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three7;1110398; said:
Pre-spring practice look at UM's offense. So what are the relative strengths and weaknesses on the offensive side of the ball?

Cause for optimism:
1) RB depth appears to be adequate with a good amount of experience. The primary contributors will be Grady, Minor, and Brown. Early reports indicate all are doing well during the offseason workouts. Hopefully, fair competition brings the best out in this group. IMO, UM will need to run the ball successfully to win more so this year than any other (to include Henne?s FR year?he had Braylon remember). However, RBs are only one part of running the ball successfully. They can?t do it all themselves.

2) TE?probably the most depth UM has had in years with Watson, Webb, Massey, Butler and the incoming FR if they can stay healthy. Granted, that?s not a ton of bodies, but I don?t know how much double TE will be utilized under RR. There?s a good deal of athleticism here as well with Butler and Webb, but Massey is the best blocker by far.


Cause for concern:
1) There are lots of questions at the WR positions, especially at the slot positions. I expect Hemingway and Matthews to be the prime contributors on the outside with Clemons and FR Stonum contributing (Stonum for his speed). Neither Hemingway nor Matthews are burners, but both appear physical (important for blocking) and rather sure handed. On the inside, I don?t think the starting slot WRs are even enrolled at UM yet. Look for FR T-Robinson, Shaw and Roundtree to compete for that position. That?s a lot to ask of any FR, but even more so in this offense. The slot is a critical piece so someone must step up quickly.

2) Lots of youth on the OL, but some experience scattered around. It?s safe to assume Boren will be back at LG and that Schilling will start somewhere. That leaves LT, OC, and either RG or RT open depending on where Schilling plays. I?ve got mixed feelings on who should play where. Supposedly, RR wants to get the 5 best OL on the field, regardless of natural position. Depth is a definite concern though too with (IRRC) only 9 scholarship OL on the roster entering spring practices. I really don?t think any of the FR will play this season unless there are significant injuries. Despite what ?others? may tell you, OT play is very important to the success of the RR offense. These guys must be athletic enough to slide directionally and maintain blocks one-on-one (like in the previous offense)? they are almost on ?islands? when there?s no TE in the game. If I were a guessing man, I?d think the day one starters would be Dorrestein, Boren, Molk or Moosman, Schilling, and Ortmann from LT to RT. I wouldn?t be surprised to see Schilling and Ortmann to switch.

3) The QB position is the most obvious place to start. UM returns prototypical dropback passers in Cone and Threet (plus Sheridan ) with incoming dual threat QB Feagin. Threet will most likely be the starter, but I don?t think anyone would be surprised to see Feagin, Brown, or even WR JR Hemingway taking snaps to run the option series. IMO, the best things RR can do to help the QB out is 1) to establish a running game and 2) scheme to get our athletes (slots and WR) open in space. It?s unrealistic and unfair to expect any underclassmen, first year starting QB to win games outright for you. The best plan would be to let him ?manage? the game by simply getting others the ball.




Personally, I'm not all doom and gloom here. There is a lot of talent, but, at the same time, I'm trying to be realistic in my expectations. There are a lot of young players that will be expected to contribute significant so some growing pains should pay off in the years to come.
I tend to feel like if the offensive line can sort itself out, the rest of the concerns will fall into place nicely. Threet will be torn to pieces if he doesn't have time to pass, and all that great depth at RB won't mean much if we start every drive with a gain of 2 on the ground. If the offensive line works out, the offense will be fine. Sounds pretty simply, but the O-line is a question mark the size of Delaware - there is a LOT of work to be done to get that group to play as a cohesive unit and not look like a bunch of bumbling, assignment-forgetting sophomores.
 
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brutus2002;1111237; said:
ChisAto you are one of the few Michigans fans that actually make sense.

The problem thats beginning to rear its head for Michigan is that they are getting players from Ohio without offers from OSU(Manningham, Koger, and Boren are a few exceptions), Losing their top rated players in state three years in a row, and getting destroyed by zooker and chocolate Chip Charlie Illinois. In the 90's Michigan thrived off those three states. Even their PA inroads are not as strong as earlier this decade. If PSU revives with the retirement of JoePa after this season Michigan might be in serious trouble down the road. Michigan relies on OOS recruiting too much to have 1 or two more 8-5 seasons...their national image took a huge shot after the loss to Appy State...especially with younger kids.


From talking with two Ohio DIV I coaches (one in Toledo and one in Cleveland), it looks like new-UM has made a renewed effort to connect with Ohio HS coaches... I'd assume it's the same way with MI HS coaches.

Old-UM did not reach out as much to coaches in clinics as much during the final years of Carr's tenure. Looks like new-UM wants to reestablish in-roads to OH though which is smart.

UM needs OH and MI to be the base of their class. They will need 10-12 recruits per year from this area.

Kudos to MSU for locking up some nice early commitments. Baker and Norman really hurt. Now, do I expect UM to stop recruiting these two, NO... I would like to see RR goes full bore after Norman especially. It sounds like it may be useless though.
 
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HailToMichigan;1111817; said:
I tend to feel like if the offensive line can sort itself out, the rest of the concerns will fall into place nicely. Threet will be torn to pieces if he doesn't have time to pass, and all that great depth at RB won't mean much if we start every drive with a gain of 2 on the ground. If the offensive line works out, the offense will be fine. Sounds pretty simply, but the O-line is a question mark the size of Delaware - there is a LOT of work to be done to get that group to play as a cohesive unit and not look like a bunch of bumbling, assignment-forgetting sophomores.


No offense, but to be fair. Deleware ranks like 49th in size and comparatively speaking the question mark is MUCH larger. Something more like Colorado, not top 5 but definitely top 10. Anyways, as cliche as it may sound, the scUM O-line is basically the key to this entire team. The point made earlier about UTAH, maybe a good barometer. Their D may actually better than their O next season but I don't think they'll be able to carry them all season. A bad offense will put alot of pressure on any defense. If the O-line is slightly above or below average that's probably where scUM will be in the B10 as well.
 
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TS10HTW;1112477; said:
No offense, but to be fair. Deleware ranks like 49th in size and comparatively speaking the question mark is MUCH larger. Something more like Colorado, not top 5 but definitely top 10. Anyways, as cliche as it may sound, the scUM O-line is basically the key to this entire team. The point made earlier about UTAH, maybe a good barometer. Their D may actually better than their O next season but I don't think they'll be able to carry them all season. A bad offense will put alot of pressure on any defense. If the O-line is slightly above or below average that's probably where scUM will be in the B10 as well.
You try putting a Delaware-sized question mark on your paper and see how well that works out for you :tongue2:

In any case we're making the same point. The season rides on the O-line. There isn't a single senior. Only two returning starters and really, only one good dependable one (Boren). The D is more or less a known quantity, as is most of the O skill positions.
 
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HailToMichigan;1112580; said:
You try putting a Delaware-sized question mark on your paper and see how well that works out for you :tongue2:

In any case we're making the same point. The season rides on the O-line. There isn't a single senior. Only two returning starters and really, only one good dependable one (Boren). The D is more or less a known quantity, as is most of the O skill positions.

new starting qb, new starting rb, top 2 wr's done. exactly which offensive skill positions are known quantities?
 
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HailToMichigan;1112580; said:
The D is more or less a known quantity, as is most of the O skill positions.

tsteele316;1112609; said:
new starting qb, new starting rb, top 2 wr's done. exactly which offensive skill positions are known quantities?
Two possibilities on what HTM meant here. One, Michigan recruited unheard of speed at the skill positions and therefore these newbies will of course be brilliant. Two, the skill position players are all going to be fresh-as-babes starters, and therefore you can expect inconsistent play and a crapload of mistakes. Which I guess is a known quantity of sorts.
 
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tsteele316;1112609; said:
new starting qb, new starting rb, top 2 wr's done. exactly which offensive skill positions are known quantities?
I've seen enough of Carson Butler, Greg Matthews, Junior Hemingway, Kevin Grady, Carlos Brown, and Brandon Minor to feel like I know what to expect out of them. Especially the RB's. Just because they haven't been starters doesn't make them unknown. QB would be the only one where we have no idea what to expect. And I feel like it doesn't much matter. Steven Threet could be Tom Brady and we'll never know it if the O-line can't protect him.
 
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SNIPER26;1112631; said:
Someone's been reading MGoBlog :wink:
Actually, I haven't. Honest. I just think the name Zolatan lends itself to evil super genius. :lol:

What's sad is Zoltan had the best Michigan play in The Game this year
When PSU beat Ohio State 63-14 back in 1994 the Punter (whoever it was, escapes me at the moment) was Ohio State's "Player of the Game" by ABC. Insult to injury.
 
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