Tag: Fitzgerald Toussaint

Video: Fitzgerald Toussaint feature

Spring Practice Thoughts and Rumors – Offense

Denard Robinson will need to be great again in 2012

A couple weeks into spring practices, here are some thoughts on the videos we’ve seen (here and here) and the buzz from practices:

Quarterback: Denard Robinson’s athleticism is a given asset.  Some people say he looks faster this spring, and that might make sense, because I thought he looked a little slower in 2011 than he had in 2009 and 2010.  I’m not sure if it was conditioning, an injury, or a figment of my imagination, but he didn’t seem to have the same acceleration.  His mechanics don’t seem to have improved, but after three years of playing quarterback in college, I’m resolved to the fact that he will be throwing off his back foot until he’s no longer playing the position.  Meanwhile, Devin Gardner has looked excellent in his limited highlight exposure.  He’s in no danger of beating out Robinson, of course, but rumors suggest that he looks like a pretty good successor.  Practice rumors about Bellomy have suggested that he looks like a solid quarterback who lacks a little bit of arm strength, but the general buzz on him is that Michigan did a good job grabbing him as a sleeper.

Running back and fullback: Fitzgerald Toussaint seems to have the starting job locked down, and he has reportedly been getting a lot of time off during practices to a) rest, b) avoid injury, and c) let the backups develop.  That hasn’t stopped MGoBlue.com from showing several nice runs of his.  The “every down backup” appears to be Thomas Rawls, which seems like a default, since Vincent Smith is a third-down back and Hayes probably is, too, at least for now.  Smith has looked good catching the ball out of the backfield, as always.  Meanwhile, Hayes has received a bit of practice buzz for his speed to the outside, but we have yet to see him on film.  There’s not much depth for the spring, but keep in mind that two tailbacks and a fullback will be arriving on campus this summer.  Speaking of the fullback position, Stephen Hopkins is fitting in pretty nicely.  Coach Hoke said that he might have put on some bad weight in the off-season, but it doesn’t seem to be too egregious.  “Insiders” have suggested that the fullback position will be used more frequently in the passing game this year.  Walk-on Joey Kerridge has also received some praise from the coaches, so he might be a backup option while incoming freshman Sione Houma redshirts/develops.

Wide receiver: We’ve known since the end of the 2011 season that this position group would be a question mark, and that has been corroborated by several people who have seen practices.  There’s not one go-to guy, just a couple #2 or #3 guys.  Roy Roundtree has moved to flanker from split end, which puts him in a position to get the ball a little more.  At the flanker position, there are more route combinations to get him open and he is more likely to be the primary target.  (For those who don’t know the difference, the split end is on the line of scrimmage and usually the single receiver to a side.  The flanker, on the other hand, is usually paired with a tight end, a slot guy, or some combination of those players in a trips formation.)  Jeremy Gallon has made some nice plays on film and is the odds-on favorite to start at split end, despite being only 5’8″.  He doesn’t have great speed, but he is shifty enough to make people miss if Denard Robinson can get him the ball in open space.  Jerald Robinson has continued to earn practice buzz and was picked by several outgoing seniors to be a breakout player this season, but he’s a redshirt sophomore who has yet to make a catch; he’s more of a jump ball guy than Roundtree or Gallon and could be a valuable asset to replace leaper extraordinaire Junior Hemingway.  Jeremy Jackson is what he is – slow but reliable.  Drew Dileo hasn’t received any practice fanfare, really, but he’s another kid who’s probably going to be solid but unspectacular.  He proved to be valuable last year, kind of a glue guy who comes up with some important plays but won’t knock your socks off.  There’s definitely going to be a chance for the two freshmen to contribute this fall.  I still wish Michigan would have taken Devin Lucien, who is expected to be the #2 at UCLA, when they had a chance in the class of 2011.

Tight end: Brandon Moore seems to be “the guy” as much as an unspectacular fifth year senior who hasn’t played/contributed much can be “the guy,” but as I’ve warned before, keep an eye on walk-on Mike Kwiatkowski.  He might be the #2 guy when the season starts and might even steal some snaps from Moore.  We’ve also seen some clips of former linebacker Jordan Paskorz and former defensive end Chris Eddins, another walk-on, catching the ball.  None of the tight ends has been shown doing anything but catching the ball and getting tackled immediately.  Ricardo Miller, who will mostly play the H-back role, seems to be the “starter” at his position and has received some praise for being able to beat linebackers and the occasional safety.

Offensive line: This is a very solid starting group . . . and after that, we need to cross our fingers.  The starters seem to be Taylor Lewan, Elliott Mealer, Ricky Barnum, Patrick Omameh, and Michael Schofield (from left to right).  Jack Miller is the backup center, Chris Bryant is the backup guard, and Schofield is the backup at left tackle, in case anything happens to Lewan.  Bryant is a mauler in the running game who struggles a little bit against the pass, and Miller also has done fairly well, but neither one appears to be ready at this point.  The other backups are walk-ons, and the #2 offensive line has not been impressive as a unit, as one might expect.  A freshman or two will probably have a chance to nab a backup role in the fall.

Braylon Edwards is a waffler

If this guy doesn’t look like a wide receiver, it’s because he wasn’t.  It’s kicker Gregg Wilner.

I hate the Detroit Free Press, which is why I’m going to give you all the info you need here and you don’t have to click on the link, which can be found here if you like supporting terrorists: l.

I don’t think there’s a receiver that has emerged as a guy that can take over a game or a guy they can trust.  However, on the flip side, I wouldn’t mind Denard Robinson wearing it, the No. 1 this year. If it went in that direction, I would be honored that he continued the lineage of the ‘one.’ I would be happy with that all the way.

Those are the words of one Braylon Edwards.  Of course, this comment comes a few years after saying the following:

I’m glad you gave me a Go Blue question because Rich Rod gave the No. 1 jersey to an incoming freshman DB [J.T. Floyd], and the No. 1 jersey has never been worn by anybody outside of a wide receiver.  It dates back to Anthony Carter, (Greg) McMurtry, Tyrone Butterfield, Derrick Alexander, David Terrell, and yours truly. So I’m going to have a talk with him about that the next time I see him.  He’s getting that call soon – very soon. Exactly, we have a jersey scholarship fund for this whole deal. What is he thinking?
 

There are good things that can be said about Braylon Edwards.  He paid out a bunch of money to some inner city Cleveland kids to whom he had promised some college tuition.  He also started an endowment for a scholarship at the University of Michigan.  And, of course, he’s one of the best football players in Michigan history.

But he’s kind of a moron.  Aside from his legal troubles, this whole #1 jersey kerfuffle is absolutely ridiculous.  He specifically states that the #1 jersey has never been worn by anyone other than a kicker, even though it has been worn by LT Angus Goetz, G Robert Jerome Dunne, HB Harry Kipke, S Dave Whiteford, and K Gregg Willner throughout history.  Way to know the history of your own endowed scholarship, Braylon.

Now he’s publicly lobbying for Denard Robinson to wear the #1 jersey.  Denard Robinson does not play wide receiver.

For the record, I think the #1 jersey “tradition” is complete and utter nonsense.  It was never meant to be a tradition.  It was the result of a single coach challenging a single player.  Edwards asked to switch from #80 to #1 because his idol Anthony Carter wore it, and then head coach Lloyd Carr said, “If you want to honor Anthony Carter, then you should work for it and earn it.”  Edwards worked for it and had a great last couple years at Michigan.  There.  That’s it.  If anybody should have notoriety for creating the #1 jersey tradition, it ought to be Lloyd Carr, who devised the plan and realized that Edwards needed a challenge to get over his immaturity and trouble catching the ball.

I have no problem with Denard Robinson wearing the #1 jersey.  He’s a superstar college player, and by all accounts, he’s a leader of the team.  However, if Edwards just wants to hand out the #1 jersey to a superstar or the team’s best player or the team’s best offensive player or whomever, he shouldn’t make a big deal out of it going to a wide receiver.  When Rodriguez tried to give cornerback J.T. Floyd the #1 back in 2008, Edwards made a big deal out of it and got Rodriguez off to a horrible start with the media, fans, and former players.  He submarined the Rodriguez regime almost immediately.  And for what?  For a “tradition” that Edwards himself can’t properly explain.

So let’s give the #1 jersey to Denard for 2012.  Maybe next year Edwards can award it to running back Fitzgerald Toussaint.  Or left tackle Taylor Lewan.  Either way, Edwards has undermined his own previous statements.  I never want to hear about him wanting only to give the #1 jersey to a wide receiver again.

Sugar Bowl: Michigan 23, Virginia Tech 20

Troy Woolfolk’s helmet is thrust in the air under a downpour of confetti (image via BTN)

Wow, that was an exciting game.  And not in a good way . . . except for the fact that Michigan won.  That was Michigan’s ugliest win of the season and it took some lucky calls to go the Wolverines’ way.

The offense disappeared. Yikes. Denard Robinson had 13 carries for 13 yards.  Fitzgerald Toussaint had 13 carries for 30 yards.  Altogether, Michigan ran the ball 30 times for 56 yards, or 1.9 yards per attempt.  Robinson completed 9/21 passes for 117 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 pick.  It was a bad night.  As I was laying out the Virginia Tech position previews over the past couple weeks, people kept commenting on how I was overrating the Hokies.  They are pretty good.  Maybe Michigan fans will understand that now.

Michigan got lucky.  The guys in the winged helmets played hard-nosed football at times last night, but ultimately, they got very  lucky on numerous occasions.  Two Jayron Hosley interceptions were negated, one because the ball hit the ground and one because he yanked on Jeremy Gallon’s jersey and got called for pass interference; he almost had another pick when he jumped a Junior Hemingway hitch route.  Free safety Eddie Whitley let two interceptions go right through his hands, including Hemingway’s 45-yard touchdown catch.  On top of Robinson’s one interception, he almost threw four  more . . . and on only 21 attempts.  Aside from the near-interceptions, Hokies wide receiver Danny Coales caught what might have been the game-winning touchdown pass, only to have it overturned because the nose of the ball hit the ground; it was probably the right call, but it could have very easily remained a touchdown after the replay booth took a look at it.

We’re going to miss Junior Hemingway.  That guy doesn’t get the ball very often, but he makes huge plays. He only had 2 catches on the night, but they went for 63 total yards . . . and 2 touchdowns.  Nobody else even sniffed the endzone.  Roy Roundtree makes some big catches once in awhile, but he hasn’t been nearly the receiver that he was in 2010.  Michigan needs a youngster to step up next year, whether it will be a redshirt sophomore Jerald Robinson or a freshman Jehu Chesson.  Hemingway was the obvious pick for Sugar Bowl MVP, at least on Michigan’s side.

We missed are going to miss David Molk.  I started off the game being extremely frustrated.  Starting center David Molk, who happened to win the Rimington Trophy this season for being the nation’s best player at his position, sat out the beginning of the game after injuring his lower leg during pregame.  Backup Rocko Khoury combined with Robinson to have two bad snaps on Michigan’s first three plays.  Both snaps were catchable but slightly off target, and the second one was a bullet to boot.  I can’t put all the blame on either player, but when you have one starter for the entire season and even up to pregame of the bowl game, it’s somewhat understandable that there will be some snap issues when the backup has to start the bowl game.  Molk returned after the first offensive series and the snap issues disappeared, although he looked gimpy for the entire game.  Michigan’s lack of a running game may have been partly due to Molk’s injury, but I’ll have to watch the game again to see what the real issues were.

That’s what true athletes look like in the secondary.  Michigan lined up in Cover 0 and got torched.  Virginia lined up in Cover 0 and got sacks.  The Wolverines’ cornerbacks and safeties just aren’t fast enough and athletic enough to lock up with decent receivers on a regular basis.  It’s frustrating to watch, but J.T. Floyd, Blake Countess, Troy Woolfolk, Jordan Kovacs, Courtney Avery, and Thomas Gordon aren’t the same caliber of athletes that the Hokies put out there.  Countess is going to be good, I believe, but he’s hit a rough patch here at the end of the season.  Watching Hosley, Whitley, Antoine Exum, and Kyle Fuller fly around the field was a bit of a wake-up call and shows how far Michigan has to go.  Hosley alone had 4 pass breakups.

Everyone’s expectations for Frank Clark just doubled.  The freshman defensive end made a highlight-reel interception when he leaped to knock down a Logan Thomas pass and came down with the pick.  I mentioned in the preview that I thought he would play quite a bit with defensive tackle Will Heininger out, and that came to fruition.  He seemed like a man without a position when he came out of high school, but it looks like he’ll be a good one for the next few years.

Tackling was an issue.  Michigan’s tackling has been so good this year that I’m going to assume this game was a bit of a fluke, but Michigan missed numerous tackles.  And some of the guys who were whiffing are normally very good tacklers, like Jordan Kovacs and Kenny Demens.  It’s understandable to whiff on David Wilson or get run over by the 6’5″, 254 lb. Logan Thomas, but Michigan was missing tackles on Danny Coales, Josh Oglesby, etc.  It was a bad time to have a poor night of tackling, but luckily it didn’t hurt the Wolverines in the win column.

Red zone defense was huge.  For whatever reason, Michigan really buckles down in the red zone.  As the announcers mentioned last night, Michigan was #2 in the Big Ten and #4 in the country at stopping opponents in the red zone.  Virginia Tech had long drive after long drive and ended the game with 377 yards (Michigan had 184), 22 first downs (Michigan had 12), and 76 offensive snaps (Michigan had 52) . . . but it doesn’t matter so much when you have to settle for field goals instead of touchdowns.

Brendan Gibbons to the rescue.  I don’t think anyone – including me – expected Gibbons to be so reliable this year.  But in the Sugar Bowl he went 3/3 on field goals (from 24, 37, and 39 yards out), including the game-winning 37-yarder, and 2/2 on extra points.  And for the entire year, he went 13/17 on field goal attempts and 54/55 on extra points.  Bravo to him.

Highlights: 2011 Michigan Offense