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Wednesday, August 25, 2010

2010 Countdown: #9 Roy Roundtree


Name: Roy Roundtree
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 176 lbs.
High school: Trotwood-Madison High School in Trotwood, OH
Position: Slot receiver/wide receiver
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #12
Last year: I ranked Roundtree #46 and said he'd be the backup slot receiver. That was mostly true, although Roundtree came on late in the season to catch 32 passes for 434 yards and 3 touchdowns.

I have to admit, I didn't expect much out of Roundtree in 2009. He had a spectacular spring game prior to the 2009 season, but with Martavious Odoms returning and what seemed to be a solid tight end in Kevin Koger, it looked like Roundtree wouldn't get many reps. And for the most part, that held true. Late in the season, however, Odoms was injured, the coaches had lost confidence in Koger's ability to catch the ball, and Plan C Kelvin Grady had some drops, too. So they went to Plan D. Plan D turned out to be awesome, as Roundtree's late TD catch against MSU gave Michigan some false hope of winning the game. He went on to catch 30 passes over the last four games.

Roundtree enters 2010 with designs on being the #1 option for the Wolverines at receiver, although it's unclear whether he'll get more chances at slot receiver or at wideout. He's not particularly fast or elusive, but he's got that "it" factor that allows him to get open. He runs good routes, and he's also developed a chemistry with not one, but both quarterbacks. Sometimes that's all you need. With Michigan's surplus of talent at the receiver positions and the questionable nature of its tight end situation, I expect a lot of four-wide sets, especially on obvious passing downs. This would likely put Darryl Stonum and Junior Hemingway on the outside, allowing Martavious Odoms and Roy Roundtree to work in the slot. The upcoming season should be the most exciting and productive passing year since Rich Rodriguez arrived in 2008.

Prediction for 2010: Starting slot receiver; 60 catches, 900 yards, 8 touchdowns

Ryan Van Bergen earned 44% of the vote, and J.T. Floyd got 28% of the vote. Roy Roundtree was third with only 13% of the vote. Come on, people - look at all the depth we have at the receiver positions!

8 comments:

  1. Damn Magnus those are some monster stats you've predicted for Roundtree! I hope you're right, and that the offense as a whole can mask the defense's shortcomings.

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  2. I agree with Anonymous above...those are BIG time stats for, what I believe will be, a predominantly running offense with DRob at the helm.

    I predict Roundtree's numbers will look more like: 45 catches, 550 yards, 4 TD's.

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  3. @ Logan88

    They are some big-time stats, but I feel that Roundtree has good chemistry with both quarterbacks. I also think that it will be a run-heavy offense when possible, but with as bad as Michigan's defense is, you have to consider the fact that they'll be in a fair number of shootouts.

    In addition, he caught 30 balls over 4 games, so projected over a full season, that's 90+ catches - I actually feel a little conservative on my estimate of the number of catches.

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  4. Wow, Magnus, RVB has really grown on you, hasn't he? I understand that his position isn't really deep with experience, making him pretty damn important to the defense, but I remember you really weren't high on him out of high school.

    After the first few games last year when he wasn't a superstar, but not a sieve, I started to pay attention, then he won me over with the penultimate Indiana series. I've got some high hopes for him.

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  5. Personally I have a hard time establishing an importance hierarchy between Stonum, Odoms, and Roundtree. All 3 bring something different to the table. Given the depth at the position, especially at slot I don't think any of them are individually that important. But if 2 of the 3 got hurt, we'd be in trouble.

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  6. @ BlastBeat88

    It's not really that I think Van Bergen is super awesome (although he is better than I expected). The fact is that if he gets hurt, we're SEVERELY thin at DE unless Jibreel Black can step up as a true freshman. And on a defense that's so young in the secondary, Michigan needs a great season from its defensive line.

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  7. Can't one of the other DL (e.g. Martin) slide over to RVB's spot? Might Campbell/Sagesse/Patterson be used if RVB is hurt, rather than Black?

    FWIW, Rivals is projecting Sagesse as RVB's backup.

    http://michigan.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1117803

    Personally, I'd be more worried about the downgrade from Roh to Herron/Fitzgerald.

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  8. @ Lankownia

    No, I don't think Martin could play Van Bergen's spot. Martin isn't fast enough, IMO, and it would weaken us at nose tackle, too.

    Sagesse is a possibility there.

    I think Herron or Fitzgerald could do an adequate job at LB. Not as good as Roh, but adequate.

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