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2010 Countdown: #23 Thomas Gordon

Name: Thomas Gordon
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 205 lbs.
High school: Cass Technical High School in Detroit, MI
Position: Spur
Class: Redshirt freshman
Jersey number: #15
Last year: I ranked Gordon #77 and said he’d redshirt. He redshirted.

Gordon has made a surprising leap from where he was in high school. At Cass Tech Gordon had been a quarterback on a team that didn’t throw the ball very well or very much. When he learned that he had a good shot at earning a scholarship on defense, Gordon convinced head coach Thomas Wilcher to play him at free safety. But that late-career position change stunted any chance for Gordon to play as a freshman, cementing a redshirt in his first college season. In the spring Gordon moved to Spur, which is similar to the SAM linebacker spot that Steve Brown occupied last season.

He remains the front-runner for the Spur position, as Michael Williams fell out of favor with the coaching staff during spring practices. Williams made 56 tackles in 2009, but his overzealousness and poor coverage opened the door for others. He’s even dropped to third on the depth chart, behind former walk-on Floyd Simmons. Thomas Gordon and Simmons do not seem like extremely viable options at Spur in the long run, but almost everyone in the defensive backfield will be young in 2010. Other talented players are enrolling this fall (Marvin Robinson, Carvin Johnson, and Josh Furman), and they will push for playing time. I expect Gordon to be the starting Spur on September 4th, but I would not be surprised to see him passed up in the coming years.

Prediction for 2010: Starting Spur; 60 tackles

2010 Football Roster Tidbits

This guy is 320 lbs.

The 2010 football roster was released on Monday, and there are several interesting notes. Going down the list numerically . . .

Freshman safety Marvin Robinson is #3 and listed at 6’2″, 200 lbs. Not only was Troy Woolfolk impressed with his play at safety during summer 7-on-7s, but for all those people who thought he would bulk up to play linebacker . . . 200 lbs. hardly screams for a position change.

Freshman safety Josh Furman is #6 and listed at 6’2″, 207 lbs.

Senior linebacker Jonas Mouton is 240 lbs. now. Last year he was listed at 228. He’s not the only linebacker who bulked up, so that’s clearly a directive from the coaches and training staff.

Freshman cornerback Courtney Avery is #9 and listed at 5’11”, 167 lbs. He has apparently been working hard this summer, but that’s not much weight to be spread out across a 5’11” frame.

Freshman safety Carvin Johnson is #13 and listed at 6’0″, 195 lbs.

Junior running back Michael Shaw packed on 6 lbs. and is up to 187.

Freshman safety Ray Vinopal is #20 and listed at 5’10”, 193 lbs.

Freshman cornerback Terrence Talbott is #22 and listed at 5’11”, 171 lbs.

Freshman cornerback Cullen Christian is #24 and listed at 6’0″, 187 lbs. That seems like a perfect size to get some playing time this year.

Redshirt sophomore middle linebacker Kenny Demens is 250 lbs. now. And if you’ve seen any new pictures of him, he’s jacked.

Freshman slot receiver Drew Dileo is #26 and listed at 5’10”, 171 lbs.

Redshirt freshman middle linebacker Isaiah Bell is 245 lbs. now, up from 237 in the spring. He was a free safety and about 205-210 coming out of high school, so that’s some impressive weight gain. Hooray for chocolate milk.

Redshirt freshman kicker Brendan Gibbons is 227 lbs. There were reports that he had been up to about 245.

Freshman linebacker Jake Ryan is #37 and listed at 6’3″, 224 lbs.

Freshman linebacker Davion Rogers is #38 and listed at 6’6″, 200 lbs. Maybe he can play small forward for our basketball team, too.

Freshman Kenny Wilkins is #41 and listed at 6’3″, 262 lbs. Hopefully that’s good weight, and I’m assuming it is because he has a reputation for being a gym rat. He’s also listed as a defensive end, despite some people’s thoughts that he would play Craig Roh’s linebacker position.

Freshman punter Will Hagerup is #43 and listed at 6’4″, 210 lbs.

Senior Mark Moundros (a permanent captain for this season) is listed as a “FB/LB,” the only player on the team with two positions listed.

Senior middle linebacker Obi Ezeh is up to 250 lbs.

Redshirt junior center David Molk is listed at 285 lbs., up fifteen from the 2009 season.

Freshman defensive tackle Richard Ash is #54 and listed at 6’3″, 320 lbs. That’s a significant weight gain for someone who was 240 lbs. as a junior and listed at 263 lbs. on his recruiting profiles. That much weight gain can’t be good weight.

Freshman defensive end Jibreel Black is #55 and listed at 6’2″, 258 lbs. Expect to see him on the field this fall.

Redshirt junior defensive tackle Dominique Ware is still short (5’7″).

Sophomore defensive tackle William Campbell has gone through quite a transition. He came in at a reported 330 lbs., got all the way down to 318, and is now listed at 333 lbs. It sounds like the training staff had to melt off some of the flab and turn it into muscle . . . hopefully.

The redshirt freshmen offensve linemen have all put on significant weight. Taylor Lewan is 294, Michael Schofield is 293, and Quinton Washington is now 315. That should make them viable options to play this fall.

Senior tight end Martell Webb is up to 255 lbs.

Freshman wide receiver Ricardo Miller is now 6’4″, 215 lbs.

Freshman wide receiver D.J. Williamson is #84 and listed at 6’1″, 170 lbs.

Junior tight end Kevin Koger is up to 255 lbs.

Redshirt sophomore tight end Brandon Moore is up to 250 lbs.

Freshman Jordan Paskorz is #94 and listed at 6’3″, 242 lbs. He’s also listed as a defensive end, which is where someone with his hip stiffness belongs.

Freshman Terry Talbott is #96 and listed at 6’3″, 248 lbs. He’s destined for a redshirt, especially because he’s listed at defensive tackle, not defensive end.

Senior Adam Patterson is still listed as a defensive end, despite the fact that he got snaps at nose tackle in the spring.

2010 Countdown: #24 Mark Huyge

Review: 2009 Season Predictions

Jordan Kovacs went from an afterthought to a Freshman All-American.

One of the reasons I started this blog was to record my predictions, in order to look back on them at a later date. Well, that date has come. It’s a few weeks prior to the 2010 season, and I can’t help but think back on how I did last year (2009 Season Predictions here). I didn’t do too badly, but there were a couple surprises.

Starting Quarterback
Last year’s pick: Tate Forcier. I said he’d start every game.

I should have picked . . . Forcier. He started every game.

Leading Rusher
Last year’s pick: Brandon Minor. I said he’d end the season with about 900 yards.

I should have picked . . . Minor. Minor only had 502 yards, but he missed three full games (plus parts of several others) due to injuries.

Leading Receiver
Last year’s pick: Greg Mathews. I said he’d catch 50 balls for 650 yards.

I should have picked . . . Roy Roundtree. Mathews only caught 29 passes as the coaching staff continues to de-emphasize outside wide receivers. The leading receiver was slot receiver Roundtree, who caught 32 balls for 434 yards.

Leading Tackler
Last year’s pick: Obi Ezeh.

I should have picked . . . Steve Brown. Middle linebacker Ezeh fought through a back injury and inconsistency to finish third with 69 tackles. SAM linebacker Brown brought down 80 ballcarriers, while redshirt freshman safety Jordan Kovacs made 75 stops.

Leading Sacker
Last year’s pick: Brandon Graham. I said he’d finish at 10 sacks.

I should have picked . . . Graham. The obvious choice was obvious. Graham ended the season with 10.5 sacks, or 1/2 more of a sack than I thought. Damn half sacks!

Leading Interceptor
Last year’s pick: Donovan Warren. I said he’d snatch 3 errant passes.

I should have picked . . . Warren. He actually picked off 4 passes, so once again, I overestimated. If he had only picked off 3 like I told him to, then maybe he’d have stuck around for an extra year! Then again, that pick-off against Indiana really saved Michigan’s ass.

All-Big Ten First Team
Last year’s picks: Brandon Graham and Zoltan Mesko.

I should have picked . . . Graham, Mesko, and Donovan Warren. Graham and Mesko were voted All-Big Ten first team by the coaches. Those two plus Warren were chosen for the first team by the media. Two for three isn’t bad.

Leading Scorer (non-QB, non-kicker)
Last year’s pick: Brandon Minor.

I should have picked . . . Minor. He scored 8 rushing touchdowns (48 points). The next closest scorer was Carlos Brown with 5 touchdowns (30 points). Placekicker Jason Olesnavage scored 75 points, but kickers are almost always the leading scorers, which is why I didn’t allow myself to pick him.

Breakout Offensive Player
Last year’s pick: Junior Hemingway.

I should have picked . . . Roy Roundtree. Hemingway only caught 16 passes, while Roundtree emerged as the go-to receiver late in the season and perhaps the front-runner for the next wearer of the coveted #1 jersey.

Breakout Defensive Player
Last year’s pick: Troy Woolfolk.

I should have picked . . . Jordan Kovacs. I don’t feel bad about the Woolfolk pick. He made 46 tackles and I think he surprised a lot of people with his solid play at both deep safety and cornerback. Despite switching to cornerback halfway through the season, it seemed that opponents targeted Donovan Warren more often than Woolfolk. Still, Kovacs was a Freshman All-American, started eight games, and finished second on the team with 75 tackles.

Most Disappointing Offensive Player
Last year’s pick: Kevin Koger. I said he wouldn’t catch any more than 15 passes.

I should have picked . . . I’m not sure. Greg Mathews? Maybe Koger was the right pick. I said he’d catch 15 passes or less, and the spiteful bastard caught 16 just to piss me off. Regardless, he dropped a lot of passes in the second half of the season and got phased out of the offense a bit. It’s arguable who was the most disappointing, but I’m satisfied with my pick. I think most Michigan fans expected more production from the tight end spot.

Most Disappointing Defensive Player
Last year’s pick: Ryan Van Bergen. I said he’d end up with about 20 tackles and a couple sacks.

I should have picked . . . Obi Ezeh. Maybe Jonas Mouton. Those inside linebackers made a lot of Michigan fans sad. It might be a little harsh to put Ezeh here, since he had a bad back and everything. But it’s one of the two. Both were benched at various points, and Mouton had the same number of tackles as cornerback Donovan Warren. That’s not good. Meanwhile, Van Bergen basically doubled my predictions – he had 40 tackles and 5 sacks. Good for him.

In Summary . . .
Well, the results are a mixed bag. Out of twelve predictions, six of them were spot-on. That’s 50% (I’d like to thank my 4th grade teacher for the math skills). Technically, I guess I should get a slight deduction for only picking Graham and Mesko as All-Big Ten First Team; the coaches agreed with me, but the media added Warren. That’s 49%. But I think I should get a few points for Koger as Most Disappointing Offensive Player, as well as a slight bump for Woolfolk as Breakout Defensive Player. That puts me at right around 55%.

So . . . 55% of the time, I’m right every time. Perhaps I should not be trusted.

Go blue!

2010 Countdown: #25 Perry Dorrestein

Name: Perry Dorrestein
Height: 6’7″
Weight: 321 lbs.
High school: Plainfield Central High School in Plainfield, IL
Position: Offensive tackle
Class: Redshirt senior
Jersey number: #79
Last year: I ranked Dorrestein #58 and said he’d be the backup to Patrick Omameh at tackle. Dorrestein started 8 games, while Omameh eventually started at right guard.

I’ve never been extremely high on Dorrestein, so let’s get that out of the way. He’s not extremely athletic for a left tackle, and he’s too tall to play much guard. I’ve thought of Dorrestein as backup material in an ideal world, and he indeed began last year as a backup to Mark Huyge. At best I think he’s an adequate right tackle. So while I’m not in the Dorrestein-for-starter camp, that doesn’t mean that offensive line coach Greg Frey and Rich Rodriguez aren’t high on Perry. He played 11 games at tackle in 2009, starting 8 of them.

This year the fifth-year senior is in another battle for playing time, this time with redshirt freshman Taylor Lewan. Dorrestein has bumped over to the left side to protect the quarterbacks’ blind side, but he missed some time in the spring due to a back injury that has lingered in part over the summer. When fall practices begin today, this will be one of the most heated position battles on the field. Lewan is an up-and-comer, but according to a source, it’s Dorrestein’s spot to lose. I think that an injury or lack of production will move Lewan into the starting lineup by the end of the season, but Dorrestein is perhaps the lowest ranked starter because he has a backup who’s roughly equivalent. All other things being equal, I’d rather the senior get playing time to reward him for five years of hard work. I’m just not sure if it will work out that way in this case.

Prediction for 2010: Starting left tackle to begin the season, but watch for the back injury to flare up