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| Blake Countess |
Coming out of Olney (MD) Good Counsel, Countess was a Rivals 4-star and the #133 player nationally in the 2011 class. I gave him a TTB Rating of 84 (LINK) and was pleased with his commitment (LINK), which took place shortly before Rich Rodriguez was fired. I thought he would be Michigan's next good corner after Donovan Warren departed in 2009.
Countess played immediately as a freshman in 2011 and started six games that year, finishing with 44 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, 6 pass breakups, and 1 forced fumble. ESPN and the Big Ten Network included him on their conference all-freshman teams. Entering the 2012 season as a starter, Countess got injured playing special teams in the season opener against Alabama and missed the rest of the year with a torn ACL. He came back with a vengeance in 2013, making First Team All-Big Ten with 46 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 6 interceptions (1 touchdown), and 4 pass breakups. Big things were expected, but his production fell off (24 tackles, 3 pass breakups) and he saw diminished playing time in 2014.
Rumors started to pop up about Countess potentially transferring around the same time Wayne Lyons appeared headed to Michigan. Essentially, the defensive backfield was getting crowded with talented and/or veteran players - Countess, Lyons, junior Jourdan Lewis, sophomore Jabrill Peppers, and senior Jarrod Wilson are all starting-caliber players, and a couple other guys are pushing for playing time. Countess is not a physical corner, and new defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin's preferred style of defense did not seem primed to mesh with Countess's. Even so, Countess would have seen plenty of playing time even if he didn't start.
But a 4-star guy in his fifth year - a guy who had 6 picks in one season a couple years ago - should probably be starting somewhere. A player of his caliber has an eye on the NFL, and the NFL doesn't draft many college backups. It's somewhat understandable that Countess would look to transfer to a more amenable situation.
Unfortunately, this transfer comes at the expense of Michigan's quality depth. There's likely no question that the two front-runners for the cornerback jobs are Lewis and Lyons, but the only experienced backup is junior Channing Stribling, who has yet to make a significant play despite a fair amount of time on the field. The position is supplemented by redshirt junior Terry Richardson, redshirt sophomore Ross Taylor-Douglas, redshirt sophomore Reon Dawson, and redshirt freshman Brandon Watson, none of whom have registered a single stat. Furthermore, the lone cornerback in the 2015 class is lanky project Keith Washington. There appears to be a serious deficit in cornerback talent when you get younger than Lewis, although Watson has some potential.
Five years later, linebacker Desmond Morgan is the only player remaining from the 2011 class, which was the Rodriguez-to-Hoke transition year. Attrition can be expected from classes with that kind of instability, but too many players played early and exhausted their eligibility this past season.
Before you ask, Countess was not the defensive player I had referenced previously as a transfer. I had heard rumblings that the Lyons thing might spell doom for Countess at Michigan, but that was far from concrete. I still expect one more defensive player and an offensive player to transfer, and there could still be others.
ReplyDeleteWhen you first suggested that a "disappointing" transfer was set to take place, my first thought was that it would be Countess. So it is surprising to me that you say that he wasn't the one you were referring to, which has me genuinely concerned about losing defensive talent.
DeleteIf I had known about Countess, he would have been the most concerning of the transfers.
DeleteNot knowing who the 2 players are is killing me at this point.
DeleteAny news about Je'Vari Anderson?
ReplyDeleteI have heard nothing new about Anderson. His Twitter account is still pointing toward Michigan as his goal, so I'm not sure if he's waiting on another test, waiting for credits, etc. He wouldn't be able to help out at corner, but his presence might allow someone like Tyree Kinnel to bump out to corner.
DeleteFirst of all, I am happy he got his degree. That is a huge honor and he posted a picture of himself in cap and gown after the graduation ceremony.
ReplyDeleteThis is likely a playing time thing - doesn't it have to be?
Harbaugh knows what he is doing and will mold this team the way he wants.
I would have loved for him to stay, but we are not privy to everything that takes place. There is definitely more to it than we will ever know, and that is perfectly fine. We don't need to know.
Both Michigan and Blake Countess will be fine.
Finally, I love that Harbaugh is taking a hold of his roster and getting "his guys" He wasted no time in shoring up the pathetically weak quarterback depth chart that Hoke had left him, and continues to look at every option available to him (transfers and grad transfers).
Everyone needs to be on the same page and that is Harbaugh's first line of business. Harbaugh has to have the entire roster to become one of "his" guys.
These players have accepted losing for far too long. It is absolutely ridiculous to have struggled this much and have players that have played this poorly.
Not sure how much this is about playing time and how much it is about Countess just not wanting to play for Harbaugh. Let's face it, we are not flush with CB talent. We have one proven good (but not great) CB in Lewis that Countess would be competing against, and that's it. We have no one else who's done anything at CB for us. Unfortunately, this is yet another position where Hoke's player development was terrible. If Countess can't lock up a starting job among that group, then I'm not sure how much we'll miss him.
DeleteThanks as always, really enjoy your blog..
ReplyDeleteTo quote loose lipped Mike Zordich "We have an incoming Safety that likes to play Corner." That would be Tyree Kinnel who has played a lot of cornerback and at 5'll 195 has the size to press. That's assuming that he is indeed 5'11".
ReplyDeleteI do think Kinnel can play corner if necessary, but that's not an ideal spot for him, IMO.
DeleteYeah, I know. We've had this conversation.
DeleteI sat there one night having forgotten to take my medication and watched what seemed like his entire career in highlights. He was a four year starter, the first two at corner before they moved him back. He's a tough, physically strong and pretty twitchy kid who plays fearless. I'm not sure about pure speed because he's always kind of up in your grill anyway and has that right place, right time thing going on for him.
If it were me, I'd give him the chance to prove he can't play corner. Especially when you have Peppers playing the position Kinnel is probably best suited for.
From a simple grad transfer standpoint, this is as simple as swapping Lyons for Countess. My understanding is that UM's press-man-to-man style of defense was not a good match for Countess. Let's hope that Lyons is better in that area in this grad transfer swap.
ReplyDeleteI agree in that respect, but Michigan was thin at corner before Lyons...so now they're thin at corner after Countess is gone. My hope with Lyons was that he could provide depth and perhaps play a couple different positions (corner, nickel, maybe safety). Now he's basically a starter and we're still looking for a proven backup (Stribling is not proven, IMO). If I were Harbaugh, I would still be looking at grad transfer corners.
DeleteMy opinion here is that Countess was a very solid keep it in front of you, zone type CB who because he lacks some recovery speed, maybe size, strength and maybe the moxie to hold when he was beat, couldn't quite make it happen pressing.
ReplyDeleteHaving received a 30 minute diatribe last night on corner technique, most of it having to do with Watson living between your shirt and your shoulder pads, I'm sort of encouraged by this.
Countess watches Watson coming, hears about Lyons coming and doesn't want to be sitting against OSU as a fifth year Senior. I say good luck to the kid and I hope to see him playing on Sunday.
Again, spot on analysis. Well done as always. I would have preferred Blake to stay around because depth is important, but this is probably what best for all involved. Best of luck Blake and Go blue.
ReplyDeleteCommented a few days ago on the potential surprising transfers and accidentally left off Countess. Had to include him in a post afterwards.. This is my punishment. I did this.
ReplyDeletehttp://touchthebanner.blogspot.com/2015/05/transfers-are-coming-or-going.html
I'm sorry everybody.