There are probably some controversial choices here – starting with the quarterback choice – but if I were putting together an all-star squad from the 2010-2019 seasons, here’s who I would want on my team.
QUARTERBACK: Jake Rudock
RUNNING BACK: Fitzgerald Toussaint
FULLBACK/H-BACK: Khalid Hill
WIDE RECEIVER: Jeremy Gallon
WIDE RECEIVER: Junior Hemingway
TIGHT END: Jake Butt
OFFENSIVE TACKLE: Taylor Lewan
OFFENSIVE GUARD: Ben Bredeson
CENTER: David Molk
OFFENSIVE GUARD: Patrick Omameh
OFFENSIVE TACKLE: Mason Cole
OFFENSIVE ALL-PURPOSE: Denard Robinson
DEFENSIVE END: Chase Winovich
DEFENSIVE END: Taco Charlton
DEFENSIVE TACKLE: Maurice Hurst, Jr.
DEFENSIVE TACKLE: Mike Martin
OUTSIDE LINEBACKER: Jake Ryan
INSIDE LINEBACKER: Devin Bush, Jr.
INSIDE LINEBACKER: Ben Gedeon
CORNERBACK: Jourdan Lewis
CORNERBACK: David Long
SAFETY: Jarrod Wilson
SAFETY: Dymonte Thomas
NICKEL: Jabrill Peppers
DEFENSIVE ALL-PURPOSE: Jordan Kovacs
PUNTER: Will Hart
KICKER: Kenny Allen
PUNT RETURNER: Donovan Peoples-Jones
KICKOFF RETURNER: Giles Jackson
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Fun idea
On D, I’m fine with your pics. For versatility, and if DBrown is DC, I’d rather have Chris wormley than Mike Martin, and maybe Delano Hill over DThomas
On O, of it’s JH style, I get what you’re doing. Otherwise, if it’s a Gattis approach, I’m honestly fine with Shea, losing the FB, and adding Nico (sliding Gallon to Slot)
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Great list.
I might take De’Veon Smith over Fitz, Nico over Hemingway, Gary over Taco, Delano over Dymonte, Khaleke over Gedeon.
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Yeah, I missed RB. Fitz or higdon. Crazy that – in 10yrs – we haven’t had anyone worth fighting over
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Thanks.
Smith spent one year in the NFL and made 3 receptions with 0 carries. Toussaint had a four-year NFL career. That’s not everything, but it’s a solid indication that one was better than the other. Toussaint was more talented, jut not surrounded by as good of a supporting cast.
Receiver A: 88 catches, 1638 yards, 18.6 yards/catch, 11 TD
Receiver B: 74 catches, 1340 yards, 18.1 yards/catch, 13 TD
Receiver A is Hemingway. Receiver B is Collins. Hemingway’s quarterbacks were Chad Henne as a freshman, then Sheridan, Threet, Forcier, and Denard Robinson. The vast majority of Collins’s targets have come from Shea Patterson, and he has people like Peoples-Jones and Ronnie Bell taking attention away from him, whereas Hemingway’s supporting cast consisted of lesser athletes. Collins isn’t a terrible choice, but I think Hemingway did just as well with less around him.
I was not too impressed with Gary or Delano Hill, and Khaleke Hudson is an OLB, so he wasn’t really in consideration for the position I gave to Gedeon.
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We’ve had similar conversations before, but … Hemingway enjoyed some way wide open balls hat had nothing to do with his abilities as a receiver, but rather had to do with Denard terrorizing safeties into sprinting into run fits while he was still in the backfield and in a position to throw.
I think that while Denard was not a very good passer and a flat out for crap drop back QB, he was a way dangerous total yardage threat, and Hemingway was a major beneficiary of that.
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I respectfully disagree. If you said this about Roy Roundtree, you might have an argument. You can watch this Youtube tribute to Junior Hemingway. There are tons of jump balls and yards after the catch. In fact, I see zero wide-open RPO-type plays. Hemingway was an outside receiver, and that era was prior to the “glance” or “hole” RPOs that have become so prevalent. Slot receivers like Roundtree and Martavious Odoms were the beneficiaries of those bubbles, pop passes, etc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0I4KhrAsb00
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I would agree that Roy Roundtree was the single biggest beneficiary of the threat of Denard taking off. and I would also agree that Hemingway was the best jump ball receiver we’ve had since probably Braylon Edwards. I’m simply taking note of your list of those advantages that Hemingway didn’t enjoy during his career, and replacing them with a big plus that he did enjoy.
With regards to the RPO thing, it may not have been identified as such, and was certainly nascent, but the concept was profound in RR’s offense as he experimented in ways to option defenders other than the DE.
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Oh yeah, Happy New Year, Thunder.
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Happy New Year!
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I honestly just can’t think of or find an example of what you’re talking about with Hemingway.
Meanwhile, at :18 into this Youtube clip of the 2010 Notre Dame game, there’s Roundtree running free:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=et3_UXSHugc
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well put!
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Cool. That all makes sense.
De’Veon is a personal favorite player of mine — I just loved watching him run the rock. Fitz was awesome too though.
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Could this team beat Ohio St. this year?
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no. not even close. The offense from an NFL perspective is very average. Defense is pretty good. How many of the skill players were in the NFL for at least 5 years ( or will be?)
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We were an inch away from beating ohio in CBus back in 2016.
Bring in Chase & Bush, then add an offense that is going to produce more than 5yds in the 3Q?
Yeah, I think we’d (finally) win
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I think it’s possible. There aren’t a whole lot of weaknesses. It probably wouldn’t be a 10 games out of 10 promise, but this is a pretty good squad.
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Would have destroyed OSU. The difference in the DL and lack of matchups to exploit in the secondary.
The gap is not insurmountable.
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The only name that raised my eyebrows and I would like to hear you defend is Dymonte Thomas. He really only had one productive season and I would have thought Hill, Kovacs, or Metellus would earn that spot.
I would enjoy hearing your second team or guys who just missed.
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Hill and Metellus are kind of in the same category to me – guys who make too many mistakes. Hill is a better athlete than Metellus, and Metellus has better instincts than Hill, so they kind of even out. I want more speed than Kovacs had. Thomas is really the one safety in the last 10 years who had the speed to get over the top against offenses like Penn State, Ohio State, etc.
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Thomas was easily the best athlete at safety in the decade. But I don’t know that you can knock the other guys for mistakes when Thomas struggled to even get on the field most of his career. You also used Fitz’s NFL career as a pseudo tie breaker and at safety that certainly favors Hill. I think your best argument is that you have a reliable and boring NFL safety at the other spot so you’ll take a playmaker who had a very brief time as a good player over another boring NFL safety.
In some ways your defense of Thomas over Hill would be the same we could make about picking Nico over Junior.
Fun debate.
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Does that NFL argument favor Hill for certain? Coming into the 2019 season, here were their career stats:
Hill: 29 tackles, 1 PBU
Thomas: 20 tackles, 1 INT, 1 PBU
Thomas was put on IR and has missed the entire 2019 season.
Thomas didn’t struggle to get on the field for most of his career. He played in 47 games and started 21 of them.
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I think you put your most athletic guys on the field – Thomas, Hill, Peppers, and Hudson not far behind.
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Guys under consideration:
QB: Patterson
RB: Higdon
WR: Collins, Roundtree
TE: Koger
OL: Ruiz, Schofield, Glasgow, Magnuson, Runyan
DE: Gary, Clark
DT: Glasgow, Wormley, Henry
LB: Hudson, Morgan
CB: Lavert Hill, Countess
S: Kovacs, Metellus, Thomas Gordon
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Not sure why anyone goes ga-ga over Rudock. He had half a good season, and that was it. If I had to choose a QB from the last decade for a big game, it would be Robinson, 10 times out of 10. He wasn’t a great passer, but he was a difference maker. Defenses worried about him. No defense ever worried about Rudock.
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I’m not picking Denard Robinson to play QB for any kind of all-star team or serious title run. You have to be able to pass the ball effectively to win big games. That has been shown time and time again.
AGAINST RANKED TEAMS
2012: 1 TD, 6 INT
2011: 5 TD, 3 INT
2010: 5 TD, 5 INT
2009: 0 TD, 2 INT
CAREER: 11 TD, 16 INT
Michigan was 3-14 in those games. He wasn’t necessarily the primary QB in all those games, he had questionable coaching, etc., but that’s a terrible TD-INT ratio and a terrible record. And you might say his rushing ability made up for it, but he only had 100+ rushing yards as a QB in 2 career games vs. ranked teams (Wisconsin and OSU in 2010, both of which were losses).
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That’s not the issue though. Yeah, I’d wish for a great passer in a big game too, but Michigan hasn’t had one in the last decade. So, as noted, if I had the rest of the lineup you list there, I’d pick the only QB we have had in the last decade that has given defenses worries, the only one even capable of big plays and big games. Rudock was never a difference maker. I would take Patterson over him.
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Jake Rudock: 6 TD, 3 INT vs. ranked teams in 2015
And all 3 interceptions came against Utah in week one.
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This is straight up fabrication and it’s overtly ridiculous.
Rudock’s best season (5th year, coached by Harbaugh) – finished 0-3 against teams that finished in the top 25 per FEI. 7 TDs and 3 INTs Including a game he lost almost single handedly by throwing 3 INTs.
vs Utah 2 TDs and 3 INTs. loss
vs MSU 0 TD and 0 INT. loss
vs OSU 2 TDs and 0 INts. loss
The feather in his cap is beating a florida team that gave up in their bowl game and did not finish in the top 25.
Denard’s best season (3rd year, coached by Hoke): finished 1-1 against teams that finished in the top 25 per FEI. 7 TDs and 4 INTs
vs #10 ND 5 TDs and 3 INTs, win
vs # 14 MSU 2TDs and 1 INTs, loss,
The feather in his cap is beating OSU with 5 TDs and 0 INTs and winning the sugar bowl with 2 TDs and 1 INT. Neither of those teams finished in the top 25 either but we know the stakes were higher in both games than a half-hearted Citrus Bowl.
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QB: Denard
RB: Evans
WR: Collins, Gallon, Funchess
TE/H-Back: Asiasi
OT: Lewan, Schofield
OG: Cole, Omameh
OC: Molk
Apologies to Gardner or Patterson but behind this OL I’m giving the ball to my most dynamic playmaker and surrounding him with the best downfield threats I can find. All purpose might be Hill or V.Smith for blocking duties. Cheating a bit in projecting on Evans and Asiasi had they stuck around.
DT: Hurst, Wormley
DE: Gary
Edge: Ryan
ILB: Bush, McGrone – I’ll live with some mistakes to get a do-everything LB on the field.
Hybrid LB: Peppers
CB: Lewis, Long
S: Thomas, D.Hill
This side of the ball is hard despite so many slam-dunk choices. Omitting guys like Martin is tough but my D is focused on speed in the back 7. I’m putting Worm inside where he belonged to make room for Gary. All purpose: Wino ended up such a versatile player.
Fun Exercise. Happy New Year.
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To me, the player who was the most hard luck player I can remember is Devin Gardner. If he’s a little older he gets to play in Rich Rods system as an ideal dual threat. If he was a little younger he would have played for a competent Harbaugh offense with a real OL. Instead he got the weird transition period with an incompetent offensive staff and swiss cheese OL.
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I agree on Devin Gardner. I think he would have been outstanding with the right coaching staff. IMO, he was just as good as Vince Young as an athlete. But that’s what it looks like when you have mediocre coaching and a mediocre supporting cast.
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Agree AC. Gardner was a lot better than his numbers indicated. I think people accept this generally but what often is missed is that Denard was also a victim of the coaching transition –
Imagine Denard’s career had he red-shirted in 2009 and then transferred to a more modern and sophisticated offense after 2010. Instead he stuck with Michigan – to our program’s benefit, but not his own.
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