Michigan Wolverines Deep Threat Possibilities In 2009

Every good team needs to do several things well to succeed, and play at a high level. Every good or complete team needs to tackle well, block well, throw well, run well and catch well.
The game of football ultimately comes down to fundamentals and execution, which is something that Michigan often lacked in 2008. We could tackle for three quarters, and then give up huge gains, and run block for a half and then appear totally helpless.
Passing and route running were also inconsistent due to inexperience. All in all 2009 is shaping up to be better for Michigan in basically all aspects including a vertical passing game. The question is who will emerge as a deep threat? There are a handful of candidates on this year's team, and they are as follows

1) Junior Hemingway-Hemingway showed one brief but exciting flash against Utah last fall, catching a 33 yard touchdown late in the game to draw it within a score. Hemingway received a medical redshirt because he contracted mono, but at 6'1" 220 lbs. he could become a serious redzone target, and possibly a dangerous deep threat.

2) Darryl Stonum-Stonum got off to an extremely slow start as a true freshman last year, but emerged late in the year displaying the skill set that made him such a highly coveted recruit. Stonum had a 51 yard touchdown reception at Purdue, and a 33 yard catch at Ohio State in what was otherwise an abysmal passing game.

3) Martavious Odoms-He may be small, but don't underestimate his ball skills even a little bit. Odoms was most often used on bubble screens, but his actual strength is downfield against zone coverage. Tae was open on several intermediate and even deep routes last year but Wolverine quarterbacks failed to connect with him. His speed, quickness and route running have definitely improved this off-season so expect him to be a vertical threat.

4) Roy Roundtree-If the Spring Game this year was any indication, Roundtree is a sleeper in the making, that is if you still don't know about him. He had two touchdowns catches in the scrimmage, one of which was a 50 yard grab from Tate Forcier. Roundtree is fourth on this list, but could jump higher after September 5th with his smooth route running.

5) Je'Ron Stokes-Stokes is the newcomer to the fold. A true freshman, Stokes reminds many of Mario Manningham, and if he can provide that type of impact the Wolverines receiving corps could be very strong. Whoever is throwing the ball his way is gonna have a serious vertical option.

MICHIGAN 2010 RECRUITING

In the fast-paced world of College Football where more and more juniors are leaving early for the shot at NFL dollars, and it seems more and more common if not required for freshmen and sophomores to make an instant impact, it is apparent that the focus on team recruiting has intensified. Right down to hyping kids before they have ever played a college down treating high school games like it's the NFL playoffs.

Most of us have seen highlights of All-American games with four hats and somebody's little brother grabbing a hat for them to make a selection. Of course there's also the guy who takes off one jersey to reveal another team's jersey, or reaches for one hat only to...'wait no, is he gonna?' Aw man! Not Ohio State! Don't get me wrong as I find these antics amusing, it's just that now they have to step it up a notch to avoid becoming stale.

That brings me to my focal point, and that is the Michigan Wolverines current class (2010), and the questions I have been encountering as of late. Its appears more and more that there is a growing perception in the media and fanbase that Michigan isn't recruiting well, or at least some say they might be slipping a little in terms of domination. The main issue is speculation that Michigan doesn't have any star power in the 2010 class, that they are recruiting to many three star prospects as opposed to reserving offers, and also that they are losing the in-state recruiting battle(s).

Although most of this buzz is probably being suggested by Michigan State FANS, it is still a relevant issue, with enough validity on both sides of the debate to necessitate attention. It's a valid argument that Michigan State has significantly improved it's past couple classes, and thus gained ground on Michigan by virtue of doing better than they had been. It is also a fact that Sparty won the instate recruiting competition in 2009's class hauling in 10 of the top 15 in state players. However, the top player instate 5 star DT William Campbell enrolled at Michigan in January.

Of course Michigan still gets the lion's share of recruits with their ability to pursue on a national scope, and the Wolverines seem to be more focused on Ohio, Texas, California, Florida and the deep south as well as Pennsylvania, New Jersey and the Mid-Atlantic states. They are definitely more of a national recruiter than Michigan State, and as I will show in my chart below, clearly dominate every team in the Big Ten in terms of overall talent with superior speed and athletes...with the exception of TSDS (That School Down South).


MICHIGAN'S NATIONAL RECRUITING RANKING 2007-09
Year Rivals.com Scout.com ESPN Scout's Inc
2007 12th 10th 10th
2008 10th 6th 13th
2009 8th 14th 10th

Ultimately there are nine numbers above and the total 93...divided by nine? "Anyone?Anyone? " The answer is 10.3333333, which means Michigan is roughly a consistent top ten recruiter nationally! Let's compare Michigan State shall we...

MICHIGAN STATE'S NATIONAL RECRUITING RANKING 2007-09
Year Rivals.com Scout.com ESPN Scout's Inc.
2007 42nd 51st N/A
2008 47th 56th N/A
2009 17th 37th N/A


Now this year 2010, Michigan State appears to have a bit of star power with the verbal commitments of William Gholston and Joe Boisture. But keep in mind that it's early in the process, and even this early Michigan State is only 26th in scout.com rankings after landing these two commitments. Then again it might be assuming too much that they will both remain committed.

The issue with Michigan is that they don't appear to have much star power with only one guy in the top 100 on rivals and scout a piece. However, the final evaluations aren't even close to done...Devin Gardner, Ricardo Miller and Marvin Robinson all could be ranked higher, to whit Michigan also has a ton of highly interested prospects including, Cullen Christian (Scout #3 CB), Kyle Prater (#1 WR), Seantrel Henderson (#1 OT) Jeff Luc (#1 MLB) and Shariff Floyd (#3 DT) just to name of few.

In fact Michigan still has 29 guys on scout.com's board that are committed to or are interested in Michigan that have already earned a 4 star or higher rating. The same publication only lists 9 players with a four star interested in Michigan State. Rivals.com has 53 players who are four/ five star caliber interested in The Wolverines. Michigan State has 27. ESPN has 31 players committed or considering Michigan that are a 78 or above...which is the four star equivalent. Michigan State has 26.

When you consider the likelihood of the final recruiting rankings it is far more likely Michigan will have far more Rivals 250, Scout 300 and ESPNU 150 players than Michigan State. In the broader scope, Michigan also appears to be getting better speed and talent that fit their system than anyone else. One reason the SEC is so successful aside from better 'speed' and better talent in the trenches is that they have better depth and more specialists. Michigan has guys who may not earn that fourth star because they are in between two positions, but this is common in the NFL and the SEC, so what we have is incredible depth and competition.

After a 3-9 season, it's easy for fans and media to both started looking for Michigan's recruiting to fall off, but I don't anticipate that to happen. Michigan's top 10 class right now will probably stay around there once signing day comes around. Don't be suprised to see some of Rich Rod's famous snake oil to come out for the third straight year in recuiting, and Michigan to get back up on top in state as well. Mark Dantonio is doing a fine job no doubt, and State won last year by two touchdowns. When it comes to snake oil sales...well I think The Spartans are still little brother.

MICHIGAN WILL TURN THE CORNER FAST!

IT WON'T TAKE AS LONG AT MICHIGAN AS IT DID AT WEST VIRGINIA...

After a stunning 3-9 season there were a lot of questions that arose surrounding the future of The Michigan Wolverines under head coach Rich Rodriguez. Can he have the same success he has had at past institutions, or will he fall short? Can Rich Rod run his type of spread offense in the Big Ten, or does he simply run a gimmick offense that was only effective in the Big East? Also, assuming he can have success...how long will it take? After all, West Virginia wasn't on the radar as a national contender until their BCS run in 2005 (his 5th season). Would that really be worth the wait? Those who believe Rodriguez may not have success in the Big Ten have even gone so far as to suggest (or profess outright) that Coach Rodriguez' recent run at West Virginia was simply the result of a string of luck, and that he simply reaped the benefits of landing super athlete Patrick White. Pat White was a heck of a sleeper recruit, and the very fast, athletic type of player that is ideal for an option Quarterback, and I want to preface by saying he DEVELOPED into one of the top FOOTBALL PLAYERS in the nation in his own right. However, Pat White from a recuiting angle and an overall talent standpoint is not exactly what I would call a 'rare' talent. He was certainly an elite player by Big East standards and more than talented enough to play Big Ten football, but we gotta give Rod his due. He helped to develop other great college QBs like Shaun King and Woody Danzler so he knows how to develop athletic QBs besides just one young guy. If you look at our recruiting we have done under Rodriguez and company, we have gone after some smash recruits who all have excellent potential. So here's the rundown of guys who can be the 'next Pat White.'

KEVIN NEWSOME (FORMER MICHIGAN COMMIT 2009 CLASS)*DECOMMITED LAST AUGUST, ENROLLED AT PENN STATE IN JANUARY.

KEVIN PARTICIPATED IN SPRING PRACTICE THERE.

CREDENTIALS:

*MID LEVEL 4 STAR RECRUIT

*RIVALS #4 DUAL THREAT QB

*SCOUT #10 OVERALL QB

*ESPN SCOUT'S INC. GRADE: 80 (4 STAR)

Kevin was a track star competing in the 110m hurdles in high school, a US Army All-American game participant (led the team in rushing), and is equipped with a great combination of size at 6'3" 225 lbs., speed and impressive raw athletic ability. His has a very strong arm and is fairly accurate, although he does spray the ball around a little. Kevin Newsome definitely has a lot of upside with his size and speed, and could be a Juice Williams caliber QB, with potentially better speed than Williams.

SHAVODRICK BEAVER A.K.A. The Beave. You might remember him as the guy who said "Yeah I'll be on campus next week"..."at Tulsa (mumbles...coughs)."

UM fans...we've been like Ward Cleaver since this decommitment...awefully hard on The Beaver...haha haha chuckle...sry :/

But in all fairness to 'Stretch Armnotsostrong' it's not like he waited to the last minute or anything like that. "I'd like to switch that plane ticket from Ann Arbor to Tulsa (mumbles...coughs)." Coughy McMumbleson might not be reliable in his decion making yet, but he truly is an excellent athlete, with the following credentials:

*4 STAR CONCENSUS RIVALS/ SCOUT

* 79 ESPN GRADE (4 STAR)

* DRAWS COMPARISONS TO DENNIS DIXON

Shavodrick was considered one of the top five scrambling QBs after his junior year of high school, accompanying that reputation he put up nearly 3,000 yards passing to boot. He was limited by injuries as a senior, but still maintained an excellent reputation as spread option QB. Beaver has good size in terms of height 6'3" or better, but might need to put on a little weight 180-185 lbs. He has a 4.5-4.55 reported 40 time so he's pretty fast. Overall, might have been a major sleeper in our competition had he enrolled with us in January.

THEY CALL ME TATER SALAD...A.K.A. ROBERT PATRICK FORCIER THE WHITE SHADOW

TATE FORCIER'S CREDENTALS:

* ESPN 81

*SCOUT 4 STAR #14 QB

*RIVALS 4 STAR #5 DUAL THREAT QB

*MOST ACCURATE QB IN THE NATION (77%) JUNIOR YEAR

*MID-LEVEL FOUR STAR

Tate was on the pre-evaluation top 100 with almost every major recruiting agency, but never came back after he was dropped out despite a strong senior campaign(Kudos to Tom Lemming).This is mainly because he lacks great size or even ideal height. A 6' 0.5" 185 lb. QB isn't sexy enough in terms of projecting pro potential. But he gets the job done. Tate is very accurate mainly because his release of the football is quick and clean with little wasted motion and he is on time with almost every throw! He has good velocity on shorter routes and enough arm strength and touch to throw the deep ball. If he is working out of the shotgun spread he has no trouble seeing the field, and he is deceptively fast! Overall, his leadership skills and game management of a spread passing attack are his best abilities that I see. Had a very nice spring game!

THE FLIZASH (THAT'S RAP FOR FLASH) A.K.A. DENARD "SHOELACE" ROBINSON

Dude was a mid level four star athlete/ QB and ran a 10.28 100 meter dash...that is all you need to know!

TO BE CONTINUED...

THE GAME

Let me paint the picture. It's a cool, crisp November 21 day in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Wolverines run out of the tunnel to meet face to face with their nemesis The University of Ohio State (Pryor quote :p). Michigan enters the game with a much better record than the previous year, in their second year of the spread offense. We have a more experienced unit, and they have no Wells, Laurinitis, Jenkins, Robiskie etc. We have The Force, and they have Darth Pryor...the question ladies and gentlemen, is the game back? Can we limit Pryor to 5 of 13 passing and negative 7 yards rushing? Can we defeat the darkside and bring life back into this rivalry? Maybe it sounds silly, but remember that one of the reasons we hired Rich Rod was to beat Ohio State...can we do it? Only time will tell.

50 REASONS why UM will...be better idk

Geez this is tough...10 reasons down...90 to go!

11) Michigan had a net of three close losses in 2008, which is statistically a good omen. There is a 78.6% chance WE will be better in 2009 based on ALL teams in the last seven years who have 3 net close losses (7 points or less) the previous season. For example, a team that goes 3-9 in 2008 (hint hint), including a net of three close losses (4 close losses and 1 close win), has a nearly 80% probablity of improving the following season...It's science! Like women having smaller brains than men......

Besides the fact I came up with that stat on my own in a special lab and no one helped me at all, history (my major in college) stands on Michigan's side in 2009. As well as science...

Speaking of small brains, that brings me to number twelve.

12) See below

CHARLIE WEIS












I tried to shrink this down...












This was as small as it went! LOLOL...ROFL! But seriously, I don't think Charlie knows what he has gotten himself into. Last year he was counting on 6 turnovers to beat Big Blue in South Bend, but Syracuse and Navy and Pitt were all too much for the Irish...and this year WILL be a different story in Ann Arbor. All I'm saying is revenge is sweet..and that is what I'm predicting in 2009! BTW, sorry if I offended any Irish fans...my cousin is gay too! Not that there's anything wrong with that. To Michigan fans: A win here will be an excellent confidence builder for a young team.

MAYBE OBAMA CAN SPEAK AGAIN and give THE IRISH some LUCK...GEEZ...lol









13) Tempo and Execution. Say it with me quickly and properly. Tempo and execution! We are now executing the offense without huge wrinkles. During the spring game there were no miscues on any zone-read plays or handoffs...which may not sound like a huge thing, but ball control and NOT FUMBLING enables us to move the ball, earn first downs and keep our defense off the field. Zero offensive turnovers is a wonderful sign even in a spring scrimmage in front of 50,000 people. The tempo has raised on both sides of the ball, which hopefully means our guys will play faster as well as practice faster.

14) Practicing the spread with a spread QB. Coach DiNardo was asked to evaluate Michigan's football practice after the spring, and he the Coach said "Tate Forcier was a great adddition this spring" not to say whether or not he will be great, just simply the fact that he knows how to execute the playbook at a higher level of speed than Sheridan."He is the best spread QB Rich Rodriguez has recruited at Michigan so far." So now the team is practicing the offense the way it needs to do so. The results were visible during the spring game.

15) On paper we have arguably the best receiving corps in the conference. Greg Matthews was a rivals 100 member and concensus 4 star player. Darryl Stonum was a top 50 player in his recruiting class according to rivals.com..and top 100 player on ESPN. Junior Hemingway was rated the number 19 player in the country overall with ESPN Scouts Inc. Je'Ron Stokes was also a top 100 player according to ESPN as well as other major recruiting sources. Roy Roundtree, Martavious Odoms, Terrence Robinson, and Jeremy Gallon were all given 4 star ratings by multiple sources. We were extremely young here last season, but our combined talent and experience has me optimistic about this group. There shouldn't be any excuse about not having the athletes to run a spread, especially when one includes out tight ends Kevin Koger, Martell Webb and Brandon Moore...All of these guys are prime time Tight Ends!

TOP 100 REASON Cont'd

OK OK, so we have The Force, A less OFFENSIVE offensive line, Mike "Strong enough for a man..." Barwis, Brandon Graham the pwning sackmaster and Phil Steele's anointed blessing! Even the virgin mother would agree that Michigan rocks and...

Yes Mother they do! So what is next? Why can we as Michigan fans take solice and eagerly await September 5th as opposed to anxiously? My friends I'll tell you why...because we freakin' rule!

Chicka chicka yeaaah!

But aside from the FACT the we are the all-time winningest program in the nation and freakin' rule, here are a few other observations...

6) We got a bunch of Luke Skywalkers in the backfield next to The Force! Brandon Minor was the number one fullback in the nation according to rivals has had 1156 yards rushing in a career where he has sat behind Mike Hart for two years and Sam McMuffie ;) for 6 games LY. Minor avgeraged 5.1 YPC behind a sub-par oline. Carlos Brown was a top 50 player overall in his class (ESPN/Rivals) and is a supremely athletic, fast running back. Same case as Minor, Brown sat behind Hart and was injured for the greater part of last season. However, when Carlos Brown has been given the opportunity to shine, he has always stepped up. He had a three game 100 yard rushing streak in 2007, averaging over 6 yards per carry in place of Mike Hart. Last season his only start was highlighted by 115 yards on 23 carries (5.0 avg.) against Northwestern. He did it within the context of a poor passing game but still showed he could hit the hole hard and fast even banged up. If you combine his 10 carry 146 yard performance in the spring game (82 yard TD run). Then there is Kevin Grady who is a former 5 star recruit who again has waited in the wings and battled injury, but never quite lived up to the hype suffering an ACL injury and sitting the bench most of last season. Don't count him out yet as he is not chopped liver and WILL play this fall! Unless he gets drunk and drives again, so.......on to Michael Shaw the track star and the Frosh RBs we have coming in. This is really a good group starting with Vincent Smith who everyone knows by now has enrolled early, participated in spring ball and looks like a solid addition. Plays BIG for a 5'6" kid, he's slippery, strong and hard to get a clean shot at; also, he is a good zone runner who uses his excellent vision to slash through the line...may be better than McGuffie or Shaw were at this stage. With 4 star Toussaint and nation sleeper Teric Jones and Michael Cox we have tremendous depth and experience at this position. Probably the best running back group in the Big Ten!

7) Team CHEMISTRY has improved, at least for the moment. We all know Chemistry sho is important to have, and use it, chemically..Chemistry(ankwardly)

If Justin the Belly Boren loses some weight he might look as good as Sherman Klump. If only he had some of Buddy Love's wonder tonic he might've been able to run the no huddle spread! But seriously folks, last year everything was new from the offensive scheme to the players and coaching staff, and alot of people didn't buy in to a system they weren't recruited for. Who can blame them? Some of these guys were asked to do things they couldn't physically manage...and alot of guys have left the program. There was a distinct atmosphere this year with this team, that it will be different. All throughout spring practice there has been a vibe of positive attitudes and a "yes we can" spirit. Everyone seems to have bought in to what the staff is preaching and seems to have grown closer through adversity. Of course it's easy to remain all high fives and smiles, when your first team offense is scoring at will on the second team defense in a vanilla scrimmage, but it's better than Threetidan in spring 2008 completing a combined 50% for oTD and 4INTs. Everyone was sloppy and out of sync, and kinda looked pissed off. If we can carry this vibe from April into fall camp then we should be in a much better position!

8) Rich Rodriguez is our coach (and Lame Kiffin isn't)...Rodriguez has been a tremendous success everywhere he has been, whether as an assistant or as the head guy. As an assistant at Tulane, he was 7-4 the first year, then the 2nd year 1998...they were 12-0! Then at Clemson they were 6-6 the first year (1999), and 9-3 the 2nd year(2000). His first season as HC at West Virginia, the Mountaineers were 3-8 and averaged 21.4 ppg. In 2002 they scored 30.5 ppg and averaged 419 yds. per game offensively. Year one to year two at Tulane saw an increase of 5 wins, Clemson increased their win total by three games...and West Virginia became a 9 win team. Many people think that Rod is a gimmick offensive coach and purely lucky to have a guy like Pat White at QB, and that his domination was the result of running the ball over 70% of the time in a weak Big East. Keep in mind though, his coaching helped Shaun King to lead the NCAA in pass efficiency (3500 yds. passing), so he has coached efficient passing offensives as well. Woody Danzler was the first QB to rush for 1,000 and pass for 2,000 yds. in a single season. Danzler was a serious Heisman cantidate! Shaun King was a 2nd round NFL draft choice, so Pat White wasn't his only day 1 pick in the draft. Rich is a "system" coach who runs a version of the spread offensive that is inflexible to guys like Steven Threet, however if you look at King, Danzler, White etc. guys with wheels, he adapts the system to meet each guys strengths and has been successful everywhere he has been (including a TOUGH ACC). Offensively his staff is solid, Calvin McGee came on in 2005, which happens to be the first year WVU won 11 games in a tough Big East, and Rod Smith has been a heck of a recuiter so far at Michigan. This is Rich's team now, and you get the sense that the system is installed so the guys know what they are supposed to be doing. This can only lead to a much better offensive team in 2009!

9) The Big Ten isn't as strong as it was last year. Nobody wants to acknowledge it, but it's true. If you look at every team top to bottom, the overall level of talent level of the conference is down. At the very least, it looks like Michigan is by far the most improved, which is something that bodes well for us since we lost 4 games by a grand total of 18 points Utah by 2, Toledo by 3, Purdue by 6, and Northwestern by 7. We also led a couple other games we shouldn't have even been in theoretically(see Illinois, Penn St. Michigan St.). The only games we weren't in were Notre Dame (6TO) and Ohio State (14-7 at halftime) so we'll see.

OSU loses 31 lettermen including Beanie Wells :) Brian Robiskie, Laurenitis/ Freeman/ Malcolm Jenkins...this list goes on. Unfortunately they still have you know who @QB :(

Penn St. loses 23 lettermen (3 All B10 lineman, 3 All-time receivers, NFL DEs)

Illinois was 5-7 and that was inexcusable with a QB like Juice Williams.

Indiana loses Kellen Lewis and gave up nearly 40ppg in 2008...WOW!!!

Purdue was 4-8 and loses their top 2 QBS...they have tons of issues!

Michigan State No Javon Ringer who almost single-handedly beat us last year. 37 of the last 40 in this series have been decided by who won the rushing total, which bodes well for UM again!

Iowa...no Shonn Green but they are still good with Jewel Hampton, Rick Stanzi and good everything! We are still more improved

Wisky...tons of ? s...

10) Weak non-conference schedule

Western Michigan @ home...they have a very inexperienced Defense that gave up 255 yards per game passing with NFL DBs

Notre Dame @ home...to hell with Charlie Weiss! I 'll get him a philly cheesesteak before the game.

Eastern Michigan @ home...another defense that gave up 40ppg last year

Delaware St.@ home...Sir, I knew App St., I served with App St., Delaware St...you are no App. St.

Even a sweep isn't impossible!