Thursday 17 March 2011

Quick Hitters

Random bits of news from the week:

- The Florida Gators have apparently offered Royce Jenkins-Stone, which is bad news for Michigan. Earlier in the year I thought Royce's recruitment wouldn't be as high profile as his friends (Richardson and Ross), but it seems like it will be a national fight to keep him in state with Florida, Miami and Oklahoma after him.

- Speaking of that little in state trio, they are expected to be on campus for a visit this weekend, which is encouraging. Michigan is actually hosting a lot of prospects; I'll put up a full list on Saturday.

- Michigan is in the top four schools for TE/DE Pierre Aka (Indianapolis, IN) and he plans to visit possibly this spring.

- Michigan has moved up to second in the running for LB Vince Beigel, leapfrogging BYU. The obvious bad news is that UM still trails Wisconsin, and BYU are getting a visit sometime this month. It's not looking great here.

- Ohh, and Morehead State just ruined by bracket....

10 comments:

  1. Moorehead screwed me too... I had Louisville going to championship game. I wasnt gonna be a slappy and pick all #1's and #2's like most people do.

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  2. Yeh I had Louisville going to the Sweet 16 to face Kansas, so this is a big disappointment.

    I've got a #10 seed in the final four....unfortunately it's MSU; they have a really easy run to the final by only playing one 'quality' team in Pittsburgh. I would have rather had their #10 seed than our #8 vs Duke in game 2!

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  3. Slight off topic but I just was wondering what people thought. I personlly dont think Michigan's offense is gonna be that explosive like it was last year, or even close. I know our defense was gonna improve regardless of who the coach was but I am concerned about our offense. It's a lot like when RR came in. He had big players running the spread = didnt work. Now we have all spread players trying to run power offense. I just dont see us being that good on offense next year. Whats your thoughts?

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  4. Our offense will be good, but no where near as good as it would have been under RR in Year 4; I think that would have been one of the top offenses in the nation barring any injuries.
    It all depends to how well Robinson adapts to being under center, can he make the right decisions? i.e when to scramble.

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  5. @GoBlue2 Well we still have a lot of big receivers in Stonum, Roundtree, Hemingway, Jackson, Miller and Gerald Robinson, and all of our running backs fit into a pro style system except for maybe vincent smith, but he doesn't have to be an every-down back to be effective. And we have some good big tight ends, so we should be good on offense, maybe not as good as we were last year but still a good offense, we didn't lose much on the offensive side as well.

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  6. michael shaw is no where near a power back... He was hurt just as much as denard.Hopkins has to be huge for us this year! But I mean offensive line. Yea molk will be molk but the rest our all small and quick not the 320 lbs jake long we needed to run the power back. I just see a lot of defensive lines could blow up running plays in our back field before it gets started. And yes We do have play makers on the outside but I love denard Robinson but his pass plays were quick slants or wide open deep passes because defense's were sucked in. I just dont see him as a passer. Even like T.P. down at OSU, i dont think he is accurate enough but Lord I hope Im sooo wrong! Guess Ill find out at the Spring Game!

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  7. I think our offense will actually be better, not necessarily more yards, but less predictable. Last year, the good teams figured us out because we were a "one man" show. I think Borges will try and spread (no pun intended) the ball around so we don't become so obvious. Even though, DRob is amazing, one player can't do it all against good D's. They focus on you and keep you under control. We'll find some running backs that can take a load off Denard and, hopefully, they can refine his throwing skills more to become an elite passer.

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  8. I agree. The offense will struggle early IMO. Defense will be slightly better. I don't see more that a 6 win season next year. But this is the price we pay for switching coaches all the time. Lets stick with Hoke for the long haul because look how it damaged Notre Dame for all those years. They have a keeper now in Brian Kelly, who I can assure you is on a mission to get to the pro's ever since he stepped foot on GVSU campus.

    And yes, I had Louisville in my sweet 16 in all 3 of my brackets.

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  9. I had MSU in my final four....pff I learned my lesson; never rely on the Spartans for anything.

    Jordan I'm skeptical about how good all three units will be next year, but I think 6 wins is a little pessimistic. We have some great talent at the skill positions, and we return virtually all our starters.
    Plus, when you look at the schedule, its quite an easy one.
    Should beat: WMU, EMU, SDSU, Minnesota, Purdue.
    There's five almost certain victories, and to be honest, I don't see any game on the schedule that we can't win. The four road games against NU, MSU, IL and Iowa could be splittable, giving us seven wins.
    And we stand a chance against ND, Neb and OSU, even if we are the underdog in all three.

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  10. @John B i have to disagree about getting better and being predictable to the good teams. I personally like RR offense and agree with everyone he needed a different defense in the Big Ten than the Big East. But our offense was only bad against OSU who did have one of the best defense in the country and doesnt help knowing if you dont score every position you basically lost the game. We scored over 28 points every other game except MSU and should have except DRob threw two interceptions in the red zone. Thats not bad offense in my mind, not to mention teams' offense had the ball for a long time each game as our defense couldnt stop a girl scout team. So saying that I think next year we are shutting down our own offense because denard wont ever carry the ball 20 times and he is not a Ryan Mallet or I believe even a Terrell Pryor when it comes to passing. He has a cannon of a arm but dk about actually reading defense coverage. I dont think its gonna be a pretty year for us but no matter what Ill be faithful and cheering on our team! Benji I dont think we have a chance against Neb or OSU yet, and ND is gonna be a real tough game. So i am saying def no more than 7 wins at best but I hope I am wrong! Go Blue
    and I had Richmond beating Louisville but MSU in elite 8 so screw the spartans once again

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