Tag: Cullen Christian

Justin Turner, ex-Wolverine

Redshirt freshman cornerback Justin Turner has apparently decided to transfer. He has been granted his release by the University of Michigan, although Sam Webb of Scout/WTKA/Detroit News fame has stated that his parents are going to try to talk Turner out of leaving Ann Arbor. We’ll see how that goes.

If #2 does indeed follow through with his intentions to leave Michigan, he would be the first member of the 21-person Class of 2009 to leave. (Cornerback Adrian Witty never arrived at Michigan after Michigan’s Admissions office failed to grant him entry.) To Rivals he was a 4-star safety, the #35 recruit in the country, and the #3 player at his position; to Scout he was a 5-star cornerback, the #3 player in the country, and the #1 player at his position. To the University of Michigan’s football team, he was the #3 or perhaps #4 cornerback for the 2010 season.

The 2009 version of the Wolverines had horrible defenses and very little cornerback depth, especially after then-sophomore Boubacar Cissoko was booted off the team for skipping classes and generally being an idiot. But Turner still couldn’t get on the field and redshirted, giving way to fellow freshman Teric Jones, who entered college hoping and expecting to play running back or slot receiver. With Donovan Warren leaving school early to enter the 2010 NFL Draft, many Michigan fans assumed that Turner would assume the starting cornerback role. However, redshirt sophomore JT Floyd took the lead in the battle for the open cornerback position.

There were reports that Turner had ballooned to an unfathomable 197 pounds and got too big to play cornerback, a regular Violet Beauregarde. (Set your sarcasm detectors to ON.) The fall roster even listed him at 198 pounds. However, cornerbacks coach Tony Gibson has spoken highly of Turner in the past, and his disenchantment likely has more to do with playing second fiddle to JT Floyd than anything else. He was 186 lbs. coming out of high school, so adding 11 or 12 pounds in college really isn’t that big of a deal. He still could have played corner, although he would have been fighting incoming freshman Cullen Christian – a highly touted corner in his own right, and ranked higher than Turner in my 2010 Season Countdown – for playing time.

Turner was ranked as a safety by Rivals, and I think most Michigan fans were waiting for a time when cornerback depth would allow him to switch positions to free safety or Bandit. If his absence is felt at all, though, it will likely be a year or two down the road if Michigan’s 17 safeties can’t cobble together a decent starter or three. I’m not going to sit here and say that Michigan is better off without him. But the Wolverines are headed for 7 or 8 wins in 2010 whether Turner’s in Ann Arbor or not.

2010 Football Roster Tidbits

This guy is 320 lbs.

The 2010 football roster was released on Monday, and there are several interesting notes. Going down the list numerically . . .

Freshman safety Marvin Robinson is #3 and listed at 6’2″, 200 lbs. Not only was Troy Woolfolk impressed with his play at safety during summer 7-on-7s, but for all those people who thought he would bulk up to play linebacker . . . 200 lbs. hardly screams for a position change.

Freshman safety Josh Furman is #6 and listed at 6’2″, 207 lbs.

Senior linebacker Jonas Mouton is 240 lbs. now. Last year he was listed at 228. He’s not the only linebacker who bulked up, so that’s clearly a directive from the coaches and training staff.

Freshman cornerback Courtney Avery is #9 and listed at 5’11”, 167 lbs. He has apparently been working hard this summer, but that’s not much weight to be spread out across a 5’11” frame.

Freshman safety Carvin Johnson is #13 and listed at 6’0″, 195 lbs.

Junior running back Michael Shaw packed on 6 lbs. and is up to 187.

Freshman safety Ray Vinopal is #20 and listed at 5’10”, 193 lbs.

Freshman cornerback Terrence Talbott is #22 and listed at 5’11”, 171 lbs.

Freshman cornerback Cullen Christian is #24 and listed at 6’0″, 187 lbs. That seems like a perfect size to get some playing time this year.

Redshirt sophomore middle linebacker Kenny Demens is 250 lbs. now. And if you’ve seen any new pictures of him, he’s jacked.

Freshman slot receiver Drew Dileo is #26 and listed at 5’10”, 171 lbs.

Redshirt freshman middle linebacker Isaiah Bell is 245 lbs. now, up from 237 in the spring. He was a free safety and about 205-210 coming out of high school, so that’s some impressive weight gain. Hooray for chocolate milk.

Redshirt freshman kicker Brendan Gibbons is 227 lbs. There were reports that he had been up to about 245.

Freshman linebacker Jake Ryan is #37 and listed at 6’3″, 224 lbs.

Freshman linebacker Davion Rogers is #38 and listed at 6’6″, 200 lbs. Maybe he can play small forward for our basketball team, too.

Freshman Kenny Wilkins is #41 and listed at 6’3″, 262 lbs. Hopefully that’s good weight, and I’m assuming it is because he has a reputation for being a gym rat. He’s also listed as a defensive end, despite some people’s thoughts that he would play Craig Roh’s linebacker position.

Freshman punter Will Hagerup is #43 and listed at 6’4″, 210 lbs.

Senior Mark Moundros (a permanent captain for this season) is listed as a “FB/LB,” the only player on the team with two positions listed.

Senior middle linebacker Obi Ezeh is up to 250 lbs.

Redshirt junior center David Molk is listed at 285 lbs., up fifteen from the 2009 season.

Freshman defensive tackle Richard Ash is #54 and listed at 6’3″, 320 lbs. That’s a significant weight gain for someone who was 240 lbs. as a junior and listed at 263 lbs. on his recruiting profiles. That much weight gain can’t be good weight.

Freshman defensive end Jibreel Black is #55 and listed at 6’2″, 258 lbs. Expect to see him on the field this fall.

Redshirt junior defensive tackle Dominique Ware is still short (5’7″).

Sophomore defensive tackle William Campbell has gone through quite a transition. He came in at a reported 330 lbs., got all the way down to 318, and is now listed at 333 lbs. It sounds like the training staff had to melt off some of the flab and turn it into muscle . . . hopefully.

The redshirt freshmen offensve linemen have all put on significant weight. Taylor Lewan is 294, Michael Schofield is 293, and Quinton Washington is now 315. That should make them viable options to play this fall.

Senior tight end Martell Webb is up to 255 lbs.

Freshman wide receiver Ricardo Miller is now 6’4″, 215 lbs.

Freshman wide receiver D.J. Williamson is #84 and listed at 6’1″, 170 lbs.

Junior tight end Kevin Koger is up to 255 lbs.

Redshirt sophomore tight end Brandon Moore is up to 250 lbs.

Freshman Jordan Paskorz is #94 and listed at 6’3″, 242 lbs. He’s also listed as a defensive end, which is where someone with his hip stiffness belongs.

Freshman Terry Talbott is #96 and listed at 6’3″, 248 lbs. He’s destined for a redshirt, especially because he’s listed at defensive tackle, not defensive end.

Senior Adam Patterson is still listed as a defensive end, despite the fact that he got snaps at nose tackle in the spring.

2010 Countdown: #32 Cullen Christian

Name: Cullen Christian
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 180 lbs.
High school: Penn Hills High School in Pittsburgh, PA
Position: Cornerback
Class: Freshman
Jersey number: N/A

Christian is one of the most important players in the incoming freshman class due to his a) position and b) skill. Michigan is dangerously thin at cornerback. Presumed starters Troy Woolfolk and J.T. Floyd have less than a full season of starts under their belts . . . combined. The other corners include cornerback-turned-wide-receiver-turned-cornerback James Rogers and redshirt freshman J.T. Turner. And I’ve never been a big fan of Floyd, so while I hope he does well, I’m also hoping that Christian can come in and challenge for playing time.

Christian is the most likely freshman corner to play this season, and his skills are plentiful (commitment post here). He has okay speed and good awareness. His tackling is suspect but will surely improve. One thing that has impressed me about the Rodriguez regime is the tackling in the secondary; Christian won’t see the field if he’s unwilling to hit. Regardless, J.T. Floyd reportedly took big strides in the spring, and I’m cautiously optimistic that Floyd will play well enough to stave off Christian, at least for a little while. Christian will be the better player in the long run, but he’s only been on campus for a little over a month, whereas Floyd is a redshirt sophomore. Don’t be surprised if Christian works his way into the lineup by late October, though.

2010 Recruiting Grades: Cornerback

Demar Dorsey: good football player, questionable dancer

Demar Dorsey, Wolverine

I will unleash my 175 lbs. of fury upon you!

This is a few days old, but that’s what happens when 25 inches of snow pour down and you have to retreat to safer shelter.

On National Signing Day, Demar Dorsey from Lauderdale Lakes, FL, committed to Michigan. In the overall rankings, Dorsey is #12 to ESPN, #162 to Rivals, and #203 to Scout; many would latch onto that #12 ranking, but ESPN proves over and over again that they know nothing about recruiting, so take that with a grain of salt. Anyway, Dorsey’s commitment was somewhat of a surprise, since he wasn’t on Michigan fans’ radar until about a month before NSD. Dorsey had been committed to Florida for over a year and seemingly visited just to have a good time with his cousin, Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson.

According to Dorsey, though, he knew during his official visit (that coincided with Michigan’s basketball victory over Connecticut) that Michigan was The Place. It’s unclear whether Florida dropped Dorsey or vice versa, but either way, he also visited Florida State and USC late in the process, so he had the experts confused; most seemed to think he’d ultimately sign with FSU.

I would be remiss not to mention Dorsey’s issues as a minor. He had some trouble with the law, but was never found guilty of any wrongdoing and participated in a diversionary program. I will not go into details, as they have been discussed ad nauseam elsewhere. I’ll let it suffice to say that Rodriguez is taking a bit of a public relations risk with Dorsey, on the heels of the Justin Feagin situation last year; however, most football coaches taken chances on talented kids with checkered pasts. Hopefully, the diversionary program worked for Dorsey and he can move on to be a productive student and citizen at Michigan.

Back to football, though, Dorsey’s position is a bit up in the air. The coaches told him he could play some wide receiver, and he could probably help in the return game, but but he’s a defensive back of some sort. Some project him as a strong safety at Michigan; others predict he’ll be a cornerback. I feel fairly confident in predicting that Dorsey will battle for playing time at the cornerback position as a freshman in 2010. Michigan has zero experienced cornerbacks returning in 2010 with the departure of Donovan Warren to the NFL. Besides redshirt sophomore J.T. Floyd, every other cornerback on the roster will have freshman eligibility – Justin Turner, Cullen Christian, Courtney Avery, and Terrence Talbott. Michigan needs to throw every available body at the cornerback spot and whichever one performs best should get the job.

Michigan’s most experienced cornerback isn’t really a cornerback, but a strong safety – Troy Woolfolk. Some have suggested that Woolfolk should move to cornerback and Michigan should play a freshman at strong safety, but that would be disastrous. The only time Woolfolk got burned at the strong safety position was in the 2009 opener when he and the aforementioned Floyd got burned against Western Michigan. In practice, Woolfolk earned the nickname “The Eraser” for his ability to cover up for everyone else’s mistakes. Experience is necessary on the back end of your defensive backfield, because young guys get out of position and get fooled by double moves, play action, etc. It’s no coincidence that Michigan’s defense went south once Woolfolk moved to corner in mid-2009.

With Woolfolk at strong safety and presumably Justin Turner at one cornerback position, the trio of Floyd, Christian, and Dorsey should fight it out for the other corner. Michigan’s coaches did everything they could to keep Floyd off the field in 2009 (they’d rather have Jordan Kovacs playing strong safety than have Floyd play corner), so I sincerely doubt he’ll start. Dorsey is a better athlete than Christian, but the latter’s coverage skills are more refined, so that’s kind of a toss-up.

Dorsey is a burner. As a junior, he finished second to Denard Robinson in the state 100 meter finals with a time of 10.60 seconds (compared to Robinson’s 10.44). He later ran a 10.55 and has even claimed to have run a 10.3, although I can find no recorded evidence of that time. This athleticism should allow him to run with just about every receiver he faces. It also would allow him to cover a lot of ground from the strong safety position.

However, we can see some of his rawness in the video below. First of all, he’s only 175 lbs. In the second still shot (the one from the Under Armour All American game), we can see his scrawny little leg; he has a decided lack of bulk. In the first highlight from the UA game, he causes a fumble on kick coverage. He does a good job of mirroring the returner, but then he reaches and grabs the jersey, flinging the ball carrier to the ground and causing the fumble; this is the tackling technique of a raw cornerback, not the strong safety who is supposed to be a team’s last line of defense. Later in the highlights, he plays a ball from the deep middle safety position. Unfortunately, he takes a bad angle to the football; instead of meeting the ball at its highest point or at least aiming to punish the receiver, he takes the path of least resistance and gets a hand on the ball after it gets past the receiver.

All of these factors lead me to believe that Dorsey will be better off starting his career at cornerback. Further evidence exists in that Rich Rodriguez said as much in his signing day press conference. This does not mean that Dorsey couldn’t move to strong safety eventually. He could probably be a pretty good strong safety with some technique and experience under his belt. But that won’t happen until at least 2011.

My projection for 2010:

CB: Justin Turner
CB: Cullen Christian
FS: Jordan Kovacs
SS: Troy Woolfolk