Wolverines (almost) in the NFL: 2012 Combine Results

Tag: Mike Martin

28Feb 2012
Uncategorized 2 comments

Wolverines (almost) in the NFL: 2012 Combine Results

Junior Hemingway after the Sugar Bowl
Before the NFL combine began, we took a look at the Michigan invitees, summarizing their strengths, weaknesses and draft projections. With the Combine now in the books, most of what we thought we knew was borne out in the numbers but with a few notable exceptions.
Mike Martin (6’1” 306 lbs.) came up 14 repetitions shy of his goal on the bench press; however, he still demonstrated incredible strength in the event by putting up 225 pounds 36 times, placing him in a tie for sixth overall and second among defensive tackles. Martin also showcased his ability to cover ground by running a 4.88 40-yard dash and registering a 4.25 second 20-yard shuttle.

David Molk’s (6’1” 298 lbs.) 41 repetitions on the bench press was good for second place in the event, only trailing Dontari Poe’s 44. Molk’s arm length measured in at an even 32″, which isn’t all that great, but since Molk plays as a center and not as an offensive tackle, his limited reach likely won’t have much of an adverse impact on his draft status. Agility drills were not on Molk’s combine itinerary due to his injured foot.
Junior Hemingway (6’1” 225 lbs.) reminded everyone why the combine even exists, as he shattered expectations in several events. Hemingway ran a 4.53 second 40-yard dash and was a “top performer” in the 3-cone drill, 20-yard shuttle, and the 60-yard shuttle, all events in which he finished either first or second among the 40 wide receivers. Hemingway also put his strength on display by posting 21 repetitions on the bench press and leaping 124 inches in the broad jump. Basically, Junior Hemingway had an awesome combine. “There aren’t many receivers who did more for themselves than that guy,” an AFC scout said. “He wasn’t even on our radar heading into the event. He is now.”
So I guess you can forget all the stuff Todd McShay and I said about Hemingway not being very fast or explosive. Still, even with Hemingway seemingly transforming into Michael Vick and Molk and Martin showcasing their superhuman strength, all three Wolverines currently project to the later rounds of the draft, according to NFL.com.
21Feb 2012
Uncategorized 3 comments

Wolverines in the NFL: Pre-Combine Reports

Mike Martin is large.
The NFL Combine begins tomorrow and continues through the 28th. Michigan is represented by Molk, Martin, and Hemingway as they attempt to impress scouts and coaches for the upcoming NFL Draft, which will take place April 26-28. But before we start hearing about Wonderlic scores, forty times, interview impressions, and bench press reps, here’s a look at where Michigan’s participants currently project:

Junior Hemingway: Expected to be a late round pick or an undrafted free agent, Hemingway is the 36th rated wide receiver according to ESPN, the 39th to Todd McShay and the 46th to CBS. Hemingway, of course, isn’t very explosive, fast or agile, but his big body and jump ball skills have caught the eye of NFL scouts. Hopefully Junior is able to stick around the NFL for a few years and earn some money since his family home was recently burglarized and many of his personal items were stolen while he was in Atlanta training for the combine (watch news coverage here).
David Molk: Molk and Martin share the same goal: break the combine’s bench press record. While Molk remains ambitious in the weight room, he won’t be running or participating in agility drills at the combine due to his foot injury. “It kind of kills me, because that was what I was always really good at,” Molk said. “I could kill all of those drills.” Agility drills or not, Molk’s athleticism/mobility is not lost on NFL scouts, who have him pegged as a good fit with a zone blocking team. Still, at 6’2” 286 lbs., Molk’s ability to compete against the behemoth defensive tackles of the NFL remains a point of concern for scouts, and most projections have Molk as a later round draft selection. Molk is currently the fifth ranked center to ESPN and the sixth to CBS. He also will likely face questions about his health during interviews after suffering four injuries to his right leg since 2009. Watch Molk rehab that leg and train with Mike Barwis in this video.

Mike Martin: After drawing rave reviews while in Mobile, Alabama practicing for the Senior Bowl, Martin is considered an early round selection by some and a mid-round selection by others. Scouts cite strength, intelligence, toughness, technique and quickness among his strengths while noting size and reach as weaknesses. Thanks to his video editing abilities, Martin gives us a three minute peek into his daily grind via his Twitter:

Kevin Koger – who was outspoken about his combine snub – and Steve Watson are scheduled to participate in the “regional NFL combine” on March 3. Meanwhile, RVB will focus on rehabbing his injured foot while preparing for Michigan’s Pro Day on March 15.
15Feb 2012
Uncategorized 9 comments

MGoBlog: Clinic Items – Greg Mattison

Greg Mattison is awesome.

Brian at MGoBlog attended a clinic at which Greg Mattison spoke.  First of all, I’m jealous.  Secondly, though, I loved every bit of Brian’s post.  You should go there (if you haven’t already) and read it in its entirety, but here I just want to a bit of a point-by-point analysis of what Brian shared.

“Occasionally it felt like it was a college class as Mattison asked the room what player X would be doing in a particular situation.”  In my experience, the best speakers are the ones who keep the audience involved.  This isn’t news to anyone who does frequent public speaking or is involved in education.  If you’re just speaking at people, they often lose interest fairly quickly.

“As I wrestled with how to handle this various coaches in the room told every-damn-body that Mattison said Brennen Beyer was moving to WDE and Craig Roh to SDE. This was explicitly stated.”  This is confirmation of my post from the other day.  Not that I’m a genius – the info was e-mailed to me – but there were some questions about the validity of my info.  I try not to post information I’m not confident in, so I like when my info is confirmed by multiple sources.

“Mattison took the opportunity to point out that this was an example of the corners not coming hard enough and gush over Floyd (“I love this kid”) in general and specifically as an exemplar of the Michigan philosophy.”  I think my criticisms of J.T. Floyd often get misconstrued as hating on a kid or holding a grudge.  I’ve never questioned Floyd’s hustle or attitude.  What I’ve questioned is his overall athletic ability, and I think Brian’s comment here somewhat confirms my criticisms.  Floyd hustles and indeed makes a nice play by chasing down Braxton Miller, but one of the issues here is that Floyd helped allow a giant run in the first place, which is acknowledged by Mattison.

“Here he also noted that everyone hits the sled every day and that this was not something the previous coaching staff did frequently, if ever. This is where the bit about “I’ve never seen such awful technique” came in. Pretty much the only thing negative Mattison said was about the state of the team he was handed.”  The sled is such a useful tool in coaching football.  I know we saw clips of Rodriguez’s teams hitting the sled, and I doubt they just did that for the camera.  I think Mattison might be underestimating how often Michigan hit the sled, but still it might be a significant improvement.  Whether it’s a blocking sled, a tackling sled, a five-man sled, a two-man sled, whatever, they’re the best simulation for live play.  And there’s only so much man-on-man hitting you can do before people start getting injured.

“Inside linebackers. The usual: the mike has to be a little bigger, a little stronger, and the will has to be able to adjust to coverage outside of the box. An important difference between the two is the WLB has to be able to run vertically down the seam whereas the MLB can pass his guy off; IIRC this year the guy running down the seam was Demens, not Morgan. Adjustment based on Demens’s surprising ability to stick with guys downfield?”  The MIKE and the WILL are interchangeable, especially with a guy like Desmond Morgan, who is essentially a MIKE (albeit young and small-ish) playing because of a void at the position.  I think Demens was often dropping into coverage because offenses flipped the formation’s strength.  The inside linebackers don’t flip with a change of strength, so then the MIKE becomes the WILL and vice versa.

“Corners. “Corners are corners” but the field corner (Countess) is not involved with “heavy work” and usually just has to clean up plays that have been strung out. The boundary corner (Floyd) has to be a bigger guy better in run support. It’s a seven man front; if you go eight you’d “better have a war daddy” at field corner because he’s got to cover an outside receiver with little additional help.”  This is where the loss of Anthony Standifer hurts.  I really think Standifer, who was committed to Michigan for several months, could have developed into a good run supporter and boundary corner.  Richardson is a lot like Blake Countess, so now Michigan has two young field corners (three if you include Courtney Avery) and one senior boundary corner (Floyd).  I think that’s why you’re seeing so many big corners getting offered in the class of 2013.  Michigan needs run supporting corners right NOW.  It might also be why incoming free safety Jarrod Wilson might get a shot to play cornerback.

“Brennen Beyer. Beyer was talked up like a future star. Reportedly up to 250 pounds and will be given an opportunity to win the WDE job in the spring.”  This sounds like a good plan to me, because Beyer seemed a little out of place at SAM.

“Departing DL. Heininger “really became a football player.” Seems like they think they’ll miss him. Van Bergen “really, really played” for M and Martin was of course the best player on the team.”  I agree that Martin was the best player on the team.  Yes, better than Denard Robinson.  Heininger is replaceable, and Van Bergen’s loss will be mitigated somewhat by the move of Craig Roh to strongside end.  This isn’t news, but the biggest loss here is Mike Martin.  As much as I like most of the defense, the loss of such a big-time nose tackle is going to hurt.  Even when Martin wasn’t making plays, he was causing the offense to scheme around him or he was making running backs redirect in the backfield.  Teams often improve in the second year of a system, but that might be difficult unless William Campbell and/or Ondre Pipkins has a breakout season.      

15Feb 2012
Uncategorized 4 comments

2011 Season Grades: Defense

I’m sure this comes as no surprise, but Jordan Kovacs will be Michigan’s top returning defender, according to my grades
(image via Maize and Blue Nation)

Over the last three games of Michigan’s season, I took the time to grade the defense.  For individual games, you can look at the grades for Nebraska, Ohio State, and Virginia Tech.  The following shows each player’s cumulative grade:

GRADES
MMartin: +36
RVanBergen: +24
JKovacs: +21
JRyan: +16
KDemens: +12
FClark: +11
WHeininger: +5
CAvery: +4
CRoh: +3
BBeyer: +1
JBlack: +1
WCampbell: +1
DMorgan: +1
JFurman: 0
DHollowell: 0
JVanSlyke: 0
QWashington: 0
MJones: -1
RTaylor: -1
NBrink: -2
BHawthorne: -2
TGordon: -2
BCountess: -3
TWoolfolk: -3
JFloyd: -16

I don’t think it’s any coincidence that defensive linemen seem to rocket to the top of the grading scale, while defensive backs linger toward the bottom.  By the nature of the sport of football (and the angles that television uses), defensive linemen and linebackers are more involved in the game.  And when the ball is in the air, roughly 60% of the time it’s going to result in a completion and an angry defensive back.

Obviously, this three-game sample is not indicative of the entire season.  For example, J.T. Floyd’s best game was probably against Illinois, which isn’t a game I graded.  On the flip side, Frank Clark ended up with a +11 largely because he was outstanding in the Virginia Tech game.

12Feb 2012
Uncategorized no comments

Sugar Bowl: Michigan vs. Virginia Tech Grades – Defense

This interception was Frank Clark’s best play of the day, but not his only good one.

Just like post-Nebraska and post-Ohio State, I reviewed the film of the Sugar Bowl and graded out the defense for good/bad reads, filling/missing assignments, and physical superiority/inferiority.  Each time a player had a significant impact on a play, he was given a grade ranging from +3 to -3.

GRADES
FClark: +10 . . . Too quick for offensive line to handle; made a great interception
JRyan: +10 . . . Pursuit and hustle were stellar; took great angles
MMartin: +9 . . . Seemed to get tired in second half, but too fast off the snap most of the time
RVanBergen: +9 . . . No spectacular plays but just disruptive enough to force Wilson to hesitate
JKovacs: +7 . . . Good tackler but also wades through trash well
CRoh: +3 . . . Got reach blocked a couple times, but mostly filled his assignments
BBeyer: +1 . . . Limited playing time
KDemens: +1 . . . Missed several tackles, but made a nice PBU and filled his gap
QWashington: +1 . . . Limited playing time
JBlack: 0 . . . Looks too slow for weakside end
CAvery: -1 . . . Had trouble fighting off blocks early, but supported run well after first quarter
WCampbell: -2 . . . Got reach blocked too easily; too passive mostly, but had a couple “wow” moments
TGordon: -2 . . . Had a rough first half but got better as the game went along
BCountess: -3 . . . Picked on especially in zone coverage, but fared better in man
DMorgan: -4 . . . Not bad for a freshman linebacker but looked like a freshman linebacker
JFloyd: -5 . . . Okay in pass coverage, poor against the run

CONCLUSIONS
The usual suspects were stellar for the most part, but sitting atop the list is a bit of a surprise: freshman defensive end Frank Clark.  Aside from the highlight-reel interception, Clark consistently beat Virginia Tech’s left tackle with slants and speed rushes.  Of course, part of the credit for Clark’s +10 goes to Greg Mattison, who used Clark to stunt more often than he did with Roh.  Hooray for using players’ strengths!

Redshirt freshman SAM linebacker Jake Ryan was also outstanding, receiving only one negative mark (for being a little slow in getting to the flat in pass coverage).  Mike Martin was great in the first half, mediocre in the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth, and outstanding in the last few minutes of the game.  Ryan Van Bergen was solid throughout, but you could tell by the fourth quarter that his foot was bothering him.  Jordan Kovacs also made some nice plays throughout the game, although he did make some uncharacteristic misses in run support.

Going to the bottom of the list, redshirt junior J.T. Floyd wasn’t picked on much in coverage, but he received most of his negatives in run support.  He just wasn’t physical at all when coming up to support the run and at times he looked to be running away from contact.  On the opposite side of the field, freshman cornerback Blake Countess was targeted throughout the game.  And while he was more effective than Floyd in supporting the run, the more experienced and bigger Hokie receivers took advantage of him a little bit.

Freshman linebacker Desmond Morgan alternated a couple bad plays with one very good play.  Virginia Tech frequently motioned tight ends across the formation to change the strength, putting Morgan on the strong side and running at him.  He reads the backfield pretty quickly, but when a tight end or slot receiver would come crashing down on him, he would be a split second late in reacting to the block; at least one time, his slowness caused middle linebacker Kenny Demens to get caught up in the trash.

Meanwhile, defensive tackle William Campbell continued his inconsistency by literally knocking an offensive guard on his ass . . . and then playing pattycake on other plays (not so literally).  He is virtually unblockable when he fires off the ball, but if he stands straight up, he’s very easy to block.  The problem with playing Campbell is that he oscillates between performing like Mike Martin and performing like Adam Patterson.  His ceiling is great, but his floor is terrible.