16Apr 2012
Video: 2012 Spring Game – Every Snap
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| Thomas Rawls (#38) looked pretty solid in today’s spring game |
QUARTERBACKS
Denard Robinson didn’t play much. We know what we have in Denard, and we’re not going to know whether he can cut down on his interceptions until the fall. Devin Gardner looked very athletic. He seems to be faster and in better shape this year than last, but he struggled throwing the ball. He tried to force some throws, but the receivers really struggled to get separation from the defensive backs. That’s probably why Gardner scrambled repeatedly, and he made the defense look silly at times. Third stringer Russell Bellomy looked like what we’ve been expecting – a game manager type who can scramble a little and make check-down throws, but he seems to lack the requisite arm strength for pushing the ball downfield.
RUNNING BACKS
Fitzgerald Toussaint continues to look like a star on offense. Backup Thomas Rawls looks faster and stronger to me than he did in the fall. He seems like a viable #2 back and he runs angry. You could tell when he got the ball that the defense stepped up its intensity a little bit, because those guys knew they were going to have a fight on their hands to get him down. He did make a nice touchdown run early, but keep in mind that he ran through the tackle of backup free safety Jarrod Wilson, who should still be two or three months away from graduating high school. Vincent Smith continues to be subpar running inside, but he caught the ball well. To me it’s a wasted rep when he’s handed the ball to run up the middle. Justice Hayes is in the same boat. He doesn’t have any mass or strength behind him. If there’s an injury to Toussaint or Rawls in the fall, the coaches are going to have to look at freshman Drake Johnson or maybe moving Hopkins back to tailback.
FULLBACKS
Hopkins and Kerridge looked pretty solid. Michigan should be set at this position, especially with reinforcements coming in the form of Sione Houma.
WIDE RECEIVERS
As I mentioned above, the receivers really struggled to separate from the defensive backs. We didn’t see a whole lot of Roy Roundtree, but he and Jeremy Gallon looked decent. I would not be surprised to see Gallon lead the team in receptions this season. He’s going to be a tough matchup. After that nobody looked particularly impressive. Jerald Robinson had an embarrassing drop, Jeremy Jackson is who he is, etc. Games this season will continue to be won on the ground.
TIGHT ENDS
This continues to be a weak spot. Brandon Moore didn’t get any separation, and both Moore and Ricardo Miller struggled at the point of attack. They were playing against some pretty good defenders – Craig Roh, Jake Ryan, Cam Gordon – but tight end will be a liability this season, in both the running and passing games. I don’t think we’ll see as many two- and three-tight end formations as we did last season.
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN
Taylor Lewan is a very good left tackle. The starter at left guard was Joey Burzynski. All spring we’ve heard that Elliott Mealer was the front-runner for the left guard position, and I think that might still be the case. I have no inside information on this, but I have a feeling that Burzynski’s start was kind of a practical matter. The coaches didn’t want Lewan on the field much; with Michael Schofield as the primary backup at left tackle, they seemed to want Mealer to rotate in at right tackle when Schofield flipped. Burzynski doesn’t have the ability to play tackle. Burzynski looked fair against the pass and somewhat ineffective in the running game. Barnum blocked well, but he had two bad snaps because he failed to get the ball up to Denard before getting out of his stance. That will be something to watch heading into the season. Barnum also needs to speed up his shotgun snaps, which are noticeably slower than David Molk’s. He’s also got to work on calling protections. Omameh looked mostly solid but got blasted by William Campbell. Schofield struggled some in pass protection, but picked it up as the day went on. As far as backups go, the walk-ons played like walk-ons do, outside of Burzynski. Graham Glasgow doesn’t know how to pull. Kristian Mateus looks downright skinny. Erik Gunderson might be able to play in a pinch. Chris Bryant looked solid in the running game. Jack Miller still lacks size. Barnum must stay healthy this season.
Should Devin Gardner play wide receiver or be the backup quarterback?
Okay, this wasn’t really a mailbag question. It was asked by Lankownia in the comments section. Also, it’s the hip topic of spring practice (so far). Here are my thoughts.
Yes, yes, a thousand times yes, play him at wide receiver. Michigan is hurting – badly – at the wide receiver position. Besides the 2008 squad (Greg Mathews, Laterryal Savoy, Darryl Stonum, Martavious Odoms, Toney Clemons, etc.), I think this is Michigan’s worst receiver unit in years and years and years. Each of the returning receivers has at least one major flaw:
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| Logan Thomas |
MICHIGAN
Starter: Junior Denard Robinson (6’0″, 195 lbs.) is 133/237 (56.1%) passing for 2,056 yards, 18 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions. He has also rushed 208 times for 1,137 yards (5.6 yards per carry) and 16 touchdowns.
Backups: Sophomore Devin Gardner has played in 9 games, sometimes in a package with Robinson on the field. Gardner is 11/23 (47.8%) passing for 176 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception. He also rushed 25 times for 53 yards and 1 touchdown. The next guy on the depth chart is true freshman Russell Bellomy, who has yet to play this season but has traveled to road games.
VIRGINIA TECH
Starter: Redshirt sophomore Logan Thomas (6’6″, 254 lbs.) has started all 13 games this season, going 215/363 (59.2%) for 2,799 yards, 19 touchdowns, and 9 interceptions. He has also rushed 137 times for 416 yards (3.0 yards per carry) and 10 touchdowns.
Backups: Redshirt freshman Mark Leal has played a backup role in 3 games this year. He is 9/13 (69.2%) for 153 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions. Redshirt junior Ju-Ju Clayton is the third quarterback but has yet to play this season.
THE TAKEAWAY
Thomas is capable of excellent play; against Miami he went 23/25 (92%) for 310 yards and 3 touchdowns through the air, plus 2 more rushing scores. He played some great football throughout the year. But he’s coming off a game against Clemson in which he completed 50% of his passes, threw 2 interceptions, and rushed 12 times for only 2 yards. Meanwhile, Robinson is one of the most dynamic players in the country, capable of taking over a game at any given time. While he has been prone to interceptions and erratic passing, he’s coming off a three-game winning streak in which he completed 60% or more of his passes, scored 11 total touchdowns (5 passing with only 2 interceptions), and played arguably the best game of his career against Ohio State (14/17 for 167 yards and 3 touchdowns, plus 170 yards on the ground and 2 more touchdowns). Thomas is good, but Robinson has the ability to be unstoppable.
Advantage: Michigan
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| Ryan Van Bergen (#53) was a force to be reckoned with all night. (image via MGoBlue.com) |
Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Martavious Odoms. Odoms was struggling to see the field earlier in the year, partly because he was recovering from a broken bone in his forearm. It was frustrating to see a key player from the past few seasons end his career by barely seeing the field. Luckily, that trend appears to be ending. He got what seemed to be the most playing time of the season against the Illini, when he had 2 receptions for 46 yards, including a 27-yard touchdown reception from Devin Gardner to go up 24-7. Odoms was also wide open in the endzone early in the game, but Denard Robinson overthrew him.
Let’s see less of this guy on offense . . . umm . . . Denard Robinson at quarterback. Bring on the anger. Robinson has clearly regressed this season, and I’m not going to blame it entirely on offensive coordinator Al Borges. Borges hasn’t made the same playcalls that allowed Robinson to put up good numbers last season, but much of that is on Robinson’s shoulders, too. He was unable to hit wide open receivers early in the year, and his inability to hit the deep ball has been extremely maddening. I described Robinson last year as “wildly accurate” because of his throws that would be catchable but wouldn’t allow receivers to run after the catch. There was another fine example on Saturday evening when Robinson hit tight end Kevin Koger down the left sideline, and Koger was so wide open that he had time to stop, catch the ball, get started again . . . and get dragged down at the 2-yard line. If that’s even a decent throw, it’s an easy touchdown. Devin Gardner at least deserves a prolonged look if Robinson isn’t getting it done, because Robinson is turnover-prone and his rushing has been disappointing for the last several weeks.
Let’s see more of this guy on defense . . . Thomas Gordon. Gordon has been a turnover machine with 1 interception, 4 fumble recoveries, and 2 forced fumbles on the season. He’s also the team’s second-leading tackler, despite coming off the bench for the past two games. Meanwhile, senior Troy Woolfolk has been inserted at safety despite clearly being unhealthy; Woolfolk has yet to create a turnover in his career.
Let’s see less of this guy on defense . . . Troy Woolfolk. This is obvious, considering the above paragraph. Woolfolk is hurting the team by playing such significant minutes. I wish he would have been allowed to get healthier earlier in the season, but he wasn’t. It’s pretty apparent that he won’t be healthy during the regular season, although hopefully he can get his body right by the bowl game.
Play of the game . . . Jordan Kovacs’ forced fumble and Gordon’s recovery. Illinois had just stopped Michigan on the goal line and had some emotional momentum. Running back Jason Ford popped free for 8 yards up the middle when Kovacs put his facemask on the ball, which fell to the ground while Gordon jumped on it. If it hadn’t been obvious previously, it seemed to me right there that this day just wasn’t going to go well for the Illini.
MVP of the game . . . Ryan Van Bergen. The defensive tackle/end had 7 tackles, 3 tackles for loss (for 28 yards), and 2.5 sacks. Mike Martin (9 tackles, 1/2 a sack) would be a decent choice, and so would Fitzgerald Toussaint (27 carries, 192 yards, 1 touchdown). But on a night when Illinois couldn’t do anything consistently on defense, in large part because quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase was under pressure, I have to give it to the guy who took him to the ground a few times.