 vid I can help with that. I've sent several plays from Shea last season but I haven't seen any of it used.
It's actually pretty easy and you can plan it out day 1 when you arrive. I advise all student-athletes when that they should plan on finishing school in 3 years. Sounds hard but not as hard as you'd thinking.
Every school is different but when I was in school we had three summer sessions. Session 1 max credits were 9, Session 2 was 12, Sessions 3 was 9 again. Add that to the average student doing 15 credits in the Fall and Spring each you can get to 126 credits (most degrees) in 3 years.
Sadly this also points to the lack of "real world" experience that most SA get. Students don't go to year around, they work and tend to get internships in the summer or a fall/spring semester.
Point is every SA should have an advance graduation date. Devin Gardner is a great example of that. He got his masters in 5 years. That's HUGE.
For the record that Washington game could be a HUGE match-up. We will most likely be breaking a new QB after two season of Shea but Washington should have a fromer Georgia QB Jacob Eason, ranked #5 overall by 247 in 2016, in his senior season.
That 2019 schedule looks tough but appealing. A big game to open the season will create a lot of off-season buzz. then a tough three game stretch v Wisky, v Penn State and @ Michigan State.
I really like playing Wisky, PSU and MSU early as possible. Their QB always seems shaky early.
After that the path seems smooth until OSU.
Looks like the quicker than fast type. A guy you want to just get the footbal. But I wonder what position is he. They use him as an A-Back more than anything to get him carries.
Do like the clips of him playing safety as he has no problem laying hits.
Sorry. You don't want this guy. I'm not going to say anymore.
I like all these long DBs... I just hope some of them can run. I think that's our problem at saftey. We don't have the guys that can run or have the quicks to stay with a 6 foot slot.
Should be a good long group.
There is no surprise here and no issue. Willie Taggart was with Michigan and the team on New Years Eve night as was Norv Turner (Scott Turner's Dad). This also isn't a surprise to players or parents.
No issues here.
You mention Deebo Samuel near the top of the article... I am guessing you were joking about him being pushed to the bench and being a bad returner... right?
Deebo broke his ankle this year against Kentucky. When healthy his is the best player on the SC team. He might be the most explosive player in the SEC.
Moore is a PROBLEM. He would be our best LB at all three spots and VIPER. Moore is tied for schools career record for INTs with 14. He is closer to 225 as I saw him step on a scale at 221 mid-season.
Having covered the SEC since 2014 there are two plays (games) from Skai that really stand out to me.
The first is against UNC in the season opener in 2015. Moore had two INTs in zone coverage in the endzone. On both he showed the ability to open his hips both ways before making the leaping catch. The second won the game.
The second game was 2017 against Vanderbilt. 1st and 10, 14:51 in the 2nd QTR. There was a defensive flag on the play so it was called. SC played Cover 1 man under and Moore played deep saftey on the play. He ends up intercepting a seem through and returns it around 60-yards. Moore started the play 18-yards deep.
This is a guy we should avoid and NEVER attempt to throw over his head.
Consider him Derrick Brooks.
Well If I might he SIGNED with Missouri State. I think that changes how a coach looks at him. He also never camped, visited, or showed any serious interest in playing football. I don't have a feeling on this one way or the other but I was trying to answer your question about why no football coach had offered him.
Hell to be honest there is nothing to confirm he is even 6'1" 170 because he has never been to a camp.
So I've held on this but I think I see what the coaches see now... A player that was very successful for them before.
Doug Baldwin. 2007 - 2* at 5-11, 178. Baldwin had two four offers from Stanford, FIU, FAU and Lousiana-Lafayette. National rank was 2020.
I think this is the way to approach this... Good luck to him and excited for the next coach.
He will be ready. He will not play but a final decision hasn't been made.
If anyone is selling I'll buy
If anyone is selling I'll buy
I think it is important to note the type of offenses these guys are playing in and the quaterback play they are getting.
Spread offenses:
-Jhamon Ausbon TAMU (25-263-1)
-Jalen Reagor TCU (19-308-4)
-CeeDee Lamb OK (33-591-6)
-Isaiah Hodgins OSU (23-223-1)
-Jamire Calvin WSU (30-266-3)
Pro-Style or multipe:
-OrTre Smith SCAR (18-224-3)
-Hunter Rison MSU (16-211-0)
I think that it stands out that freshman that play and produce early tend to play in offenses that are easier to run and easier to learn. They don't play too many different formations or line up at different spots or even different sides of the field. They also don't have to hear play calls, they get hand signals from the sideline that tell them routes, not plays.
Jerry Jeudy, Henry Ruggs III from Bama belong on this list but they run as much spread as they do pro style. Jeff Thomas from Miami does too but I don't know their offense.
But of the names above the only questionable QB play is from Texas A&M. Everyone else has elite to very good QB play.
Feels like he will change positions to me. I don't see a running back for us. Would be interested if he could move to LB/Viper or even rush end.
Looks like a solid player but I wasn't blown away with him as a running back. Runs high, didn't see an explosive step or change of direction.
It's kind of one of those things where I think it might have hurt us in the first half some but it also allowed Hurst to play his best game of the season.
While I try to explain why it happen it is hard to be super critcal when you look at the entire game.
Moving forward I wonder how we will play PSU. I'd think you want the 4 man line again to control the line and knowing the best way to stop a strong run game is with penetration (Hurst) but when they motion Barkely out or just split him out having one less coverage option (Hudson) on the field will hurt. The other side of that coin is when Bush is covering that mean McCray most likely is the LB set to contain a running QB. MSU exploited this and PSU can too.
I expect a lot of mix. It would really help coach Brown if we could get up by 10-14 points early and make it harder for PSU to run the ball. Then you can lean on the 3-3-5 more knowing the have to throw just that much more.
This is called "formationing guys out the box". I just talked to Kevin Sumlin about this a couple weeks ago on SEC Film Room. The offensive formation forces the defense to move a LB outside to cover.
Since we played more 4-3 (with a SAM) than we had recently that put a LB in coverage outside. Of course Bush is better at doing that than Furbush or McCray.
In one of your clips they have an empty set and we have 3 down with McCray still in the box. Again seems like that what you want.
So the question is how do you stop that? Well we play a lot of 2 high safety looks. Play 1 high and you'll have another guy to cover and leave a high saftey look. We also didn't play Hudson too much, he would help against PSU.
Another option is playing more zone coverage and zone blitz looks. But that seems risky, I don't want Barkley getting that much room.
Lots of question but I don't have too many concerns. I do think it would be nice to see Bush in the box more.
For those concerned about night games what is your plan for the College Football Playoff if we ever make it?
If you can't show up for a night game at home or on the road the night games aren't the ones to blame.
It's a great chance to play a great time on a huge stage. This is how you become an elite program. Show up for big games on the biggest stages and play above your talent level.
I actually wouldn'r trust ESPN rankings for high school sports at all anymore. I'd remove them from all eveluations. If anyone knows me on this board you know me saying that means a lot.
I have to agree with this take. First with your point about youth and concern with understanding and ingesting an offense that uses that much movement like we saw with three seniors last year.
I also agree that I'd like to see some shorter passes... Lay-ups if you will that allow our QB to feel good. Plays to get the ball out of his hands and into the hands of a play-maker. We have far to many to not spread the ball around and just get guys in space. Screens, quick passes and then deep shots would be great.
It makes me wonder if Speight struggles with throwing screen passes. I know that there are some QB's that struggle with those small toss passes and the timing to get the ball out while facing the rush.
We do a ton of jet sweeps and reverses I don't see why we don't have the other side of the short offense.
Perry, DPJ, Higdon, Evans, Issac, Gentry, Eubanks... None of these guys are getting enough touches. This offense needs to do a better job of getting playmakers the ball.
Not sure anyone noticed this but I hope it makes the UFR. Gentry ran an AWESOME route on the incomplete pass to Perry to end the first drive.
Worth going back and watching if you can. Really loved what he did to the safety and got open over the top.
I agree with you for the most part but even your top play... I'd like to see Watson playing more heads up on giving the top reciever a hard jam. Even without the Jam he doesn't trust his eyes and waits before trying to fire up. Either way what he did left him in no-mans land.
The seconds play is one reason I give Cincy credit... Actually both plays are. The top does a great job of running Bush out of the play and the bottom puts Bush out on an island. I think he would be fine to cover there but he wouldn't be use to play tight press or knowing how to ready a tunnel screen from outside the numbers.
I really love when you guys do stuff like this. Great worrk as always.
I will however have to disagree with your solution. I believe the solution could be seen in 2015 and 2016 Michigan defenses. In those years Peppers and Lewis played up on the line tight press coverage. They had the quickness, aggressive nature, confidence and toughness to play so tight that they couldn't be scrapped off by a slot.
What you did a great job of pointing out is the angle that the outside DB creates by taking a step or two back off the line (either because the WR drives hard up field one or two steps or because the defender is playing a little off. What I believe we say Lewis and Peppers do is play so tight that they had their hands on the defender being he could enter the tunnel and duck under the incoming blocker. This allowed them to make the tackle at the catch and sometimes even break up the pass.
One thing that stands out from all the clips above is how the primapry defender "catches" the block everytime. Long, Watson, Hill, Bush, Furbush as shown above were all blocked by either the slot of the tackle. In the first clip Long is the guy who should have blown up that play but he didn't trust his eyes and fire up, insted he caught the block from the tackle.
The questions is can this group play that way. We all know Lewis and Peppers had no fear playing in your back pocket coverage and they would be tackle you and put their nose in there to do it.
I give Cincy credit for the motions that ran which either sent Bush away from the play or turned him into the Primary cover man taking away his ability to read and react from the middle of the field and run and hit.
Have to believe we see a ton of this against OSU both with their tunnel screens and flair routes that run away from the playside.
I'd also like to point out that having The Game at noon on Fox is a killer. It will most likely cost us Game Day as ESPN won't want to put so much behind a match-up not on their network. I don't think anyone can argue that not having a Game Day crowd for that match-up doesn't hurt.
Game Day will most likely go to one of these...
Alabama @ Auburn
Washington St @ Washington
FSU @ UF
ND @ Stanford
Clemson @ South Carolina (I'm picking SC to win the SEC East)
The Game will most likely be the top ranked on ranked game that weekend. Terrible missed chance but I know Michigan didn't have a say in this one.
Very happy to see a later start time. Noon start times hurt the Big Ten where it counts... Recruiting!
The fan base has to stop being selfish. Noon start times are bad for the program. When you are fighting top level programs for players and you have noon starts while the likes of Alabama and Georgia have night games under the lights... That's not good.
I get that later in the year we have the earlier start to help with the weather but everytime we have a noon game we are giving ground to the other top flight programs in the country espcially in the SEC where they hate noon starts.
Getting the clear feeling that this is going to be a heavy zone team going forward.
I agree with you and many other posters. Ths seems like a great hire no matter what the position is. I can't remember who but there was a scout that said Michigan was run like an NFL team, this will only promote that feeling going forward.
One point I didn't see made, sorry if I missed it, was that having Gamble will probably become the NFL Liaison, a position we currently don't have. If anyone remembers Vance Marrow he holds that position at Kentucky along with TE coach and recruiting coordinator.
Adding Gamble to all the other NFL coaches/personal will only help guys get drafted when NFL teams are making tough choices.
He is also a guy that players should be able to go to understand where they might fall in the NFL draft. He should have a feel for the pulse of the NFL.
It might only be a year or two but I think it is a great move and I am really interested to see how it plays out.
He wasn't far off.
If I were him I'd play as long as I could. Unless his body is in a bad place, why not?
+1. Informative.
Have to disagree here. Since I cover Alabama I can tell you Avery Johnson has blown away his job expectations so far. He is doing a GREAT job.
Add to that he has two 5 star guards coming in this season and Alabama will be make a big move. He has really impressed so far.
In person only...
High school football - Probably Tyrod Taylor, Hampton High School. I was in college at Hampton University at the time. Just mentioning this because he was really impressive.
But the best ever was sadly LeBron James... May 31st, 2007. I was in the building as LeBron scored the final 25 points and 29 of the last 30.
Just unreal!
Damn. Wish him the best of luck.
This is a move that has been talked about since day one, either him or Ahmir Mitchell. Back then I didn't like the idea of either Michell or Hawkins playing defense as I thought they both lacked the quickness needed to cover.
Now having seen the prep film I feel differently and I looked forward to seeing what Hawkins can bring to a secondary that doesn't appear to have anyone like him in it. His quickness and ball skills really stood out.
Hoping his profile ends up looking like Malik Hooker who was seen as a 3 star by 247 and a 4 star by ESPN, ranked the 50th ATH 2 spots behind MSU's Byron Bullough.
I'm actually hoping for a RS season, like Hooker got, to allow him to really step in after building up his body.
I find these rankings interesting but nothing more than that. For starters as some have said, each offer has its own value however.
Secondly, some players don't get offers because schools don't think they have a real chance or the a kid is out of the schools league. For example JKP had more offers than DPJ, someting Donovan asked me about once.
With that said it is still interesting to see at the very least which kids at some point peaked the interest of top ranked schools.
ok. I'll take that. One reason I said I'd like to see more film. I agree on the knee bend. That does appear to be strong, part of the reason he is able to block on the move and drive his man on contact. My concern came in when I see his shoulders so far out in front of his feet as often as I do. Also since shoulder blocking is encouraged it makes it so you can't judge his ability to punch or his hand strength when he locks onto someone.
I also agree with your other statements about this being the type of guy you want with how he moves and the cut of his body. With this height I will assume he has long arms.
He takes some good projection because he doesn't do things currently that he will need to do at Michigan.
Grey Frey has proven he sees talent that other programs do not see. I wasn't questioning Frey as much as saying I thought I'd be more impressed by his film.
I have to say I was pretty disappointed with his film.
I don't want to overstate it. His height and length is awesome. When he hits people they move. He moves well and seems to hit targets on the move well.
What disappointed me is he is a waist bender and he doesn't appear to naturally block with his hands, instead throwing his shoulder and momentum into people. That is highly troubling. Being a waist bender is not usually something you can coach out of players, kind of like a throwing motion or shooting motion you can only change so much on most players.
I don't care about his weight.
I'll be really interested to see him in some pass block sets as there wasn't much of that on his junior tape.
Best part is it looks like his shoulder has a good range of motion.
This segment was inteded to be a joke. It wasn't reall. I was there when the idea came up. USA Today will do an apology.
Talk about a credibility spike... Wow.
Big fan of Sam Webb but this just wow. The amount of time and respect it takes from both people inside the program and Harbaugh says a lot.
Congrats to Sam Webb.
I'm actually surprised the thought isn't free saftey actually. There are so many questions that jump out to me about this move. Harris doesn't profile like most WRs that move to CB. He isn't a guy you can tell go press and be an athlete, he isn't the quick twitch that you see at times. As said above, where are his hips? I haven't seen anything to suggest he has quick hips or an ability to open and turn.
Looking at him as a free saftey in our system the plays a lot of single high could be interesting. I would have to assume he has the ability to run hash-to-hash and fighting for a jump ball would appear to be something that he has the talent to do.
Going to see what inside info I can get on this one for sure.
Wagner seems sure to come back. Wilson on the other hand will probably stay. He seems like he would be a great fit for any of the contenders (Warriors, Cavs, Spurs). He is a "3-D" big and will be able to switch on screens. However coming back and improving his rebounding and ball handling could move him into the lottery area.
That's one of the questions you have to ask if you are on the edge. Can I improve my game enough to be able to move up next year? What factors play into that?
For example if I were Swanigan I'd stay in the draft because I don't see how he improves on last season. Contending teams will value a smart player off the bench who can rebound and play with length, while having touch around the basket. The only thing he can really do is get in better shape and even then there is no way he puts us stats to compare with this past season.
Wagner and Wilson both have a wide range of things they can improve on but if I'm Wilson I do wonder about the type of shots I'd get without Wilson. Could he get more? Yes, will they be as easy or as open without Walton? Probably not.
On top of that WIlson had the injury to think of. Will he be able to workout for teams? If so, when?
Lots of questions for Wilson, hard choice to make.
I still believe that the NBA combine could change things as it is made for both of these players.