Wolverine247 Board

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n8wildey said...

Wow, there has been a lot of good discussion in this thread, and some rather absurd comments, but hey, that's what message boards are for. I can't possibly go back Rand reply to the many individual comments that I would like to, so here comes a long summary of my thoughts...

On the defensive line:

I'll start with the positions and upper classmen. WDE has Beyer slated to start, and nobody really behind him because of the Clark situation. There was a lot of discussion of who might fill in or switch to that position. I think the wildcard here is going to be Brink. He impressed the coaches last year, playing SDE and a little 3-tech. If he is solid at SDE, could you see Roh slide back to WDE situationally? I think it is possible, though not likely. The same could be said for Black. He has experience at the position and if there is another serviceable 3-tech, he could slide back. I don't see this happening either, so who's left? Hietzman? He is repping at SDE so I don't know about him either. The logical choice is to move Ryan down, assuming that Cam is ready at the SAM. That puts the most game experience on the field, and should be good in passing situations. We all know Ryan can rush, and Cam is pretty solid in coverage. I think the x-factor here is Ringer. He is reporting to camp much bigger than he was in the spring (I don't feel like looking up his weight, but I remember 250's from B10 Media Days). He now has the size to play on the line, and should still be pretty quick. I am guessing he might get a look at WDE. Pipkins will play for obvious reasons. I think he will be BWC's backup, which we all know Mattison likes to rotate DTs a lot. I think there will be packages, especially against Bama, where you see Pipkins and BWC playing side by side, just to have the size on the field. If another freshman plays somewhere on the line, I think it will be Strobel.

On to the LBs:

Bolden will play. He not only has the talent, but the intangibles as well (Football IQ, instincts, etc.). He is in the 2-deep at the MIKE coming out of spring, and should continue to progress during fall camp. I am not saying that he will start over Demens, but if Demens stuggles, I can see Bolden getting inserted to give Demens a reality check. The kicker at MIKE is going to be Hawthorne. If I recall, he asked the coaches to play there more this spring, and he looked pretty good during the spring game. If you recall, he made some big plays early in the year last year, and could push both Bolden and Demens at the MIKE. Although I am bit hesitant with Bolden being a true freshman at the, as others have said, the QB of the defense, I think he has the ability.

The will is pretty much locked up with Morgan, and quite frankly, the WILL and MIKE are pretty similar. Mattison wants to be flexible and has said that these positions are somewhat interchangeable. I think Hawthorne will be a contributor here as well. If a frosh were to get playing time at the WILL, I'd give the nod to Ross. At SAM, we are pretty much set with Cam and Ryan, but if the scenario discussed above with Ryan getting time at WDE plays out, I am not sure who the 3-deep SAM would be.

To the DBs:

The only DB I see playing out of the frosh would be Wilson. Even though he had some physical limitations with tackling in the spring game, he has had all summer to gain strength. Reports have been that Gordon has been good, so I don't see him being uprooted, but Wilson has the instincts to be a good FS, it just depends how much he progresses.

And to offense now, starting with the OL:

Kalis is the only one ready to play in my eyes, and that is only in the physical sense. The mental aspect will determine everything on this front. Can he pick up the blocking schemes and playbook? That is a tremendous feat to take on. I honestly don't see it happening unless it is out of complete necessity.

Will a WR crack the 2-deep?

WR is one of the easier positions for a freshman to come in and compete, but the WC offense and route tree is a little more complex than the spread, where you often see freshmen contribute. I think both frosh have a chance to break the 2-deep, and at least one of them will play. I'm torn as to which one I would pick, but I'm leaning towards Darboh due to his size. Gardner is the kicker here because all reports are that he is impressive at WR, and he would give you that big receiver. This in my eyes is the biggest positional question mark going into fall camp. We simply need multiple guys to step up, not only freshmen.

How about RB?

Norfleet is the logical choice here but not necessarily at RB. He will get his shot as a returner, and will likely be used in some capacity there, meaning he would burn his RS. We need a dangerous weapon back there and Norfleet could be that answer. I don't see any of the other RBs coming in and competing and nor should they have to.

Twitter: ClintBrew247 E-Mail: Clint.Brewster@yahoo.com

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kylebennett7127 said...

Well I think its always better to redshirt. And very soon with the way we have been recruiting, we should have the depth to do it. But as of right now their is a talent deficiency. I like Morgan and he did a great job, but Ross should be faster, more instinctive in reading plays and better in coverage without being less of a run stopper. I'll put him in now to split time, we have more guys coming in to redshirt after.

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bkp1883 said...

Entering this late, I don't think they needlessly burned Rawls' redshirt.

He probably played Minnesota because Smith and Shaw hadn't established themselves as every down backs. Rawls would have been getting most of Fitz's carries if he went down, and you don't wait until the injury happens to get the backup game experience.

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Uncle Newt said...

Roundtree and Denard are saying good things about Darboh