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Ex-Wolverine Encyclopedia update

Anthony Lalota

Defensive end Anthony Lalota, who transferred from Michigan earlier this week, is now headed to Rutgers to play football.  Since he has not played for Michigan this season, he will only have to sit out the 2010 season and will be eligible for the Scarlet Knights in 2011.  Hopefully his career at Rutgers turns out better than that of Marcus Witherspoon, a Class of 2008 prospect who failed to qualify at Michigan and then bombed out of the Rutgers program.

Elsewhere, rumor has it that 2010 Michigan commit Conelius Jones has dropped out of prep school.  He was supposed to attend prep school in an effort to enroll at Michigan in January 2010, but that ship seems to have sailed.  Hopefully he can get things straightened out and play football somewhere, but it probably won’t be at Michigan.

Other updates are in the Ex-Wolverine Encyclopedia at the top of the page, but keep in mind that the page is a work in progress . . . especially because it’s an amorphous, ever expanding fount of information.

Blog wars!

I have received some e-mails and comments from other bloggers about me posting on their sites.  Apparently someone with a little too much time on his hands has been going around to different sites, making fake posts using my handle, and trying to get people angry at me.

That’s the internet for you, I guess.

Anyway, here are the websites that I read and where I post most frequently: MGoBlog (read and post), The Wolverine (read), Genuinely Sarcastic (read and post only occasionally), and Midnight Maize (read and post only occasionally).

If you know anything about my posting habits, then you probably know that I stick to my guns.  I’m not afraid to tell you exactly what my opinion is, whether you like it or not.  So if your blog isn’t listed above, then you’re dealing with a handlejacker.  It’s like MGoBlog’s Haloscan days, except this handlejacker is way more pathetic.

Thanks for reading.  Go Blue!

Former Michigan Athlete of the Week: Tom Brady

In the New England Patriots’ season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals (a team that includes Dhani Jones, Leon Hall, and Morgan Trent), Tom Brady finished 25/35 for 258 yards and 3 touchdowns.  The Patriots won the game by a score of 38-24.

Honorable mention: Former Wolverine Steven Threet earns honorable mention honors for the second week in a row.  The starting quarterback for Arizona State, he led the Sun Devils to a 41-20 victory over Northern Arizona.  Threet ended the day 33/49 passing with 369 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions.

Anthony Lalota, ex-Wolverine

Buh-bye.

Defensive end Anthony Lalota has been released from his scholarship to the University of Michigan. The 6’4″, 270 lb. lineman committed to Michigan from The Hun School in Princeton, New Jersey. Buried on the depth chart behind redshirt junior Ryan Van Bergen, true freshman Jibreel Black, and converted tight end Steve Watson, the redshirt freshman apparently gave up on seeing the field and asked for his release.

Lalota came to Michigan as part of the Class of 2009. He was a late addition to the football program at The Hun School, having only started to play as a junior. He played offensive tackle and defensive end in high school, and Scout had him ranked as a 4-star offensive tackle prospect at one point. Despite being listed by recruiting sites as big as 6’6″ and 260 lbs., he measured in at 6’4″, 235 lbs. prior to his true freshman season. He added 35 lbs. in between his freshman season and redshirt freshman season, but the writing appeared to be on the wall by the time the 2010 season rolled around. When you’re fourth on the depth chart at a position lacking depth, it would be frustrating.

For what it’s worth, I’ve never been a fan of Lalota’s game. My analysis of him after his participation in the Army All-American Game in January 2009 went like this:

I am not very impressed by Lalota’s skills. He’s a recent convert to football, having not played until his junior year of high school. So significant improvement may still be forthcoming. However, he is very raw as a defensive end and usually tries to beat offensive tackles by bull rushing with 100% effort. I love the effort and that hard work could turn him into a very good player, but at 6’6″ and 260 lbs., he reminds me of former Michigan player Pat Massey, which is generally not considered to be a good thing by Michigan fans. As far as I saw, he didn’t make any plays in the game, and I wouldn’t expect him to play significantly at Michigan for at least a couple years.

Lalota was very mechanical coming out of high school. He played defensive end like an offensive tackle. His lateral mobility was virtually nil, and he lacked great football instincts. I actually would have liked him more for a 3-3-5 defense than I did for the 4-front that Michigan employed at the time he was recruited. Regardless, he seemed overrated to me as a high 4-star prospect. Like many football recruits, the services looked at his size (which was obviously exaggerated) and his decent straight-line speed and said, “Hey, this guy is going to be good.” They just didn’t account for the fact that football is a sport played by athletes, not just big dudes who happen to not be crippled.

As for the impact of Lalota’s transfer on the team itself, it once again hurts Michigan’s APR (just like Vladimir Emilien . . . and Austin White . . . and Justin Turner . . . and numerous others). The number of guys transferring out of the University of Michigan borders on ridiculous. No, wait – it is ridiculous. Michigan was nearing the danger line prior to the season. Since then, four additional guys have left the team. I once again have to point out that I’m not impressed with Rich Rodriguez’s retention rate. Many of these guys don’t seem to be giving the football program much of a shot at Michigan before bailing out. I understand being frustrated about playing time, but he’s a redshirt freshman. What liar told him he would be able to start for a Big Ten team by his second year in college? Whoever that liar is, I hope Anthony Lalota doesn’t trust him anymore.

Meanwhile, Michigan’s Class of 2011 just went from 18 to a size of 19. Guys like Anthony Zettel, Deion Barnes, James Adeyanju, and Ray Drew could take Lalota’s spot. Michigan already needed one defensive end in the class. Since both Van Bergen and Watson are redshirt juniors (and Watson might be a longshot to return for a fifth year), I expect Michigan to take at least one more defensive end in the class, maybe two.

Michigan vs. Notre Dame Awards

“Prison Abs” Gordon

Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Michael Cox. I know I sound like a broken record, and it doesn’t bode well for me (or him) that Cox hasn’t seen the field in the first two games. However, Michigan’s runnings backs just aren’t getting it done. So far Michigan’s three running backs (Vincent Smith, Michael Shaw, Stephen Hopkins) have combined for 42 carries, 129 yards, and 2 touchdowns (a 3.07 yard average). I really don’t care who totes the rock for Michigan, as long as he runs the ball at a better clip than 3.07 yards per try.

Let’s see less of this guy on offense . . . Denard Robinson. Hold on just a second before you go ballistic, though. I don’t want him to be relegated to the bench (unless the game is out of hand). I’d just like to see him carrying the ball less. He’s averaging 8.0 yards per carry, but he’s averaging 28.5 attempts per game. That would be 370.5 carries in a 13-game season, and that’s way too much. Hopefully Robinson can get a bit of rest in the next two weeks against UMass and Bowling Green. Robinson might be the best player in the country right now, and he needs to stay healthy.

Let’s see more of this guy on defense . . . Thomas Gordon. True freshman Carvin Johnson won the starting Spur job in fall camp, but Gordon played pretty well against Notre Dame in his first career start, as Johnson missed the game due to a knee injury. Gordon was the fouth-leading tackler against the Fighting Irish, tallying 5 stops, 2 tackles for loss, and Michigan’s lone quarterback sack. I think he’s stronger at the point of attack than Johnson, and while the freshman is probably more athletic, my bigger concern at the position is the ability to stand up to blocks and tackle. Gordon seems to do those things better than Johnson, from what I’ve seen.

Let’s see less of this guy on defense . . . Craig Roh at defensive end. I think this was a game plan adjustment for Michigan’s coaches, and the results were questionable. In order to counter Notre Dame’s passing game, Michigan put elite pass rusher Roh on the field instead of the solid but unspectacular Greg Banks. However, Roh was overpowered repeatedly, and despite getting a decent rush at times, he was unable to take down the quarterback. If Michigan goes with a 4-front, then I’ll be happy to see Roh lined up at defensive end. But in a 3-3-5 defense, he lacked the strength to stand up to the two blockers that usually stood in his way.

MVP of the Notre Dame game . . . Denard Robinson, obviously. He had 258 rushing yards, 244 rushing yards, and 3 touchdowns (2 rushing, 1 passing). He also led the game-winning drive, on which he was 5/6 passing and ran for 17 yards, including scoring the final TD.

Unsung Hero of the Notre Dame game . . . Zac Johnson. Rasheed Furrha and Johnson share the #36 jersey according to the official roster, and the official site lists Furrha as the player who participated in Saturday’s game. However, I distinctly remember seeing Z. JOHNSON on the back of #36’s jersey, so I’m assuming that was a typo on the website. Regardless, Johnson had 2 special teams tackles and continued the solid special teams coverage he’s shown for the past couple years. He also made a smart play on the punt return unit, grabbing a ball on the bounce that appeared to have hit a Michigan player (although I don’t think it did). Johnson saw the ball bounce, plucked it out of the air, and fell to the ground, eliminating any chance for a Notre Dame player to recover.