Name: Carter Selzer
Height: 6'8"
Weight: 240 lbs.
High school: Kansas City (MO) Rockhurst
Position: Tight end
Class: Redshirt senior
Jersey number: #89
Last year: I did not rank Selzer. He played in six games.
TTB Rating: N/A
Selzer has played in ten career games so far, mostly on special teams.
You problem never noticed him until one fateful day on Halloween 2020.
On that particular day, Michigan was coming off a blowout win over Minnesota and went into the game against Michigan State full of unfounded confidence. So, too, did offensive coordinator Josh Gattis. So much confidence that he thought he could do anything and beat the Spartans.
So he put in a Wildcat pass for Hassan Haskins to throw the ball to the 6'8" Selzer on the goal line. It went poorly, MSU linebacker Antjuan Simmons batted the ball away, Michigan wasted a scoring opportunity, and they lost by 3 points.
Part of the reason they threw the ball to Selzer was because nobody expected them to throw the ball to Selzer, and going into 2021, I once again do not expect them to throw the ball to Selzer. But he is worth noting because of his role on special teams, and obviously, the coaches feel he's talented enough to be involved in a tight rivalry game.
Prediction: Backup tight end, special teamer
Has there EVER been a case where a Wildcat formation yielded good results? Either by Michigan or by any other team? It seems like one of those things that looks good on the drawing board, but doesn't seem to pan out in reality.
ReplyDeleteMichigan doesn't seem to be very good at using those 'trick' plays very effectively. Usually they telegraph things, and the defense can get ready. And I can't recall too many cases where they show 'trick' but it was just a decoy and they ran something else. When Jabrill Peppers would come in on offense, it was almost always a sweep of some kind, which rarely worked.
I can't tell if you're being serious here. Peppers had some big runs out of the Wildcat, and Haskins has had some nice runs, too, including several touchdowns.
DeleteI was being serious. I wasn't saying they had *no* success, I'm saying the deployment of those plays was usually predictable. If Peppers had some big runs, it wasn't because the defense was surprised that Peppers had the ball. If Peppers came in, 9 times out of 10 he was getting the ball.
DeleteYes, it's predictable, but I think it's worth running if you have a dynamic athlete. Peppers was fast/elusive, whereas Haskins is elusive, can break tackles, and has good vision. I wouldn't quite call Haskins "dynamic" but he's effective, especially on the goal line.
DeleteI just don't think Michigan is good at building up deception on those plays. The staff needs to incorporate motions, reads, fake handoffs, handoffs, etc. to keep it fresh.
That's it. MICHIGAN under Harbaugh is too predictable - the deception is almost non-existent. I thought it was coming, because in 2015 we had a lot of formations, motion, and moving of gaps. We seemed to be on our way
Delete2015 was encouraging for the reasons you cite. It seemed a carry-over from the Harbaugh-Stanford days when they'd do unpredictable things. When Speight was hurt and the whole O'Korn debacle started, it seems Harbaugh went safe, and he hasn't emerged from that yet.
DeleteHooey. The reason 2015 FELT nice was that 2013 and 2014 felt so awful. The 2015 offense was very predictable (e.g., putting a FB in at RB and running it up the middle), it just wasn't the same as 2014 so it took a minute to get the book out. Utah picked us off 3 times and we did nothing against OSU. The run game bogged down increasingly as the season wore on. We put up stats against Indiana but couldn't score when they needed to vs OSU and MSU. Exactly what is said about Rich Rod teams.
DeleteThe fetish for the 2015 team and some of it's players is crazy to me. The answer for it (besides what came before the season) seems to be about what came in the post-season. Instead of being matched up against an southern power Michigan got a listless unmotivated Gator squad.
Even though they ostensibly don't matter (Bo stunk in bowls too) the fanbase puts a very outsized importance on bowl outcomes and the seasons we tend to view as successes are ones that end on a bowl victory (2015, 2011, 2007) no matter how opponent-dependent they are. OSU gets outsized importance too - but that one makes a lot more sense IMO.
The 2016, 2018 and 2019 teams were better than the 2015 team. Probably something to think on, the fact that better teams don't necessarily make one happier.
There are plenty of valid things to criticize Harbaugh for, but "I haven't felt nice since I raised my expectations" isn't one of them.
-LANK
PS
Harbaugh went safe? LOLOL - he's fired everyone who knows the words to the macarena and completely overhauled the offense and defense because of the struggles (longstanding on O, more recent on D) to be elite. If anything Harbaugh was playing it safe back then - hiring his acolytes from the Stanford days. Harbaugh moved on. Some haven't followed along.
I didn't say 2015 was Michigan's best team. I said that Harbaugh showed some creativity, and wasn't as predictable and safe. Harbaugh also messed up big time with how he handled his coaches on the offensive side of the ball. In 2022, after all these years, he's now trying to put together a coherent overall staff.
DeletePep Hamilton as co-HC and passing game coordinator ...
DeleteSplitting the offensive line between Drevno and Frey ...
No named offensive coordinator in 2018 ...
McElwain in for a year, then gone ...
Gattis in 2019, but Harbaugh fingerprints all over offense ...
He's been trying to figure it out for five years now.
To me, playing it safe is doing the same thing repeatedly. "Trying to figure it out" by embracing and facilitating change is the opposite.
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I especially agree with the first part. As to "figuring things out" seven years into a HC tenure ... not sure how that could be a good thing
Delete*and that's on both sides of the ball
It's a response to the "playing it safe" argument. Not about good/bad. Black/white thinking gets you off-track. Playing it safe isn't inherently bad. Change isn't inherently good.
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Like a lot of things it's great if it works and terrible if it doesn't. The extra blocker is indisputably beneficial. But if it's just going to be a run then you lose the benefit because the safety can come down. Seems like on the goalline it doesn't help much, unless you threaten the pass.
ReplyDeleteWhich is exactly what Michigan did. Despite being an obvious pass catching target at 6'8, MSU ignored Selzer and he was WIDE open.
The play wasn't poorly design it was just executed with the wrong people. Hasskins made a terrible pass. And if you put a 6'8 guy out there - a lot of defenses aren't going to forget about him like MSU did.
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I'm surprised the people who advocate for tall receivers regularly aren't calling for more playing time by Selzer.
ReplyDelete-LANK
Maybe because we don't have a QB that's shown the ability to throw a ball where only Selzer can get it? Selzer isn't going to create separation with speed. Unless the defense pays no attention to him, he'll have defenders on him. What's his vertical compared to an athletic CB? Does Selzer show the ability to high point balls? But even if he can go up higher than others, Michigan needs a QB that can consistently put a catchable ball there.
DeleteIf you're 6'8" and can't get a scholarship, there's got to be a deficiency somewhere...
DeleteYeah, I don't remember any absolutist ever saying "taller is better"
DeleteRather, it's about a number of qualities, among the many being a range in size (height, reach, catch radius)
I don't know about deficiency. There are just not many 6'8 WRs. If height was really important there would be.
DeleteAgree on range of qualities as I've said repeatedly - but I rarely hear much talk about what Michigan NEEDs beyond this one physical characteristic.
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