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| Jehu Chesson |
Let's see less of this guy on offense . . . Jeremy Jackson. In the past two seasons, I have seen a couple interceptions thrown at least partly because Jackson is so slow and defensive backs can bait quarterbacks into thinking he's open. On Saturday, Jackson was crossing toward the right sideline in the endzone, and Gardner tried to hit him on the run; Jackson was easily undercut by an Akron defensive back. I don't mind seeing Jackson on running downs, but Michigan has numerous more athletic players for the passing game. Even if Michigan has to burn the redshirt of someone like Da'Mario Jones, I think Jackson's playing time should diminish.
Let's see more of this guy on defense . . . Willie Henry. Henry played more against Akron than any other team this year, and he acquitted himself pretty well. He's built low to the ground and very stout, and he's capable of creating penetration on running downs that I just don't see from the other 3-tech rotation players. From what I saw on Saturday, I might even suggest Henry as the starter over Jibreel Black. Black is a better pass rusher but often a liability against the run because he's so undersized.
Let's see less of this guy on defense . . . Chris Wormley. Maybe it's the ACL or his age or lack of experience or whatever, but every time I see Wormley on the field, he's just not doing anything productive. He's not powerful enough to bull rush guys, and he's not quick enough to run around them. The 3-tech/5-tech rotation should consist of some combination of Keith Heitzmann, Black, Henry, and Matt Godin, with guys like Wormley and Ryan Glasgow playing only when absolutely necessary.
Play of the game . . . Devin Gardner to Jehu Chesson for a 33-yard touchdown. There weren't many plays that stood out a great deal - no sacks, the interceptions weren't spectacular, Jeremy Gallon didn't make a highlight-reel grab for once, etc. I strongly considered Gardner's 48-yard touchdown pass to Devin Funchess, which was perhaps more impressive but not quite as clutch. Michigan was scuffling throughout the game, and it showed no signs of going away. Chesson grabbed a short pass over the middle, shucked a guy, sprinted toward the sideline, and ran through a [piss poor] tackle attempt by an Akron defensive end before zipping into the endzone. That put Michigan up 21-10 in the third quarter. Obviously, the Wolverines continued to struggle, but the speed of Chesson showed me that he could do some big things before he leaves Ann Arbor.
MVP of the game . . . Fitzgerald Toussaint. Gardner put up 248 passing yards and 103 rushing yards, but he also turned over the ball four times. Toussaint looked like the running back of old on his way to 19 carries for 71 yards and 1 touchdown, along with 1 reception for 27 yards. His numbers would have been better if a couple runs wouldn't have been called back for holding (probably closer to 21 carries for 120 yards). One thing I have also noticed with Toussaint is an improvement in pass protection. He did noticeably whiff on a blitzing linebacker, but he's much more physical than he used to be.
Absolutely agreed on Wormley. I thought he was a bit overrated to start with, and I think I may have been right. He might grow into a good player, but we'll have to see.
ReplyDeleteI go against the Thunder grain on this one. I haven't been impressed with Wormley yet, but I think he's going to turn into an absolute beast. Once competition heats up throughout this year, and next fall camp, Wormley will come out on top and be the starter at SDE in 2014. Book it.
DeleteNow in his 4th year playing, despite persistent fan grumbling, Jeremy Jackson shrugs and suggests the haters wave the white flag on this one.
ReplyDeleteWormley has not impressed. I think using more Pipkins and Henry, sliding Black to SDE, might be a good idea against run-oriented teams.
I have to say, Jeremy Jackson probably wouldn't have been around the team if he wasn't a staff coach's son. He's not a RichRod WR and he isn't physical enough for Hoke's system either.
DeleteI'm with you. I really hope there is some substitution on the OL this week. The coaches chose not to shake up last year's interior OL in the name of chemistry or experience, despite some really poor play. Maybe that was warranted, but this year is a different story. These players are not experienced and the chemistry between the C and G's has been bad the last two games. None of these guys deserves a long leash.
ReplyDeleteJackson needs to ride pine on running plays too. His blocking is not even average for a WR. I know they need him because Darboh and Reynolds are hurt... maybe they can experiment with moving Funchess outside on some snaps.
Nice to see Henry asserting himself. He appears to have good strength. At all times, the coaches should at least have one of Henry/Pipkins/QWash on the field. Those are the three stout guys on the DL. ND and Akron both had some success running against the nickel when those three were all on the bench. And it's not like the nickel DT's are getting a pass rush anyway. Wormley does not know how to get off blocks yet and he can be blown up on doubles. R. Glasgow just gets pushed around. Mattison has to tone down his beloved rotation. Those guys should not be getting more than every 3rd or 4th series.
Completely agree with Bryant...not sure which guard part but to my untrained eyes it seems like Kalis has at least taken a very small step forward while Glasgow hasn't taken a step back when he is getting pushed back against Akron.
ReplyDeleteIf he is 100% there is no reason Bryant should still be watching after seeing these last 3 weeks.
I am looking forward to seeing Chris Bryant out there.
DeleteBeing from Toledo, I was really hoping to see Wormley and Miller do well this year. I focus on them as I watch the replay, and I have been unable to see Wormley make a play. Miller has shown a few flashes, but is generally getting beat, blown off the ball, or lost. Rewatching the games looking for these guys has brought more sadness on our/their situation. I should just go back to watching the ball carrier and enjoy the games more.
ReplyDeleteYork too... his redshirt was burned against CMU so let him get a chance. MGoBlue has listed Jones as playing on special teams the last two weeks (although I haven't seen him on the field, but could have missed him). If so, His redshirt is burned. And I agree that if they're going to burn his redshirt for special teams then they might as well throw him into the mix.
ReplyDeleteYes, Jones' redshirt is burned. Saw him on ST against Akron.
ReplyDeleteWormley at one time was thought of as the #1 recruit out of Ohio, then people watched him closer during
ReplyDeletehis senior year and thought better of it. I think the best we can expect from him is to be serviceable.
I agree we should try some other combinations, and for both lines actually, being at the game Sat, our whole group thought the same thing.... give others a chance, can't be worse. I hope Hoke sends a message and makes the necessary changes!
Gentlemen, I agree with the skepticism of the o-line and the d-line. We clearly need to reduce the 10 man rotation on the d-line to 6 or 7. Bryant must not be healthy and the hype on Braden must have been hype otherwise they would be on the field. I trust the coaches. My question for Thunder and the masses is what is the forecast for the secondary. Countess and Gordon are staples. Wilson is coming along. Furman actually looked like a solid alternative at safety the way he flew around the field on CMU. But Taylor does not seem to be improving. D.Thomas has disappeared and then we have Holowell, Stribling, and Lewis rotating in. I love depth but like the D-line I would like to see the top 6. Who are they? Depth is nice but some of these guys are not ready.
ReplyDeleteBraden is a Tackle being asked to play guard. I think that it's likely that this is true of Glasgow as well. That works out OK sometimes as evidenced by Michael Schofield's career, but it's not ideal for sure.
DeleteWhat I find to be interesting is that despite all the big talk about "Manball', Power and Iso, Big All seems to like his zone blocking schemes pretty good. I'm speculating here but, fluid on his knee aside, I think that Bryant in the game causes scheme changes that work against the other four offensive linemen, or at least three of them, most notably Glasgow, Miller and Kalis.
I think that you can see from Kalis' struggles this year that he was absolutely not ready last year, despite all the clamor for playing him. I would likely agree with the argument that he'd be better today had he played last year, but as weak as we were at times last year at the guard position, based on his performance so far this year I don't think he would have been an improvement on what we had going on with the guys we did go with. I think this will prove to be the case with Dawson, Kugler and Bosch as well.
And just so there is no misunderstanding, I'm pretty happy with Kalis three games into his redshirt Freshman season. I think this kid grows up to be beastly.
I'm pretty happy with Miller as well. To me he looks about like a redshirt Sophomore with three starts oughta look. He's getting pushed around some, but he's battling, and is for the most part getting the calls right. I think Kugler is gonna have a struggle to get past him as on the line maturity is an advantage.
@Roanman
DeleteGreat point about Kalis. This is something that has been argued repeatedly, but he was not NEARLY as good as Omameh/Mealer/Barnum last year. He was even behind Burzynski.
That's why I never bought the "can't be any worse than last year" logic.
Experience matters.
You can take the optimistic view on that and hope that Glasgow/Miller/Kalis will get better by November.
Yeah, I'd like to see Henry get some consecutive series and Black get some more at the 5 despite thinking that Heitzmann has been pretty solid. I think our best D line is Clark/Ojemudia, Pippen/Washington, Henry/Black, Black/Heitzmann. I think both Godin and Wormley will be sitting down after this next game.
ReplyDeleteCornerback, after the starters is pretty interesting to watch between a pretty thick and more physically mature kid and two longer and/or quicker Freshmen. I've enjoyed watching all the corners this year when I can see them on the screen whereas in the recent past I'd be looking elsewhere and hoping people are getting covered.
The argument for jackson has always been that he blocks. Chesson blocks as well or better. Were it me, Chesson gets increased minutes for the rest of the season, and most of the snaps against the Buckeyes. It will take some serious stones to even contemplate throwing it Jackson's way against that secondary.
Rotations at every position are gonna be whittled down a bunch for the conference season.
Maybe I ought to give the new starters on OL a bit more credit given their inexperience, but I am nevertheless concerned given the hype esp. with Kalis. When is enough time to see them gel or is it that Hoke's OL coach/program isn't good as RichRod's? RichRod's OL was never this dysfunctional in my view.
ReplyDeleteRodriguez had what will probably prove out to be the single most explosive collegiate runner in decades, maybe our lifetime. Denard didn't need a hole, or even much in the way of a seam, he just took off running where the defense wasn't rushing and had that ridiculous vision and acceleration to make it work. This was a good thing as there were damn few real holes and only marginally more seams.
DeletePlus, he was just barely dangerous enough throwing the football to be able to freeze a secondary in place, which absolutely forced them to have to take him on one at a time. Which of course, they couldn't.
This is different, this is football in the real world.
What Jeremy Jackson lacks in the passing game (ie ability to get any separation) he makes up for in his ability to block, which is priority #1 for these coaches at the WR position. This is why you see less of Jehu, Da'Mario, C'Sonte and all the other young WRs. The best blocking WR we have is Joe Reynolds with Jeremy Jackson coming second (and Jackson's not even THAT good a blocking WR), so it's no surprise you see these guys out there so much, especially in an offense that is predicated (so they say...) on establishing the run successfully.
ReplyDeleteIf the coaches continue to preach establishing the run, you will continue to see Jackson out there all season.
I don't really think Jackson is a very good blocker. I've seen more out of Jehu Chesson as a blocker than Jackson, although I agree that Joe Reynolds is also pretty solid in that area.
DeleteJackson is def. not a good blocker. He is almost a waste of scholarship imo.
DeleteI think the criticism of Glasgow is unwarranted simply because he was a walk-on. Go take a look at the way he graded out over at Mgoblog (which the coaches also said he graded out well) and you will see that he is doing better than made out and is actually out performing Kalis.
ReplyDeleteIf anything Miller has been the one that is struggling the most there are plays that are broken down step by step showing where he is leaving the other linemen out to dry in ways by prematurely heading to the next level.
Go take a look and you will realize that Glasgow is not doing bad at all.