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| Terrence Talbott (#22) |
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 171 lbs.
High school: Wayne High School in Huber Heights, OH
Position: Cornerback
Class: Sophomore
Jersey number: #22
Last year: I ranked Terrence Talbott #69 and said he would get scarce mop-up duty. He had 16 tackles and 1 pass breakup.
Talbott was someone who played significant minutes in 2010 that probably shouldn't have. He was undersized and outmatched, but the dearth of experienced cornerbacks, the injuries to Troy Woolfolk and J.T. Floyd, and the departure of Justin Turner turned Talbott into a 13-game contributor on special teams and at cornerback.
There were lots of rumors this spring that Terrence left the team at one point, and that the coaches gave him a couple days to consider whether he wanted to stick with the new staff or not. Ultimately, the smaller Talbott returned to the team but was largely invisible throughout the spring. Barring further injuries in the defensive backfield, I expect him to be buried on the depth chart again in 2011, which is where he probably should have been last year.
Prediction: Contributor on punt and punt return; backup cornerback
I am starting to see a trend here for there are going to be more and more of the RR era guys spending time on the sidelines. The new staff obviously doesn't want the same mold of player and the current players are either not able to move to a new position due to ability or are too small to play their position at this level. I am sure a few of them will mature into players, but for the most part many will be left out. Sounds like this summer/next spring we will see that attrition Hoke has been talking about.
ReplyDelete@ Anonymous 9:15 a.m.
ReplyDeleteKeep in mind that these are just my projections, and not necessarily along the same lines as what Hoke and his staff are planning.
But you saw a lot of Carr's guys sitting on the sidelines in favor of Rodriguez recruits, too, so I think it's just natural when there's a coaching change. Carson Butler sat in favor of Kevin Koger. Odoms started as a freshman, although there weren't many slot receiver types on the roster yet. McGuffie and Shaw started over Minor and Avery Horn. Etc.
So who do you project to be the starting defensive backs?
ReplyDeleteWoolfolk, Avery, Kovacs and Johnson?
@ Anonymous 11:11 a.m.
ReplyDeleteYes, those would be my projected starting four.
If Michigan landed a 3-star CB right now, with offers from UNC, Wisc, Kentucky, and Illinois, a lot of fans would be pretty excited about his potential. But because he saw the field as a true freshman, before he was ready, many want to see the kid transfer to make way for the next recruit. The grass stains are always greener on the next recruit's jersey.
ReplyDelete@ Lankwonia 12:42 p.m.
ReplyDeleteI don't want to see him transfer. I just didn't think he was very good from the beginning. That's not a very impressive offer list.
I didn't mean you necessarily Thunder. Its a mediocre offer list, but on par with several of the lower rated prospect in the '12 class, for whom there was much rejoicing by many.
ReplyDeleteOne of my chief complaints about the RR era. Not that he couldn't find talent, he just did not understand Big 10 talent. He could compete with these guys in the Big East or ACC, but not in the Big 10 or SEC or maybe even the Pac-10. Just outsized and over manned.
ReplyDeleteTo me the backups are the tossup question. The walk-on CBs have been drawing praise from the coaches while Talbott virtually left the team. Will it be Avery and Talbott or will kids like Greg Brown and Tony Anderson play, or would Van Slyke even move over and play backup corner as a senior. Would the coaches put Blake Countess in the depth chart early in case of injuries this season? I agree that last year wasn't a fair look at Talbott but will he essentially recommit this year? I didn't expect him to return this spring, and I fully expected Cullen Christian to play this season and to play well enough as a backup, but now I don't know what to expect. What do you guys think?
ReplyDeleteMy 2 cents on the CB situation: Avery and Woolfolk start, Floyd and Gordon provide depth. Unless there is an injury, I think the walk-ons and Talbott don't see much meaningful time. I'm done counting on freshman, but if one of them impresses I wouldn't be surprised to see Talbott, or even Floyd leap-frogged.
ReplyDeleteBut realistically, there probably will be an injury. Gordon may be limited to nickel packages or covering big receivers and TEs, in which case an injury to 2 of the top 3 CBs would mean either a walk-on, Talbott, or a freshman. Who knows but I'd give the edge to Talbott.
@ Lankownia 4:05 p.m.
ReplyDeleteThomas Gordon is limited to the nickel corner position. If he plays anything else, it will be safety, but not cornerback.
I'm gonna go ahead and say Blake Countess sees the field outside of special teams at least once this year. I'm having a hard time seeing how he doesn't end up in the two-deep behind the starters and Floyd unless a walk-on is actually that much better.
ReplyDelete@Michael:
Jared Van Slyke is a 6'2", 200-pound white dude. Nothing about him says "corner"
FWIW here is my MVP count up (keeping in mind that some positions are more important and players with a big drop off after them on the depth chart are worth more):
ReplyDeleteD. Robinson, Martin, Demens, Gardner, Lewan, Woolfolk, C. Johnson, Koger, Avery, Molk, Roh, Van Bergen, Barnum, Hagerup, Omameh, Hemingway, Campbell, Khoury, Black, Huyge, Schofield, Washington, C.Gordon, Odoms, Kovacs, T. Gordon, Evans, Heininger, Floyd, M. Jones, T. Anderson, Ryan, Cox, Mealer, Herron, Hopkins, M. Robinson, Toussaint,
V. Smith, Roundtree, Shaw, Wile, Dileo, McColgan, Fitzgerald, Pomarico, Hawthorne, Grady, Moore, Furman, Van Slyke, Simmons, Wilkins, Stokes, Ash, Z. Johnson, Brink,
J. Jackson, J. Robinson, Terrence Talbott,
T. Jones, Bellomy, R. Miller, G. Brown,
T. Robinson, Countess, Gallon, Gyarmati, Watson, Gunderson, Poole, Bryant, K. Jones, Rawls, R. Taylor, Carter, Bell, Hayes, Hollowell, Broekhuizen, Pace, Heitzman, Barnett, Clark, Paskorz, D. Morgan, Rasheed, Wilson, Beyer, Burzynski, Gibbons, Eddins, Pauloski, Kennedy, Rock, J. Miller, Backey, Posada, Mateus, Reynolds, Glanda
Suspended: Stonum
Injured: Terry Talbott
@ David 7:57 p.m.
ReplyDeleteI think Countess will play at least a little bit, too. And good catch on the Van Slyke thing. I was going to point that out, too, but forgot. I don't think he's going to be playing cornerback at any point.
@ Anonymous 9:53 p.m.
ReplyDeleteYou've got Cox way too low on that list. He's clearly #1. :o)
Molk, furman, round are too low. Kovacs is 60 too high
ReplyDeleteOn Countess...perhaps, you guys will be right. But last year before the season started expectations were pretty high that Cullen Christian was going to play a big role, but it turned out that it was Avery instead.
ReplyDeleteNot saying Countess is Christian, just that freshman are big unknowns. I don't count on any of them contributing this season with all the returning players we have, but I'm sure a handful will once injuries come up.
@ Lankownia 9:48 a.m.
ReplyDeleteYou're right that freshmen are unpredictable. I thought Christian would play last year, simply because there weren't many options and he was the biggest. This year there's a little more depth already on the team. And frankly, I wouldn't mind if all four of the freshman cornerbacks (Countess, Hollowell, Taylor, Brown) got a chance to redshirt, although that's extremely unlikely.
Yeah, while people freely admit the recruiting rankings are an inexact science, sometimes its not recognized that its even more variable for instant contributions. You have your Hart and Henne's who are ready to go, but most guys are more like B.Graham, B.Edwards, etc. where they take a few years to be ready. Some guys (e.g. C.Perry) take many years to reach their potential.
ReplyDeleteThats why the guys that we've seen glimpses of productivity from as freshman (Avery, Black, Dileo, Johnson, M.Robinson) intrigue me greatly, but I'm not going to write-off the guys that were red-shirted either (J.Robinson, Furman, Wilkins, etc). And while that window has narrowed for older players, I could still see people like M.Jones and J.Stokes breakout and become quality starters when the opportunity arises.