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| Terry Richardson |
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 172 lbs.
High school: Detroit (MI) Cass Tech
Position: Cornerback
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #13
Last year: I ranked Richardson #61 and said he would be a backup corner and special teams player. He did not play at all.
Richardson came into college with a lot of hype, even indicating that he was highly anticipating playing as a true freshman. Those expectations must have dipped quickly when he played a minuscule number of snaps as a true freshman in 2012 and then didn't play at all in 2013. I'll even admit that I thought Richardson was the best cover corner I had seen come out of Cass Tech since Michigan developed the pipeline in the late 2000's, a series of corners that included Teric Jones, Boubacar Cissoko, Dior Mathis, Delonte Hollowell, and others. Then he tried to play the past couple seasons at roughly 160 lbs. That's not exactly a recipe for success.
Now he stands at an imposing 172 lbs., but I have given up on Richardson as a heavy contributor until I see him start to make an impact. I have dropped him over 20 spots in the countdown, even behind a number of incoming freshman and some walk-ons. Michigan has some established cornerbacks, some true sophomores who earned quite a bit of playing time last year, and a heralded incoming freshman. I still believe Richardson has the smooth coverage abilities to be successful, but failing to put on weight suggests that he hasn't bought into the college strength and conditioning (and nutrition) program. Unfortunately for him, it might be too little, too late, as younger guys have passed him on the depth chart. The talent is there, but he has to make up quite a bit of ground.
Prediction: Backup cornerback
Richardson is a wonderful athlete, but he is way tiny for BIG football and doesn't seem capable of adding the size he needs in order to take advantage of all that athleticism.
ReplyDeleteThis is exactly the reason that if I'm recruiting for football, I'm looking for sons of moms that can likely kick your tushy in a fair fight.
There has to be more to the story than his weight though. There are stud corners out there that are just a few pounds heavier. If he could hang with receivers, they would find some role for him no matter how small he is. I had heard from somewhere that he was lacking in aggression.
DeleteGood to know that you wouldn't have recruited Jeremy Gallon, Mike Hart, or Desmond Howard. Also good to know you're not on the coaching staff.
DeleteYes, he needs to get "biggerer." With one exception, the smallest guys here are in the 180 range:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bigcatcountry.com/2013/2/24/4025050/nfl-combine-2013-cornerback-safety-measurements-weight-results
He had offers from everywhere...interesting that he hasn't been able to gain the weight
ReplyDeleteSeems likely to transfer IMHO. Michigan has depth at CB and Richardson is going to want playing time. It'd be interesting to see what he could do in the MAC.
ReplyDeleteAnother Cass Tech product with big hype and no bang. Still waiting for someone... anyone....from that school to actually make a "major" impact in college football. Waiting... waiting....
ReplyDeleteWell, you can stop waiting. Vernon Gholston (1st round pick by the Jets) and Joseph Barksdale (LSU tackle who has played for St. Louis and Oakland) were both pretty good.
DeleteA good cautionary tale for people expecting and assuming that highly ranked freshman are going to be impact players.
ReplyDeleteGuys coming in undersized and failing to put on any good weight has been a depressingly common tune of the Hoke era. I am to the point where I expect absolutely nothing out of our strength and conditioning program.
ReplyDelete