[Thunder]

D.J. Durkin, Greg Mattison visited Westwood (NJ) Old Tappan ATH Jordan Fuller

[Thunder]

D.J. Durkin, Greg Mattison visited Paramus (NJ) Catholic DT Rashan Gary

[Thunder]

Tim Drevno is visiting Mesquite (TX) North OT Jean Delance on Tuesday

[Thunder]

Jay Harbaugh visited Tampa (FL) Berkeley TE Jacob Mathis on Sunday
John Baxter and Mike Zordich will visit Los Angeles (CA) Loyola CB David Long, Jr. on Wednesday

• This reply was modified 8 years, 4 months ago by Thunder.

[Thunder]

That’s a very good question. I thought Gallon would be able to latch on somewhere with a team that likes to use those small slot guys. I thought he was in a great situation with the Patriots, except for the fact that they already had guys to fill those roles. Then injuries were a problem.

The one drawback for Gallon, I think, is that he never really showed an ability to return punts. I think sometimes being able to do both of those things (return punts, play in the slot) is what gets a guy on a roster.

[Thunder]

I don’t think recruits will shy away from Ohio State. It takes more than one game to change recruiting momentum. Now if they lose to Michigan this weekend and then lose a bowl game, then some people might start to wonder about the direction of the program. As it stands, they went from losing to Virginia Tech in 2014 to being undefeated through ten games this year, so that’s still an excellent run.

[Thunder]

I agree on Cardale Jones. He did a good job at the end of last year, but I’ve never seen him as a high upside QB. With Barrett presumably returning next year, there’s no need for Jones to stay. Whether he goes to the NFL or transfers to another FBS program, OSU will probably be better off without him as a distraction.

[Thunder]

I’m not 100% believing those rumors. But usually rumors do not appear out of nowhere.

[Thunder]

Two can be a coincidence. Three, to me, is a pretty clear sign of a medical issue, a chronic structural problem.

[Thunder]

It’s not a charity. But even corporations will lend a helping hand to people who have terrible things happen to them. No charities (or at least very few) are going to bother giving a huge break to a kid who tears a ligament three times. Come on. It’s just not the same.

It’s not Michigan’s “right” to tell Falcon what to do. Absolutely not. But it’s also not his “right” to get a scholarship from Michigan if he doesn’t do what they stipulate. If I go get a job at a power company, but they say I need to get a CPR certification before I can get hired, then by golly, I’ve got to get that CPR certification. I can’t just sit there and say, “Well, I got a flat tire and couldn’t go to the CPR class. Can I just have the job anyway?” They can’t force me to take the CPR class; they also are not required to hire me.

[Thunder]

Again, how many of them tore their ACL three times by the time they were done with high school? This is a question you probably can’t answer, but it’s worth considering.

[Thunder]

I see a significant delineation between:

a) Student-athlete suffers life-threatening injuries in a plane crash. Both parents have been killed in separate plane crashes.
b) Student-athlete suffers third ACL injury before his senior year of high school football.

One is clearly deserving of some good news. The other…eh…crap happens sometimes.

Also, there is a rumor floating around that Michigan asked Falcon to forego his senior year of football in order to graduate early, rehab his injury with Michigan’s staff, and get right for college football. If that’s what they asked and he decided to risk it, anyway, then that’s even more of a reason not to give him a football scholarship.

[Thunder]

I’m not sure that football and basketball are the same. I’m not saying recovery rates and such are dissimilar, but they’re completely different games. Football fields are more questionable surfaces, it’s more of a contact sport, etc. Also, that ACL recovery club does not not how many of those players came back from 3 ACL tears.

[Thunder]

Michigan football isn’t a charity. It’s great when people make sacrifices to help those truly in need (such as Mike Barwis with Brock Mealer), but there’s no need for Michigan to chew up scholarship spots with people who won’t play football for them. You just got done saying on another post that Jim Harbaugh doesn’t play Ty Isaac because “he’s not as good.” Now you think that Michigan should give scholarships to players that they don’t want anymore.

If a kid gets hurt before he comes to college, I don’t think the college owes him anything. That’s the way the world works. And as far as Pipkins goes, he tore his ACL and barely played the following year. I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to say that he can’t play anymore. If Pipkins came back last year and was serviceable or dominant, that would be a decent argument. I don’t see why the coaches would turn him away if they thought he could still contribute positively to the team.

[Thunder]

The prequels were disappointing – bad acting, bad casting choices, etc. I still liked them, but not as much as the original trilogy. However, I think J.J. Abrams makes everything better. I wasn’t a huge Star Trek fan, either, but his two Star Trek movies were pretty darn good. I’m not the world’s biggest Star Wars fan, but I’m excited for December.

[Thunder]

I’m guessing he still has dreams of being rich and famous and in the NFL. It’s not a bad goal. It’s definitely a great deal, and I don’t think you could wrong to take it. It’s a great situation for him – he was such a good high school athlete, even though he was often injured, that he could get a free education even if he doesn’t play football.

[Thunder]

Yeah, the only viable option to be in the rotation at NT is Henry, IMO. I don’t think Pallante and Strobel are ready right now. I think Strobel would be better off playing that SDE position that Henry is playing, anyway.

[Thunder]

This is a big hit to Michigan’s defense. He was Michigan’s best nose tackle since Mike Martin in 2011. He didn’t create as many plays as Martin, but he clogged up everything inside. Now Michigan is down its top two nose tackles (Glasgow, Bryan Mone).

[Thunder]

The Henson era was a weird thing. I think people resented him a little bit for stealing time from Tom Brady. Then he had one good year…and people resented him for leaving early. Personally, I am/was miffed at him for leaving, because he said he would come back and then reneged. I understand people leaving early, but once you say you’re staying, you should stay.

[Thunder]

There are a couple current options. There is a “Recent Comments” widget on the right sidebar where you can see if someone has commented recently on a topic that interests you. Also, if you click on Blog in the top menu or bookmark the link

https://touch-the-banner.com/category/blog/

then you will see something similar to the old site. It shows how many comments there are on each post.

Hopefully that helps.

[Thunder]

I said it was a good indicator of who’s being successful. I didn’t say it was the only indicator, nor did I say it necessarily determined the best back. You can’t look at Vincent Smith’s 6.0 yards/carry and say he’s being “unsuccessful” or “bad.”

[Thunder]

I don’t think anyone would argue with you that Denard Robinson is a more talented runner than just about anyone on the list. It’s not really fair to compare quarterbacks to running backs.

That’s fine if you think that way about MSU. If you give 20 carries to Smith or Isaac against UNLV, I am pretty confident that Isaac would be the more productive back…and I have evidence to back that up. We’ll just see about Smith vs. Isaac.

Again, I have never said that yards per carry is the definition of the better running back. But it is a strong indicator of who’s being successful. Only in very rare cases – such as the terrible OL of 2013 – will I suggest that a running back who’s averaging 4.0 yards/carry or less should be the #1 back with the vast majority of cases. Smith was averaging 3.9 yards/carry up until this past week, and his good game bumped it all the way up to 4.8, which is still below several of the guys listed. It’s a sign of how bad we’ve been that a guy averaging 3.9 yards/carry can garner as much support as he did.

BTW, I think it’s a little misleading to use Anthony Thomas’s (and others’) freshman stats to make your point. If you want to talk about using stats “well” or “poorly,” then saying “Anthony Thomas was clearly the best back but he only averaged 4.1 yards/carry so you’re wrong” is a bit like saying, “Tom Brady redshirted as a freshman, so he was the best QB even though he didn’t start.” Thomas went on to average 5.2, 4.4, and 5.4 yards/carry once he was a non-freshman.

We’re not talking about freshmen here. We’re talking about a bunch of guys who are redshirt sophomores, juniors, and redshirt juniors.

[Thunder]

Did anybody watch this game on Friday? What were your impressions?

I set my DVR to record it, but for some reason, the recording didn’t happen.

[Thunder]

Upshur did indeed commit to Florida State this afternoon.

[Thunder]

My apologies to TTB Andrew for creating a thread about captains, too. I have since deleted it.

I thought Morgan would have a good chance, too. It’s tough to argue the offensive captain, because the only seniors are a guy who transferred in (Jake Rudock), Kerridge, Sione Houma, A.J. Williams, and a fifth year senior who has had multiple legal issues (Graham Glasgow).

[Thunder]

Not worried or disappointed at all. When he was 215 lbs., I said he needed to add weight. I’d say he’s up 13 pounds or so since then.

[Thunder]

By the way…Ty Isaac is listed at 228 lbs. on the updated roster.

[Thunder]

Today is the day for Mitchell’s announcement. I’m still expecting it to be Michigan.

[Thunder]

There are a few 6’3″ corners. I think Richard Sherman is 6’3″. Also, Lenny Walls (from Boston College and then the Broncos) was 6’4″.

[Thunder]

After just re-examining Russell Bellomy’s career arc, I sure am glad Jim Harbaugh is evaluating our quarterbacks these days.

[Thunder]

And as expected, Martell committed to Texas A&M.

[Thunder]

Smith went against the grain and committed to UNC.

[Thunder]

I appreciate all of the notes/suggestions/likes/dislikes.

[Thunder]

I’m not 100% sold on it, either, but I do like that it offers up some easy navigation. If people are going back and forth to the forum, the offer boards, the blog, etc., then I think it serves some functionality. I’m kind of considering it as a trial run.

[Thunder]

Oh, he’s not that bad. I argue with him a lot, but he’s passionate and informed about Michigan. There are lots of worse commenters in the Michigan blogosphere.

[Thunder]

Don’t scare him away! If he didn’t post on a regular basis, we wouldn’t have anything to argue about. This is a sports blog, and arguments are fundamental when it comes to sports.

[Thunder]

Oh, okay. Yeah, I plan to look into putting a sign-in widget on the main page.

[Thunder]

Never mind. You just popped on the list. I’ll check into it. You shouldn’t have to keep signing back in, AFAIK.

[Thunder]

I don’t have you as a registered user. If you hover over “Forum” at the top of the page, it gives you a link to the registration page.

[Thunder]

I agree with your assessment on Daniels, for the most part. Athletically, he’s a significant step down from Gary, I think. Daniels is very strong, but he’s not as explosive as I would like him to be. I do see him as a nose tackle for that reason, and while he probably needs to put on a few pounds, not a great deal of additional weight would be necessary. Right now he’s listed at 299 lbs. and I think he could probably play at 305 or so.

[Thunder]

They will be making an appearance soon.

[Author]

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