Let's see more of this guy on offense . . . Kalel Mullings. I respect Michigan's 1-2 punch at running back, and they've done a good job (for the most part) of keeping guys fresh over the past several years and having at least two very good running backs. From Charbonnet/Haskins to Haskins/Corum to Corum/Edwards, the Wolverines have garnered a lot of respect. A couple games ago, though, the "Thunder" in this year's thunder/lightning duo only had 6 carries. That's not enough. Mullings had 15 carries for 153 yards and 2 touchdowns against Arkansas State, and he deserves to have just as many carries as Donovan Edwards, if not more. Michigan has a big game coming up this weekend, and Mullings should be getting the rock.
Hit the jump for more.
Let's see less of this guy on offense . . . Kendrick Bell. This might just be me being contrarian, but Bell is in just his second year playing receiver after being a high school quarterback, and he plays like a position switcher. A couple weeks ago, broadcaster Joel Klatt was suggesting Bell should get the ball more. I've heard others say the same thing. I just don't get it. He had 31 snaps against Arkansas State and 39 against Texas. He's not productive in the area of statistics (2 catches, 18 yards), and his PFF grades this year have been 61.9, 53.1, and 52.2. He's not a stellar run blocker, nor does he have great speed, and he doesn't even have great size at 6'2", 191. Michigan should be using other personnel, including tight ends and running backs, on the field instead of someone like Bell.
Let's see more of this guy on defense . . . Ike Iwunnah. Iwunnah was mired on the bench for three years. And by "mired on the bench," I mean he literally didn't play a snap. But now he's played some snaps this year, and he's holding up okay. He played a career-high 26 snaps last week after playing a total of 10 snaps in the first couple games, and he also made his first career tackle for loss. He's not ready to be a starter, but I think he's to the point where he can be a rotational player.
Let's see less of this guy on defense . . . Myles Pollard. Pollard may not have been the culprit on one of Arkansas State's late touchdowns, but every time I see him on the field - whether it's in a game or a spring game - he just looks like he doesn't know how to get in proper position. And on top of that, he's just slow to react to what's going on around him. He's not high in the pecking order at cornerback, but he probably gets more opportunities than he should. Pollard got 9 snaps against Arkansas State, while Keshaun Harris - a guy who has experience and is athletic enough to be trusted returning kickoffs - only got 4.
Play of the game . . . Kalel Mullings's 30-yard touchdown run. It was a vintage Michigan running back touchdown when Mullings took an interior run, bounced it outside, and then shook off a couple tackle attempts to break a 30-yard touchdown run. He looked like Anthony Thomas or Hassan Haskins or Brandon Minor on the run - powerful and not fast, but fast enough.
Kalel Mullings previous game film is spectacular. 15 carries for 153 & 2 TD's. Could Edwards start losing snaps? 👀 pic.twitter.com/rBZkNC6lYo
— Alec Elijah (@ElijahVandross) September 17, 2024
MVP of the game . . . Kalel Mullings. As mentioned above, Mullings had 15 carries for 153 yards and 2 touchdowns on the game. He graded out as the nation's top running back in week two and ranks #7 in the Big Ten in yards per carry (7.5).
Man, no disagreement on any of these
ReplyDeleteI'd add a caveat though: can we throw the ball to Edwards a few times a game? Our WR room is unproductive (worse than any preseason prediction or concern), so throw it deep, throw it to the Flats, throw it on an Arrow ... just get him the dang ball
I'm for this, but Edwards needs to be a better route runner. He doesn't always go 100%. The lazy Texas/angle route is a little predictable. Michigan needs to use him on wheels, arrows, bubbles, crossers, etc.
DeleteThe thing I admire about Mullings is that, aside from being a really good running back, he seems to be a fine young man. In post-game press conferences, he seems to be soft-spoken, not arrogant, and amiable.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. I think you can see it in the way he runs, too. He finishes runs with violence, but he's not the type to get up and scream in other guys' faces or anything. I like him. He's not going to win many foot races, but he's tough and he gains yards.
DeleteI've become a big fan. He is a bigger Deveon Smith and more nimble too. Great feet.
DeletePlay your best players.
ReplyDeleteI want to see more Mullings. At RB and FB.
I want to see more Edwards. At RB and WR.
I want to see more Bredeson. At FB and TE and even out wide to block.
I want to see more Loveland. At TE and WR.
I want to see more 6th OL too.
Those snaps have to come from others and Bell, O'Leary, Charleston and the other WRs seem like the best options.
Edwards isn't a WR though. You can use him there in spot situations, but he's not adept at running the option routes, or blocking in space, like the full time WRs are. He doesn't have the suite of skills, like most freshman don't, because they haven't worked on them.
The idea that you can just move Mullings to RB1 and shift Edwards over to WR and solve your offensive problems is not realistic. It's a gimmick that you can use occasionally. And they should! But it's not a full solution.
Similarly, Mullings should be used at FB. HE thrives as a blocker - put him ahead of Edwards and let him do work. Is he a better blocker than Bredeson? No. So it's a gimmick too. But you put all 3 on the field, especially with Orji presenting a run/pass threat himself, and now you can, if nothing else, get defenses very confused.
Put your best players on the field. I agree with Thunder that that includes Mullings not Bell. I disagree with anyone calling for Mullings at the expense of Edwards snaps.
The lowest hanging fruit for improvement, lower than giving Mullings more snaps, is to throw to Donovan Edwards out of the backfield. That pairs nicely with the biggest and most imminent change - more QB runs
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My thoughts on Iwunnah follow the same philosophy. Put your best players on the field.
I definitely don't want him playing more than 26 snaps because that means Graham/Grant/Benny are playing less. Michigan needs 4 or ideally 5 DTs to be available to rotate but most of the snaps can go to the top 3 (as they did last year). Benny is promoted up into Jenkins role. Which means the Benny/Goode snaps (15-30 per game total against PSU, OSU, Alabama) are available for Pierce and Iwunnah. I'd like to see that number closer to 15 since our top 2 are SO dang good, Benny looks like a big time player, and the backups (DT4 and DT5) are not as good as last year.
I think it's notable that Pierce and Iwunnah played a similar number of snaps and producing similarly poor PFF scores last week. I don't trust either of them against USC, Oregon, or OSU. They shouldn't be seeing too many snaps on Saturday, especially if our defense can boot USC off the field quickly. So hopefully bump the DT4 & DT5 snaps down to a total of 10-20 and split those between Ike and Trey until one shows they are better than the other.