Tag: Grant Newsome

2016 Michigan Team Awards

Michigan held its annual Football Bust on Tuesday night, during which team awards are handed out for the season. Here are the awards:

BO SCHEMBECHLER MOST VALUABLE PLAYER

1. LB Jabrill Peppers
2. WR Amara Darboh
3. QB Wilton Speight
4. RB De’Veon Smith
5. CB Jourdan Lewis

HUGH R. RADER MEMORIAL AWARD (BEST OFFENSIVE LINEMAN): RT Erik Magnuson

RICHARD KATCHER AWARD (MOST VALUABLE DEFENSIVE LINEMAN): NT Ryan Glasgow, DT/DE Chris Wormley

ROGER ZATKOFF AWARD (MOST VALUABLE LINEBACKER): MLB Ben Gedeon

MOST IMPROVED PLAYER AWARD

1. QB Wilton Speight
2. WR Amara Darboh
3. LB Mike McCray II
4. CB Channing Stribling
5. DE Chase Winovich

SCOUT TEAM PLAYER OF THE YEAR

1. CB Anthony Dalimonte
2. RB Joe Hewlett
3. FB Joe Beneducci
4. OL Ben Pliska
5. DE/LB Reuben Jones

BOB UFER SPIRIT AWARD (MOST ENTHUSIASM AND LOVE FOR THE GAME): LT Grant Newsome

DR. ARTHUR D. ROBINSON SCHOLARSHIP AWARD (LEADING SENIOR-SCHOLAR):

1. LT Grant Newsome
2. CB Matt Mitchell
3. TE Ian Bunting
4. OL Greg Froelich
5. WR Jack Wangler

I think these awards are pretty spot on, though some are impossible to tell. I thought the Ufer and Robinson awards were supposed to go to seniors and Newsome is only a sophomore, but oh well. Some people might think that Peppers was a more valuable linebacker than Gedeon, but I agree that Gedeon was the most important guy in that position group only. Peppers’s value comes from him playing some linebacker, yes, but also from his various other positions. The other thing about Gedeon is that he rarely came off the field, partly because there was almost literally nobody else capable of playing MIKE except the starting WILL (Mike McCray). The next guy was converted walk-on defensive end Michael Wroblewski. It was important for Gedeon to stay on the field, and he did so while playing pretty well.

Do you have any quibbles?

Michigan 14, Wisconsin 7

5-0 feels good. Michigan fans had to sweat it out on Saturday, even though Wisconsin couldn’t do much of anything on offense. But now that the Wolverines have faced adversity a couple times – being 7-7 in the second half with Wisconsin, being down 28-7 to Colorado – and come out on top, it feels good to know that Michigan won’t crumple in the fourth quarter. Fans were talking on here and elsewhere that Wisconsin was going to get handled pretty easily, but a) good defense keeps you in the game and b) Michigan’s not that great offensively. Regardless, a win over the #8 team in the country – and one who had beaten us up the last two times we played – leaves us looking pretty good to the pollsters.

Hit the jump for much more on the win.

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2016 Season Countdown: #25 Grant Newsome

Grant Newsome (image via MLive)

Name: Grant Newsome
Height: 6’7″
Weight: 318 lbs.
High school: Lawrenceville (NJ) Lawrenceville School
Position: Offensive tackle
Class: Sophomore
Jersey number: #77
Last year: I ranked Newsome #87 and said he would redshirt (LINK). He played in four games and made one start.

Newsome entered last season looking like he would redshirt. He was listed at just 280 lbs., and Michigan had a veteran offensive line with some older backups. Logan Tuley-Tillman was the backup left tackle and probably the sixth-best lineman . . . but then he got into legal trouble. Michigan tried Tom Strobel on the offensive line, too, but eventually he was needed on the defensive line after a couple injuries. Newsome then stepped in to be the sixth lineman who would play in certain packages. He did okay, and clearly he had potential, but he didn’t look ready for prime time just then.

With Mason Cole’s move to center in the off-season, the most natural fit was for Newsome to slide in at left tackle. The coaches burned his redshirt last season because they thought he had a good chance to be a starter this year, and he was the #1 guy this spring. I think Newsome has some ability to drive block, and I think he has the feet to be a blindside protector, but he looked raw in pass protection this spring. He tends to get overextended and plant his feet in pass protection, so it should be interesting seeing how far he has come since we saw him in early spring. On the plus side, he was listed at 280 lbs. last year and now checks in at 318 lbs., so that’s a gain of 38 lbs. in the span of about a year. The guy is huge. I imagine there will be some growing pains early in the season, but judging from what I saw last year, I think Newsome should make progress by week four or week six. The coaching staff does a good job of selecting and developing players, so I’m looking forward to seeing what type of player he will be in the second half of this year, as well as in 2017 and 2018. If he goes down this year, Michigan could turn to freshman Ben Bredeson or flip Erik Magnuson over from the right side. Since Newsome is so inexperienced himself and somewhat raw, I don’t think that would be too devastating.

Prediction: Starting left tackle

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Spring Game Observations

Ty Isaac beat Jabrill Peppers to the edge for a long gain (image via MLive)

QUARTERBACK
After watching Brandon Peters last week and now this week, I have very high hopes for him. He’s not ready yet, but he’s adjusting to the college game quickly and is a good athlete. I think he has the highest upside on the team. I still think it’s a neck-and-neck battle between Speight and O’Korn. I want O’Korn to win the job because I think he has better athletic skills and you can do more things with his legs, but it’s a tough choice. (Yes, I realize Speight scored a TD on a naked bootleg, but the guy he burned was walk-on linebacker Jack Dunaway. Also, I’ve seen Peyton Manning score on a similar play, and Manning is nobody’s idea of a mobile QB.)

RUNNING BACK
I’ve said it for a long time, but Isaac was the best runner on the field. He finished with 10 carries for 78 yards, including two long runs. He was also running behind an offensive line that included mostly backups, freshman left tackle Grant Newsome, and center Mason Cole. He’s not without flaws (for example, he doesn’t have the same angry fervor as De’Veon Smith when trying to break tackles), but Isaac looks improved from last year. Kareem Walker looked decent, though the competition he shined most against were walk-ons. Kingston Davis recovered enough from last week’s undisclosed injury to notch a couple carries, but he didn’t have a lot of room to run; he looks like a truck, but he probably needs to shed a few pounds. Of the fullbacks, I’m not in love with Henry Poggi because he’s just not a guy who’s a threat with the ball in his hands. I really like Khalid Hill there, and I think Bobby Henderson can be a Kerridge-like player (though I’m not sure about his hands yet).

Hit the jump for the rest of the position-by-position rundowns.

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Ford Field Open Practice: Offense, Injuries, Walk-ons

Wilton Speight

Happy Easter Sunday, everybody! Along with a few thousand other fans, I made my way to Ford Field on Saturday. I sat in the stands, ate a hot dog, and watched Captain Khaki run practice. I chose not to live tweet it because, well, it was nice to sit back, relax, and watch a well run practice. Below are my thoughts on some roster news and the various positions:

ROSTER NEWS

• WR/CB Freddy Canteen is not on the roster and his status is unclear.
• WR Jehu Chesson was doing work on the sideline and on the bike, wearing a brace on his knee.
• RB Kingston Davis was in shorts without a helmet and running steps. Lots and lots of steps.
• OG David Dawson was wearing a sling on his left arm and did not participate.
• CB Reon Dawson and WR Jaron Dukes have left the football program and are exploring medical scholarships.
• DT Ryan Glasgow was in shorts and a helmet going through some non-contact drills, but then ran steps with Davis for a big chunk of practice.
• RB Karan Higdon was in street clothes. No injury was apparent.
• DE Shelton Johnson was not visible to me. I looked for him extensively and never saw him. Sam Webb tweeted that he was on the sideline in street clothes.

Hit the jump for a position-by-position breakdown of the offense.

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