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| Brendan Gibbons |
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 227 lbs.
High school: Cardinal Newman High School in West Palm Beach, FL
Position: Kicker
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #34
Last year: I ranked Gibbons #18 and said he would be the kickoff specialist. He kicked off in several games, went 1-for-5 on field goal attempts, and finished 13-for-14 on extra point attempts.
Well, the reason I selected Gibbons as #18 last year was because he needed to step up for Michigan to be successful. The other option at placekicker was walk-on Seth Broekhuizen. It was a silly notion to pick Gibbons, who required a redshirt year in 2009 because he couldn't beat out walk-ons that year, either. I should have known better.
I've learned my lesson. Here's Gibbons all the way down at #76. The Rodriguez regime recruited California kicker Matt Goudis to give Gibbons a challenge, and when Goudis de-committed in favor of Miami, the newly hired Hoke staff successfully recruited California kicker Matt Wile, who frankly can't be any worse. There have been rumors that Gibbons has been stubborn, won't respond to coaching, and generally seems to be dead weight. And aside from all that, he was third on the team in kickoff average behind punter Will Hagerup and the aforementioned Broekhuizen. This job is wide open.
Prediction: Backup kicker
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Maybe Gibbons could pack on another 10-15 lbs. and play fullback for UM in the future.
ReplyDelete/s
Probably the only way we will get any value out of his scholarship.
@ Anonymous 8:43 a.m.
ReplyDeleteHe did play linebacker in high school, and there is one pretty awesome hit on one of his highlight films. I don't think I've ever seen a position switch from kicker to fullback, but there's a first time for everything...
Where's the prospect rating? I was really looking forward to a "34" or something...
ReplyDelete@ uniquenman 9:33 a.m.
ReplyDeletelol I'm not doing ratings for 2009 guys, at least not yet. I've got to finish up the 2011 guys before I start going backward.
So what exactly are the countdown ratings based on? The impact they will have on the team this season
ReplyDelete@ Anonymous 11:24 a.m.
ReplyDeleteYep.
Brendan Gibbons is like Garrett Rivas without talent.
ReplyDeleteAny chance Hagerup wins the FG job?
ReplyDeleteNot that I disagree with the ranking, but this has to be one of the lowest possible rankings for someone who could potentially be the deciding factor (and make the deciding play) in multiple games this season. Of course, we all hope that's not the case...
ReplyDelete@Greg:
ReplyDeleteNo, Gibbons is like Garrett Rivas with a side of OH MY GOD KICK IT BETWEEN THE YELLOW THINGS WTF HOW HARD IS THAT.
Wile has never played a game yet, have you seen him play in person
ReplyDeleteMatt Wile hasn't even played a game yet. Unless you have seen him in person, maybe you should give him a chance
ReplyDelete@ KB 7:36 p.m.
ReplyDeleteI don't know that Hagerup has even been practicing field goals. AFAIK, he's limited to punts and kickoffs.
@ Lankownia 7:37 p.m.
ReplyDeleteYou're right that he "could" be the deciding factor, but what's the difference between him, Broekhuizen, and Wile? Gibbons has only made one field goal in his career and already turned people off with his attitude. He's going in the wrong direction.
The key point is that with 2 years of unfavorable evidence against him, it’s highly unlikely that Gibbons will beat his competition. SOMEBODY will be attempting FGs in game-deciding situations. It’s just unlikely to be Gibbons.
ReplyDeleteRegarding recruiting rankings: the services don’t usually give a lot of stars to kickers. But as kickers go, his high school stats were good. Going in, there was no reason to doubt that he could succeed at Michigan. Kicking success in high school usually carries over to college. (I realize they use a tee in high school; that’s about the only difference.)
Wile has reportedly been working his tail off over the summer, with a pretty good make percentage at non-trivial distances. That is very encouraging news.
I know that Michigan doesn’t cut kids on scholarship, just for being bad at football. They have to violate a team rule, or something like that. If there is ever going to be an exception, Gibbons might be a candidate. I wonder how many college football teams have two scholarship placekickers? There can’t be many.