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| Allen Gant |
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 203 lbs.
High school: Sylvania (OH) Southview
Position: Linebacker
Class: Redshirt freshman
Jersey number: #12
Last year: I ranked Gant #81 and said he would redshirt. He redshirted.
Gant came into school as a large strong safety, and as I mentioned during his recruitment, he was somewhat lacking in foot speed for a safety. Defensive coordinator Greg Mattison has mentioned that he wants his safeties to be interchangeable, and Gant was probably a little on the slow side to be trusted in deep coverage. He didn't garner a ton of practice buzz, and he didn't play much in the spring game, partially due to a nagging injury; he did, however, show a little of what he could do when he came up for support in the run game during the spring. That tackling ability - and the lack of foot speed - precipitated a move to SAM linebacker for the fall.
With junior Brennen Beyer and fifth year senior Cam Gordon locked into a battle for the starting SAM spot this fall while redshirt junior Jake Ryan recovers from a torn ACL, Gant probably won't be counted on much this year. He will also be competing with walk-on redshirt freshman Mark Lawson and true freshman Mike McCray II, but Gant looks to be third until Ryan returns. Hopefully Michigan won't need him much on defense this year, but Gant is the type of big safety/linebacker who could be very useful on special teams.
Prediction: Backup SAM linebacker
Over on MGoBlog there was, based on the offense part of his HS film, speculation that he could be an H-back type with some growth. Does that seem realistic?
ReplyDeleteHe has decent ball skills, so yeah, I could potentially see him as an H-back. I think I like him more on defense, though.
DeleteIsn't easier for a safety to move to weak side . If there weren't depth issues is that where he would go?
ReplyDeleteIn the 4-3 Under defense, the weak side linebacker is an inside linebacker, practically a middle linebacker. Reads have to be made instantaneously. That's probably not going to be a strength of a guy who's been playing safety his entire career. SAM doesn't require quick reads like that. It's the same reason that Cam Gordon is at SAM and not WILL.
DeleteThere are other defenses that don't require the same skills as the 4-3 Under, but in this case, it wouldn't make sense to put Gant at WILL.
I'm really interested to see how fast he can put on good weight. If the story that he's been intentionally holding down his weight to play safety is true, then that bodes well for SLB.
ReplyDeleteHe is going to have trouble putting on weight. I think he will end up like many other position changes who are too slight: forgettable.
ReplyDeleteAround the same time, he will also probably be incorrectly classified as a RichRod recruit. Too small, etc.
DeleteI don't mean to be a negative nancy or anything - he's been around this size since he was a freshman in high school. He's going to have some problems adding weight.
DeleteSeems like a lock to help on special teams and highly unlikely to do much more. You never know though - an injury to Cam Gordon could thrust him into a useful role later in the year.
ReplyDelete