Friday 29 July 2011

Aaron Burbridge to MSU

In state receiver Aaron Burbridge has committed to MSU this week, over his other finalist, Michigan. This is a big disappointment for UM as Burbridge is one of the top players in the state for the class of 2012. Still, he has academic issues and that's something MSU will have to keep an eye on.

Burbridge started out a big MSU lean, but after his two teammates became Wolverines, it looked like the tide was turning.

This is also a big hit to the view that UM will take two receivers.

37 comments:

  1. We don't need 2 WRs. Next year we will have a 5 star best in the class qb that will attract the elite WRs in 2013. Let's hope the coaches focus on just one (cough cough Payton).

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  2. Are lack of depth with non slot receivers will be thin next year so for us not to take two receivers would be absolutely stupid

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  3. Burbridge is going to be a torn in our side. If he works hard in the weight room and gets a step faster he is going to be comparable to Micheal crabtree. This is a huge miss for us.

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  4. Stokes, Jackson, Robinson and Roundtree, if he doesn't go pro. That's what we're looking at for next years' crop of WRs over 6' tall. That doesn't meant Dileo or Barpal can't play outside at 5'10".

    Our lack of depth depends on one of those first three stepping up to play opposite Roundtree in 3-WR sets. If we truly go to a 2 WR pro-style than we actually could be okay with just one WR. I trust the coaches. They're building depth at TE with Barnett this year and Funchess (could end up being a WR with his weight) and AJ Williams (the blocking TE).

    If we're going back to traditional Michigan football sets, than pre-RichRod offense usually had two star WRs and a bunch of youngins wantin' to prove they were as good. So, one of those three highly rated underclassmen works out as a solid contributor this year and they'll probably go into Fall 2012 as the projected starter.

    Or, perhaps Ricardo Miller gets moved back to TE after this year if he doesn't put on weight. He's listed as 30 pounds lighter than every other tight end on the roster, including incoming freshman Barnett, who is 35 pounds heavier than Miller. I wouldn't be surprised to see him move back into a possession WR.

    As I've been posting, positions are malleable. They're still kids trying to find the right position, and sometimes it depends on low depth (Miller's move to TE in spring) and sometimes it depends on the kids weight gain or lack thereof.

    Take Ojemudia -- who is projected as a DE/LB tweener because no one knows if he'll be able to gain the weight to play the line in college. Take Isaiah Bell, Marvin Robinson, Josh Furman.

    This is my long way of saying, I wouldn't say it's stupid to not take two. I would, however, prefer a second WR to taking a RB. We have so many RBs right now, but none of them ever got a real chance in RichRod's offense. And I say that as a proponent of that offense.

    The thing that upset me the most about Rodriguez, offensively, was that he didn't stay with the run enough -- discounting the read option. The play calling was like a little league coach infatuated with his speedy QB so much he forgot to develop his other runners. The emphasis on the RB running the ball will drastically change how people view the depth of Michigan's RB situation. We don't need Dunn or Garmon, right now. Let the season play out and see if we need one. If we enter Big 1G play with no clear runners' then the coaches will shift gear and emphasize the position.

    Also, we can "hope for" a few more scholarships opening up as the season goes into full gear -- especially at those offensive skill positions, where some kids will get tired of being on the bench and leave. Perhaps Gibbons will leave or have his scholarship retracted if he loses out to Wile?

    Perhaps Craig Roh goes pro after getting 7.5 sacks this year? Perhaps Jibreel Black transfers after seeing all of the incoming kids and he doesn't unseat Van Bergen?

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  5. Nice crabtree reference. I bleed maize and blue but my red raiders have been my squad ever since I was a boy and went to a game in lubbock. It's ashame what they did to the mad scientist leach.

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  6. Why would Jibreel Black transfer, he could very well end up starting. Do you watch the games?

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  7. I agree Jibreel Black is going to get a bunch of playing time this year and start his junior and senior year.

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  8. I still would like two WR's in this class, because although we HAVE depth at the position, none of them have proven anything. You (professor) mentioned Stokes, Robinson, Jackson and Roundtree. If Roundtree has another good year, I'm guessing he'll leave, I hope not, but probably. Stokes, Robinson and Jackson have little to 0 playing experience, and none of them have really given us any reason to get excited.

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  9. The other WR have no experience because DRod ran the ball all the time. If given the chance they may surprise you.

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  10. I hope your right Jer89, I really do. Stokes had a good spring, maybe we'll get to see him out there. I still think Junior Hemingway is going to have the biggest Impact at WR this year. He fits the new type of offense better than anybody else.

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  11. I agree with the professor, exept we should take a rb. It's a position that requires you to have at least 2-3 deep. Not back ups either, capable backs that can pound the rock. You gotta have that 1-2 punch, and rb's do get hurt quite often. Then if nobody steps up this year, and we don't take a rb, we have to wait another year for the '13 recruits to come in. Plus rb isn't the hardest position to excel at as a freshman.

    As for wr, it's not THAT important that thier 6'5 and run a 4.30. If they run good routes and catch the ball, you still get 15-50 yrd plays. Sure the homerun threat is nice but it don't have to be there to score still. Good routes good passes will march down the field all the same.

    Roundtree had problems dropping passes last year, but showed signs of brilliance. I highly doubt if he does good this year it will raise his NFL stock enough to make it worth leaving. Just my opinion..

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  12. I know we all want all UM WR to be 6'5" and fast. When the truth is you really only need 1 or 2 guys that tall. Give me 2 tall reciever and 3 guys that run great routs and CATCH the ball for first downs.

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  13. & I'm not dogging rountree. Love em. He wouldve been our top wr if he hadn't dropped all them passes. I still don't understand that....right in his hands over and over, wide open. I don't see that happening again this year. Him & hemmingway will compete for the #1 jersey. My moneys on roundtree!

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  14. @ smokey420
    My money is on Hemmingway, but I don't think either will get the jersey.

    @Jer89

    I agree, I dont think we need all tall guys. I've been saying we need ONE tall guy, somebody who can go up and grab it over the defense. This is something we desperately need, especially in the red zone. We have plenty of 6-foot-nothins with speed, but nobody who can take the ball in the air over safetys. (save possibly Hemingway).

    This would be why I think Thompson is a good get. I also think they should use Pharoah Brown in the red zone. I know he's a beast of a DE, and thats where he'll play, but line him up in the red zone and put a fade to the corner, the dude is 6'6, 6'7, with GREAT hands, whos going to out jump him?

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  15. Jordan Diamond will NOT be at the BBQ. Via TomVH twitter.

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  16. I am looking at current,incoming freshmen and next years class of O linemen and things look real good for the next few years. UM has a couple young linemen that are currently on the roaster.The in coming freshmen of Posada and Bryant are big and strong. Next years class is looking good with Kalis,Magnuson,Bar,Stacey and Braden. I have heard some very good things about Braden he put weight on and is working on his foot work. Maybe the coaches will be very picky on who they take next at O linemen if they take one at all.Soon RBs will be lining up to play behind that line.

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  17. Jordan Diamond may stop by the bbq on his way down to Ole Miss.

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  18. Brandon: it's called a hypothetical. That's indicated by "perhaps." Perhaps you could be a little better of a reader?

    I haven't missed watching a game in 17 years, and only 1 in the last 20, and that was because I was a kid made to leave the house to get some roast beef sandwiches for a late lunch. Damn Westbrook from Kordell Stewart bull shit. That was the last game I did not watch completely.

    Jame Morris gave me a tour of Shembechler Hall three years ago. I'm pretty sure I'm as good or more a fan of the team than you are.

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  19. I didn't miss the Kordell Stewart /Westbrook pass....I was right there. That could give somebody nightmares for life.

    I'm willing to bet that most of here are good (read fanatical) fans. Which brings me to an off topic question. Do you remember when you became a Michigan fan? Is there a specific moment? For me it was watching Anthony Carter running in after a long reception with my whole extended family cheering him on. From that moment on I was hooked. Becoming a student and going to the games was amazing, and as an added bonus my best childhood friend attended ND, so we could trade off each year to attend the games. How did you end up being a fan, Benji? I've been wondering that since I started following this blog.

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  20. Me I watched Jamie White go off in a game. I was hooked from then on. Side note I worked with his dad when I started working at Disney. One great guy and a very good trumpet player.

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  21. Under Carr we had an X, Y, and Z, 2 solid TE's and then a significant drop off in talent. TE's would play in our 5 wide sets back then and we had a decent passing game like that for a long time. Roundtree, Robinson, and Dileo should be enough to hold us over in 2012, if we can get 1 top prospect this year he can make an immediate impact, but we'll have to push a few kids out the door to take 2. We'll have 7 scholarship receivers on campus to meet our 2012 class as it is. If we take 2 then it's at the expense of someone already with the team. 9 scholarship receivers for a TE, smash mouth, manball, B1G football team is a few too many. Our 2 backup WR's and our TE's are tall enough for the redzone and short yardage plays, we have servicable backup depth, but we could use 1 more deep ball, speed threat WR. If we took 2 then one would likely have to redshirt anyways, so we might as well take 1 and get THE top WR in the 2013 class. If we took 2 then it would be a full group and would affect our ability to pull one in in 2013.

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  22. Prof,

    I'm sorry you brought it up.

    I was working that day. One of the most demanding days in my career. Crazy busy. I finally had 10 seconds in front of a TV. And I saw that play.

    I became a fan the way a baby becomes a child. The games were always on. Televised games were watched, with volume set to 0, and Ufer on the radio providing play by play. Otherwise, it was just Ufer.

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  23. I may be only a young guy, 18, but i was born a Michigan fan. True story right there. My grandfather is a michigan fan and when i was born he took the light blue hat off of my head and put a little michigan one on me. he said it was too cold with the AC on in the hospital, but he knew what he was doing. from then on i have been a michigan fan. My mother always said she thinks it was the colors that got me but i think it was sitting in front of the tv with my dad as a youngin watching the games and him explaining to me what was happening.

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  24. I'm only 22. But I remember watching Michigan win the Rose bowl in the 97 season, it was the same year that my family moved to Michigan, and it was my first football game I actually sat and watched. My family were all fans, but it never really clicked for me until that game. I've watched almost every game since then, and I'm not a student. After watching the games on television for years, it is UNREAL becoming part of what you've been cheering for all this time. Hell, the main reason I'm going to grad school next year (staying at Michigan) is so I can get two more years in the student section!

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  25. I have only recently discovered this blog and have never posted before because I believe there are others that know far more than I about the recruiting end of the business. However, I do love to read about the upcoming prospects because I do know what it means to be a Michigan fan! Which brings me to NW's question, I do remember when I became a Michigan Fan. My Dad worked at a machine shop about 2 or three blocks behind the stadium. Some Saturdays he would have to work a few hours so the whole family would go and wait(my mom,brother and I). We could hear the roar of the crowd so we turned on the radio and listened to one of the greatest MEEECHIGAN men there ever was - Bob Ufer.I remember the voice and the passion and I knew this team had to be the greatest there ever was and I wanted more. Oh yeah, the game we listened to that day... the greatest upset in college football history - Michigan and Ohio State, the begining of the ten year war! -GO BLUE!!

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  26. I am looking at Wyatt Shallman size is there any chance he can be a WR? 6' 3" and 225 with a 32" vertical.4.95 in the 40 not sure how fast that is.Sounds like he would make a good WR. What does everyone else think?

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  27. Too slow for a wr and that's really not a great vertical for a wr. The coaches are recruiting him for rb.

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  28. 4.95?!.....that is SLOW. I thought he was supose to be a rb? They say he's a top '13 prospect? Somthing don't add up.

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  29. What do you guys think about Jake Roh, the brother of craig roh and for the class of 2013

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  30. He is way bigger than that, he is more like 245-250 lbs. He is actually pretty quick for his size, he has good agility so his 40 doesn't tell the whole story.

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  31. i'm a big michigan fan. I live in florida and love this site. I remember watching Michigan when I was little kid. I remember becoming a true fan when tom brady was on the team. They called him the comeback kid and always was waiting for him to come in and save the team. The orange bowl I remember riding around the city with friends and when we got to this girls house i told them to turn on the tv to watch the orange bowl (Michigan vs Alabama). What a game it was and my friends were into the game. I love Michigan and will continue to watch the game no matter what their record is. I bleed maize & blue!!!

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  32. Bad news on Demens. He has on his facebook page he is out for the year with a shoulder injury... Crap! Who steps in?

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  33. Demens is fine he had is FB hacked.

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  34. Lol seriously, we are so thin on D. If anyone were to go down, it would be like asking a Ethiopian to diet:/

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  35. 1991. Desmond Howard. The catch. I was 9. That's the moment I go back to, though I remember watching Michigan games before that, and being a big Howard fan. That was when I became diehard Blue though my brother was OSU.

    I took over the TV on Saturdays after that, even though by brother is four years older and fifty pounds bigger -- and always has been. I think it was part of my brother and sister allowing me develop my own therapy after my father's that fall. He'd been missing for years.... Anyway, Michigan and Desmond Howard and Grbac were like surrogate fathers.

    On a less creepy, and lighter note, I enjoy this site -- like others do -- more for the interested fans than for the recruiting news. And since I have summers off, this has been an enjoyable addiction this particular summer.

    Carr's crew always recruited well, but it's been ages since we've had this many highly ranked recruits this early in the game.

    As much as our class is from Ohio and Michigan this year -- expect Hoke to reestablish our presence more in Texas, California and Pennsylvania. And Louisiana.

    Go Blue.

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  36. if Demens went out we'd still have Marell Evans, Isaiah Bell, J.B. Fitzgerald, Brandon Herron and Mike Jones

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