Tag: Henry Poggi

Orange Bowl Preview: Michigan Running Backs vs. Florida State Linebackers

Matthew Thomas

MICHIGAN RUNNING BACKS

Starters: Michigan’s starter is 5’11”, 228 lb. senior De’Veon Smith. Smith has twice as many carries as any other player on the team, totaling 165 carries for 810 yards (4.9 YPC) and 10 touchdowns. Smith is a powerful back who breaks tackles and runs hard, but he’s not much of a big-play threat. The high point of his season was a 23-carry, 158-yard, 2-touchdown effort against Indiana in mid-November. However, that was sandwiched by two games in which he averaged 2.3 and 2.9 YPC, against Iowa and Ohio State, respectively. Smith is also a solid pass blocker, though he doesn’t offer much in the way of receiving (13 catches, 59 yards). Redshirt junior fullback Khalid Hill (6’2″, 263 lbs.) leads the team in total touchdowns, including 10 rushing scores on goal-line attempts. He also has 14 catches for 105 yards and 2 TDs.

Key backups: Freshman Chris Evans (565 yards, 7.1 YPC, 3 TDs) got the most carries of the backups by a fairly slim margin. He’s a speedster with big-play ability. Redshirt junior Ty Isaac (417 yards, 5.6 YPC, 5 TDs) plays sporadically and offers a nice combination of size and skill at 6’3″, 228. Sophomore Karan Higdon‘s (422 yards, 6.2 YPC, 6 TDs) star was rising during the first two-thirds of the season, but over the final four games, he had 15 carries for 19 yards. I’ll list redshirt junior Henry Poggi here, even though he gets about 50% of the fullback snaps; he has 1 carry for 4 yards and 6 catches for 45 yards in mostly a blocking role.

Hit the jump for more on Florida State.

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Michigan vs. Michigan State Awards

Eddie McDoom

Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Eddie McDoom. Freshman backup wide receiver McDoom actually led the team in rushing with 53 yards on just 2 carries (33 yards, 20 yards). He’s the fifth leading rusher on the team, behind the four primary running backs (Chris Evans, De’Veon Smith, Ty Isaac, Karan Higdon) and ahead of Jabrill Peppers and Jehu Chesson. I wouldn’t recommend running more jet sweeps, but I do think the offensive staff could afford to spread the field a little more at times and use McDoom in the passing game. He has the speed to threaten teams deep, and he could also be used on bubble screens, crack screens, and such. Michigan has sprung Amara Darboh for some deep throws this year, but the short and intermediate zones can get clogged with all the tight ends and fullbacks. I would like to see some formations with Darboh, Chesson, and McDoom, which might cause some defensive coordinators and defensive backs some consternation.

Hit the jump for more on the game vs. MSU.

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2016 Season Countdown: #41 Henry Poggi

Henry Poggi

Name: Henry Poggi
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 266 lbs.
High school: Baltimore (MD) Gilman
Position: Fullback
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #19
Last year: I ranked Poggi #53 and said he would be a backup defensive end (LINK). He made four starts at fullback and tight end, catching 1 pass for 2 yards.

Poggi was one of several position-switchers last year who was getting a chance on both sides of the ball. The coaching staff toyed with the idea of putting a bunch of linemen and linebackers on either side (Tom Strobel, Brady Pallante, Chase Winovich, Poggi, etc.), and Poggi is the one guy who seems to have stuck on offense. He really struggled with blocking early in the year, and he offered little as a pass receiver. Those facts being known, it was frustrating to see him on the field so much. But he improved by leaps and bounds as a blocker, and that’s probably what prevented him from flipping back to defense.

Going into the 2016 season, he looks to be a frequent contributor once again on offense. Despite being a four-game starter last year, I don’t find his contributions to be so irreplaceable that they beg for a higher spot on the countdown. He is a plus blocker, but other guys can also do that (Devin Asiasi, Bobby Henderson, etc.). He’s not a threat as a pass catcher, and there are several tight end/H-back types who are more dangerous running into the flat on bootlegs (Khalid Hill, Zach Gentry, etc.). Poggi also doesn’t pose a threat as a runner on dives and traps in the same way that Sione Houma and Joe Kerridge did. I think he will play plenty of snaps, but there is a good number of guys who have more value to the team.

Prediction: Part-time starting fullback

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Michigan vs. Indiana Awards

Jake Rudock had a record-setting day on Saturday

Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Joe Kerridge at H-back. Kerridge, a virtual starter on offense at fullback, has been splitting time with Sione Houma. Kerridge, however, is the superior blocker, and that’s pretty much all H-back Henry Poggi does on offense. With Michigan’s defensive line depth depleted, it might be a good idea to get Kerridge some snaps at H-back and let Poggi concentrate on defense. Meanwhile, Houma can handle the fullback duties.

Hit the jump for the rest of the awards.

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Spring Practice Rumblings

Mason Cole might not be blocking many edge rushers this season

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Based on recent developments and leaks, I’ll toss out some of the recent rumblings from practice, which you can feel free to dissect/discuss.

Quarterback: Different sources will say different things. I don’t really have much to add to that, except it seems like Shane Morris is mentioned most often as looking the best.

Running back: Ty Isaac had questions about his toughness coming out of high school, but he has played through some things this spring; however, he has been suffering from hand and hamstring injuries, so he is limited. Derrick Green has also been injured, and Drake Johnson is coming off that ACL tear. The one constant has been De’Veon Smith, who has been earning praise for his vision and attitude. It’s not really a secret that Smith can have a sullen disposition at times.

Fullback: With Sione Houma out due to injury, it’s still Joe Kerridge, Brady Pallante, and Chase Winovich getting reps at this spot.

Hit the jump for the rest of the positions.

Wide receiver: The hype about Drake Harris persists. He’s listed at 6’4″, 174 lbs. but there are reports that say he’s actually 185 now. That’s still not very big, but either way, I think the only thing that will keep him off the field this fall is the nagging injuries. He might not start, but I think he will play. Otherwise, there has not been much buzz about the receivers.

Tight end: Jake Butt has been looking pretty darn good, and Ian Bunting has shown promise as a pass receiving tight end. Henry Poggi has flipped from defensive end to tight end in an attempt to boost the numbers. I have not heard many positive things about A.J. Williams, who is a senior and still struggles to block people. Khalid Hill is still out recovering from his own ACL injury.

Offensive line: The lineup at a recent practice was (left to right) Logan Tuley-Tillman, Erik Magnuson, Mason Cole, Kyle Kalis, and Ben Braden. Cole – who was the starting left tackle last year – projected to the interior offensive line coming out of high school, so while I expected him to be a guard in college, center still fits him, in my opinion. That is if he can handle snapping, the calls, etc. It hurt that fifth year senior Jack Miller called it quits, and it hurt even more when Graham Glasgow prolonged his idiocy streak and disobeyed his probation. I have not heard good things about Patrick Kugler or Blake Bars, who were #3 and #4 at center, respectively, coming into the spring.

Defensive line: It sounds as if Michigan is going to be running more of a 3-4 look this year. I have heard positive things about Chris Wormley at strongside end, and Greg Mattison says the nose tackles have stood out. With Poggi playing offense for now, that makes Michigan pretty thin on the defensive line. They have a lot of tackle types and not much in the way of ends, at least until a couple freshmen arrive this summer.

Linebacker: The four starting linebackers in the 3-4 look have reportedly been Mario Ojemudia (who has an undisclosed injury), Desmond Morgan, Joe Bolden, and James Ross. Royce Jenkins-Stone has been filling in for Ojemudia, and Lawrence Marshall has also made a positive impression. The backups on the inside are Ben Gedeon and Mike McCray. McCray and Allen Gant were both shown in video from yesterday wearing yellow non-contact jerseys, so their status is questionable.

Cornerback: The cornerback jobs are Jourdan Lewis’s and Blake Countess’s to lose. Nobody’s challenging them, and the depth is thin, anyway. Channing Stribling is the next option, but I haven’t heard any buzz about him really pushing for playing time.

Safety: Michigan is running a bunch of guys out there at safety. The buzz about Jabrill Peppers is non-stop; he’s playing free safety and moving down into the slot in nickel situations. Jarrod Wilson is bound to start at strong safety. Dymonte Thomas has also been dealing with an injury, but he seemed to have been doing better and rotating in for nickel packages. Delano Hill also may have turned a corner, and he looks pretty good athletically in the limited film I’ve seen; that has always been the book on him, that he’s a very good athlete who struggled to put it all together.