I received an e-mail this morning from someone who went to this weekend's coaching clinic. Greg Mattison apparently mentioned that Craig Roh is moving to strongside defensive end, and Brennen Beyer is moving from SAM to weakside end. This seems to be the best move for Michigan's current personnel, and I always thought Beyer would be better off as a weakside end than a SAM. This also seems to indicate that the coaches are enamored with rising sophomore Frank Clark, who terrorized Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl.
Thanks for the update.
ReplyDeleteAny thoughts on Roh's career progression? He was a solid 4-star recruit and had the highlights to back up the ranking. At UM, though, it doesn't seem that he's played at a high level consistently. I've wondered whether he's playing at the optimum weight for his frame and, also, whether he amounts to a "tweener" at this point.
ReplyDeleteI was/am a big fan of Roh's. I think he's a hard worker with considerable athletic ability. I think the coach staff in 2009-2010 really hindered his growth, since he was playing out of position much of the time. If he does indeed play strongside end in 2012, which might end up being his best position, just think of how badly he was misused as an OLB in the 3-3-5. I mean...yeesh. That's just horrible use of personnel, in my opinion. Then they tried to use him as a DE in the 3-3-5, which didn't work, either.
DeleteI do think Roh is a bit of a tweener. He's too slow and lacks the suddenness to be a superstar weakside end, and he's been a little light to be a strongside end. But he is a tireless worker, which I think would suit him well at SDE. Keep in mind that Ryan Van Bergen isn't a great athlete, either, but became a very good 5-tech by using good technique and working his ass off. I think Roh can do the same sorts of things, but he's going to have to get in the weightroom during the offseason.
Lets not forget that for the beginning of this year and much of the summer before he was sick as well. He was reportedly down weight and strength from his illness and that had a major effect on his season. I expect big things from him this offseason. He is a dedicated worker.
DeleteSO where does Clark project if the coaches are enamored? And Ryan as well?
ReplyDeleteI think Clark might be your starter at WDE, and I think Ryan will remain the starting SAM.
Deleteyeah clark at WDE so the starting front 7 should be something like this:
DeleteWDE- clark
NT- will campbell
DT- pipkins
SDE- roh
SAM- ryan
MIKE- demens
WILL- bolden?
And, Black would back-up Roh?
ReplyDeleteBlack might be a backup at both spots, but yeah, I would not be surprised to see both Roh and Black flip to SDE. Black has been unimpressive at WDE, except for a play here or there.
DeleteGood DL info and analysis here.
ReplyDeleteGiven that Brink will probably play part-time at least at SDE, do you think Black may move all the way to DT (3-tech?) if he can bulk up a bit, or is that too extreme of a shift?
I wouldn't necessarily see these moves as an endorsement of Clark. They're moving one guy away from the WDE spot and one guy to it. Roh's obviously more established, but the coaches seem high on Beyer, given that he appeared to be on equal footing at SAM with Cam Gordon (or maybe even ahead) by the end of the season. Somewhat head-scratching to put two of your most promising youngsters (both sophomores) at the same position. Though I guess WDE is a position where you want to rotate a good bit.
I'm not too worried about position switches along the DL yet. There's plenty of room for opportunity along the line for 7 or 8 guys to play. Who starts and all that will sort itself out in fall after a lot of strength training and eating over the summer. Campbell and Roh are the only locks. Black, Clark, Pipkins, and Brink sound highly likely to contribute. Wait-and-see beyond that.
IMO, the biggest takeaway here is confirmation that Jake Ryan is probably staying put - which makes sense given his 1st-year success at SAM.
I do think Black might move to 3-tech, but that depends on the depth at SDE. Personally, I'm not too big a fan of Nathan Brink from what I saw during the season. But maybe that's just because he's young and weak.
DeleteI don't necessarily think the moves are an endorsement of Clark in and of themselves. However, moving a starting WDE opens up a spot. Who performed best at WDE toward the end of the season? I'd have to say Frank Clark. And Beyer didn't do anything spectacular to be considered a front-runner for the WDE position. So just using deductive reasoning, I have to think they're clearing a path for Clark.
maizeman from gbmw has said he thinks Black could move to 3 eventually, FWIW.
DeleteBlack's position may also depend on how Pipkins, Washington, Ash, Wormley, etc. pan out. He seems almost like a DL utility-player right now, depending on how his body changes.
DeleteBrink didn't look great in live action but the coaches seemed to LOVE him. Must be some reason for that. He's also a pretty young guy with a chance of following in Heininger's path (i.e. bulking up and being a reliable, if unexceptional, rotation-player).
Clark did perform well, but seemed to be keeping his usage situational. He was protected to some extent.
My guess: We substitute WAY more than last year. It seems that we have run-stuffing players (Campbell, Brink) and pass-rushing players (Black at DT, Clark). Unlike last year, there aren't as many every-down types unless Roh, Black, Clark or Campbell make a leap or Pipkins is the stud many hope he might be.
I think Black's skills match up well for the 3-technique. He could be somewhat of a playmaker from an interior spot where he does not have to hold up to double-teams. The only issue is size/strength. Mattison was disappointed that Black was not able to put weight on last off-season. Not sure what his work ethic is, but if he can put on good weight to get up to 270+ this year, he could contribute there. Between Roh, Brink, and RS/true freshmen, I think the 5 spot will be solidified (at least with numbers) pretty soon. Hopefully, Pipkins can play both DT positions so they can put BWC or QWash where they are the least ineffective.
DeleteThunder - I recall you had called Clark the most overrated recruit in the class. You even mentioned that you won't bat an eyelid if he were ranked a mere 2 star. Do you admit now that you got him completely wrong - that you severely under-estimated him? After all he did contribute last season and had the best defense score from you (+10 I believe) for Sugar Bowl.
ReplyDeleteHere's what I actually said about Clark:
Delete"But I haven't seen anything from Clark that shows me he's going to be a successful college football player, especially as a linebacker."
First of all, Clark has definitely outperformed my expectations so far. He had a great Sugar Bowl, but that's just one game. I won't admit that I'm "completely wrong" about him, since he's made 7 career tackles, 1/2 a tackle for loss, and 1 interception. That's a good start, but for all we know, the Sugar Bowl could have been the high point of his career.
Secondly, he was recruited as a linebacker, and he played defensive end this season. My assessment of him was as a linebacker, which I'm still not sure he has the athleticism to play.
And if you look back at my recruiting awards, there were very few highly rated recruits to choose from last year. It was Michigan's worst recruiting class in years. So there were a dearth of choices.
Anyway, I'll hold off on admitting that I'm wrong, because nobody's been proven right or wrong about anything regarding the 2011 recruiting class. However, I will admit that the early returns suggest I'll have to eat my words by the time he finishes his career.
You are much more gracious in accepting your mistake than I would have expected you to be. Thanks for your thoughts. Your site remains my second most fav. Michigan site after Brian's.
DeleteThunder - Do you think that Black is a transfer risk? If he transfers he would have two years of eligibility left and if he doesn't win the starting spot for SDE or WDE he may see the writing on the wall. I still think he has a ton of upside as he seems to be the only guy on the line who has the ability to catch some from the weakside going the other way.
ReplyDeleteI guess I wouldn't be too worried about Black transferring. He's played significant time in both seasons so far. I think he has to assume that three defensive line positions opened up and he has a good chance to win one of those positions. It would be odd for a 2nd-stringer to transfer when 2 seniors just graduated at positions he might play. But crazier things have happened, I guess.
DeleteI hope you are right. In general I worry about any rising juniors that haven't burned their redshirt, haven't carved out a specific role on the team yet, and aren't from the state of Michigan. I'm not saying this will happen but if he realizes that he will be a back up the next two years at Michigan but for example he could potentially start in is home town in Cincinnati I would have to think that would be a consideration. It seems he played less and less as the year went on last year but hopefully he sees the WDE spot is his for the taking if he really wants it.
DeleteWith Roh at 6'5" and 269lbs and Clark at 6'2' 229lbs if it is indeed Clark, we're back to being pretty small at DE.
ReplyDeleteYou would think that at his age and height, Roh ought to be able to pick up 10 or 15 pretty easy, but does Clark have enough frame to pack 240+ around out there next year?
They both better be real quick for their respective position or Mattison better be scheming like a demon or the light better to go on in Big Will's helmet or some combination of the three or people are going to be running on us.
I definitely think Clark can be 240+ next year. He's already listed at 228, was probably bigger than that by the end of the year, and has another 7 months to add weight. I'd be surprised if he isn't around 245 or so by next season.
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