Mazi Smith, Nolan Rumler, Anthony Solomon, Quinten Johnson, and Trente Jones (L-R, image via Twitter)
Rivals put together a series of exit interviews from the All-American Bowl, including getting some responses from Michigan signees Daxton Hill and Chris Hinton, Jr.:
- Awkward coach encounters
- Memorable social media comments
- What player did you want to commit to your school?
- What surprised you about recruiting?
- What would you change about the recruiting process?
Here are a couple analyses of Chris Hinton . . .
. . . and Cornelius Johnson:
Here’s a link to the visitor list for this weekend (LINK).
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Ok, so it doesn’t make me happy to bring this up at all, but …
Look at the photo above and those of you who have been around this site for a while, remember my comment about Chris Fox being doomed to injury because his legs were put on wrong below the knee.
Check out Nolan Rummler whose legs go pretty straight into the ground, then take a look at Trente Jones whose legs don’t, then Mazi Smith whose legs also don’t, just not quite as bad. Neither of these guys is put together like Chris Fox who was about as bad on this issue as I have ever seen, but Rummler approaches the ideal. As an aside notice which guy has sense enough to be wearing the brace.
I haven’t had enough opportunity to look at humans regarding this issue and then weigh what my eyeballs tell me against experience with injuries to have anything beyond a strong opinion on the subject, and I’m not suggesting that this is a dead nuts predictor of injury, as I believe there to be some luck involved when it comes to injuries. But I can tell you beyond absolute certainty from a lifetime spent trading and training on cow horses that straight into the ground is way double better when it comes to issues of physical soundness.
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Interesting observation. Are there any examples that run counter to it? By that I mean players whose legs do not fit the ideal, yet were relatively injury free and did a great job?
As for knee braces … I think all offensive linemen at Michigan now are required to wear braces, right? I think your point is that the photo illustrates who, when given a choice, opts for the wise thing. But for offensive linemen once they get on campus, that becomes moot.
Do defensive linemen ever wear braces? I can see why edge players would not, but how about DTs and NTs? Is there a precedence for knee braces at that position?
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Is this the picture you’re talking about?
http://touchthebanner.blogspot.com/2015/08/chris-fox-ex-wolverine.html
Anyway, I get what you’re saying. I don’t think it’s exact. If you look at the linked picture above, Derrick Green had similar leg structure and never had injury issues but wasn’t very good at football. On the flip side, Jake Butt was built right and has had all kinds of knee problems. I know they’re not big guys carrying 300 lbs. or so, but it’s something to consider.
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Yeah, you can see it there, but because of the long pants, it’s not quite so profound. There’s a photo of him in uniform, where it hit me right between the eyes. I’ll look for it.
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This such a weird observation. Fascinating.
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Yeah, when you start playing games with horses and it’s your own money, you start looking at how they’re put together real hard. It becomes habit pretty quick.
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That was an interesting post. I enjoyed reading the player responses to the interview questions. From the little I read there, it seems Dax Hill has a good head on his shoulders — meaning: he’s a grounded and sensible young man. I suspect he’ll make a fine Wolverine above and beyond the stats on the field.
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Yeah. I thought that ahead of time, so I was surprised when he flipped to Alabama with very little warning. I understand flipping to ‘Bama just because they produce pro players, win championships, etc., but it surprised me that he bought into the idea that Harbaugh/Brown/the whole staff was jumping ship after a 10-2 season.
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Well … young person, swept up in the moment, etc. In the end he corrected his mistake and made the right decision.
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Good links.
I too am impressed by Hill. I don’t hold the decommit against him since these guys recruiting are pretty good at their jobs. It’s impressive that he didn’t dwell on the ‘mistake’ and went out and fixed it without a lot of hubub.
Hinton also sounds like a good dude. He’s right to feel this way since he probably committed to Michigan in part because of Mattison.”“The only thing I would change is that with the new signing period, like with the Miami situation, if you committed to Miami and signed and the head coach leaves, you should be able to at least re-open your commitment and sign in February. Because that’s messed up how a coach can just leave and coach the next year with repercussions but if you decide you want to go somewhere else you have to sit out.””
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