2019 Season Countdown: #78 Anthony Solomon

2019 Season Countdown: #78 Anthony Solomon


June 9, 2019
Anthony Solomon (image via MGoBlue)

Name: Anthony Solomon
Height:
6’1″
Weight:
200 lb.
High school:
Fort Lauderdale (FL) St. Thomas Aquinas
Position:
Linebacker
Class:
Freshman
Jersey number:
N/A
Last year:
Solomon was a senior in high school (LINK). He made 63 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, and 1 fumble recovery.
TTB Rating:
84

Solomon flirted with the idea of Michigan for a long time. A commitment to Miami happened. Then he flipped to Michigan in mid-December. It was an odd recruitment, but a fruitful one for the Wolverines. Solomon was long considered a high-quality recruit, and the only thing that seemed to keep his ranking from improving was that he stayed the same size for several years.

Will he bulk up in 2019 and beyond? I assume he will, because that’s what a college strength and conditioning program is supposed to do. He’s not the type of player who should be carrying 235 or 240 lbs., but it’s not impossible to imagine him in that 220-225 lb. range. Whether he plays Viper or weakside linebacker might depend on how he maintains his speed, but I think he will be a successful player if he buys into the program. That will probably include waiting a year to see the field while he works on his body.

Prediction: Redshirt

20 comments

  1. Comments: 522
    Joined: 8/12/2015
    DonAZ
    Jun 09, 2019 at 6:53 AM

    ” … he will be a successful player if he buys into the program.”

    That “if he buys in” element got me thinking. The transition from high school football to big program football must be quite a change for these young people. It’s not just the hard work that needs to be put in to shape the body, but also the realization that to succeed is going to require even more competitive fire than they needed in high school. In high school they were the star; here they are one among many. That has to be a difficult adjustment for some young people.

    I wonder what percentage of “players that don’t make it” in college programs are due to them deciding they just don’t want to find that next gear? Some percentage is their natural ability has limits, but some no doubt fall short of their abilities by not striving to maximize what they were born with. Any sense for how prevalent that is?

    • Comments: 276
      Joined: 2/6/2018
      17years
      Jun 09, 2019 at 12:10 PM

      I’ve always wondered if that’s what happened with Kareem Walker.

      • Comments: 400
        Joined: 12/24/2016
        INTJohn
        Jun 09, 2019 at 12:25 PM

        Walker didn’t have it tween the ears. It didn’t take Urban Meyer (who has a degree in psychology by the way) long to realize that he didn’t want him but Harbaugh wasted no time in ‘scooping’ him up……..

        Meyer prolly had a good laugh that day………INTJohn

      • Comments: 6285
        Joined: 8/11/2015
        Lanknows
        Jun 09, 2019 at 12:57 PM

        I think Walker was a case of an early bloomer (e.g., Ricardo Miller) who star faded as others caught up physically. His ranking was high but he wasn’t getting recruited like a 5-star by the time he committed to Michigan.

        • Comments: 3844
          Joined: 7/13/2015
          Jun 09, 2019 at 1:33 PM

          Agreed. It’s why John Beilein liked recruiting “young” freshmen. The dudes with beards have already come closer to maxing out their potential, while the baby-faced kids still have a lot of upside. Walker looked really good as a sophomore in high school, but his senior film wasn’t any more impressive.

          Side note #1: There are also rumors that Walker is still suffering from a hip problem that has hampered him for years.

          Side note #2: We have a 16-year-old freshman in our program who was really good last year, but I have concerns about how much better he’ll get as he progresses. Other guys his age are going to catch up to him eventually unless his work ethic keeps him ahead of them, and it’s tough to keep up that work ethic when you’re better than everyone around you.

          • Comments: 400
            Joined: 12/24/2016
            INTJohn
            Jun 09, 2019 at 3:01 PM

            RE Note 1…….
            Realizing the key word is ‘rumors’ but if true couldn’t he have received a medical? If he was interested or capable of a Michigan degree?
            Thanx………intjohn

            • Comments: 3844
              Joined: 7/13/2015
              Jun 09, 2019 at 7:20 PM

              It’s not to the point that he can’t play. He’s had the problem since high school, and he was still playing at Michigan as a redshirt freshman despite the problem. It wasn’t stopping him from playing, like St-Juste’s hamstring injury caused.

    • Comments: 400
      Joined: 12/24/2016
      INTJohn
      Jun 09, 2019 at 12:19 PM

      Good point and even more a following question re “players that don’t make it” in college.
      First part boils down to “high school hero; college zero” .
      Answers to the 2nd question you pose are much more interesting because of the psychology of choices made and a persons particular physiology, personality type and world view of their value system.

      Few players ever make it to the NFL and of those that do they don’t stay there for long: for every Favre, Manning & Brady there are 60 guys who played but 1 year.
      So is it realistic for a young man coming out of high school to even consider to be thinking about an NFL career? This is where some kind of parental & high school coach guidance has to shape these guys to some sense of reality.

      Other players realize at some point that they’re just not a “team” playing kind of person. This was my situation. Always athletic and intelligent I could have probably played D1 football somewhere certainly DII and the high school coaches were always trying to get me to be on the football team as well as baseball. There was not 1 guy on the football team that could outrun me and my sophomore year the high school won the state baseball championship – the star Sr pitcher who was drafted into the minor leagues; I battted around .500 off him………
      My point is I didn’t care about playing organized sports and my view of most of the entire scene was “bunch of dumb jocks”………. My interests were in the cerebral, intellectual abstract things of the world in general – not base superficial structured team sports.

      I’m sure there are high school athletes who are able to go to school on a scholarship who have a similar view and care about getting the degree and getting on with life; If they’re realy good and can play professionaly, especially football, I think again the realy smart ones play a few years make some doe and then get the hell out of it while their bodies & minds are still intact. For most It simply is not a long term healthy career on any level.

      I don’t know but your questions lay the ground for realy good discussion regarding our culture & the human psyche.
      Thanx……….INTJohn

      • Comments: 522
        Joined: 8/12/2015
        DonAZ
        Jun 09, 2019 at 3:38 PM

        You realized what you wanted earlier than some. For some of these players, they probably have very mixed emotions about things. The recruiting pursuit by big-name programs must be quite a boost to one’s ego. But once the LOI is signed and the work starts, different emotions take over.

        I’m impressed with the players who stick out the four years, playing as hard as they can, but knowing they don’t have NFL skills. Those guys carry some great memories and a terrific work ethic into the professional world.

        • Comments: 400
          Joined: 12/24/2016
          INTJohn
          Jun 09, 2019 at 4:37 PM

          You make more great points and to carry it a step further; I’ll defer to Michigan alum Gerald R. Ford………..

          Great football player , all american, drafted by the Green Bay Packers; but more importantly , a great human being who ignored the ridiculous game of Professional Football for a deeper intellectually fulfilling career in his attempt to advance the Human Condition………

          American Culture has denigrated to a point today that I’m not sure such a man today would not sell his soul to the dollars of such a seducing thing.
          “Where Have you Gone Joe DiMaggio?” …….
          A Nation turns its lonely eyes to you……
          Woo wooo wooo…….”

          Men who played sports or could have but realised there is something so much more humanistically higher & greater, are they around anymore?………INTJohn

          • Comments: 522
            Joined: 8/12/2015
            DonAZ
            Jun 09, 2019 at 6:00 PM

            Such people are rare in the higher echelons of Division I college football. But I’d bet they exist in the overlooked corners of DI, and down in DII. There are probably quite a few players there that realize the NFL is not likely to come knocking, so they set their sights on becoming other things.

            (That does not mean they don’t have the talent to be NFL players … I’m always amazed when scanning NFL rosters how many players came from lesser programs. They probably matured later, and were overlooked by the big programs during the recruiting cycle.)

            But to your point: a player likely to be drafted in round 1 or 2 of the NFL draft is not likely to turn their backs on that. But I’m not sure that’s a bad thing — make hay while the sun shines, as they say. Make good money while you can, then become a doctor, or teacher, or whatever.

            The sad cases are those that have no plan but to be in the NFL. If that doesn’t work out, then they’re left with nothing.

            • Comments: 400
              Joined: 12/24/2016
              INTJohn
              Jun 09, 2019 at 9:24 PM

              In many instances I think your last paragraph is spot on.

              My elaboration is that even for those where the NFL DOES work out; they’re still in many cases left with ‘Nothing’……….

              Just because one has attained a lengthy NFL career and made lots of $$$$, attained fame & fortune; maybe even becoming a household name………
              ……..if you haven’t developed some sense of personal worth regarding a contribution to the Advancement of the Human Condition and actually attained such a Reality that transcends what ever ones identification with professional sports may or may not be……..

              ……then ones Michigan experience & education is hollow at best perhaps meaning Nothing; more is needed than simple NFL success, universally speaking – this is the essence of education and ones Life’s experiences – that it must transcend a simple hedonistic superficial sports experience for monetary success- be it on a professional level or not.

              There are many athletes who go to this place, time & money wise on a variety of levels — the noble place of philanthropy exceeding even that of simple donation. in this sense, yeah I agree with you “make the hay” while one can but to contribute – because such athletes have a greater vision – if such a vision is sincere…….

              For many, also, this vision is not sincere and at times its blurry to see a difference……..

              Success does not equate to $$$$. For example when I got out of the service in the early 80’s; and I had served in some pretty tough special forces units; I had some guys in my previous units trying to recruit me for some pretty illegal things in Fla. Fla in the early ’80’s was a Wild West of money, lawlessness & a bunch of other things as any1 with haf a brain from then can recall……
              I remember them sayin to me basically: “this aint really nuthin we haven’t been doin for years for Uncle Sam only now there’s a lot more money we can make…….
              ……..and yeah there was ALOT of cash to be made IF one wanted to walk that trail. well in short, 3 of those guys were found shot to death; 2 are still in Fla prisons and 1 – well I’ve never heard from him since so he might be dead or livin like a king who knows where……idk.

              point is living ones talents in a noble way – dollars & fame or not – living the high road thats what I’ve found to be well my meaning in life not simply fame or fortune or both.

              Parents & High school coaches have a great opportunity to impress on these young ‘stars’ this moral – that there is more to college sports than a simple stepping stone to what the kid perceives to be success toward the NFL.
              Thanx…………..INTJohn

              • Comments: 522
                Joined: 8/12/2015
                DonAZ
                Jun 09, 2019 at 9:36 PM

                Good conversation! Thanks for the exchange. I’ve enjoyed it.

        • Comments: 6285
          Joined: 8/11/2015
          Lanknows
          Jun 09, 2019 at 7:27 PM

          I wonder if an unintended positive outcome of liberalized transfers is that college coaches will be a little more honest with managing expectations earlier. Instead of telling them all they’re going to enter a greased track straight to the NFL.

  2. Comments: 6285
    Joined: 8/11/2015
    Lanknows
    Jun 09, 2019 at 12:46 PM

    All Don Brown ILB recruits listed within an inch (6′ or 6’1) and 10 pounds (216 to 226) of each other:

    Wheeler 6’1 220
    Savage 6’1 218
    Thomas 6’0 216
    McGrone 6’1 215
    Anthony 6’1 226
    Ross 6’1 219

    He has a type.

    So who doesn’t fit?

    Devin Bush was generally listed an inch shorter but was on the top end of the weight profile. He committed before Brown signed on technically.

    Michael Barrett fits physically but was recruited as an athlete — they’re still figuring him out.

    Josh Uche was too lanky (6’2 212). He spends most of his time rushing the QB, typically from DE.

    Velazquez (6′ 205) and Solomon (6’1 200) are too light to fit. They’re closer to Khaleke Hudson (5’11 205) a DB recruit who plays viper of course.

    This is splitting hairs to be sure. These guys will all add weight to varying degrees. But it’s interesting that there is so much commonality in the physical baseline.

    • Comments: 6285
      Joined: 8/11/2015
      Lanknows
      Jun 09, 2019 at 12:55 PM

      I think it’s going to be very interesting to watch what happens with Solomon and Vazquez. Viper or ILB?

      On one hand – they fit the physical prototype of a viper more than ILB.

      On the other hand – Viper have always been DB recruits (Peppers, Hudson, Metellous, Glasgow) who were shorter and lighter.

      So –
      Is this a change where Don Brown is settling in and starting to recruit smaller LBs to play Viper?

      Or –
      Is Don Brown anticipating a continued evolution towards smaller ILBs?

      Both explanations make some sense and Brown maybe thinking along both lines or neither – just let competition sort it out.

      Question about the weakside/middle ILB distinction.
      Solomon is 6’0 200

      • Comments: 6285
        Joined: 8/11/2015
        Lanknows
        Jun 09, 2019 at 1:07 PM

        FWIW I think that the starting Viper will continue to be the best safety on the team. My guess is that neither Solomon nor Vazquez end up starting Viper. One may fit as a backup (replacing Glasgow).

        I’m not sure the depth chart supports this view as we are overloaded with LBs and light on DBs but we’ll see.

      • Comments: 6285
        Joined: 8/11/2015
        Lanknows
        Jun 09, 2019 at 1:10 PM

        My question…

        Why weakside and not middle for Solomon? Bush was, I think smaller than our last couple WLB. So if Solomon does stick at ILB would that make more sense? Or was Bush just an outlier?

        • Comments: 3844
          Joined: 7/13/2015
          Jun 09, 2019 at 1:29 PM

          I think Bush was kind of an outlier. I think you put your best inside linebacker at MIKE, and Bush was it. That’s why Gedeon was the MIKE and McCray was the WILL.

          • Comments: 6285
            Joined: 8/11/2015
            Lanknows
            Jun 09, 2019 at 7:29 PM

            I agree. I think Solomon does have the talent to maybe be the top guy in the middle after Ross finishes his career, but we’ll see.

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