Review of 2008 Recruiting: Offensive Line

Tag: Dann O’Neill


23May 2018
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Review of 2008 Recruiting: Offensive Line

Patrick Omameh (image via Giants Wire)

THE ROSTER

Tim McAvoy (RS Jr.)
David Moosman (RS Jr.)
Mark Ortmann (RS Jr.)
Cory Zirbel (RS Jr.)
Perry Dorrestein (RS So.)
Bryan Nowicki (RS So.)
Steve Schilling (RS So.)
Zac Ciullo (RS Fr.)
Mark Huyge (RS Fr.)
David Molk (RS Fr.)

Hit the jump for a summary of Michigan’s offensive line recruiting in the 2008 class.

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29Jan 2017
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Ex-Wolverines: Class of 2008

Boubacar Cissoko (image via Bleacher Report)

If you want the scoop on other former Michigan commits and signees, check out the Ex-Wolverine Encyclopedia (LINK).

TRANSFERS/RETIREES

Boubacar Cissoko – Cornerback – Detroit (MI) Cass Tech
Cissoko was an early commitment in 2007.  Highly recruited, he played extensively as a freshman in 2008.  A starter at the beginning of 2009, Cissoko made 16 tackles, 2 pass breakups, and 1 interception before being suspended and eventually kicked off the team for personal conduct issues.  Cissoko was then arrested for robbery charges that occurred after his football career ended.  He was released from jail and played semi-pro football.
Current status: Out of football

Hit the jump for more on the class of 2008.

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15Dec 2014
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The Transition Effect: Carr to Rodriguez

Ryan Mallett

With an upcoming coaching transition, there has been some concern that players will take flight to greener pastures. When Michigan went from a pro-style scheme to a zone read option scheme in the off-season between 2007 and 2008, some offensive players headed out the door. Not much of that can be attributed to the spread. Every team loses players in the off-season. Sometimes players are sick of standing on the sideline, sometimes they get homesick, and sometimes they butt heads with the coaches. Here’s a look at what the transition from Lloyd Carr to Rich Rodriguez cost Michigan going into 2008 and beyond.

Decommitted due to coaching transition: John Wienke, Christian Wilson
Wienke, a pro-style quarterback, decommitted in favor of Iowa, where he never saw any significant time. Wilson ended up committing to North Carolina due to the fact that Rodriguez’s offense didn’t leave a ton of room for fullback/H-back types. Wilson played but never made a huge impact for the Tarheels.

Transferred to other FBS teams between regimes: Justin Boren, Ryan Mallett
Offensive guard Justin Boren would have been a junior starter in Rich Rodriguez’s first season, but some alleged frictions between Rodriguez and Boren’s family led to his departure. Boren transferred to his home state Ohio State Buckeyes program, where he eventually started and became an undrafted free agent; he never played in an NFL game despite making the practice squad with a couple teams. Meanwhile, his right guard position was taken by David Moosman, who turned out to be a decent but forgettable piece up front for the Wolverines. Theories differ on Mallett, a touted quarterback who transferred closer to home at Arkansas. Some say he was already on his way out the door because of butting heads with Carr; others say he realized he wouldn’t fit into Rich Rodriguez’s offense. Either way, he was replaced by walk-on Nick Sheridan and Georgia Tech transfer Steve Threet, both of whom were subpar passers and poor fits for Rodriguez’s scheme. After the 2008 season,

Left early for the NFL Draft: Adrian Arrington, Mario Manningham
Arrington blew up in his final game, a bowl win over Florida, which might have sealed the deal. His 882 receiving yards and 8 touchdowns in 2007 as the #2 option behind Manningham were impressive, although he slipped into the Draft in just the 7th round, making just 9 receptions in a short NFL career. Manningham had some issues following rules/laws and seemed to be headed for the door after a stellar three-year career; he possibly would have been a 1st round pick if not for a marijuana charge, and instead fell to the 3rd round. He was picked by the Giants and has had a solid but injury-marred career with 2,849 receiving yards and 19 touchdowns.

Transferred to other FBS teams after giving Rodriguez a chance:* Toney Clemons, Vince Helmuth, Dann O’Neill, Steve Threet
Clemons spent a year trying to wedge himself into the slot receiver role for Rodriguez, a role he was ill suited for because he was not very quick or elusive. Clemons had been recruited by Lloyd Carr as an outside wide receiver, and he transferred to Colorado for that reason. He had a decent career for the Buffaloes and managed to get drafted. Helmuth was brought in as a Lloyd Carr fullback, eventually moved to defensive tackle under Rodriguez, and then transferred to Miami-OH, where he never played, either. O’Neill spent a year redshirting and then transferred to Western Michigan, where his lack of lateral mobility was less of a hindrance; he started for several years for the Broncos. Threet got kind of a raw deal. After enrolling early at Georgia Tech in January 2007, he transferred to Michigan over the summer and redshirted during the season, hoping to follow Chad Henne as the starter for the Wolverines. Then when Rodriguez got hired, Threet and walk-on Nick Sheridan split playing time before Threet lit out for his third school, Arizona State. He had to sit out the 2009 season to transfer, and then concussions caused him to end his football career early.

Left early for the NFL Draft after giving Rodriguez a chance:* Carson Butler, Donovan Warren
Butler was unhappy with his role as a tight end in Rodriguez’s offense, so he made a mid-season switch to defensive end, finishing with 2 catches, 17 yards, and 5 tackles. He tested the waters of the NFL but was ultimately unsuccessful.  Warren left after his third season in Ann Arbor, hanging around through 2009. It’s unclear whether a different coach could have kept him around for a fourth season, but Warren was All-Big Ten and made 4 picks in 2009, after which he made an ill-advised attempt at making it in the NFL. He was not drafted and spent a few years bouncing around practice squads.

CONCLUSIONS
If Michigan changes systems to a spread or, say, a triple option, some transfers can naturally be expected. That change seems unlikely based on what we have been hearing, but anything is possible. The one guy who seemed like a possible early entrant into the draft (Devin Funchess) is gone already. The quarterbacks are mostly pro-style guys, so that would present a challenge if Michigan wanted to run any kind of option-type stuff. Michigan has been running a lot of zone schemes, so a loss of linemen would not seem to be a huge risk, regardless of the coach. The receivers are mostly big, pro-style guys who could get squeezed out if the new coach wanted to put tiny slot guys out there in spades. Michigan’s stable of tight ends would likely not be happy with a move to a spread, though A.J. Williams will be a senior and Jake Butt could be just a year away from heading to the NFL; the biggest flight risks there would probably be the young guys, Ian Bunting and Khalid Hill, who would still have time to redshirt for a year and make an impact elsewhere.

*There were some other transfers (Sam McGuffie, Marell Evans, Kurt Wermers, etc.) that seemed to have less to do with Rodriguez and more to do with homesickness, academic difficulties, etc.

28Apr 2013
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Ex-Wolverine Updates: NFL Draft edition

Darryl Stonum is now a Kansas City Chief

Former Michigan running back Michael Cox measured in at 6’0″, 222 lbs. at the UMass pro day.  He ran a 4.58 forty, had a 4.08 shuttle, showed a 41″ vertical, did 24 reps on the bench, and broad jumped 10’11”.  He spent the 2012 season as a Minuteman and was selected in the 7th round (#253 overall) by the New York Giants.

Former Michigan defensive tackle commit DeQuinta Jones measured in at 6’4″, 306 lbs. at the Arkansas pro day.  He proceeded to run a 5.4 forty and do 19 reps on the bench press, which got him signed by the Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted free agent.

Former Michigan running back Sam McGuffie tested at the regional combine prior to the NFL Draft with a 4.28 forty, a 41.5″ vertical, 11.2″ broad jump, a 3.8 shuttle, and 26 reps on the bench press.  He had been playing running back and wide receiver for the past few years at Rice, and on Saturday night, he signed with the Oakland Raiders as an undrafted free agent.

Former Michigan offensive tackle Dann O’Neill measured in at 6’7″, 326 lbs., did 26 reps on the bench, and ran a 5.41 forty at his pro day.  He had been playing right tackle for Western Michigan for the past few seasons.  O’Neill signed with the Houston Texans on Saturday night as an undrafted free agent.

Former Michigan wide receiver Darryl Stonum measured in at 6’1″, 205 lbs., did 16 reps on the bench, ran a 4.57 forty, broad jumped 10’3″, had a 4.64 shuttle, and had a 36.5″ vertical.  Stonum played sparingly for Baylor in 2012.  On Saturday night he signed with the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent.

28Jan 2012
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Ex-Wolverine Updates: The Class of 2008

Former Michigan running back Sam McGuffie

Former Michigan cornerback Boubacar Cissoko spent the 2011 season (well, in the summertime) with the Detroit Downriver Diesels of the Great Lakes Football League.  His football season came after being released from incarceration for multiple offenses.  He ended the season with 13 tackles, 2 interceptions, 1 pass breakup, 1 fumble recovery (returned 10 yards for a touchdown), and 2 kickoff returns for 63 yards.

Former Michigan wide receiver/quarterback Justin Feagin last played college football at Texas Southern University back in 2009.  Since that time he has not reappeared on a college roster, as far as I know.

Former Michigan linebacker Taylor Hill, who left Michigan prior to the beginning of his freshman season, has not played college football since 2009, when he was at Youngstown State University.  He redshirted in 2010, but did not appear on the 2011 roster at YSU.

Former Michigan running back Sam McGuffie spent an injury-plagued 2011 season at Rice.  He only played in 7 games due to a nagging ankle injury, totaling just 38 carries for 158 yards (4.2 yards per carry) and 1 touchdown.  He also completed his only pass attempt for 15 yards, caught 9 passes for 72 yards (8 yards per catch) and 1 touchdown, and returned 3 kickoffs for 55 yards.  He will be a fifth year senior in the fall and will battle with redshirt junior Turner Petersen for the starting job.  Check out this article for a nice story about Sam and his interactions with fans.

Former Michigan offensive tackle Dann O’Neill, who transferred to Western Michigan in 2009, started against Michigan in the 2011 season opener.  He was named Third Team All-MAC and will be a fifth year senior in the fall.

Former Michigan safety/linebacker Brandon Smith transferred to Temple prior to the 2010 season, but never appeared on the Temple roster and has apparently ended his college career.

Former Michigan offensive guard Kurt Wermers transferred to Ball State in 2009 after being academically ineligible at Michigan, but he never played a down for Ball State and has apparently ended his football career.

Former Michigan quarterback commit John Wienke threw just 1 pass this season . . . which was thrown to an Oklahoma Sooner.  Which is bad because Wienke plays for Iowa.  He ended the season with a -200.0 quarterback rating based on that 1 attempt.

Former Michigan tight end/H-back commit Christian Wilson just finished his senior year at North Carolina.  He had 10 catches for 107 yards in 2011.  He finished his career with 22 catches for 188 yards and 1 touchdown.

Former Michigan linebacker commit Marcus Witherspoon is out of football after transferring to Rutgers for a short period of time in 2008 and 2009.

Class of 2010 bonus update: Former Michigan safety Carvin Johnson has signed with Hampton University of the Football Championship Subdivision.  He will be a junior in the fall and should be eligible to play immediately.  This is the same school where Marell Evans spent a couple seasons prior to returning to Michigan.

For news on other former players and commits, check out the Ex-Wolverine Encyclopedia.