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| Ben Gedeon |
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 220 lbs.
High school: Hudson (OH) Hudson
Position: Linebacker
Class: Freshman
Jersey number: N/A
Last year: Gedeon was a senior in high school. I gave him a TTB Rating of 81. He ended his senior season with at least 960 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns.
Gedeon committed to Michigan in April 2012 and never wavered. He did a little bit of everything for Hudson, playing quarterback, running back, tight end, and linebacker at various times. While not the flashiest player, he has a nose for the football and ended up ranked as the #214 player overall in 247's Composite rankings.
Gedeon plays like a WILL linebacker, but at his height, I would guess he ends up playing MIKE once he adds some weight down the road. Michigan's coaching staff hasn't been shy about playing freshman linebackers for the past couple years (Desmond Morgan, Joe Bolden, Royce Jenkins-Stone, and James Ross have all played as freshmen under Hoke), and it's unclear if that's a trend or if Brady Hoke just needed an influx of talent at the position. Gedeon has a chance to unseat Jenkins-Stone as the backup WILL this season, play special teams, or redshirt. I think Gedeon will be as ready to play as Bolden or Morgan the past couple years, so it all depends on how quickly Jenkins-Stone improves and how healthy the linebacker unit stays.
Prediction: Backup linebacker, special teams
The RSJ post has been one of the two I've been looking forward to, Shane Morris being the other. You liked him maybe a little more than i did with TTB rating of 86.
ReplyDeleteit will be interesting to see if he has grown past 215 lbs. I would really like to see RJS show up this fall and keep Gedeon parked on the bench which I think might be tough to do .... former QB and all that stuff.
Gedeon was my choice for most under rated kid in the class mostly on the strength of the never comes off the field, throwback thing. But this is one of the kids that I would really like to see play as a fully mature, filled out, way seasoned, fifth year Senior.
It will be a bit disappointing if RJS doesn't step up and really contribute this year, at least as a quality backup. He was one of the top-rated LB recruits in the country in 2012. Can't afford to have him be a perennial third stringer, if we want real depth at that position.
DeleteIf RJS is a third stringer, that means Gedeon passed him up and is better. If Gedeon is better, that means we have a top 150 player (RJS) as our 3rd-string WILL. How does that mean we DONT have depth? Of anything, it means we DO have depth.
DeleteRecruiting rankings don't mean much when someone's been on campus for a full year and gets beat out by an incoming freshman with no time in the system or time in a college strength program. If RJS isn't developing, and an incoming freshman beats him out, that's a bad thing.
DeleteIt's not really a bad thing or a good thing. It's just a thing. Older players get beaten out all the time. If Gedeon beats him out because Gedeon is good, then yay. If Gedeon beats him out because Jenkins-Stone sucks and Gedeon sucks a little less, then boo.
DeleteThe better player will play, but the coaches will tend to reward the older player if it's close enough to not make a big difference on the field. There's pragmatic reasons for that - managing personalities, ambitions, transfers, but also it can boil down to having an option of red-shirting a kid or not.
DeleteWhere's 67?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
ReplyDeleteIt's posted now. There was a bit of a delay, but things are back on schedule for now.
DeleteThis case is emblematic of nearly every philosophical disagreement we've had. You tend to look at evidence and draw direct conclusions, while I tend to look at context/circumstance. You see see freshman LBs playing (or freshman OL not playing) and see a trend that may continue. I see freshman LBs as having played (and freshman OL not playing) primarily because of teem needs.
ReplyDeleteBarring a few exceptions, RR sucked at developing LBs that fit Hoke's mold, so Morgan, Ross, and Bolden got to play right away. But now that they're here -- the need is gone and the 'pattern' has come to an end. We have a clearcut top 3 and Gedeon is unlikely to break through that. There's not even a need for next year, so there's no impetus for him to get game action this year. RJS and Poole should provide adequate depth, enough to keep Gedeon off the field unless he is a stud. In other words, he'd have to be WAY better than Bolden and RJS to be worth playing and risk them transferring away when getting passed over. The bar is much higher.
The converse is true for the OL - we had sufficient experience/talent that we didn't need to play any freshman. When you return a bunch of multi-year starters (Omameh, Lewan, Molk) and have other veteran/talented backups who can step up (Schofield, Huyge, Barnum) there's not much reason to throw freshman lineman out there. Hoke hasn't needed to play freshman, so he hasn't. But now...he might. They don't have to be studs this year, they just have to be better than walk-ons or other young inexperienced players. The bar is so significantly lower than it has been.
Guess we'll see how it all plays out...