2011 Countdown: #29 Stephen Hopkins

Tag: 2011 Season Countdown

2Aug 2011
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2011 Countdown: #29 Stephen Hopkins

Stephen Hopkins

Name: Stephen Hopkins
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 227 lbs.
High school: Marcus High School in Flower Mound, TX
Position: Running back
Class: Sophomore
Jersey number: #33
Last year: I ranked Hopkins #50 and said he would be a short yardage back.  He carried the ball 37 times for 151 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Hopkins outstripped my predictions a little bit, although probably not significantly enough to warrant a much higher ranking than #50.  He was one of the primary backups to starters Vincent Smith and Michael Shaw.  His two best games came against Illinois (45 yards, 1 touchdown) and Iowa (38 yards, 1 touchdown) and showed the ability to break some tackles.  Overall, it was a solid debut season for the freshman from Texas.

Expectations have been raised, though.  Some spring practice observers suggest that Hopkins is the front-runner for the starting job, but I still have questions about whether he has the speed to be a featured running back.  There’s no question that he has a place on the team, perhaps even as the starting fullback on a team that lacks one.  Al Borges has been known to use split backs in a West Coast Offense manner, handing off to him up the gut or tossing the ball to him on swing passes.  In an effort to get the best athletes on the field, I think it would behoove the Wolverines to use Hopkins as a fullback and only a part-time tailback.  I look for big plays out of a tailback, and Hopkins isn’t the type of runner who can break off a 70-yarder at any given time.  He has lost nine pounds since last season (when he was 236), and there have been hints that the coaches want him in the 220-225 lb. range.  If that potential weight loss leads to a little extra pep in his step, that would be a good thing for his prospects as a runner.

Prediction: Starting fullback, part-time tailback; 50 carries, 200 yards, 5 touchdowns

1Aug 2011
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2011 Countdown: #30 Michael Shaw

Michael Shaw

Name: Michael Shaw
Height: 6’1″
Weight: 187 lbs.
High school: Trotwood-Madison High School in Trotwood, OH
Position: Running back
Class: Senior
Jersey number: #20
Last year: I ranked Shaw #30 and said he would gain 500 yards as the backup superback.  He had 75 carries for 402 yards and 9 touchdowns.  He also caught 10 passes for 75 yards.

Since I started the countdown prior to the 2009 season, Shaw has been #29, #30, and now #30 again.  He showed up at Michigan with all kinds of promise and has been one of those guys with “potential” every single year.  Unfortunately, that potential gets consistently bottled up by injuries.  Shaw has suffered bumps and bruises to just about every extremity, which have limited him to only 802 yards in three seasons.  With only 159 career carries, though, he’s averaging 5.0 yards per carry and scoring a touchdown every 14 carries.  Those are both pretty good rates . . . if he could only stay on the field.

Now Shaw enters his senior season as a seeming also-ran at the tailback position.  He didn’t do himself any favors by welcoming the coaches with a broken hand suffered in the first couple spring practices, but he did show some toughness by playing with a cast.  Shaw performed well in the spring game, breaking off runs of 25, 9, and 5 yards in his only three carries, but that probably won’t be enough to earn him a starting nod in the  fall.  The new coaching staff seems to prefer bigger backs, with the slight ones (Shaw, Vincent Smith) getting pushed downward on the depth chart.  I’m ranking Shaw higher than some of the other backs, though, because he’s got home run speed and runs the ball hard.  He found some balance and tackle-breaking ability in 2010 that he didn’t have before, and I think the I-formation offense will actually suit him better than the spread.  Shaw does well when he’s able to run straight ahead.  Vision and cuts are not his strong suit, but run an iso or a power up the middle and he could be long gone if his blockers do their jobs.

Prediction: Backup running back; 75 carries, 400 yards

31Jul 2011
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2011 Countdown: #31 Marvin Robinson

Marvin Robinson (#3)

Name: Marvin Robinson
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 200 lbs.
School: Lake Region High School in Winter Haven, FL
Position: Safety
Class: Sophomore
Jersey number: #3
Last year: I ranked Robinson #64 and said he would have a steadily increasing role at Spur.  He saw pretty steady action on special teams and played a bit at free safety, making 3 total tackles.

Michigan fans hoped last year that Robinson would enroll in January, get a little bit of experience in spring practice, and sub in for the athletically limited Jordan Kovacs once the season arrived.  Unfortunately, that scenario didn’t play out, partly because Robinson was unable to graduate high school in December like he had hoped.  Robinson bounced back and forth between free safety and weakside linebacker in 2010, finally finding a home at the free safety position late in the season.  His three tackles on the year didn’t inspire much confidence, but with a defensive coaching staff devoid of conjuring up any kind of schematic advantage, it’s tough to glean much from his playing time or production.

Now it’s 2011, Robinson has added an inch and 10 pounds to his frame, and he’s closer to contributing this fall.  In the spring Robinson played free safety, but seems to be squarely behind both Kovacs and sophomore Carvin Johnson in development.  Robinson has good size and adequate speed, but his understanding of fundamentals and coverage leave a little to be desired.  Most Michigan fans seem to hope that Kovacs is replaced (sooner rather than later) by somebody with a little more size and speed, but he’s held off competitors to this point and looks to have a starting job in hand, at least to begin the season.  Robinson could sub in at either safety position, but it might be a while before he’s a solid contributor at this level.  Until then, look for him to be sprinting downfield on the coverage units.

Prediction: Backup free safety, special teams contributor

30Jul 2011
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2011 Countdown: #32 Quinton Washington

Quinton Washington

Name: Quinton Washington
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 315 lbs.
High school: Timberland High School in St. Stephen, SC
Position: Defensive tackle
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #76
Last year: I ranked Washington #61 and said he would be a backup guard.  He played a variety of positions – offensive line on special teams, goal line fullback, and offensive guard – before flipping to defensive tackle prior to the Penn State game.  He had 2 tackles.

Washington has been one of those guys that Michigan fans keep waiting to see blow up.  He was highly recruited out of high school and just kind of a mauling offensive lineman, not particularly athletic, but someone you wouldn’t want to line up across from on 4th-and-inches.  Well, it just so happens that Michigan had a stockpile of guards just ahead of him named Stephen Schilling, Patrick Omameh, and Ricky Barnum, so the pathway to playing time was blocked.  When Michigan sorely needed capable bodies on the defensive line last season, the coaches decided to take a guy buried on the depth chart and see if they could turn him into a player.

The results were mixed.  I could tell early on that Washington understands leverage better than William Campbell (whom the coaches moved from DT to OG at the same time), but what Washington has in brute strength is somewhat negated by his lack of foot speed.  While Campbell is long-limbed and somewhat quick, Washington is kind of squat and immobile.  It’s going to be difficult for opposing interior linemen to root out Washington, but as for penetrating into the backfield or chasing plays down, I just don’t see him being able to do that.  Still, he’ll be a valuable backup because the Wolverines lack big bodies and desperately need a nose tackle to spell starter Mike Martin.

Prediction: Backup nose tackle; 15 tackles

29Jul 2011
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2011 Countdown: #33 Mike Jones

Mike Jones (#27) tries to tackle Mark Moundros

Name: Mike Jones
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 208 lbs.
High school: Edgewater High School in Orlando, FL
Position: Weakside linebacker
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #27
Last year: I ranked Jones #55 and said he would be a special teams regular.  He made 1 tackle before breaking his lower leg in the second game of the season.

Jones has been mostly a special teamer thus far in his career, playing linebacker in only one game.  He seemed to be Jonas Mouton’s primary backup at weakside linebacker going into 2010, but the broken leg put a stop to that in Week 2.  He’s been stuck at less than 210 lbs. for a couple years now, and while that’s not a huge issue at weakside linebacker, you can’t be much lighter and still be effective at tackling and taking on blockers.

Lots of people think Jones will be the starting WILL when Michigan takes the field in September.  I am not one of those people.  He was running with the first team in the spring game, but that was partly because Marell Evans bumped over to MIKE in the absence of Kenny Demens.  If Demens is healthy by the fall (which he should be after shoulder surgery), then that opens the door for Evans to fight for a starting spot on the weak side.  I don’t foresee Jones beating out Evans.  Even though we haven’t seen much of Jones, he was tentative in the spring game and didn’t make reads very quickly.  He bit hard on play action fakes and generally tried to run around blocks rather than taking them on.  Whoever starts at WILL, I would attack that position as an opposing coach until those guys prove they can play.

Prediction: Special teams contributor and backup WILL