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Let's see more of this guy on offense . . . A.J. Henning. Assuming Ronnie Bell is out for a while (hopefully not!), I think Henning is probably the guy who needs to see more touches. Michigan needs a guy who can run through tackles and make something happen after the catch. As much as I like Cornelius Johnson, Roman Wilson, and other guys, I'm not sure that any receiver besides Henning can offer that ability after the catch. Henning had a 74-yard touchdown on an end around and caught 1 pass for 11 yards from J.J. McCarthy.
Hit the jump for more.
Let's see less of this guy on offense . . . Chuck Filiaga. With Zak Zinter's playing time shortened due to a cast on his hand, Filiaga stepped in. It's great to have a serviceable mammoth fifth year senior lineman ready to step in if someone is injured, but we heard for the past few months that Zinter is possibly Michigan's best offensive player. If Zinter is better as a sophomore than Filiaga was as a redshirt junior last year, then we need to have Zinter on the field due to his upside.
Let's see more of this guy on defense . . . R.J. Moten. I was happy with what I saw from Moten against Western Michigan, when he made 5 tackles. His availability allows Daxton Hill to move around in the secondary. Moten's body has really developed and he looks ready to be on the field.
Let's see less of this guy on defense . . . Kris Jenkins, Jr. I did not like seeing Jenkins on the goal line package playing defensive tackle, when he got manhandled out of the way for a short touchdown run by La'Darius Jefferson. Jenkins (6'3", 275) needs another year or two in the weight room before he's ready.
Play of the game . . . Ronnie Bell's 76-yard touchdown catch from Cade McNamara. Honorable mention goes to Henning for his long run, Hutchinson for his strip sack, Bell/McNamara again for the one-handed catch, and to J.J. McCarthy/Daylen Baldwin for their 69-yard hookup. This award is more about offensive coordinator Josh Gattis, whom I have criticized at various times for conservative play calling. Michigan needs to take more deep shots, especially when they have mismatches. And those mismatches were numerous against Western Michigan. Gattis probably wanted to impose the offense's will on WMU and wear them down, but you know what else opens up the running game? Creating big plays in the passing game. So if Bell, Henning, Daylen Baldwin, Cornelius Johnson, or some other physically superior receiver has a mismatch against a defensive back in one-on-one coverage, I hope Gattis lets McNamara unleash some deep throws.
.@Ronnieb_8 redemption 👀 @UMichFootball ⤴️ 🔟 pic.twitter.com/H9hcU1V9jT
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) September 4, 2021
MVP of the game . . . Blake Corum. Corum had his first career 100-yard game (14 carries, 111 yards, 1 TD), caught 2 passes for 22 yards and 1 touchdown, and returned 1 kickoff for 79 yards. He was too quick for Western Michigan's defense to handle, and hopefully that explosiveness can carry over against tougher opponents.
Agree on Gattis. I thought deep balls were there for the taking & to loosen the D, plus I think Cade needs live reps ... I also hope to get the QB involved in the run a game a little bit, if nothing else but to keep the D honest
ReplyDeleteHow about Vistardis? Along with Hutch & Cade, our Center made the all-PFF team for the week ... Let's hope he can keep it up!
I also liked the reach around bat down by Gray. He had been beaten by a step. But he closed and reached around to bat it out of the WRs hands. It was beautiful. Something you usually see only from DBs on teams like Alabama. Gray has been hammered since last year, I think unfairly. Steve Clinkscale is bringing out great things out in him, and I'm certain all the other DBs too.
ReplyDeleteAnd Blake Corrum needs to get the ball more. I think he's just getting going.
I'm not as concerned as some are about losing Ronnie Bell from the WR room. Baldwin, Wilson, and Henning are there. Baldwin made the adjustment to the throw, and then the catch, look effortless. Throw him the ball!! He looks like a natural.
The big concern I have is interior D Line. It wasn't just Jenkins not showing up. Hinton was mostly lined up against 2 Star O Lineman. And he should have been a monster in the backfield getting by the guy.
Lastly, Why was Selzer playing so much? Schoonmaker is injured? Or is the TE room talent now getting mishandled? Wouldn't surprise me if it was.
Let it just be noted that Daylen Baldwin beat linebacker A.J. Thomas on that 69-yard touchdown. It's not like he was beating their best cover guy.
DeleteAnd yes, let's just automatically jump to the conclusion that the TE coach who helped Jake Butt win the Mackey Award does not know how to coach tight ends.
Why minimize Baldwin. He made the adjustment and catch look easy, like it was no problem at all to catch a pass, on a what became a fire drill play, that was probably in the air about 53 yards. It looked like he was born for it it was such a nice catch and run.
DeleteAnd I have no confidence in Jay Harbaugh. After how he handled RBs, he probably still has a job only because he is a relative of Jim Harbaugh. Have you seen how awesome Zach Charbonnet is playing? Freakin beast! No RB in years at Michigan has played like that.And Selzer, even you have Schoonmaker ranked higher than Selzer. Jake Butt must have won awards despite Jay Harbaugh.
Thunder
DeleteI should say, I probably had kind of a wrong mood before when I wrote that comment. I think it's from seeing how great Charbonnet is doing. But, I should have a better attitude than that.
@DarJ
DeleteIsn't Charbonnet also a backup at UCLA?
Does that mean the coaches are using him wrong?
At UCLA, I'm going to guess SR Brittain Brown is the primary back, based on the numbers: 30 attempts (for 174 yards). JR Zach Charbonnet is second in attempts (17, for 223 yards). For RBs the numbers drop off significantly from there. So it looks like ti's Brown, then Charbonnet, at least for now.
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DeleteI've watched both Bruins games. Brown is the starter, but they get about equal snaps. Brown has more carries, but Charbonett more production & explosive plays
DeleteThere's definitely a difference between use in SoCal & Ann Arbor. As stated above, ZC has 17 carries in two games last year ... he had 19 total in six games last year
ZC finished the year 4th string at UM. He's 2nd string at UCLA. That's why he left.
DeleteI haven't watched UCLA play yet so if it's true they're getting equal snaps it means ZC is drawing a lot of blocking duty. That was a strength of his from the time that he arrived as a freshman. It's like Fred Jackson was his HS coach.
Anyway, great to see him getting the opportunity and getting some early success.
Not equal, but pretty close. RB1a & RB1b ... RBs, DL, Nickels, and some Receivers are different than say, a backup QB, K/P
DeleteHonestly, I think he's there best player on the team so far. Glancw over at Bruins message boards, and you will read similar
I wouldn't include nickel in that list. Dax Hill is going to play every meaningful snap just like Peppers and Hudson did.
DeleteThe insiders have hinted at this if not saying it outright. The coaches don't have confidence in the deep passing game. Gattis himself has talked about emphasizing the run. This is the guy who talked about speed in space. I don't think you have to work hard to read between the lines.
ReplyDeleteWe saw an extreme version of cautious play calling in 2017 with Brandon Peters and that proved to be warranted. Maybe McCarthy will make big strides forward to change things but right now it is what it is. Bell going down isn't going to help matters.
I'm not good at reading between the lines, so I'll come right out and ask: are you suggesting Gattis' emphasis on the run is imposed on him by Harbaugh?
DeleteI think he's talking about Cade as a passer, which may be true. Thing is, JH has been conservative with his QBs since day one, so I'm not sure this is only about Cade
DeleteIt shouldn't be though. Despite my own reservations about #12, he has already proven to be our most accurate downfield QB since Rudock, late in 2015
There was a play in the WMU game that caught my eye: it was a swing pass to Corum. McNamara put the ball right on Corum's hands so that Corum didn't have to break stride. In the past few years, that pass would have required the RB to stop, turn, and often bend down to get the pass. The McNamara-to-Corum pass was so smooth, it was beautiful.
DeleteCade seems to put good touch on the deep balls. I'm optimistic, and I agree with JE that it's been lacking with past several QBs. I believe strongly in throwing catchable balls and letting WRs go and get them. But our Cade sample size is still 3 games at this point and 2 of them against garbage teams.
DeleteI think the bigger concern than a deep post or fade are intermediate routes down the middle and long outs. Delivering a crisp ball on tight coverage and fitting it in tight spaces is why NFL teams like big arms.
So there are guys who can dink around all day on short throws and then bomb and pray deep (e.g., Denard) and there are guys with who coaches love to see execute those tougher chain moving throws. With Denard you don't even bother with that stuff because he wasn't good at it. It might have just been coaching preference but we saw a lot of it with Patterson and Milton.
The training wheels are still on with Cade - in a way they weren't for Milton or Patterson. He's a junior with a full offseason of prep so I was a little surprised to see them be so careful. Maybe that's just a situational thing because they didn't need Cade to make plays to beat WMU. Washington should be more illuminating.
This was not Cade's first start but we can compare what he did to other QBs going against weak opponents early in their careers. Below stats pulled from Thunder's Minnesota recap where he praised Milton (reluctantly, by the tone of it).
DeleteWilton Speight vs. Hawaii in 2016: 10/13 (76.9%) for 145 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT
Brandon Peters vs. Minnesota in 2017: 8/13 (61.5%) for 56 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT
Joe Milton vs. Minnesota in 2020: 15/22 (68.1%) for 225 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT
Cade McNamara vs. Western Michigan in 2021: 9/11 (77%) for 136 yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs
I think folks are raising expectations a bit too high for Cade right now. With tougher opponents things will get worse. The above examples illustrate that. Cade vs Rutgers and PSU illustrates that too.
This was a good game from Cade, but necessary not sufficient for success in the challenges ahead.
Bell is a huge loss because he is dangerous from everywhere on the field. It's going to be a team effort to replace him of course. More opportunities for Johnson, Henning, Wilson, Sainristil, and everyone else. I was not particularly impressed with Baldwin but just 1 game.
ReplyDeleteI think All is going to need to step up as a pass catcher. The coaches really moved their TEs around from FB, TE, to slot.
Curious to hear more about what people think of the NEW LOOK defense.
ReplyDeleteI thought I saw a few times a 4-man line of Hinton with Morris (278), Hutchinson, and Ojabo. I don't think it was limited to passing downs either. No obvious difference from the Brown defensive front except the DEs were standing up. If anything they were smaller? Used to have a big Anchor and now it's Hutchinson standing up, looking like a cross between Winovich and Ryan.
Did Whitley play? Jenkins did.
Was the BIG TRUE DT REVOLUTION not televised?
Maybe we'll see it against Wisconsin. Brown stuck to his guns regardless of opponent and this staff claims to be more adaptive.
Certainly saw more zone. Dax in as the 5th DB near the box. We don't call that viper now but he looks more like Jabril than Barret (who I always thought was too much of a LB for the job).
If anything the defense looked smaller and lighter and more adaptive. Not a bad thing if you ask me.
No judgements about Wisconsin yet but the passive "make them beat you" approach is probably smarter against the offenses we're going to face than Brown's "we're going to beat you with aggression" mentality. Force these college QBs to make some mistakes.
I thought the defense was much different. Brown wanted to dictate the battlefield
DeleteMacdonald started cautious, assesses what his opponent was doing, and adjusted. Doesn't mean we'll be very good on that side of the ball, but adjustments are a good thing when you've got significant weaknesses
*we've been through DT discussion. No one expects any of the 4 new guys to contribute this year. Recruiting is always about the future
Is Whitley one of the 4? He's a 6th year senior.
DeleteReactive vs Directive. This is the narrative around McDonald vs Brown and I don't disagree with it. But that's more of an overarching philosophy than something that is obvious if you compare 3 plays in 2020 vs 3 plays in 2021.
DeleteFans usually want aggression but I think Brown vs OSU showed our fanbase why that's not always best.
I think Whittley has 2 years of eligibilty left, this season and next season.
DeleteDid Joel Honigford start at TE?
ReplyDeleteI think Michigan started in 12 personnel (1 RB, 2 TEs), which had both Honigford and All on the field.
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