Name: Joey Velazquez
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 228 lbs.
High school: Columbus (OH) St. Frances DeSales
Position: Linebacker
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #29
Last year: I ranked Velazquez #63 and said he would be a backup linebacker and special teamer (LINK). He played in eight games and made 2 tackles with 1 fumble recovery.
TTB Rating: 82
It's been getting late early for Velazquez for a couple seasons now. It seems like forever ago now, but Velazquez was initially recruited to Michigan to play the "Viper" outside linebacker/safety hybrid position in Don Brown's defense. Since that time Velazquez has played some baseball (he hit .277 with 5 homeruns and 21 RBI this past season), changed positions to inside linebacker, and played some special teams. But his impact on the field has been relatively minimal. So far he has played in nine games with 2 tackles and 1 fumble recovery during his three years on campus.
Now is the time for him to step up if he's going to step up. Michigan has a solid two inside linebackers with Junior Colson and Nikhai Hill-Green, and then things get dicey. Part-time running back Kalel Mullings, position-fluid Mike Barrett, and redshirt freshman Jaydon Hood are all competing with Velazquez to be the next man in. So far I have not seen anything to make me think Velazquez will be that guy, but he's a decent all-around athlete who should see an increased role on special teams, if nothing else. I think he's getting to the point where he can be a solid veteran on specials, but I would be surprised if he's more than a mop-up duty guy on defense.
Prediction: Backup linebacker and special teamer
Man o man was there big talk about this guy when he came in as a freshman. But I watched his highlights, and I saw NOTHING of note about his play. I remember all the flack I caught at MGoBoard because I said I didn't get, at all, what the hype was about. The flack I caught about Joe Milton was 10 times worse. I don't get some of there recruits, why they are even brought in.
ReplyDeleteI remember expectations being very modest. Typical for a 3 star.
DeleteNo, there was talk of him being a hard hitting, starting ILB, who would start to have impact as a sophomore. And if you didn't agree with them you were a troll or something.
DeletePeople say stuff on the internet so you can pick out whatever but I think the consensus was that he was a DB/LB tweener who would fit better for the viper spot with Don Brown than elsewhere. System guy fitting at a position that didn't have an obvious heir.
DeleteWhich is fine if true, and perhaps explains why Velazquez hasn't contributed all that much on D. But, that kind of ignores that hybrid LBs are popular all over the place (not just a Don Brown thing). Several pointed this out on Mgoblog and others said the same thing - here at TTB and elsewhere.
Moreover, Michigan recruited other Viper candidates readily including another guy in his class and moved a couple guys into that spot before Velazquez even hit campus. When he arrived n the fall he was a red-shirt lock and obvious "check back in a couple years" guy. This is not a guy being heavily hyped for the program.
Check back 3 years later and Viper is gone but Michael Barrett is still getting snaps. Probably a dozen LBs have moved through the program and left but Velazquez is still here chipping in.
Some fans will talk up a recruit, always, but whatever was said about Velazquez was not anything on the level of Shane Morris or Dax Hill. I would say the hype level was well below average for Velazquez as a freshman. Thunder did give him pretty high marks and he had some supporters but it was by no means a vocal majority (contrast with say Clemons).
I'm sure he's disappointing to some but probably to many others a 3-star tweener LB becoming a contributing backup isn't much of a surprise, especially considering we're on DC #3 during his career.
" I think the consensus was that he was a DB/LB tweener"
DeleteUm, nope.
But yeah, maybe because I saw he would never be a starter at Michigan, maybe the insistence he was going to be one tough LB, a vital part of the defense, was was ridiculous to me.
It was though. The mgoblog posts were viper viper viper. I just looked at them. I don't see any mention of playing ILB.
Deletehttps://mgoblog.com/content/hello-joey-velazquez
Same thing on TTB.
Delete"The coaching staff decided they liked him as a Viper prospect and kept pursuing him as one of their top prospects for the Viper position, which is a hybrid safety/linebacker"
https://touch-the-banner.com/joey-velazquez-wolverine/
Other sites just straight up called him a safety (as he was listed on recruiting sites). Michigan insiders said he was targeted for viper, which made sense since every Viper up to that point was a safety recruit.
I'm not saying your skepticism wasn't proven correct JDD. I'm saying there's a straight forward explanation - the position he was recruited to play isn't around like it was. Most folks did not expect him to play ILB when he was recruited. There was not an army of folks insisting a 3-star safety commit was going to be starting at ILB.
DeleteMaybe he will get there. There is a path from safety to ILB. It's been done before. People like Glasgow have made the move successfully. Hudson was a safety recruit who is now a straight up LB (WIL) at the NFL level (at 220 pounds!).
So while no one can claim Velazquez as a victim of fate entirely, it's understandable he isn't a starter yet given the 3 DCs, a position change, playing baseball, and bulking up from 195 pounds to nearly 230.
He probably won't ever start but I don't think we have to pretend this is a terrible disappointment to the fanbase.
You have too much time on your hands.
DeleteLOL. But somebody was (TM) wrong on the internet!
DeleteYeah, I don't really remember people talking about him being a thumping inside linebacker or anything. He was always a Viper to me, and I even said in his commitment post that if he had been recruited to play WILL (an inside linebacker position), I would have lowered his TTB Rating. As things went, Michigan got rid of the Viper spot and I think Velazquez's chances of being very relevant as a football player went with it.
DeleteNo, I do remember him being talked about as a tough LB, who will have impact probably in his 2nd year. I may have gotten the inside part wrong. But there was lots of talk about him being a significant contributor--and it was something that could not be questioned.
DeleteAnd again, from watching his video, I saw NOTHING of promise in him at all, even as a viper.
But I do see promise as a baseball player. But he will need improvement. Good for him that there is the farm system.
Remarkable to be a starter on the baseball team and a contributor on the football team. Leadership comes in different forms and I imagine Velazquez is a hard-working kid given his success at both sports. Always room for some program guys, regardless if contributions on field aren't that huge.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the TTB ranking goes it feels a bit high to me. A lot of options at backup LB which is not heavily used anyway, unless there is an injury. A lot of options at special teams too. I would put McBurrows and a few of the freshman ahead based on the 'upside' of their potential impacts. Splitting hairs though.
I thought 82 was optimistic for Valazquez I probably had him in the mid 70s. The two sport thing is so hard to accomplish these days, and probably he's handicapped playing either sport by his playing both.
ReplyDeleteHe's improved as a hitter in baseball, he is a sure nuff hitter as a football player. He's got much more speed than you'd think for the linebacker position.
In the little bit that I've been able to see, he looks better coming down hill, tracking the ball or a body than he does covering. Something thunder talked about when analyzing him for the viper position, back when we did it that way. But I only caught maybe two or three coverage snaps tops, in the spring game, having been caught up with the line play.
A guy that will run down hill and blast somebody is a real good thing as far as I'm concerned, a career on special teams at Michigan is a real accomplishment. Linebacker is a double tough place to play in college football nowadays what with all the scheming designed specifically to make you look bad.
Picking a sport would probably help him with either, but I'd take his athletic career over mine.
He better pick baseball and get to work on the .277 average. He's never making the pros in football. And to make it in baseball he has to improve that BA. But he has come through with clutch home runs. And that's very valuable. He could find himself in a triple A team, and maybe to MLB some day.
DeleteJoeseph (sic): It would be helpful if you could point us to some of your MGoBlog posts on Joey from back in the day. It would make all your ranting more credible.
ReplyDeleteAll the ranting? lol.
DeleteYoure a commenter there?
Yeah, you're from MGoBlog. You are typical of that place. Throw a bomb and then run a way.
Delete