Zach Gentry, Shane Morris, and Jake Rudock
Jim Harbaugh did a signing at The M Den yesterday, and some news bits came out of it. Because this time of year is slow, I’ll recap some of the bits and share my thoughts:
- Harbaugh said that QB Zach Gentry is now TE Zach Gentry. It was always thought that Gentry could play tight end, but he was a highly ranked quarterback, too. I think a move from quarterback to tight end for Gentry – who was getting decent practice reviews – indicates that Harbaugh is pretty comfortable with John O’Korn, Brandon Peters, and others in the quarterback pipeline. If the prevailing thought holds, it has O’Korn starting in 2016 and 2017, and then perhaps Peters taking over as a redshirt sophomore in 2018. If Gentry were to stay at QB and succeed O’Korn, that would possibly have Peters waiting until his fifth year senior year to take the job. Things rarely work that cleanly, and not many highly touted guys want to wait five years to play. It’s a good idea to spread out the talent and get your best athletes on the field.
- TE Khalid Hill is getting a chance to be FB Khalid Hill. The redshirt junior is not a great fit for fullback at 6’2″, 270 lbs. and with little experience carrying the ball, but he does provide a body at the fullback position that is severely depleted with seniors Joe Kerridge and Sione Houma graduating. I am more fond of the idea of playing tailback De’Veon Smith in the role that Houma held (part-time FB, part-time TB), but Hill is a talented pass-catcher and this would give Michigan a chance to get another starter-quality player on the field. There is a logjam at the tight end position, so it’s not a bad idea to spread those players out.
- LT Mason Cole is going to be working at center this spring. Cole played some center last spring, but snapping the ball was an issue. He will presumably be a little further along this spring. Someone needs to step up at center, and it seems that the coaching staff isn’t pinning their hopes on redshirt junior Patrick Kugler. As of right now, the line looks like it will probably be: LT Grant Newsome, LG Ben Braden, C Mason Cole, RG Kyle Kalis, RT Erik Magnuson. However, there are rumors that a further shakeup could take place before the season.
- Michigan will hold its spring game on the evening of April 1, 2016, which is a Friday. It will begin at 6:00 p.m. There is some grumbling that out-of-towners will not be able to make it to town, that it will be cold as the sun goes down, etc. Compared to other schools’ spring games, Michigan’s has not been anything special for a while. Maybe there isn’t even a need to make a glorified spring practice “special.” Regardless, it’s not the worst idea in the world to try something different. If out-of-towners are so dedicated that they’re grumbling about the time, then they probably won’t mind taking a day/half-day off of work to see the “game.”
- The first spring practice will be held on February 29th.
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Why is Hill not a good fit at fullback? He seems like the best fit on the roster to me.
Smith is Michigan’s best RB by a longshot, so he’s not really available for FB.
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Hill’s just not a running back. The best fullbacks, IMO, are former tailbacks, because they can see the running lanes, how plays will develop, they know how to take handoffs, etc.
Maybe Smith is Michigan’s best RB (which isn’t saying much), but he’s also probably the best fit for the RB/FB combo position that Houma played.
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I thought Smith looked good vs BYU and then he got injured and did not have the same burst or cutting ability again until he was fully healthy for the bowl game against Florida. He is certainly not as fast as you would like a tailback, but if he stays healthy I think he can be very productive
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He hasn’t been particularly productive for most of his career, at least in comparison to other backs. Green/Johnson were more productive in 2014, everyone was more productive in 2015, etc. It’s not that he’s the absolute worst option for tailback in 2016, but if you have someone else who can approximate what he can do at tailback, then it would be nice to see him get some of those FB snaps. I’m not saying I think it will happen. But if, say, Drake Johnson or Kareem Walker or Ty Isaac or Kingston Davis can produce as well as Smith can at tailback (somewhere between 4.2 to 4.8 yards/carry), then Smith would offer a skill set at fullback that nobody else on the team can replicate.
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Agree on both Hill and Smith. Never having taken hand offs will test Hill’s vision & decisiveness, and it’s not like our OL opens big lanes.
As for Smith, yeah he’s our best, but we’ve had some really poor comparison lately
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We’ve seen Hill be effective as a blocker and we’ve seen him be a threat as a pass-catcher. Of course it would be nice if he was a runner, but of the reasonable options on the roster (guys like Poggi or converting B-list RBs like Shallman or Isaac) – HIll seems like he’s the best bet. He’d be a weapon as a pass-catcher, if nothing else, which would force linebackers and safeties to pay attention to him. Saying Smith is a good fit at FB is like saying Peppers is a good fit at RB. Sure, it’d be nice – but we need him elsewhere.
Hill’s about the right size (or at least as close as we have) and brings a valuable skillset to the position. In my mind he’s the favorite to end up as the starting FB.
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We’ll see. I’m not saying he can’t block or catch the ball. What I’m saying is that I don’t really see him being the guy to get Houma’s carries on traps, dives, etc. I think it’s certainly possible that somebody else takes those snaps/carries, such as Smith. Houma played some tailback and fullback last year. I don’t see why Smith can’t do something similar.
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Because RB is a more important position, even for Harbaugh, and Smith is needed there.
Houma wasn’t a ball-carrier until last year. Hill has looked mobile enough when catching passes. I agree he’s (probably) a step-down as a ball-carrier, but I’d argue he’s a step up as a pass catcher. Either way, his threat with the ball in his hands is entirely secondary to what he does as a blocker. Harbaugh keeps throwing 270 pound dudes back there, so I don’t think he’s too big. Nor is he too tall like some other RBs who get mentioned.
Kerridge and Houma both did fine as ball-carriers and I’m confident that Hill would be adequate in the handful of meaningful carries he would get also. To me, it’s a bit like wondering about how well a QB functions as a blocker on reverses or other wonky trick plays. It matters a little bit but there are more important things.
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Smith is only NEEDED at running back if Walker, Johnson, Davis, etc. can’t get the job done.
I don’t think Hill is too tall. But he’s very inexperienced at carrying the ball. As much as rare carries might not seem all that important, it IS extremely important that he’s comfortable taking a handoff and carrying the ball through the line on short-yardage plays. And if he’s not able to do that, then maybe you give Smith those carries from the FB position…which is kind of my point.
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Well – the obvious issue is that Smith is the #1 RB, while Houma was third string at best. Houma’s main job was FB, Smith’s is RB. You can moonlight at another position of course, but RB is generally a more important position and you take a lot more hits there. I don’t think Michigan can afford to do that with Smith.
Houma was adequate as a ball-carrier but not any better really than guys like Isaac. FB doesn’t have to be a big-play guy with the ball in his hands, just someone who can power forward without fumbling. Kerridge was OK as a ball-carrier, I think Hill can be too. A step-down from Houma, sure, but not a game-changing one.
I guess I just don’t think Michigan really needs to replace Houma’s ball-carrying duties. That was something that emerged later in the year as Harbaugh gained comfort with Houma and saw the skillset. I don’t see it as a critical part of the offense, like FB blocking ability is. Before Houma took most of Kerridge’s snaps they didn’t run FBs a lot – and that was OK.
It would be nice to have that wrinkle, and I agree that a RB would be the best candidate to supply it, but we haven’t recruited guys for the FB spot like that in the last couple years and Davis (who many think will be a FB) probably won’t be ready for that role as a freshman.
If Shallman makes the long-rumored move to FB I could see him reprising the Houma role, but I think Hill can be more like Kerridge (with the added wrinkle of having a+ hands for a FB).
In my mind, the idea FB rotation would be Shallman, Hill, and Poggi. None of them are the full package, so to speak, but each brings some interesting elements that can exploit holes in defenses.
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Smith is the #1 running back, but the drop-off is not significant to #2 or #3 in many tangible ways. As I’ve said before, he had the lowest yards per carry of any of the major contributors, and he was one of the worst running backs in the Big Ten based on production. He does have value as a pass protector and such, but he’s not very good at the RB’s primary job, which is running the ball.
Anyway, I’m not saying Smith should be the #1 fullback. All I’m saying is that he could do the job that Houma did last year, and I think it would be beneficial for the team to see him lined up ahead of Drake Johnson, Kareem Walker, etc. on occasion. Harbaugh likes to mess with his formations by putting three backs in the backfield, putting tight ends and wide receivers back there, etc. It’s not out of the realm of possibility for Smith to play some FB this season.
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Mmm….maybe we’ll get lucky and Gentry will become another Riemersma!
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What about Shallman at FB? What is his role going to be this year?
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I have heard very little buzz about Shallman. Physically, it would make sense for him to play fullback at his size, but he’s not extremely physical. AFAIK, he’s still slated to be a backup tailback.
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Isn’t it a bit of a concern that right now a second year player is slated to play LT? Why not play Magnuson in the LT slot and Newsome in the RT slot? Is Newsome ahead of Magnuson at the moment? I am sad and disappointed for Patrick Kugler. I had really high hopes for him. Anyone has any ideas what seem to be the issue with Kugler?
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Newsome’s age isn’t THAT concerning to me. Taylor Lewan, Mason Cole, and others have played left tackle in their second year in the program (Cole started in his first year at LT, too). I think Magnuson could play LT if necessary, but Newsome is longer and more athletic. From what I’ve seen, Kugler’s issues are more physical than mental. He hasn’t turned into a big, beefy guy, and I don’t know if he’s a back-alley brawler like Jim Harbaugh wants. He just doesn’t seem to get a ton of movement.
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