QB-
Chad Henne will back in a game or two and barring any injury setback (knee) he will finish off his senior season. Mallett will have gained some critical experience during his freshman campaign which will hopefully help him out a lot when he becomes “the man” for the next three years. David Cone is a career backup who will be leapfrogged by Steven Threet next year (Threet is redshirting this year). John Weinke is still coming in next year and will very likely redshirt at that time.
RB-
Mike Hart is a candidate for the Heisman Trophy. He has to be. Sophomore Brandon Minor has been ok as the #2 runner but he hasn’t yet shown that he can be counted on as a #1 runner next year. Carlos Brown has been playing with a cast on so far this year and as a result he fumbles every time he touches the ball. So he will be going into his junior season next year without showing UM fans anything to speak of. 3-star freshman Avery Horn was reportedly very fast but very raw in fall practice and as such he is redshirting this year. Next year comes Sam McGuffie who has only played in one and a quarter high school games this year so far because of a sprained ankle. He is supposed to be back next week so we’ll see how he does. He has a couple of nationally televised games coming up. My question is whether he will be ready out of the gate to participate in a thunder and lightening format with Brandon Minor or Kevin Grady. Speaking of Grady, it sure is looking like he will just sit out this year (ACL) and be fully ready to go next year as a fourth-year junior. I’m sure that now 3-star recruit Mike Cox will redshirt next year. ’09 recruit Larry Caper is looking good BTW. Caper is more of a classic RB than a thunder or lightning type.
FB-
UM is using a FB fairly often still but our base offense and standard set is with three WRs and no FB (our starting lineup has Greg Matthews in it instead of a FB). This has to do with four things: 1- UM likes it’s WRs, 2- UM’s FBs are inexperienced, 3- UM is trying to open up the offense some, and 4- when you are zone blocking and the RB is Mike Hart there isn’t much of a need for a FB. Walk on redshirt freshman Mike Moundros has played really well and looks the part. Sophomore Andre Criswell is back at his natural position after having played at TE for the last 6 months due to our depth situation there. If he can pick up where he left off then he will be a capable starting FB soon. Freshman Vince Helmuth is going to be a very good FB its just very tough to play a freshman FB. Christian Wilson is coming in next year as a HB (which is what some are now calling Criswell). That will add an extra dimension to the UM offense.
WR-
It sure seems more and more likely that Mario Manningham will be coming back for his senior season next year. He has actually been doing pretty well but he has been unfortunately subject to inconsistent QB play so far this year. Mario is a true junior who needs to show the NFL that he can play healthy and at a high level for an entire season. He wants to be as high of a pick as he can be so like I said there might be a senior season in store for him.
Arrington is having a pretty good year too but with his off-season character issues and UM’s team issues this year, I would look for him to be back for his senior season as well. Remember though that unlike Mario, Adrian is a fourth-year junior currently.
Matthews is Avant part 2. Maybe a little more speed. He should have a good next couple of years. With the passing game struggles in the first game and a half and with a true freshman being at the helm since, we really haven’t gotten to see freshmen Clemmons and Hemmingway in a capacity other than special teams yet. The freshman Babb is redshirting I think. Third-year sophomore Savoy has just rejoined the team this week after serving a suspension for off the field stuff. He is dangerously close to becoming irrelevant.
Stonum is coming in next year but will he be joined by Jonathan Baldwin or not? UM is still on Baldwin hard. I don’t think Michigan has a real chance at the other receivers. Also, I can’t see Fred Smith decommitting from MSU. I really am not high on Carraway from PA as a 3-star backup plan to Baldwin.
TE-
Junior Mike Massey is ok at best. It appears that Sophomore Carson Butler will have to serve as the backup this year because of punishment for off the field stuff during this past off-season. I’m sure Butler will be the starter next year though if he keeps his head on straight. Butler definitely can play at Massaquoi level if not better. Sophomore McLaughlin is strictly depth and nothing else. Freshmen Webb and Watson will probably redshirt. They both have promise. Of course you have the two highly touted freshmen coming in. Hubie Graham from PA is a recruit still planning on taking an official to UM but there is NO WAY he is coming to UM as a TE. We are stacked enough with young TE’s and I’m sure Graham (like Middleton- see below) will see the light soon enough.
OT-
Long is an All-American. Who will his successor be? I have no idea. Third-year sophomore Mark Ortmann is looking like he may never get there. Redshirt freshman Perry Dorrestein is currently number two on the depth chart there. But how excited can I be about a recruit I once said I was embarrassed about. Incoming freshman Dan O’Neil will undoubtedly not be ready as a true freshman and there are questions regarding whether he is a right or left tackle at the college level. However, starting right tackle Steve Schilling is a budding star. Maybe he will be moved to left tackle and then Dorrestein can play right tackle and ultimately hand those keys over to O’Neil. Freshman Mark Haygue is redshirting this year but don’t be surprised if he makes the 2-deep next year. I like that guy. It doesn’t look like we have any more OT recruits on our radar.
OG/OC-
Krauss is having the senior season he was expected to have. Sophomore Justin Boren will be all-big 10 if not all-american for his junior and senior seasons. The other starting spot is a crapshoot right now. Junior Alex Mitchell, who started all last year, is in a continual state of injury after injury. His backup, junior Jeremy Ciula, has been injured almost as much as he has. This has placed 3rd year sophomore Tim McAvoy into a starting role. Furthermore, I don’t know what the deal is with former solid 4-star recruit and now 3rd year sophomore David Mooseman. He has either been injured as well (Michigan keeps its injuries close to the chest and only the starters’ injuries get leaked) or he has just plain not lived up to his high school rating. Then there is former tackle and now guard Corey Zirbel. I don’t know if he was switched to guard because of the injuries there or because he couldn’t make it as a tackle. Either way, this former high 4-star is another one who looks like he might be a bust. The center of the future (possibly as soon as next year) is David Molk. This year though he is expected to redshirt like most freshmen Michigan offensive lineman do. Michigan has recruited to low 4-star guards (that is what they grade out to be if you mesh all the rankings together) coming in next year, Elliott Mealor and Kurt Wermers. Additionally, Rocko Khoury is coming in next year with Michigan having the center position in mind for him. At this point, Rocko looks like a career backup to me. I would like to think UM has a realistic shot at high 4-star OG Trevor Robinson out of Nebraska but I don’t think that is happening.
Chad Henne will back in a game or two and barring any injury setback (knee) he will finish off his senior season. Mallett will have gained some critical experience during his freshman campaign which will hopefully help him out a lot when he becomes “the man” for the next three years. David Cone is a career backup who will be leapfrogged by Steven Threet next year (Threet is redshirting this year). John Weinke is still coming in next year and will very likely redshirt at that time.
RB-
Mike Hart is a candidate for the Heisman Trophy. He has to be. Sophomore Brandon Minor has been ok as the #2 runner but he hasn’t yet shown that he can be counted on as a #1 runner next year. Carlos Brown has been playing with a cast on so far this year and as a result he fumbles every time he touches the ball. So he will be going into his junior season next year without showing UM fans anything to speak of. 3-star freshman Avery Horn was reportedly very fast but very raw in fall practice and as such he is redshirting this year. Next year comes Sam McGuffie who has only played in one and a quarter high school games this year so far because of a sprained ankle. He is supposed to be back next week so we’ll see how he does. He has a couple of nationally televised games coming up. My question is whether he will be ready out of the gate to participate in a thunder and lightening format with Brandon Minor or Kevin Grady. Speaking of Grady, it sure is looking like he will just sit out this year (ACL) and be fully ready to go next year as a fourth-year junior. I’m sure that now 3-star recruit Mike Cox will redshirt next year. ’09 recruit Larry Caper is looking good BTW. Caper is more of a classic RB than a thunder or lightning type.
FB-
UM is using a FB fairly often still but our base offense and standard set is with three WRs and no FB (our starting lineup has Greg Matthews in it instead of a FB). This has to do with four things: 1- UM likes it’s WRs, 2- UM’s FBs are inexperienced, 3- UM is trying to open up the offense some, and 4- when you are zone blocking and the RB is Mike Hart there isn’t much of a need for a FB. Walk on redshirt freshman Mike Moundros has played really well and looks the part. Sophomore Andre Criswell is back at his natural position after having played at TE for the last 6 months due to our depth situation there. If he can pick up where he left off then he will be a capable starting FB soon. Freshman Vince Helmuth is going to be a very good FB its just very tough to play a freshman FB. Christian Wilson is coming in next year as a HB (which is what some are now calling Criswell). That will add an extra dimension to the UM offense.
WR-
It sure seems more and more likely that Mario Manningham will be coming back for his senior season next year. He has actually been doing pretty well but he has been unfortunately subject to inconsistent QB play so far this year. Mario is a true junior who needs to show the NFL that he can play healthy and at a high level for an entire season. He wants to be as high of a pick as he can be so like I said there might be a senior season in store for him.
Arrington is having a pretty good year too but with his off-season character issues and UM’s team issues this year, I would look for him to be back for his senior season as well. Remember though that unlike Mario, Adrian is a fourth-year junior currently.
Matthews is Avant part 2. Maybe a little more speed. He should have a good next couple of years. With the passing game struggles in the first game and a half and with a true freshman being at the helm since, we really haven’t gotten to see freshmen Clemmons and Hemmingway in a capacity other than special teams yet. The freshman Babb is redshirting I think. Third-year sophomore Savoy has just rejoined the team this week after serving a suspension for off the field stuff. He is dangerously close to becoming irrelevant.
Stonum is coming in next year but will he be joined by Jonathan Baldwin or not? UM is still on Baldwin hard. I don’t think Michigan has a real chance at the other receivers. Also, I can’t see Fred Smith decommitting from MSU. I really am not high on Carraway from PA as a 3-star backup plan to Baldwin.
TE-
Junior Mike Massey is ok at best. It appears that Sophomore Carson Butler will have to serve as the backup this year because of punishment for off the field stuff during this past off-season. I’m sure Butler will be the starter next year though if he keeps his head on straight. Butler definitely can play at Massaquoi level if not better. Sophomore McLaughlin is strictly depth and nothing else. Freshmen Webb and Watson will probably redshirt. They both have promise. Of course you have the two highly touted freshmen coming in. Hubie Graham from PA is a recruit still planning on taking an official to UM but there is NO WAY he is coming to UM as a TE. We are stacked enough with young TE’s and I’m sure Graham (like Middleton- see below) will see the light soon enough.
OT-
Long is an All-American. Who will his successor be? I have no idea. Third-year sophomore Mark Ortmann is looking like he may never get there. Redshirt freshman Perry Dorrestein is currently number two on the depth chart there. But how excited can I be about a recruit I once said I was embarrassed about. Incoming freshman Dan O’Neil will undoubtedly not be ready as a true freshman and there are questions regarding whether he is a right or left tackle at the college level. However, starting right tackle Steve Schilling is a budding star. Maybe he will be moved to left tackle and then Dorrestein can play right tackle and ultimately hand those keys over to O’Neil. Freshman Mark Haygue is redshirting this year but don’t be surprised if he makes the 2-deep next year. I like that guy. It doesn’t look like we have any more OT recruits on our radar.
OG/OC-
Krauss is having the senior season he was expected to have. Sophomore Justin Boren will be all-big 10 if not all-american for his junior and senior seasons. The other starting spot is a crapshoot right now. Junior Alex Mitchell, who started all last year, is in a continual state of injury after injury. His backup, junior Jeremy Ciula, has been injured almost as much as he has. This has placed 3rd year sophomore Tim McAvoy into a starting role. Furthermore, I don’t know what the deal is with former solid 4-star recruit and now 3rd year sophomore David Mooseman. He has either been injured as well (Michigan keeps its injuries close to the chest and only the starters’ injuries get leaked) or he has just plain not lived up to his high school rating. Then there is former tackle and now guard Corey Zirbel. I don’t know if he was switched to guard because of the injuries there or because he couldn’t make it as a tackle. Either way, this former high 4-star is another one who looks like he might be a bust. The center of the future (possibly as soon as next year) is David Molk. This year though he is expected to redshirt like most freshmen Michigan offensive lineman do. Michigan has recruited to low 4-star guards (that is what they grade out to be if you mesh all the rankings together) coming in next year, Elliott Mealor and Kurt Wermers. Additionally, Rocko Khoury is coming in next year with Michigan having the center position in mind for him. At this point, Rocko looks like a career backup to me. I would like to think UM has a realistic shot at high 4-star OG Trevor Robinson out of Nebraska but I don’t think that is happening.
No comments:
Post a Comment