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| Roy Roundtree |
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 180 lbs.
High school: Trotwood (OH) Trotwood-Madison
Position: Wide receiver
Class: Redshirt senior
Jersey number: #21
Last year: I ranked Roundtree #11 and said he would have 850 yards and 7 touchdowns. He had 19 receptions for 355 yards (18.7 yards per reception) and 2 touchdowns.
Boy, was I wrong about Roundtree last season. Coming off a stellar 2010 campaign, I thought he would start where he left off and continue his synchronous relationship with Denard Robinson. Instead, Roundtree failed to catch a pass in three games and averaged just 1.9 receptions per game in the ones where he actually caught a ball. He did make some nice plays, particularly against Notre Dame and Nebraska. But the adjustment from slot receiver in Rich Rodriguez's offense to split end in Al Borges's offense really took its toll, to the point where 5'8" slot/split end Jeremy Gallon caught 31 balls, twelve more than last year's returning leading receiver.
Roundtree makes yet another position move in 2012, this time to flanker. He replaces the departed Junior Hemingway, who had 34 catches and 699 yards. Hemingway was targeted more often than Roundtree, and now Roundtree will likely become the primary passing target. The flanker typically lines up on the same side of the field as a tight end or slot receiver, so there are more combination routes on that side of the field. With no obvious passing target from the tight end corps now that Kevin Koger has graduated, Roundtree might be targeted more often than Hemingway was. Unfortunately, Roundtree recently had arthroscopic surgery on his knee, which might get him off to a slow start this season. Freshman receivers Amara Darboh and Jehu Chesson could alleviate the loss of Roundtree, as could the emergence of redshirt sophomore Jerald Robinson, whom departing seniors guessed would have a breakout season in 2012. But Roundtree should be more polished this season and has more speed than Robinson, so hopefully he can come back from his minor knee surgery and make an impact early in the season.
Prediction: Starting wide receiver; 30 receptions, 500 yards, 4 touchdowns
Too bad they don't have the depth to just leave Roundtree in the slot. He would be effective there on passing downs, even if he wasn't an every-down player. Bummer that Stonum blew it because he could have been an all-conference guy on the outside. Hope Roundtree is able to pick up some of Hemingway's considerable slack.
ReplyDeleteI see a lot of talk along the lines of "the transition didn't work out for him", but do you have a sense of why it would be that way? And why did Gallon manage well when he doesn't necessarily have physical tools Roundtree doesn't? Did Borges scheme away from Roundtree? Did his route running prevent him from getting open?
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think is the main cause here?
Roundtree played split end last year and didn't adjust well to being on the outside. He's still only 180 lbs. (I think he was 177 last year), and he struggles if you're physical with him. He's also not extremely fast or elusive or a great leaper. He's a perfect slot receiver (in my opinion) but he's not well suited to the offense Michigan ran. Meanwhile, Denard Robinson targeted the two-receiver side more often last year because he had Junior Hemingway over there and another option of some sort. It's natural that the flanker will get targeted more often.
DeleteMeanwhile, the only thing Gallon lacks compared to Roundtree is height. Gallon is heavier, despite being 4 inches shorter. The coaches also tried to get him the ball on screens and such because he's a little bit better running in space.
The coaches called plays specifically for Hemingway and Gallon last year. Roundtree was sort of the third option on a lot of plays.
Hemingway was targeted 58 times, Roundtree 49, Gallon 42. Roundtree just wasn't able to catch the balls Denard threw his way (38% catch rate is atrocious). He had a bad year. I think he'll bounce back.
DeleteI agree that it's atrocious, but not all of that can be blamed on the receivers. Denard completed 55% of his passes on the season, and there weren't an obscene number of drops. I've been saying for years that Denard is inaccurate, and that's just more proof.
DeleteAgreed Thunder. I didn't intend to put it all on Roundtree. When I think of Roundtree's 2011 season I think, first, of his catch in the UTL game, but then him slowing down to a trot as he watches some uncatchable ball hit the ground in his general vicinity.
DeleteMy point was that the coaches (and Denard) weren't intentionally targeting Gallon and Hemingway at the expense of Roundtree. Roundtree was a guy they still wanted to get the ball to, and he still played a lot. Him and Denard just couldn't connect. I think they were both dealing with new routes/schemes and didn't adjust to it well. Roundtree didn't make enough plays and Denard didn't put him in a position to make them often enough (Borges may deserve some blame too though.)
Well, Roundtree was on the field more, so it's natural that he's going to be targeted quite a bit. But the coaches didn't really design plays to get the ball to him like they did with Gallon.
DeleteHard to tell sometimes who the pass play is designed for but yeah - Gallon got screen passes thrown his way, so they wanted him to have the ball.
DeleteYou predicted 25 catches for Gardner and 30 for Roundtree... interesting. I'm surprised you think Gardner will be that successful at receiver.
ReplyDelete25 catches isn't a lot. But Michigan is going to run the ball quite a bit. Remember, Hemingway led the team last year with 34 catches, so it's not like we're one of the Oklahoma schools.
DeleteJust read that Pee Wee Pipkins was just carted off the field with a neck injury. That is not good.
ReplyDeleteYeah, but he's supposedly moving all extremities. Hopefully everything is relatively okay.
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