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21Mar 2009
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Congratulations, Michigan basketball!

I know very little about basketball, so this blog centers mostly around my favorite sport instead. But congratulations to the Michigan basketball team for making the NCAA Tourney and beating Clemson last night. I’ve never been more excited – or less able – to watch a basketball game. I was stuck at work for the first 30 minutes of play, and CBS wasn’t airing the game in my area when I got home. So I was stuck watching the ticker as Clemson pecked away at Michigan’s lead.
They play Oklahoma tomorrow at 5:50 p.m. I picked the Wolverines to lose to the Sooners in the second round, but I’ll be happier if I’m wrong.
Go blue!
18Mar 2009
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Scouting Report: Devin Gardner, QB – Inkster, MI

Curiously, Devin Gardner told everyone that he was committing to Michigan but thinks he hasn’t. He has stated that he wants to wait until his basketball playoffs are done before he holds any interviews. But he’s committed to Michigan. Except not really. It doesn’t count until he says it to a camera. I guess. Really, I have no idea. But he’s good at playing football, so yay.

Height: 6’4″
Weight: 195 lbs.
Position: Quarterback
School: Inkster High School in Inkster, MI
40 Yard Dash: 4.6 seconds (reported)
Vertical:

Notes: Holds offers from LSU, Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oregon, Purdue, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and others . . . Rushed 115 times for 1,401 yards and 22 TD’s as a junior in 2008 . . . Completed 98/170 passes (58%) for 1,886 yards, 26 TD’s, and 7 INT’s as a junior . . . Attended U of D Jesuit as a sophomore and threw for 1,000 yards while rushing for 475 . . . Former Inkster teammate Cameron Gordon was part of Michigan’s 2009 recruiting class . . . . . . #1 player in Michigan, according to Scout.com . . . #177 player nationally, according to Rivals.com . . . Wears #7

Scouting report: Strong runner . . . Difficult to bring down on first contact . . . Shows good leg drive in traffic . . . Excellent pocket presence and ability to feel pressure . . . Superb ability to change direction quickly when scrambling in the pocket . . . Can throw accurately running to either side . . . Good mechanics when working from under center . . . Above average arm strength . . . Puts plenty of air under deep balls . . . Very good passer when he squares his shoulders (see play at 9:15 in video below for best example) . . . Inconsistent passing mechanics from the shotgun . . . Often fails to square his shoulders to passing target (see play at approximately 4:32 below for best example) . . . Poor mechanics lead to reduced velocity and short throws that tend to sail high and to the right . . . Throws with accuracy – but poor velocity – when moving to the left

Projection: Gardner will be a very good BCS-level player in any offensive system. If his college coaches choose to do so, his poor mechanics are fixable.

Reminds me of: Vince Young (it’s cliched, but the throwing motion and his ability to shake off tacklers make the comparison pretty accurate)

16Mar 2009
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It’s a free-for-all!

Spring practice started on Saturday, and reports from that practice indicate that all hell has broken loose on the defensive side of the ball. Players are moving all over the place in Greg Robinson’s defense. Some of these moves are immediately good. Some are head-scratchers.

One big rumor is that Steve Brown is moving to linebacker. He’s still listed as a safety on the roster, but he’s bulked up to 215 pounds (he’s been around 205 in previous years). He’s supposedly working out at SAM linebacker. Although he’s a bit undersized for a SAM, he’s good in run support, a good blitzer, and would probably be better in pass coverage than most linebackers. Since he hasn’t been a very good safety, I would put this move in the “good” category, if it’s true.

In position drills, freshman early enrollee Brandin Hawthorne was working out with the safeties. The spring roster listed him at 195, but eyewitnesses have said he looks like he’s well over 200 pounds now, perhaps in the 215 lb. range. From watching his high school film, I don’t think he’d make a good safety. And considering that our linebacker depth isn’t…well…deep, then this would seem curious. Of course, Mike Jones and Isaiah Bell might move from safety to linebacker, so the effect on the actual numbers might be negligible. Also…

Anthony Lalota was seen working with the linebackers. As pointed out a couple days ago, Lalota is apparently 6’4″ and 235 lbs. instead of 6’6″, 260, so his size doesn’t necessarily preclude him from being a linebacker. But considering the Wolverines’ serious lack of depth on the defensive line, my guess is that Lalota might be working out to play the “spinner” (Robinson’s hybrid DE/OLB position) or they might want him to continue working on his agility in open space, since that’s one of his weaknesses coming out of high school.

Also, Vince Helmuth is now a defensive tackle and there’s photographic evidence to support Rodriguez’s claim that he’s a little heavy.
15Mar 2009
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Antonio Kinard, Wolverine

Antonio Kinard, a 6’4″, 210 lb. linebacker from Liberty High School in Youngstown, Ohio, has committed to Michigan. Soon-to-be freshmen Isaiah Bell and Fitzgerald Toussaint were his teammates at Liberty.

At this point, Kinard is relatively unknown. He’s unrated by the recruiting services, and the only offer he’s reported was Michigan’s. With his size and athleticism, though, I expect he’ll be a 3-star originally with a mid-4-star ceiling as the recruiting cycle goes along.

Kinard’s size suggests that he’ll either be a strongisde linebacker or a defensive end in college. He has good speed and sheds blocks pretty well. Playing linebacker in high school, he has the athleticism to drop back into coverage. His ball skills bode well for playing linebacker in college. He finished the 2008 season with 86 tackles, including 6 sacks.

However, he has the frame to eventually carry 245 pounds or so. On film he looks every bit of 6’4″ and he might not be done growing. It’s rare for college linebackers to be 6’4″ or taller. My guess is that he’ll be a weakside defensive end by the end of his career at Michigan. He doesn’t have the instincts to succeed at linebacker. He’s a little tentative when filling the hole and takes bad angles when chasing ballcarriers; this works in high school because of his superior skills, but if his fundamentals don’t improve, he’ll get burned by college players who are talented in their own right.

Kinard’s height, build, and speed remind me of Shawn Crable. I’d rank Kinard’s skills slightly behind Crable’s in high school, but there’s plenty of room for growth. I think Kinard will eventually be a defensive starter, but perhaps not until he’s in his third year or so. His body and his fundamentals need a few years to develop.