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| James Ross III |
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 220 lbs.
High school: Orchard Lake (MI) St. Mary's
Position: Linebacker
Class: Sophomore
Jersey number: #15
Last year: I ranked Ross #62 and said he would be a backup linebacker and special teams contributor. He started two games and played in all thirteen, making 36 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, and .5 sacks.
Ross was one of my favorite and highest rated players coming into 2012, and he didn't disappoint. Early practice buzz suggested he was going to be hard to keep off the field, and that held true once the season began. When starting WILL linebacker Desmond Morgan missed the Iowa game due to injury, Ross stepped in and made a career-high 12 tackles. This spring when Desmond Morgan moved from WILL to MIKE to replace the graduated Kenny Demens, Ross was inserted into the starting lineup.
I expect good things from Ross this year. He's excellent at diagnosing plays and he can cover a lot of ground. He struggled a little bit with pass drops last season, but that's a problem for many young linebackers. Ross's primary backup on the depth chart is sophomore Royce Jenkins-Stone, whom I don't really trust yet as a football player. I suspect that if Ross were to miss any length of time, Morgan might slide back over to WILL to make room for sophomore Joe Bolden, who's a superior player to Jenkins-Stone. Morgan, Bolden, and Ross are three starter-quality inside linebackers, but then there's a drop-off to Jenkins-Stone and a freshman like Ben Gedeon. If Michigan's defensive line can keep offensive linemen off of the linebackers, I think Ross could be in the discussion for all-conference honors by the end of the year.
Prediction: Starting weakside linebacker; 90 tackles, 2 sacks
Do we know if he bulked up any since last year? He seems bigger than 220lbs now.
ReplyDeleteNo, he's still listed at 220 pounds. He seems have to have gotten much stronger and better with leverage, given his offseason highlights of blowing up offensive lineman and running backs.
DeleteGuessing that Ross' weight last year was a bit inflated. He was probably closer to 215 than 225. He appears to be a little bigger this year, but he did not put on a ton of weight. 220 looks pretty accurate to me.
DeleteHe doesn't look like he needs to add a lot of bulk. He's undersized, but that's not really going to change. I'll take a smaller, quicker, smarter LB over a phyiscal specimen who messes up any day.
DeleteHopefully Ryan is back in full form by November. I was really looking forward to Ross and Ryan on the field together and think they will be a terror for offenses.
ReplyDeleteHype I can buy: recruit shows up to campus, impresses immediately, jumps ahead of vets who have played, earns backups snaps, fills in capably when called upon.
ReplyDeleteHype I'm skeptical about: recruit red-shirts or hardly plays his freshman year despite a lack of impressive competition, graduation/attrition opens up a spot, gets offseason praise but still hasn't played a significant down of college football.
Ross, Pipkins, and Norfleet fall in the first category, Darboh, Braden, Johnson and Chesson do not.
I'm also buying in on freshman who played reasonably well last year (Houma, Williams, Funchess, Ojemudia, Bolden, Wilson) and guys who didn't play but got immediate hype last year AND this year: Kalis, Braden and Wormley.
Everyone else who has a reasonable excuse for not playing (i.e., quality vets ahead of them) is on wait-and-see (Strobel, Bars, Magnuson, RJS, Richardson, Godin, Henry, J.Clark) but as time passes the possibility of being a career-backup or bust increases. The linemen get a little more cushion than others.
Anyway - good post and ranking for Ross. I certainly think you're right about Bolden playing a good bit as a backup and RJS limited to mop-up duty for now. Looking forward to big things of JR3.
I listed Braden twice. To clarify: I am buying the hype on him as a useful player, but I don't think he'll be a star or our next great tackle. If he beats out Bryant and Glasgow for a starting spot, I may change my mind though.
DeleteIMO, we should be recruiting another tackle in the '14 class until one of these recruits shows they can play.
I am with you for the most part on when to believe the hype. The top historical players have been able to take over a position by their second year. The studs are either really good by year two, or the coaches see so much potential that they are willing to deal with growing pains.
DeleteGuys who are locked behind bad starters and not competing are usually suspect (1st year OL being the main exception). Still have some hope for Braden because he is a physical specimen and light on his feet. Granted he is not a natural guard, but he was basically handed the keys to LG and could not hold on against what I believe is so-so competition. I'm a little skeptical on Bryant because he was not in the mix last year before getting hurt, despite the LG spot being a mess.
Bryant was was the guy most likely to start last year until he got hurt. He did not play because of a season ending injury in the fall. He was not fully recovered by spring, which is why you are only heariung about him now
DeleteBryant was was the guy most likely to start last year until he got hurt. He did not play because of a season ending injury in the fall. He was not fully recovered by spring, which is why you are only heariung about him now
DeleteI remember it like Painter Smurf said - Bryant wasn't pushing for playing time last year even before that injury. The coaches talked about Burzynski fighting for a spot last year, not Bryant, Miller or Glasgow.
DeleteThis year, Burzynski's not even in the conversation for starting, which probably is a good sign that our depth is better.
@PS
DeleteThere are exceptions to that (like Braylon Edwards) but typically yeah - a guy should at least be making some noise by year 2 unless there is veteran talent ahead of him.
I'm skeptical of Bryant too, but he has been hurt and has gotten praise as an impact run blocker from other players and coaches. So, there's some reason for optimism. However, if Glasgow is starting over both Bryant and Braden like Rivals has asserted, I'll be worried.
The thing that stands out about Ross is how quickly he reads and reacts to offensive plays. A lot of people have been describing him as "instinctive." But I've been wondering--is it really instinct, or is he just really good at reading his keys? If he's just going on instinct, sooner or later somebody is going to figure out how to seriously mess with him through play-action or misdirection or something. But if he's actually reading true keys, then it seems like that combined with his athleticism could he really enable Ross to become one of the best LBs we've had at Michigan.
ReplyDeleteUsually, when I refer to "instincts," it's reading keys - the way a lineman is leaning, watching his first step, reading high hat/low hat, etc. Whatever you call it, he's good at it. I don't think teams will be able to take advantage of him in that way.
DeleteThat's an interesting distinction to draw.
DeleteIf Ross was a stock I'd be buying hand over fist. IMO he is going to be the breakout player of the defense this year with all due respect to Clark. I hope both are actually but this kid just has the instincts and drive and had a heck of a freshman year at a very undersized weight. I wished he had come in this year a bit heavier but what can you do. Maybe he will be 230lbs as a sr.
ReplyDeleteWon't Biggs and Frank Clark play on the same side of the field most of the time? If so, then that would be a very productive side. And, once we get Jake back, then the egdes would seem very locked down. And, I already have the impression that we are very strong up the middle against the run. So, it will be tough to run against Michigan.
ReplyDeleteIt's the pass rushing that I'm concerned about.
Yeah, Clark and Ross should be on the same side most of the time (the weak side). I think the pass rush will be better this year with Black starting, Clark playing more snaps, and Gordon coming off the edge. We do lose a little bit at strongside end, in my opinion, and the new strong safety probably won't be as effective as Kovacs was. But overall, I think the pass rush will take a step forward this season.
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