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| Cameron Gordon |
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 235 lbs.
High school: Inkster (MI) Inkster
Position: Linebacker
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #4
Last year: I ranked Gordon #19, said he would start at SAM, and make 60 tackles. He played in seven games as a backup/special teamer and made 4 total tackles.
After appearing to be the starting outside linebacker going into the 2011 season, it was several weeks into the season before we saw Gordon hit the field. He was recovering from a back injury suffered during August camp, which opened the door for Jake Ryan to get a stranglehold on the starting SAM job that he wouldn't relinquish for the entire season. Meanwhile, true freshman Brennen Beyer stepped in to back up Ryan and mostly held on to that job. It was a disappointing campaign for Gordon, who went from starting full-time in 2010 (at one position or another) to being a very minor player in 2011.
Now that Beyer has changed positions, it looks like Gordon will battle for (and ultimately lose) the SAM job once again. Ryan returns as the starter, and he had a pretty good season a year ago. Meanwhile, the coaches moved bench player Jordan Paskorz from SAM to tight end in the offseason, and none of the four incoming freshman linebackers was recruited for the position, although there's some buzz that Royce Jenkins-Stone will end up there. Regardless, Jenkins-Stone reported to Michigan at 206 lbs., so he's almost assured to redshirt. Beyer played quite a bit last season, so there's no reason to expect that Gordon won't see a significant amount of playing time spelling Ryan this season. In fact, now that the backup is a decent space player rather than a converted defensive end, Gordon might get on the field more frequently than Beyer in passing situations. Ryan gets to where he needs to go most of the time, but he's just okay in pass coverage. Gordon has bulked up from 222 lbs. to 235, and he should be a very solid backup option as well as a special teams player.
Prediction: 30 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 interception
Surprised that Gordon did not play more last year. He was injured some, but that is only a partial excuse because he saw time in a 7 or 8 games on special teams. Beyer was not a natural at Sam either, so it was interesting that he commanded most of the back-up snaps.
ReplyDeleteAs you mention, the key for Gordon to get playing time may be in the nickel package. He appears to be limited in an edge-force role. Mark Smith has said they are looking for LB's who can both blitz and cover equally well. But for this role, Gordon will be competing with the ILB's too.
Really hope McCray is the real deal at Sam because I'm not sure UM has any other naturals on the 2012 roster outside of Ryan. Very early speculation, but I don't have a ton of confidence in RJS.
McCray is reportedly being recruited for the MIKE position.
DeleteMichigan is going to play the best 3 LB they have. Everyone thought Morgan was headed for MIKE and his athleticism was considered subpar for WILL, but he won the job. Maybe by default, but he got it. If the best 3 LBs a few years from now are Ringer, Poole, and Ross (presumed WLBs) - two of them will slide over. Plus people's bodies change.
DeleteThere is no sense worrying about which recruit fits at SAM, especially when Ryan has the position locked down for 3 more years. But if, for whatever reason, Ryan and Gordon are not available or capable, they'll slide someone like Bolden or Hawthorne into that spot and be alright.
I don't agree with your first paragraph. WILL and MIKE are somewhat interchangeable, but not SAM. I have yet to see a SAM at Michigan who could play at WILL, and all the 4-3 Under SAMs in recent years have been borderline defensive ends - Shawn Crable, Jake Ryan, Brennen Beyer, etc. Gordon is now the same size that Ryan was last season.
DeleteHawthorne can't play SAM. Maybe Bolden. If Ryan and Gordon disappeared, I think it would come down to moving Beyer back there (if Clark is available to play WDE), playing Mario Ojemudia, or forcing Royce Jenkins-Stone into action. You can't have a six-foot-nothing, 214 lb. kid setting the edge, at least not if you want to be successful.
I saw the report yesterday about Levenberry wanting to reconsider UM. Officially, UM does not have a ship for him but it is evident from the father's comments that Mattison is maintaining contact despite the FSU commitment. I have a theory that the coaches want to thoroughly evaluate RJS in camp. If RJS demonstrates good potential at SAM, then the position is in decent shape depth-wise. If not, they may make another run at Levenberry because I don't think they can wait until the 2014 class to bring in the heir apparent at SAM. It's clearly an important position that is not so easy to fill. Just my theory, anyway.
DeleteI don't think they'll make a run at Levenberry unless one of the current commits re-opens his recruitment.
DeleteHonestly Gordon is a Sam who could probably play Will, though. Specializes in pass coverage, used in Nickel schemes, played Safety for a spell. If he's healthy I see him playing WILL or both, and Ojemudia playing some SAM.
DeleteNah, I disagree. He's not really a WILL, and Michigan can't afford to lose the depth at SAM. That would be a dangerous move all around. I think he's going to be a SAM for the foreseeable future.
DeleteWe'll hopefully, never find out who the 3rd option at SAM is this year...but just for the sake of argument...
DeleteLast year the presumed starter was Gordon, who weighed 222. Your list of potential replacements at SAM include RJS at 206 lb and Ojemudia at 223. Hawthorne is 220. The other LB candidates all weigh between 220 and 230. None of these guys sound DE-sized to me but Demens (242), Morgan (230), and Bolden (230) would seem closest. You could be right about Beyer, but 252 seems pretty heavy for the LB position and WDE depth is worse than SAM.
The confusing thing for me, and apparently others, is why Gordon was put at SAM and not WILL when he was a converted safety weighing 220. He SOUNDS like a WLB - lighter and quicker than an MLB. Yet he was put at SAM where you want someone, ideally, more like a DE physically than a Strong Safety. And yet...there Gordon is. Supposedly his asset is as a coverage guy, and that's an important element of the position - but if that's important how can pseudo-DEs make sense? Wasn't this similar to the position Roh played when he was a 240-250 LB?
This kind of thing is why I think positions within a position group tend to be badly overstated. When you don't have the prototype available (freaks like Crable who have the size of DE but the mobility of an LB) then you choose the next best option from the position group. SAM's 'group' may be RLB/WDE rather than ILB, but there doesn't appear to be any clear continuum, like there is along the DL from NT, DT, SDE, to WDE.
Gordon, as a converted wide receiver and free safety, is not an instinctive linebacker. It takes years to develop the skills that it takes to play WILL and MIKE. They're different sets of skills. A WILL needs to read plays immediately and attack downhill. Gordon just doesn't have that experience or those instincts, from what I've seen. SAM is a much easier position to play from a mental standpoint. It involves attacking and setting the edge, basic athleticism and strength.
DeleteWhen Roh played "Deathbacker" in 2009, he was mostly a defensive end and only rarely a linebacker. He was playing what we now call WDE or rush linebacker, essentially. Greg Robinson put him in man coverage a little more than Mattison did with the WDEs in 2011, but Roh was more of a WDE than a SAM.
Thanks. Appreciate the clarifications.
DeleteI wish that this kid could come back in all over again as a true freshman. He wasted two years at positions that he didn't have the speed for. SAM seems like a curious choice though, since he is more like Jonas Mouton size-wise. I would expect him to have at least decent speed for a linebacker too, since he's a former WR, and he has more experience playing in space than close to the LOS.
ReplyDelete