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Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Poll Results: Who will be Michigan's leading receiver in 2011?

Roy Roundtree

Roy Roundtree: 48%
Junior Hemingway: 38%
Je'Ron Stokes: 4%
Martavious Odoms: 2%
Darryl Stonum: 2%
Drew Dileo: ~0%
Kevin Koger: ~0%
Jerald Robinson: ~0%
Vincent Smith: ~0%
Other: ~0%

Roundtree was the obvious choice here, since he's Michigan's reigning receiving champ.  He had 72 receptions for 935 yards and 7 touchdowns a year ago and made the media's All-Big Ten second team.  But this spring was a bit of an eye-opener, I think, because he wasn't the star of the show.  Roundtree was often running with the second team offense and, although nobody else caught more, he only had 1 catch (for 12 yards) in the spring game.

Hemingway was the obvious #2 choice here, too.  He was Michigan's third-leading receiver last season, grabbing 32 passes for 593 yards and 4 touchdowns.  While his number of receptions was well below those of the top two guys last year (72 for Roundtree, 49 for Stonum), he averaged over 18 yards a catch, compared to their combined 13 yards per reception.  Hemingway is the more prototypical wideout for Michigan (a big leaper with so-so speed), but he's missed time in each of the last three seasons due to injury.

Je'Ron Stokes was a bit of a surprise to finish third in the voting.  I would have expected Odoms or Stonum ahead of him.  Stokes only has 3 catches for 27 yards in his first two seasons.  The new coaching staff could bring with it a new pecking order, but I think Stokes is a bench player until the four senior receivers depart.

Odoms has progressively lost ground since his freshman year, going from 443 yards in 2008 to 272 yards in 2009 to 241 yards in 2010.  Part of that loss of production last season was due to missing six games because of injury.  He's small at only 5'8" and 175 lbs., but his willingness to block might propel him to a starting role.  As long as he stays healthy, I would guess he'll see an uptick in yardage this coming season.  But he hasn't led the team in receiving since his freshman year, and I doubt that's going to change.

Stonum is going to have a difficult time digging himself out of the hole that he created for himself.  He's been in trouble with the law on multiple occasions, and his Michigan career is in jeopardy because of it.  He's currently in limbo on "indefinite suspension" and should miss at least a couple games.  Punishing kids for breaking the law ought to come in the form of missed playing time during the year, not in the offseason.

Dileo, Koger, Robinson, and Smith probably aren't viable options.  I figured I would throw them up there just in case a good number of people expected something I didn't, but voters' thoughts seem to be mostly in line with mine.  Kudos to the one person who voted for Vincent Smith, though.  Dare to be different.

2 comments:

  1. Odoms was hurt in '09 as well. I voted for him because I think he's the most reliable target (despite the injuries the last two seasons.) Unlike Hemingway or Roundtree, he won't get the defenses best DBs on him. Plus, in the new offense Denard will look for targets he trusts (and Roundtree won't be so open without the spread scheming).

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  2. The reason Roundtree had the most receptions last year is because he was in the slot, and Denard has poor touch. If develops his timing with receivers this off season, Hemmingway, and Stonum (possibly) will have more receptions than they did last year.

    When Round was in the slot, Denard didn't have to worry about touch too much, and slung a bullet to wherever Round was. If he masters a deep corner or post route with the wideouts, then I will have a lot of confidence in our team next year.

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