Reader Countdown Top 20

[Lanknows]

Thunder’s countdown will be coming over the next few weeks, but I thought it’d be fun for others to weigh in.

My top 20:

1. Rudock –vet with no reliable backup at the most important position on the field.
2. G.Glasgow – On a team where the OL performance is critical, the OC is the most important spot.
3. Lewis – Michigan’s only lock-down corner and arguably their best individual player.
4. Cole – should be significantly improved as a soph.
5. Butt – The only proven 2-way TE on a team where the TE projects to be important.
6. Henry – If the DL is to be a force, Henry is the guy
7. Wilson – 3rd year starter should be key contributor to overall D performance
8. Kalis – OL lacks any depth
9. Magnuson – projected move to tackle makes him a key cog
10. Peppers – unproven talent, but he should make an impact… somewhere
11. Bolden – veteran talented LB
12. Wormley – should shine as a jumbo end
13. Morgan – keeps the D stable and composed
14. Braden – least proven OL starter, but also the biggest. Switch to G could help.
15. Darboh – reliable target
16. Lyons – importance elevated by Countess departure
17. Ojemudia – only pure rush end
18. D.Hill – talent who should be amongst the top 5 DBs
19. Mone – should come closer to vast potential as soph
20. Canteen – best playmaking upside in WR group

Just missed:
R.Glasgow – Important starter, but options abound on the DL.
Gedeon – Ross may start, but I see Gedeon as the 3rd most important LB due to versatility
Ross – Value depends on how much nickel is played
Green – We have too many quality RB candidates for 1 to be missed, but Green’s my guess at the #1 back
O’Neill – Valuable punter, but Kenny Allen would be OK.
Stribling – pure CBs on roster are limited. Should rotate in often.
Williams – functions as a 6th OLmen in 2 TE sets — it’s unclear there is a reliable backup

[SC Wolverine]

1. Ruddock – we could be hurting without him
2. Peppers – potential 3-way star
3. Glasgow — do we really have another starting center?
4. Cole
5. Lewis – lock-down CB
6. Butt – Harbaugh TE
7. Kalis – surely this is the beast-mode year. We need a dominant line (hence 3 of the top 7)
8. Henry – beast DT
9. Wilson – veteran senior safety.
10. Bolden – veteran LB leader
11. Wormley – another break-out star
12. Magnuson – do we really have OL depth?
13. Morgan – MLB leader
14. Lyons – we really need to be at least pretty good.
15. Darboh – best bet for #1 receiver
16. Braden – last OL starter
17. Ojemudia – needs to provide quality DE
18. Mone – NT is valuable in Durkin’s D
19. D. Hill – will play alot in the nickel.
20. Canteen – should play decently this year.

[Lanknows]

Updating my list based on practice reports:

1. Rudock – Morris has come in for some praise, but it sounds like Rudock is still way ahead.
3. G.Glasgow – dropped him one spot
2. Lewis – some curious experimentation at CB and Lyons playing safety make him more important
4. Cole –
5. Butt –
6. Henry –
8. Wilson – flipping with Kalis because of the many options at safety
7. Kalis –
9. Magnuson –
10. Peppers – hard to put him much higher IMO
12. Bolden –
11. Wormley – lots of uncertainty on OL but Mone injury bumps him up
14. Morgan –
15. Braden –
16. Darboh –
NR. Lyons – if he’s not starting at the corner spot I don’t think he belong in the top 20
13. Ojemudia – bumped him up 4 spots. sounds like they are going to trust him to be the primary edge threat
18. D.Hill –
NR. Mone – 🙁
NR. Canteen – I still love his potential, but there are now rumors of a move to CB, so things aren’t going that well.

New additions:
17. R.Glasgow – Mone injury makes him the only pure NT
19. Drake Harris – the biggest leap by far. Michigan badly needs a play-making WR and he has the talent to deliver. May not start or catch even 10 balls, but if he can be a consistent deep threat it changes the dynamic of the whole offense.
20. O’Neill – rises by default

[SC Wolverine]

Well, I forgot Chesson. That wasn’t very swift.

[Lanknows]

I’d argue Chesson doesn’t belong in the top 20.

Bummer about Mone…sucks to lose a top guy this early.

[Lanknows]

With Mone down for the year, I’d plug Ryan Glasgow in at #10.

[TTB Andrew]

Mone would have been able to eat up space inside, so I agree that Glasgow is more valuable now. He has solid technique and doesn’t budge much. But what about the other defensive tackles? Things might have just opened up quite a bit for Matt Godin. It doesn’t seem like Henry should have a problem platooning with Glasgow at nose tackle, allowing Godin to slide in at the 3-tech

• This reply was modified 8 years, 8 months ago by TTB Andrew.

[Lanknows]

Well, my hope was that Mone and Glasgow took the bulk of snaps and let Henry focus on 3-tech, where he seems like a more natural fit. Henry may indeed be the best option for NT snaps behind Glasgow, but it’s probably not the optimal position for him. Godin and/or Hurst should grab most of Mone’s snaps (at DT instead of NT), but I don’t think they’re on the same level talent or size-wise. That’s speculative, but Mone showed very well for a true freshman. It’s an opportunity for Godin, Hurst and others, so we’ll see if they can step up. They seem like quality players too.

[TTB Andrew]

Henry focusing primarily on 3-tech would have been a luxury for sure. With Mone healthy, they would have combined for 636 pounds on the inside of the line, while presumably offering plenty of pass rush. Maybe next year.

[Lanknows]

I was imagining a jumbo line of Mone-Henry-Wormley. With that group you could stand to throw some smaller quicker edge guys out there and not get beat up in the run game. Too bad about Mone, but the principle could still apply with Glasgow, who is not small either.

[TTB Andrew]

The DL should still be fine/good, but I think Mone’s injury cost it the chance to be elite.

[Lanknows]

Yeah – that’s my feeling as well. It’ll be a good unit, but it’s different when you have people performing at an all-conference level (and Mone had that potential) and/or when you are rotating in a starting-caliber guy like Mone (or Glasgow) off the bench and they are fresh in the 4th quarter when OSU or MSU are trying to grind you down.

We went from hoping Mone could be even better than Glasgow to wondering who can take handle back-up snaps without being a liability.

We’ll see though. Perhaps Godin, Hurst, or Charlton are ready to make a leap. Charlton and Hurst, while different players than Mone, have flashed some talent. Maybe they’re all-conference guys (probably not but you never know when a break-out can come). More realistically, maybe Wormley and Henry are ready to be elite and all they need is guys to come off the bench who can keep the pressure on the other team. If any of these guys rises to that level, having an ‘elite’ unit is still on the table.

[coachernie]

One count down is enough….don’t steal his Thunder!

[Lanknows]

Insightful.

[Lanknows]

Call me crazy, but I don’t expect Henry to be back next year. I think he’ll have a big year and that strength and size makes him an NFL prospect IMO. Just has to be more consistent and I’ll guess Harbaugh brings it out of him.

[Lanknows]

2 weeks in and I feel alright about this

Wormley better than expected – could have swapped him and Henry perhaps but it’s too early to say.

Harris not quite the impact guy just yet, but there’s still a chance he or Canteen pass up Chesson.

Peppers living up to the hype to an extent, though he doesn’t look to great in coverage, he looks great as a run defender in space.

Butt and Darboh are meeting most expectations (and exceeding mine)

[TTB Andrew]

I expect Peppers to quickly improve his coverage as the season progresses. No substitute for experience, no matter how talented. I bet he ends looking a lot more like an all-star by season’s end.

[Lanknows]

Not so sure about that, as coverage isn’t really the most experience-dependent thing. Sure, he’ll get better and he’s being tasked with a lot in the nickel role, but he might not be the Woodsonesque one-on-one lockdown corner some imagined him to be, despite his athleticism. I think he may be a safety and nickel for the duration of his time at Michigan. Not that I think he’ll get burned often, just that his talent might always be more about playing in space and tackling than staying in a receiver’s hip pocket. We’ll see though…

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