Tag: 2010 Season Countdown

2010 Countdown: #6 Ryan Van Bergen

Name: Ryan Van Bergen
Height: 6’6″
Weight: 283 lbs.
High school: Whitehall High School in Whitehall, MI
Position: Defensive end
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #53
Last year: I ranked Van Bergen #18 and said he’d have about 20 tackles and 2 sacks. He finished the season with 40 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, 5 sacks, 1 fumble recovery, and 4 pass breakups.

As a redshirt freshman in 2008, there was a fair amount of hype about Van Bergen. He apparently had a motor that never stopped, was quick off the ball, blah blah blah, and he recorded 13 tackles. I wasn’t that impressed. Then he moved to defensive tackle for 2009, and I thought, Great, a 6’6″ defensive tackle who’s under 280 lbs. getting blown off the ball is just what we need. Except he didn’t get blown off the ball all the time. He actually held his ground for the most part, although that’s partially due to the fact that he was playing on a line with Brandon Graham and Mike Martin, both of whom deserve to be double-teamed most of the time.

Now Van Bergen is back to defensive end, and he’s taking the place of the aforementioned Graham. Graham was a superior athlete who also happened to develop a non-stop motor by his senior year. I don’t expect the same kind of production from #53 as Michigan got from #55 for the past couple years, but Van Bergen’s numbers and impact should improve slightly. And frankly, for this defense to be successful, Van Bergen and Co. on the defensive line are going to have to take their game to the next level. The secondary is inexperienced, and the linebackers are questionable. Van Bergen should be able to hold his own in the run game, and another year of training and coaching should have improved his pass rushing ability. He’s an important cog in this year’s team, because the backup defensive ends are either nondescript (Renaldo Sagesse, Anthony Lalota, Steve Watson) or very young (Jibreel Black, Jordan Paskorz). I think Jibreel Black is going to be a very good player by the time his career plays out at Michigan, but he’s just a true freshman.

Prediction for 2010: Starting defensive end; 55 tackles, 7.5 sacks

Voters chose Van Bergen with 67% of their votes.

2010 Countdown: #7 J.T. Floyd

Name: J.T. Floyd
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 183 lbs.
High school: J.L. Mann High School in Greenville, SC
Position: Cornerback
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #12
Last year: I ranked Floyd #51 and said he wouldn’t contribute much as a backup cornerback. He started two games at cornerback after Boubacar Cissoko was suspended from the team and ended the season with 17 tackles and 1 pass breakup.

Floyd was a safety in high school and came to Michigan as a safety/cornerback combo player. I really thought Floyd would/should end up at safety and that his spot as a backup cornerback was simply a result of the lack of depth at the position. I’m still not entirely convinced that I was wrong. Floyd was forced into action last season when Boubacar Cissoko went a little haywire. It’s very telling to me that the coaches moved Troy Woolfolk from strong safety to cornerback and took Floyd off the field. Why? Because moving Woolfolk to cornerback meant that the coaches would rather have Jordan Kovacs and/or Mike Williams – both of whom were severely overmatched – playing deep safety than have Floyd on the field at cornerback. That’s scary to me.

Here it is 2010, and Floyd has made the jump all the way to the #7 most important player on the team. Why? Well, due to the Great Migration of cornerbacks, Michigan has lost four of its top cornerbacks over the last ten months. Freshman Demar Dorsey didn’t qualify, redshirt freshman J.T. Turner decided to transfer, senior Troy Woolfolk broke his ankle, and would-be junior Boubacar Cissoko is sitting in a jail cell for various ridiculous crimes. It is essential that Floyd has a good season in 2010. Other options at cornerback are a solid true freshman (Cullen Christian); a senior cornerback-turned-receiver-turned-cornerback benchwarmer (James Rogers); a sophomore running back-turned-cornerback-turned-safety-turned-cornerback (Teric Jones); and two true freshman midgets (Courtney Avery, Terrence Talbott). I am not expecting a huge turnaround from J.T. Floyd. I think he’s limited physically, but if he can play fundamentally sound football, tackle consistently, and not allow receivers to race past him on the regular, then he’ll have done a decent job.

Prediction for 2010: 55 tackles, 2 interceptions

Ryan Van Bergen was the leading vote earner with 40%. Floyd was second with 33%.

2010 Countdown: #8 Craig Roh

Name: Craig Roh
Height: 6’5″
Weight: 251 lbs.
High school: Chaparral High School in Scottsdale, AZ
Position: Outside linebacker
Class: Sophomore
Jersey number: #88
Last year: I ranked Roh #48 and said I thought he’d earn the starting OLB job by the end of the season. He won it by Week 1 and finished the season with 37 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 1 interception, and 3 pass breakups.

2010 Countdown: #9 Roy Roundtree

Name: Roy Roundtree
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 176 lbs.
High school: Trotwood-Madison High School in Trotwood, OH
Position: Slot receiver/wide receiver
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #12
Last year: I ranked Roundtree #46 and said he’d be the backup slot receiver. That was mostly true, although Roundtree came on late in the season to catch 32 passes for 434 yards and 3 touchdowns.

I have to admit, I didn’t expect much out of Roundtree in 2009. He had a spectacular spring game prior to the 2009 season, but with Martavious Odoms returning and what seemed to be a solid tight end in Kevin Koger, it looked like Roundtree wouldn’t get many reps. And for the most part, that held true. Late in the season, however, Odoms was injured, the coaches had lost confidence in Koger’s ability to catch the ball, and Plan C Kelvin Grady had some drops, too. So they went to Plan D. Plan D turned out to be awesome, as Roundtree’s late TD catch against MSU gave Michigan some false hope of winning the game. He went on to catch 30 passes over the last four games.

Roundtree enters 2010 with designs on being the #1 option for the Wolverines at receiver, although it’s unclear whether he’ll get more chances at slot receiver or at wideout. He’s not particularly fast or elusive, but he’s got that “it” factor that allows him to get open. He runs good routes, and he’s also developed a chemistry with not one, but both quarterbacks. Sometimes that’s all you need. With Michigan’s surplus of talent at the receiver positions and the questionable nature of its tight end situation, I expect a lot of four-wide sets, especially on obvious passing downs. This would likely put Darryl Stonum and Junior Hemingway on the outside, allowing Martavious Odoms and Roy Roundtree to work in the slot. The upcoming season should be the most exciting and productive passing year since Rich Rodriguez arrived in 2008.

Prediction for 2010: Starting slot receiver; 60 catches, 900 yards, 8 touchdowns

Ryan Van Bergen earned 44% of the vote, and J.T. Floyd got 28% of the vote. Roy Roundtree was third with only 13% of the vote. Come on, people – look at all the depth we have at the receiver positions!

2010 Countdown: #10 Jonas Mouton

Name: Jonas Mouton
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 240 lbs.
High school: Venice High School in Los Angeles, CA
Position: Weakside linebacker
Class: Redshirt senior
Jersey number: #8
Last year: I ranked Mouton #24 and said he had the ability to be an all-conference player. He had 66 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 2 interceptions, 1 fumble recovery, and 4 pass breakups.

Mouton was a safety early in his career, but most educated observers assumed he would quickly outgrow the position. That happened almost immediately, as Mouton became a weakside linebacker during his true freshman season. He played sparingly as a redshirt freshman in 2007 and then exploded in 2008, when he was the second-leading tackler (76) on the team. However, he took a step backward in 2009. He’s one of those players who always seems to have a nagging injury, and a hand injury hampered him as a redshirt junior. That shouldn’t have affected his ability to diagnose plays, though, which has been a problem at times. Mouton frustrated Michigan fans repeatedly last season, along with his fellow inside linebacker Obi Ezeh.

In more positive news, old linebackers coach Jay Hopson has departed (now the Memphis Tigers defensive coordinator), perhaps after being urged by head coach Rich Rodriguez. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the only coach to depart happened to head up the most disappointing unit in 2009. Coaching the position now is none other than defensive coordinator Greg Robinson, who made a perennial goat, safety-turned-linebacker Steve Brown, into the team’s leading tackler and a 7th round draft pick; Robinson also coached freshman DE/OLB Craig Roh into a solid true freshman season, accruing 37 tackles and 2 sacks. Michigan fans are hoping that Robinson can work his magic on the inside linebackers this year, turning an underperforming unit into the solid crew that two fifth-year seniors with 53 combined starts should provide. I’m optimistic about what he can do with the entire unit, but Mouton is especially important because the depth behind him is skimpy.

Prediction for 2010: 90 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 interceptions

Ryan Van Bergen was the leading vote-getter for the #10 slot with 32% of the vote. Mouton was second with 23%.