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| Michigan's class of 2008 participants in the Under Armour All-America Game: Darryl Stonum, Christian Wilson, Dann O'Neill, and Brandon Moore. |
Wide receiver Darryl Stonum was booted off the team today. I'm not going to go through his litany of legal issues, but he had some alcohol- and probation-related offenses in the past that caused him to be suspended for the entirety of the 2011 season. Head coach Brady Hoke hoped that the suspension would give Stonum a chance to get his life in order, but that obviously wasn't the case.
Stonum's final season of eligibility would have been 2012, so he leaves with one year remaining. He had 76 career receptions for 1,008 yards and 6 touchdowns in his three years of play, with a school single-season record of 1,001 kickoff return yards (94 of which came on a TD return against Notre Dame) in 2009. It's unclear whether he will try to enter the NFL Draft or whether he will transfer to a lower division and play college ball next season. My guess is that he will end up at an FCS school and try to make it to the NFL in 2013.
Michigan is now even thinner at wide receiver, a position that couldn't really afford further attrition. Junior Hemingway, Martavious Odoms, and Kelvin Grady have played their final year at Michigan, leaving rising senior Roy Roundtree, rising junior Jeremy Gallon, rising junior Jeremy Jackson, rising junior Drew Dileo, and a bunch of young'ns who haven't seen the field at all; class of 2012 receivers Jehu Chesson and Amara Darboh will have an even better chance of play this fall than they previously had. Gallon is tiny, Jackson is slow, and Dileo is a little of both, so there's no clear-cut successor at the outside receiver position.
There are some more potential options in the class of 2012, with Cincinnati (OH) Moeller's Monty Madaris and Westlake Village (CA) Oaks Christian's Jordan Payton both flirting with Michigan. Madaris had potentially eliminated Michigan from contention, but this opens the door to playing time a little quicker. Meanwhile, Payton is "committed" to the California Golden Bears, but their lead recruiter Tosh Lupoi just left for the Washington Huskies and Payton is rethinking his pledge. Of course, there's also the potential for more receivers to grab offers from Michigan or for the coaches to bank the scholarship for 2013. However - and I questioned this at the time - Brady Hoke chose to bank a scholarship for 2012 instead of taking class of 2011 receiver Devin Lucien, who chose UCLA instead. Lucien redshirted this past season for the Bruins, but he would have been another option for Michigan in 2012.
(I just happened to find the above picture interesting for its irrelevance to Michigan now. Stonum was a huge disappointment and got booted, Wilson de-committed for North Carolina and now is a mediocre Tarheel H-back, O'Neill transferred to Western Michigan, and Brandon Moore has been an ineffective backup TE who has 2 career receptions.)
Have to think Hoke's got a fairly easy recruiting pitch to throw at Payton, who was previously VERY high on Michigan. I think we have a pretty strong chance there.
ReplyDeleteI've been saying all along that we're fine at WR in 2012, without Freshman helping, but I think with Stonum gone that's out the window. The slot/wide receiver distinction is pretty silly in general, but it'd be pretty unconventional to consistently put 2 or 3 small guys out there (and I'd consider Roundtree a small guy). I think we'd be OK with Roundtree and Gallon, supplemented with Dileo and Jackson but it's obvious the coaching staff wants a big target available. Therefore, either Jackson steps up as a junior or we're going to see a new face taking a lot of snaps this fall.
Looking at that picture is painful. I honestly recall O'Neill looking at least OK in that game and thinking that he would, at worst, add some immediate depth on the O-line. *O*, well.
ReplyDeleteAnd Moore ... geez. He was also a 4-star.
It would be impolite (not to mention cruel) to ask this 'blog's expert which player in the '13 class he thinks is most likely to flame out, but that doesn't mean I'm not curious. :)
@ Lankownia 3:29 p.m.
ReplyDeleteYeah...I think the receiver position is going to be rough in 2012. Unfortunately. Jackson's a possession guy and nothing more. He might "step up" as in play more, but he's not going to be a star. He's just a guy.
@ Anonymous 4:20 p.m.
ReplyDeleteI believe you mean the '12 class...and I have a couple ideas for guys who might flame out, but at this point...I'll keep it to myself.
Probably true, but players tend to emerge when the opportunity arises. There's talent and potential around. I like a lot of our WR as supporting guys, but there is no big-play threat...yet. Roundtree and Gallon aren't the worst starting duo we've seen. Perhaps Jackson emerges a jump-ball threat, Robinson as a deep-ball savant, Dileo produces at a Welker-like rate out of the slot, you get the idea... none of these are likely individually, but there's a decent chance SOMEONE elevates their game to a high level.
ReplyDeleteThough, I've been saying the same thing about Michigan RBs since Perry, and Toussaint's been the only guy who's really done it...
I really wasn't excited about recruiting too many WRs this year, but now I'm really hoping for Payton to join the class, or another highly rated guy to emerge late.
I'm surprised nobody has said anything about Jerald Robinson. I remember him getting pretty good reviews this summer. I think he could be a guy that steps up big for us as a redshirt sophomore (I think) next year.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise, Stefon Diggs come on down!
@ Anonymous 11:06 p.m.
ReplyDeleteRobinson has apparently had some outside issues going on that have prevented him from getting on the field. He's been okay in practices, but not overwhelmingly special.
Do you think that the coaches know that there is a recruit who would jump at the chance to come here if it were more apparent that playing time would not be an issue? If so, did that make the decision with Stonum that much easier? I like how they are making the players and recruits tow the line, but one has to wonder with the timing of everything. I also don't believe that Arnett was ever really a consideration. He seems a little stuck on himself and these coaches believe in the "Team" concept.
ReplyDelete@ Nick 6:00 a.m.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the coaches booted Stonum based on getting a recruit. And I don't think Madaris or Payton is a shoo-in now that the path to PT is cleared a bit, so that would be a gamble, anyway. But I do think that Michigan is slightly more appealing to class of 2012 kids than it was a couple days ago. If Payton commits, he could possibly come in and start this coming fall. I don't think he's a future superstar, but he's college-ready.