Receivers Preview: Michigan vs. South Carolina

Tag: Jeremy Jackson


26Dec 2012
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Receivers Preview: Michigan vs. South Carolina

South Carolina wide receiver Bruce Ellington (image via Independent Mail)

MICHIGAN
Starters: Fifth year senior Roy Roundtree (6’0″, 180 lbs.) has really stepped up his game since Devin Gardner stepped in at quarterback, and now has 28 receptions for 553 yards (19.8 yards/reception) and 3 touchdowns; 15 of those receptions, 378 of those yards, and 2 of those touchdowns have come from Gardner in just four games together.  Redshirt junior Jeremy Gallon (5’8″, 187 lbs.) has also increased his production, with 22 of his 40 receptions and 366 of his 684 yards coming from Gardner.  Fifth year senior Mike Kwiatkowski (6’5″, 262 lbs.) has become the starter at tight end, but he’s more blocker than receiver; he has just 4 catches for 37 yards on the year.
Backups: Junior Drew Dileo (5’10”, 180 lbs.) is the most dangerous of the backup wide receivers with 17 receptions for 309 yards (18.2 yards/reception) and 1 touchdown; he’s sure-handed and reliable, but he’s not very fast.  The same descriptors could be used for junior Jeremy Jackson (6’3″, 204 lbs.), who has just 4 receptions for 31 yards on the year but plays quite a bit.  Redshirt junior walk-on Joe Reynolds (6’1″, 196 lbs.) has usurped some playing time from the aforementioned players and notched 3 receptions for 22 yards against Iowa; he’s also a reliable blocker, although he has incurred a couple penalties.  Freshman tight end Devin Funchess (6’5″, 229 lbs.) was a revelation toward the beginning of the year, but he seems to have been forgotten a little bit down the stretch; he has not caught more than one pass in a game since the September 22 contest against Notre Dame.  His last two receptions have gone for touchdowns, though, and altogether he has 14 receptions for 230 yards (16 yards/reception) and 5 touchdowns on the year.

SOUTH CAROLINA
Starters: After the humongous Alshon Jeffery left for the NFL last season, the Gamecocks have turned to a trio of diminutive wideouts.  Sophomore Bruce Ellington (5’9″, 197 lbs.) leads the team with 38 receptions for 564 yards (14.8 yards/reception) and has notched 6 touchdowns.  Junior Ace Sanders (5’8″, 175 lbs.) is just behind him with 36 receptions, but he leads the team with 7 touchdown receptions; however, he has just 439 yards and isn’t as much of a big play threat.  Redshirt sophomore Nick Jones (5’7″, 184 lbs.) is also a starter, but he has just 9 receptions for 119 yards (13.2 yards/reception) and 0 touchdowns on the year.  Senior tight end Justice Cunningham (6’4″, 264 lbs.) has 22 catches for 287 yards (13.0 yards/reception) and 0 touchdowns on the year.  The receivers are small and slippery, but this isn’t the same kind of passing offense that Steve Spurrier had when he was coaching the Florida Gators.
Backups: Sophomore Damiere Byrd (5’9″, 168 lbs.) has made some big plays with 12 catches for 303 yards (25.4 yards/reception) and 2 touchdowns.  Freshman Shaq Roland (6’1″, 173 lbs.) has 5 catches for 80 yards (16 yards/reception) and 1 touchdown, but he could see his role increase now that key backup D.L. Moore has been suspended for the bowl game.  Freshman tight end Rory Anderson (6’5″, 218 lbs.) is still very thin, but he has been a big-play receiver with 13 catches for 264 yards (20.2 yards/reception) and 5 touchdowns, the South Carolina version of Funchess.

THE TAKEAWAY
Extrapolated over an entire twelve-game season with Gardner at quarterback, Roundtree would have 45 receptions for 1,066 yards and 6 touchdowns, and Gallon would have 66 receptions for 1,098 yards and 3 touchdowns.  That would give Michigan the Big Ten’s top two receivers (Penn State’s Allen Robinson leads the conference with 1,018 yards).  Meanwhile, the Gamecocks receivers are solid and could give Michigan fits now that starting cornerback J.T. Floyd will miss the game.  South Carolina’s starters might have a better game, but the better receiving corps is Michigan’s.
Advantage: Michigan

22Oct 2012
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Michigan vs. Michigan State Awards

Drew Dileo

Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Drew Dileo.  He’s not a big-play threat in the sense that he’ll run a long way after the catch or break open deep, but he’s a very clutch receiver who just finds ways to get open.  And when the ball gets thrown to him, he catches it.  Knock on wood.

Let’s see less of this guy on offense . . . Jeremy Jackson.  Denard Robinson targeted Jackson deep a couple times, and it was uneventful.  Jackson is a slow possession receiver.  If you want to run someone deep, send Gardner, Roundtree, or Gallon.  Heck, even Amara Darboh runs better than Jackson, though the former is just a freshman.  Jackson isn’t even that great of a blocker, so I’m not sure why he’s seeing so much time.

Let’s see more of this guy on defense . . . Raymon Taylor.  I’m not Taylor’s biggest fan, but I’m starting to get concerned about the cornerback depth once again.  With starter Blake Countess out for the season and his replacement Taylor knocked out of the game on Sunday, Michigan was nearing the bottom of the barrel.  The only scholarship corners left are sophomore Delonte Hollowell and freshman Terry Richardson, both of whom are tiny and inexperienced.

Let’s see less of this guy on defense . . . nobody.  The defense is playing very well.

Play of the game . . . in a tight game like this, there were lots of key plays.  One was Thomas Gordon raking the ball out of the tight end’s hands on the goal line.  Another was Robinson’s late throw to Dileo to set up the field goal.  But I have to give this one to Brendan Gibbons for hitting the 38-yard, game-winning field goal.

MVP of the game . . . Drew Dileo.  Yeah, somebody had to throw the passes, but Michigan’s receivers were struggling to get open and struggling to hold onto the ball.  But Dileo didn’t really have those issues.  He was also the holder on all four field goals.

21Oct 2012
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Michigan 12, Michigan State 10

Drew Dileo (image via AnnArbor.com)

Well, that was terrifying.  That was way too much of a heart attack game for my liking.  I mean, I still liked the end result and everything, but that game was frustrating.  Neither team could do anything consistently on offense, and I’m not convinced that it’s because both defenses are great.  Both defenses are very good, but the offenses are just so-so.

That being said, yay!  Good golly, I hate Mark Dantonio.  I hate William Gholston, too, but Dantonio is the biggest tool of a coach in the Big Ten, even more so than Bret Bielema.  It would have felt great to see Dantonio lose, even if Michigan wasn’t the opponent.  It just makes the win that much sweeter that seniors Denard Robinson, Elliott Mealer, Patrick Omameh, Jordan Kovacs, Craig Roh, etc. succeed in their last chance to beat the Spartans.  Congratulations to those guys.

Thank you, Drew Dileo.  Wide receiver Drew Dileo played a great game.  He’s never going to be the fastest player in the field, and he certainly isn’t the biggest.  But he’s the type of do-it-all player and possession receiver that finds all kinds of ways to win a football game.  He came up huge in the Sugar Bowl against Virginia Tech, and he had another standout performance on Saturday with 4 catches for 92 yards . . . and as the holder on all four of Michigan’s scoring plays.

Brendan Gibbons and Matt Wile were great.  I was extremely impressed with the solid kicking from these two guys.  Gibbons was 3/3 kicking, including the 38-yard game-winner.  Wile was 1/1 in his first career chance to kick a field goal, and that one was a long attempt from 48 yards.  Obviously, each of the four kicks was huge.

Jeremy Jackson is slow.  At a couple points in the game, I couldn’t help harking back to the days when wide receiver Jeremy Jackson was recruited.  I said then that he didn’t have the athleticism to be an impact player at Michigan, and I still question why he’s on the field so much.  Denard Robinson targeted him a couple times deep, and while the throws could have been more accurate, Jackson looked like he was running in quicksand.  If the play call is for someone to go deep, then Jackson should be replaced by someone with a little giddyup.

The defense was pretty darn good.  There wasn’t much of a pass rush, and the coverage on the outside was mediocre.  But the Wolverines only allowed 68 yards to Le’Veon Bell (on 26 carries) and 86 total rushing yards to the offense (punter Mike Sadler ran 26 yards on a fake punt, which I won’t pin on the defense).  Desmond Morgan (11 tackles) is playing very well, and Jake Ryan (10 tackles, 1 sack) was all over the place once again, and Bell’s longest run was 8 yards.

Cornerbacks are a concern.  J.T. Floyd made a couple nice plays on short passes and supporting the run, which is an improvement for him; however, he was beaten deep a couple times by receivers who were unable to hook up with MSU quarterback Andrew Maxwell.  Meanwhile, Raymon Taylor left with an elbow injury, leaving the opposite side to slot corner Courtney Avery.  I’m hoping that Taylor can return soon, because the Wolverines are running out of healthy corners.  The only other guys left on the roster are backup slot corner Delonte Hollowell and tiny freshman Terry Richardson.

Michigan has 900 wins.  That’s more wins than any other football program in the history of the whole wide universe.  By comparison, Michigan State has 643 all-time victories.  The Wolverines are now 68-32-5 against the Spartans.

24Jul 2012
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2012 Season Countdown: #37 Jeremy Jackson

Jeremy Jackson

Name: Jeremy Jackson
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 198 lbs.
High school: Ann Arbor (MI) Huron
Position: Wide receiver
Class: Junior
Jersey number: #17
Last year: I ranked Jackson #49 and said he would be a backup WR with 10 catches, 120 yards, and 1 touchdown.  He had 3 receptions for 36 yards (hooray for getting his yards per catch right!).

Looking back on what I said about Jackson (and classmates Ricardo Miller and Jerald Robinson) a couple years ago, it’s somewhat alarmingly accurate so far.  Robinson hasn’t played a down, Miller seems to be lost in the shuffle between tight end and receiver, and Jackson is catching a couple passes here and there.  Brady Hoke used more tight ends and rotated wide receivers less often than Rich Rodriguez, so Jackson’s field time  seemed to diminish a little bit from his freshman to sophomore seasons.  He appears to be a big body who can block a little bit and catch some passes over the middle, but not much of a big-play threat.

Opportunities are there for someone to step up now that Junior Hemingway, Martavious Odoms, and Kelvin Grady have graduated.  While I expect that offensive coordinator Al Borges will rely more on the receiving corps and less on tight ends this season, I doubt we’ll see a huge jump in production from Jackson.  Jeremy Gallon and Roy Roundtree seem poised to start, and Jerald Robinson seems poised to grab a chunk of playing time, too.  Michigan will likely rely heavily on the run game and throw the ball mainly to keep defenses honest, so Jackson’s blocking ability might be his biggest asset in hopes of staying on the field.  We’ll probably see Jackson play some slot receiver so he can get open over the middle.

Prediction: Backup wide receiver; 8 catches, 100 yards, 1 touchdown

18Dec 2011
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Wide Receiver Preview: Michigan vs. Virginia Tech

Jarrett Boykin (#81)

MICHIGAN
Starters:
The leading receiver is fifth year senior Junior Hemingway, who has caught 32 passes for 636 yards (19.9 yards per catch) and 2 touchdowns.  Redshirt junior Roy Roundtree started all 12 games but finished fourth on the team in receptions, with just 18 for 342 yards (19.2 yards per catch) and 2 scores. 
Backups: Redshirt sophomore Jeremy Gallon popped out of nowhere to grab 30 passes for 450 yards (15.0 yards per catch) and 3 touchdowns; many of his receptions came on tunnel screens, although he made a few big catches downfield.  Sophomore Drew Dileo made 9 receptions for 121 yards (13.2 yards per catch) and 2 touchdowns; he’s a dependable receiver but rarely targeted.  Senior Martavious Odoms’ production dwindled once again to 7 receptions for 131 yards (18.7 yards per catch) and 3 touchdowns; he missed some time early in the year recovering from a broken wrist, but has still made some humongous catches for the Wolverines.  Fifth year senior Kelvin Grady and sophomore Jeremy Jackson have combined for 7 catches, 100 yards, and 0 touchdowns.

VIRGINIA TECH
Starters: Senior Jarrett Boykin caught 57 passes for 731 yards (12.8 yards per catch) and 5 touchdowns.  Boykin is 6’2″, 218 lbs. and is Virginia Tech’s career leader in receptions and receiving yards.  Fellow receiver and fifth year senior Danny Coale grabbed 52 receptions for 787 yards (15.2 yards per catch) and 3 scores.  Redshirt junior Marcus Davis started 7 games on the year and finished with 29 receptions for 499 yards (17.2 yards per catch) and 2 touchdowns.
Backups: Junior D.J. Coles was the third leading receiver despite starting only 2 games; he caught 34 passes for 449 yards (13.2 yards per catch) and 3 touchdowns.  Senior Dyrell Roberts, redshirt junior Corey Fuller, and redshirt freshman Willie Byrn combined for 6 receptions, 79 yards, and 0 touchdowns.

THE TAKEAWAY
Boykin and Coale offer a less explosive but more consistent pairing than do Hemingway and Roundtree.  Michigan’s early struggles in the passing game meant that the receivers didn’t get much of a chance to catch the ball, because it was either horribly thrown or Robinson was running the ball.  Hemingway, Roundtree, and even the 5’8″ Jeremy Gallon were thrown plenty of jump balls and came down with their fair share, leading to the former two’s averages of 19+ yards per catch.  All three have shown the ability to run after the catch, but they don’t get many chances to do so.  Meanwhile, Virginia Tech quarterback Logan Thomas has been more consistent this season and has thrown the ball 389 times (compared to Denard Robinson’s 237 attempts).  That’s why Boykin and Coale have caught more passes (109 total) than Michigan’s entire wide receiver group (103).
Advantage: Virginia Tech