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2010 Countdown: #11 Cameron Gordon

Name: Cameron Gordon
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 207 lbs.
High school: Inkster High School in Detroit, MI
Position: Free safety
Class: Redshirt freshman
Jersey number: #4 (changed from #84 last season)
Last year: I ranked Gordon #82 and said he’d almost definitely redshirt. He redshirted.

Gordon was an interesting prospect coming out of high school a year ago. He played wide receiver and wanted a shot to remain at that position, but I thought he would fit best at linebacker in college. In my opinion, he was too slow to really be a factor at wideout. After his true freshman season, he asked to move to the defensive side of the ball in an effort to help out the team. By the time spring practices came and went, Gordon was a hit amongst the coaching staff and seemed to be the leading candidate to play free safety in Michigan’s revamped 4-2-5/3-3-5 defense (I think it’s more of a 4-2-5). Spring practice reports were abuzz in regards to Gordon’s instincts, athletic ability, and ferocity. And at 6’3″, 207 lbs., he has plenty of size to bring the hammer.

While he’s literally taken zero snaps in a game situation at the college level, Gordon ranks highly because of the weaknesses we have seen at the safety position over the last couple seasons and because of the terrifying inexperience at the cornerback positions now that Troy Woolfolk will miss the season. His main competition for the starting role will likely come from sophomore Vladimir Emilien, but Emilien has lacked the speed and durability to impress practice observers in his 1.5 years on campus. Other competition at free safety will be from true freshman Carvin Johnson, sophomore Brandin Hawthorne (unlikely to ever see a snap at free safety), and true freshman Ray Vinopal (likely a redshirt candidate).

Gordon lacks the elite athleticism to play free safety in a base Cover 2 defense or even in Man Free coverages, and his presence at the position (as opposed to Spur or Bandit) indicates to me that Michigan will be mainly a Cover 3 defense this season, in which Gordon is asked to cover only the area between the hashes; however, there will surely be occasional wrinkles in the defense that will expand Gordon’s responsibilities. The free safety position should improve over the next few years with the development of Gordon, Emilien, and Johnson, but it’s imperative that Gordon stays healthy and learns quickly. Otherwise, the defense could begin to cave quickly.

Prediction for 2010: Starting free safety; 60 tackles, 2 interceptions

Voters got this one correct: 32% chose Cameron Gordon, while the second-place finisher was Ryan Van Bergen with 22%.

Austin White, ex-Wolverine

Okay, this is getting old. A couple weeks after cornerback Justin Turner transferred (reportedly to WVU), now freshman running back Austin White has left the team as well. White was a 3-star recruit and the #10 all-purpose back in the Class of 2010, according to Rivals; Scout.com ranked him the #15 overall running back and a 4-star recruit. The reasons for his departure have not been explicitly stated by the University, but it seems as though his departure was more the program’s decision than White’s. Rumors have sprouted up that there were several violations of team rules that occurred, even after White was given a second chance.

If you read my comments on White over the last year and a half, you’ll see that I was not impressed. That’s four separate posts where I was largely indifferent to White’s commitment and talent. Despite the fairly impressive rankings from Scout and Rivals, I have never been enamored with his abilities. I even suggested that he would be a candidate to change positions within a couple years, once he and the coaches realized that he would only be an afterthought to the other running backs on the roster. White has adequate talent to play at the Big Ten level, but the only thing that really stood out about him was his ability to catch the ball.

This leaves Michigan with five running backs on the roster: Michael Cox, Michael Shaw, Vincent Smith, Fitzgerald Toussaint, and Stephen Hopkins. White was almost surely headed for a redshirt in 2010, and both Toussaint and Hopkins (both with higher ceilings, in my opinion) have freshman eligibility as well. So Michigan won’t feel this loss on the field. There’s plenty of other talent at the position.

However, the Wolverines might feel it in their APR score. Michigan is already hovering dangerously close to the lower end of the spectrum due to all of the post-Carr-era transfers (incomplete list here). The recent departures of Turner and White will further drive that APR score into the ground, and Michigan could be facing scholarship limitations in upcoming years for their failure to graduate a sufficient number of scholarship athletes. This is a problem.

I’m also somewhat frustrated with the recruiting of White in the first place. As I have mentioned, I have never been excited about his talent. Furthermore, rumors circulated even prior to his commitment that he had caused some problems when in high school at Livonia Stevenson. Words like “prima donna” and “cocky” were thrown about, and there was allegedly a bit of a spat with the coaching staff. One can never be sure how much weight to give rumors like that, but in my experience, “where there’s smoke there’s fire” seems to be a decent rule.

Rodriguez recruited him despite those rumors, and now he’s essentially been banned from the team prior to his freshman season. This is the fourth wasted scholarship from the Class of 2010 (following the failures to qualify by Antonio Kinard, Conelius Jones, and Demar Dorsey). Furthermore, there were other, more talented backs in the Class of 2010 who were considering Michigan, such as Dillon Baxter (USC), Dietrich Riley (UCLA), Corvin Lamb (Louisville), and Eduardo Clements (Miami-FL). Even Cassius McDowell (Toledo) and Brandon Gainer (Kentucky) would have been better fits if they actually, you know, had the ability to remain on the team. It’s hard to tell how running back recruiting would have played out if a spot hadn’t been taken by White, but it’s conceivable that one of those kids could have been wooed to Ann Arbor in his stead.

In a positive light (I guess), much of what I said in yesterday’s post about Troy Woolfolk’s injury can be amended. Woolfolk’s return in 2011 would have lowered the number of scholarships available to 16, but White’s official departure puts that number back at 17. This now allows Michigan to add at least seven more players to the Class of 2011, perhaps including a linebacker (which will make some of yesterday’s posters happy).

2010 Countdown: #12 Stephen Schilling

Name: Stephen Schilling
Height: 6’5″
Weight: 308 lbs.
High school: Bellevue High School in Bellevue, WA
Position: Offensive guard
Class: Fifth year senior
Jersey number: #52
Last year: I ranked Schilling #6. He started all 12 games at left guard, making All-Big Ten Honorable Mention and sharing the team’s offensive lineman of the year award with Mark Ortmann.

Schilling was a very highly touted recruit from the Pacific Northwest in 2006. Early in his career, he had issues with mononucleosis and a shoulder injury that prevented him from working out for much of his first year in college. Regardless, he became a starter at right tackle in 2007. Suspect in pass protection, Schilling played a bit at right guard in 2008 and moved inside full-time in 2009, starting every game at left guard. He has started every game over the past three seasons except for the 2008 contest against Ohio State, and begins 2010 with 36 career starts.

The Wolverines will be counting on Schilling’s leadership and run blocking in 2010. With a solid season, Schilling could squeeze into the middle rounds of the 2011 NFL Draft. He has good size and he’s a solid 308 lbs. He lacks the lateral quickness and balance to play tackle in the NFL, but he could project at guard for an NFL team. With his experience and talent, Schilling could be ranked higher. However, the depth on Michigan’s offensive line diminishes his importance somewhat. There are capable backups on the team in the form of Elliott Mealer, Ricky Barnum, and John Ferrara. Hopefully, though, Schilling is making his 49th career start sometime around New Year’s Day 2011.

Prediction for 2010: Starting left guard; All-Big Ten second team

Apparently, the populace thinks I’m underrating Schilling here. He was tied for the sixth-leading vote-getter, behind Cameron Gordon (28%), Ryan Van Bergen (21%), Jonas Mouton (19%), J.T. Floyd (12%), and Troy Woolfolk (5%). Remember that I finished this list prior to Woolfolk’s injury and will not be recalibrating his placement on the list, so take that into consideration before you vote.

Poll: Who should move to cornerback?

For the past several days, there has been a poll running on the sidebar regarding any potential position changes. Rich Rodriguez was asked by the media whether any offensive players would be moved to defense to play cornerback, and he said no. So far the only player who has changed responsibilities is Teric Jones, who played corner last season but was playing Bandit in the spring.

I’m curious to know who people had in mind when they voted for the “Other” category. Feel free to comment if you were one of those people and voice your opinion.

In the immediate future, I guess Michigan fans shouldn’t expect any further position changes. But another injury or departure could force a switch.

The Effect of the Troy Woolfolk Injury on Recruiting

There was immediate frustration felt by Michigan fans upon Troy Woolfolk’s ankle injury, and that injury will have a ripple effect on the team and Michigan’s recruiting. As a true senior in 2010, Woolfolk’s eligibility status throws an interesting wrench into the plans to recruit for 2011.

Woolfolk’s senior status had Michigan fans and recruiting gurus planning to “take him off the books” for 2011, who assumed that his scholarship could be used toward bringing in a new recruit. I presume that Woolfolk will now return for a fifth year of eligibility in 2011. As a solid Big Ten starter with NFL measurables, Woolfolk had a chance to be a mid-round pick in the NFL Draft next year. Assuming that he recovers fully from his injury, that potential still remains but will likely be postponed until the 2012 NFL Draft.

According to my unofficial calculations, Michigan would have had 17 scholarships to give in the Class of 2011. Twelve seniors should be graduating, and five scholarships are unused. Ten of those scholarships have been filled up to this point. However, since Woolfolk will probably return for a fifth season, that number of graduating seniors drops to 11 and the total scholarships available drops to 16. And despite the fact that Michigan’s cornerback depth is very thin, Michigan should return at least three cornerbacks with starting experience in 2011 – the presumed 2010 starters in J.T. Floyd and Cullen Christian; and Woolfolk. And although it wasn’t completely necessary for Michigan to bring in an immediate-impact corner in the Class of 2011, now that need has likely been diminished even further.

Michigan already has two cornerbacks committed for 2011. The goal for a number of defensive backs may have swelled to four by Signing Day, but if Woolfolk returns, the need for a fourth DB disappears. There are now six scholarships available, and Michigan can only afford to use a maximum of one of those remaining scholarships for the defensive backfield. Here’s how I see those scholarships being used:

1. Running back: Demetrius Hart is the most likely option, as long as Michigan’s season goes fairly well.
2. Tight end: There are no impending commitments, but a WR/TE tweener could be offered and commit, such as Ben McCord.
3. Wide receiver: More depth is needed at wide receiver, especially with Darryl Stonum, Junior Hemingway, and Martavious Odoms being seniors in 2011. AJ Jordan is a possibility.
4 and 5. Offensive line: Anthony Zettel offers some position flexibility, which would be helpful with needs at both OL and DL. Chris Bryant would also be an option.
6. Defensive tackle: There’s talent already at defensive tackle, but not a lot of bodies. Michigan needs one big body in the middle.

Cornerback isn’t as pressing of a need as those other positions. Including Woolfolk and the two current Class of 2011 needs, Michigan will have seven cornerbacks on the roster in 2011. As mentioned, at least three of them will have starting experience. The needs at TE, WR, OL, and DT are more pressing. Interestingly, the position Michigan least needs to recruit is the running back spot, but Demetrius Hart is the highest-rated and most anticipated Michigan target at this point. If no additional scholarships open up and Hart commits elsewhere, I would not be surprised to see Michigan go without a running back in this recruiting cycle.

Addendum: If 2010 commitments Conelius Jones and Antonio Kinard end up qualifying and enroll in January, that could add more twists to the scholarship situation. However, usually it seems that Michigan’s non-qualifiers don’t end up at Michigan, so I’m not counting on them being a part of the picture.