The holidays are busy. I hope you all are doing well and enjoying Washington State vs. Air Force highlights!
A couple wrap-up items from recent days on players with decisions to make:
- Nick Eubanks is returning for a fifth year at tight end, which is good because I don’t think he would get drafted in 2020.
- Kwity Paye is returning for his senior year at defensive end, which is also good because I don’t think his draft stock would be very high.
- It sounds like Ambry Thomas is coming back, although he hasn’t come out with that decision as definitively as the first two.
Hit the jump for more.
Bowl game practice position switches?
- George Johnson III is playing cornerback after coming to Michigan as a wide receiver. That probably helps from a depth perspective, and classmates Giles Jackson, Cornelius Johnson, and Mike Sainristil had already moved ahead to get significant playing time at wideout.
- Ben Van Sumeren is playing some tight end. I don’t see tailback working out for him, and he’s blocked by Ben Mason at fullback.
- Not really a position switch, but Jim Harbaugh said incoming freshman Eamonn Dennis is leaning toward playing corner.
More QBs pic.twitter.com/DsFvFWeSQG
— angelique (@chengelis) December 27, 2019
I don’t like Eli Manning, but you have to admit that he must have been doing something right to win two Super Bowls and have a lengthy NFL career with the Giants.
Antrel Rolle on the day he became an Eli Manning fan for life, plus memories from many more teammates: https://t.co/XPXTqkaL18 pic.twitter.com/yeAx08AVsj
— Dan Duggan (@DDuggan21) December 27, 2019
Speaking of people I don’t like, it appears Michigan dodged a bullet:
Dan Enos has been fired as #Miami's offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) December 27, 2019
2020 running back Jalen Berger named a top five that doesn’t include Michigan. He’s a very talented running back, but Michigan stopped going hard after him, for whatever reason.
Top5 (no order) pic.twitter.com/PCMA2PcgVs
— Jalen Berger (@JalenBerger) December 27, 2019
You need to login in order to vote
Did Page & eubanks think they’d be drafted?
BVS seems a little short to be a TE
You need to login in order to vote
Pretty sure the whole team thinks they’re NFL HOF bound. Too much talkie not enough walkie.
You need to login in order to vote
Given the abundance of short WR recruits some shifts to CB were expected. Johnson and Dennis make sense.
With Green-Warren looking on the way to joining the class it seems the CB position is getting addressed.
Notable that these are mostly all players who are 6′ or less. The ’18 class had 4 CB recruits all of them listed at 6’2 or more (Green, Gray, Sims, Faustin). A total of 8 DBs listed at 6’1 or more between the ’17 and ’18 classes (including Hawkins, Woods, St Juste, Green). Just 2 (Page and Perry) over the last 2 classes.
It may not mean anything beyond who they are able to land but it may reflect some of the change we are seeing from Brown on the field. Fewer long-limbed DB seemingly geared to one on one jam coverage. Phasing them out perhaps coinciding with more frequent zone coverage.
You need to login in order to vote
Hopefully Nico & DPJ are sticking around. I like the whole speed in space thing, but watching LSU & Clemson, and knowing elite CFB programs, size does matter. Need to be able to go vertical, and trust your athletes to make plays!
You need to login in order to vote
Clemson got most of it’s yards by running the QB and passing to the RB. The big downfield threats were mostly neutralized. Ross and Higgins are great players because they’re fast – it happens they are tall too. That is why they are 5-star recruits. Everyone wants that but most are scrapping for 3 or 4 stars.
On this year’s Michigan team, with a bounty of 6’2+ WRs who are pretty fast and highly regarded, it was the 6′ guy who led the team.
OSU’s top WRs are 6′ and 6’1 and slight.
Size is nice but speed is necessary.
You need to login in order to vote
Yep. Ideally, you want a mix of tall guys, short guys, fast guys, and possession guys. Or you want some guys with a mix of those traits. Peoples-Jones is one of those guys who’s fairly tall, has speed, and can be a possession OR run-after-catch guy.
You need to login in order to vote
I want someone who is 6’6 and runs a 3.9 40 with elite cutting ability and great hands at every WR spot. Put Randy Moss in the slot – he’ll do just fine.
You need to login in order to vote