Tag: Kelvin Grady

2011 Countdown: #45 Kelvin Grady

Kelvin Grady

Name: Kelvin Grady
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 176 lbs.
High school: East Grand Rapids High School in Grand Rapids, MI
Position: Wide receiver
Class: Redshirt senior
Jersey number: #19
Last year: I ranked Grady #62 and said his production would fall off from 2009.  He caught 17 passes for 211 yards and rushed 4 times for 17 yards, which means his production bumped up from 2009 to 2010.

Grady surprised me a little bit in 2010.  With Roy Roundtree, Martavious Odoms, Jeremy Gallon, and Terrence Robinson playing slot receiver, I assumed Grady’s touches would decrease a little bit.  Instead he jumped from 10 catches for 102 yards to 17 catches for 211.  That’s not bad production for a #3 slot receiver.  After playing basketball for Coach John Beilein for a couple seasons, Grady has turned into a reliable but unspectacular target for Michigan’s quarterbacks.

It’s unclear how much slot receiver types will impact in 2011.  Considering a renewed emphasis on tight ends, I can only assume that overall production from the slot will decrease.  However, Darryl Stonum’s status remains up in the air, and if his suspension leads to a long-term absence, that opens the door for another contributor at the receiver position.  Junior Hemingway, Roundtree, and Odoms have to be the front-runners for playing time, and Grady will be battling junior Je’Ron Stokes, sophomore Jeremy Jackson, and redshirt freshman Jerald Robinson for snaps in the rotation.  Grady should still provide an elusive option from the slot when Michigan goes to three- and four-receiver sets.

Prediction: Backup wide receiver/slot receiver; 12 catches, 150 yards

Preview: Michigan at Ohio State

I hate Ohio State’s uniforms, so here’s a picture of Terrelle Pryor from high school.

Earlier in the year, I had designs on going to Columbus for this game.  I never really had the thought that this game would have an impact on the Big Ten Championship from Michigan’s side, but I thought it might be competitive for the first time in a few years.  I decided not to get tickets even prior to the Wisconsin game, and after watching Michigan get manhandled by the Badgers, I’m glad I didn’t make the purchase.  There will be better years to foray into the heart of Buckeye country.

Rush Offense vs. Ohio State Rush Defense
This will be a battle Michigan must win to have any chance at a victory.  The Wolverines are the #10 rushing offense in the country (257 yards per game), and the Buckeyes are the #3 rush defense (86 yards per game).  Something has to give, and honestly, it will probably be the Ohio State defense.  The best rushing team Ohio State has faced was Wisconsin, who put up 188 yards at 4.37 yards a pop.  Earlier in the year, I railed against Rich Rodriguez’s heavy use of Denard Robinson in the running game to keep him fresh for late in the season.  Well, if ever there was a time to use Denard 30, 35, 40 times a game, this is it.  This is the game that matters, maybe for Rodriguez’s job, maybe for the perception of the program.  This game right here is why I didn’t want Robinson rushing the ball 29 times in a 20-point victory over UConn, but now it’s pedal to the medal.  Michigan’s running backs have largely been ineffective this season, although Vincent Smith has started to improve in the past couple weeks.  Michigan might also get a boost from the return of Fitzgerald Toussaint, a highly talented running back who has missed most of the season due to various injuries.
Advantage: Michigan

Pass Offense vs. Ohio State Pass Defense
The reason the rushing game will be so important is because the passing game scares me.  Michigan has the #30 pass offense and the #16 pass efficiency, but Ohio State is #5 in pass defense and #7 in pass efficiency D.  Denard Robinson still struggles to read defenses and go through his progressions.  And while Ohio State doesn’t make a ton of sacks (only 18 on the year), they have picked off 17 passes; meanwhile, Denard Robinson has thrown 10 picks, with 9 of them coming in Michigan’s last six games.  His accuracy and confidence have waned throughout the year.  Michigan might be missing a deep threat in Darryl Stonum, who injured his ankle returning a kick against Wisconsin.  That would leave the Wolverines down its two starting outside receivers from the beginning of the year, including Martavious Odoms, who has missed most of the year.  There will be open receivers because Ohio State is going to commit to stopping the run, but whether Robinson can hit those receivers downfield is a bit of a crapshoot.
Advantage: Ohio State

Rush Defense vs. Ohio State Rush Offense
Ummm . . . yeah.  So.  Michigan is bad at stopping the run.  This is well known.  While Wisconsin’s offensive line and running backs are more physical than Ohio State’s, Michigan’s defense effectively refused to stop the run against the Badgers, giving up 6.32 yards a carry.  And when you keep the ball on the ground 56 times in one game, it’s not like those yards came on surprise draws or reverses.  Nope, Wisconsin lined it up and simply dominated the line of scrimmage.  Ohio State would be wise to follow Wisconsin’s blueprint.  Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor has thrown 10 interceptions himself; so while Michigan’s pass rush isn’t fearsome and Michigan’s secondary is well below average, why take the chance at putting the ball in the air?
Advantage: Ohio State

Pass Defense vs. Ohio State Pass Defense
The Buckeyes are the #17 rushing offense, so they don’t need to pass the ball a ton; they average 230 passing yards a game, which is a middling 55th in the country.  But as much as Michigan fans like to make fun of the way Pryor throws the football, he ranks 14th in the country in passing efficiency.  It might be ugly, but it’s effective.  Ohio State has two solid receivers in Dane Sanzenbacher and DeVier Posey, and Pryor has the arm strength and touch to deliver deep balls consistently.  On the other hand, Michigan’s secondary is a work in progress.  Lacking its top two cornerbacks from the pre-season (Troy Woolfolk, J.T. Floyd) due to injury, it’s been mix-and-match since then.  But a strange thing seems to have happened since then – the secondary seems to be improving.  James Rogers has three interceptions in the last two games; true freshman Courtney Avery might already be a better cover corner than the guy he replaced (Floyd); and freshman free safety Ray Vinopal lacks the unfortunate quality of being a linebacker.  None of this is to say that Michigan will be great against the pass, but they should perform better than what we thought several weeks ago.
Advantage: Ohio State

Final Predictions

• Based on the lack of success against Wisconsin, Michigan runs a good deal of 4-man fronts
• Denard Robinson throws a pair of interceptions
• Fitzgerald Toussaint gets a couple carries and then gets injured
• Kelvin Grady leads the team in receiving
• Ohio State 45, Michigan 27

Michigan vs. Wisconsin Awards

Maybe Wisconsin is good for something.

Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Kelvin Grady.  I never really expected much from Grady, but he’s turned out to be more of a player this year.  His playing time diminished last year, and it seems to have diminished once again this season.  But it seems like every time Michigan quarterbacks throw in Grady’s direction, he makes a good play.  I don’t think he’s a gamebreaker or in line for the #1 jersey; he just seems clutch.  The kid has 16 catches for 200 yards on the season (12.5 yards per catch) and made a very nice catch on a ball thrown behind him this past Saturday. 

Let’s see less of this guy on offense . . . eh, I dunno.  I thought the guys played pretty well on Saturday.  Denard Robinson failed to make some key plays on Saturday, but I’m not about to call for him to be benched at this point.  He’s pretty good and stuff.

Let’s see more of this guy on defense . . . Thomas Gordon.  What ever happened to Thomas Gordon?  He hasn’t played defense since the Illinois game, and he hasn’t been on the injury report, either.  When I see 5’10” and . . . ahem . . . 197 lb. true freshman free safety Ray Vinopal creeping up to the line to run blitz, it makes me wonder why Prison Abs Gordon is sitting on the sideline.  Gordon isn’t huge, but he’s had a couple years in the strength and conditioning program and he didn’t earn the aforementioned nickname for nothing.

Let’s see less of this guy on defense . . . run-blitzing Ray Vinopal.  Greg Robinson, leave Vinopal 10-15 yards off the ball.  Yeah, he takes good angles and hasn’t really let anyone behind him yet this year.  I’m not sure what those qualities have to do with him stopping 5’11”, 236 lb. Montee Ball running up the middle every play and/or taking on a tight end/fullback/offensive lineman.  That’s just poor defensive scheming.  It’s not like you don’t have other options (Cam Gordon, Thomas Gordon, and Jordan Kovacs) to send on a run blitz, guys who are more adept and more physically ready to make those plays.  But, you know, whatever.  I can’t say I was surprised to see a harebrained defensive scheme fail miserably in Week 11.

MVP of the Wisconsin game . . . Denard Robinson.  It’s odd that Denard passed for 239 yards, rushed for 121 yards, and accounted for all 4 touchdowns (2 passing, 2 rushing) . . . and I still wasn’t that impressed.  I’m sure there are a lot of plays that Robinson wishes he could do over, and it’s a testament to the offense’s design that so many plays were left on the field.  Denard was clearly Michigan’s best player in the game, but losing by 20 points makes it tough to call anyone an “MVP.”

Michigan vs. UMass Awards

Michael Shaw

Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Taylor Lewan.  Lewan entered the game in the second half, filling in at left tackle for Mark Huyge.  Lewan played extremely well and had a few pancake blocks.  The thing I liked most about him coming out of high school was that he blocks through the echo of the whistle, and that was evident on Saturday.  I didn’t see a single missed blocking assignment, unless you count a sweep to the offense’s right and the OLB blitzed around the edge.  Lewan didn’t touch him, but the blitz took the defender out of the play, anyway.  This is Michigan’s left tackle of the future, and the future might not be too distant.

Let’s see less of this guy on offense . . . Vincent Smith.  He’s averaging 3.4 yards per carry, and that’s including his 11 carries for 42 yards (3.8 ypc) against an overmatched UMass defense.  Despite the fact that Michael Shaw had runs of 34 and 50 yards (Smith’s season long is 13), the diminutive Smith got only one less carry (11) than Shaw (12).  I honestly don’t understand Rich Rodriguez’s insistence on getting Smith so many snaps.  He’s not a productive running back.

Let’s see more of this guy on defense . . . an edge pass rusher.  Michigan is not adjusting well to the 3-3-5 defense.  Despite having two potentially solid replacements for Brandon Graham at the 5-tech defensive end spot (Ryan Van Bergen, Craig Roh), Rich Rodriguez and his staff have been employing a 3-3-5 stack most of the time.  The Wolverines have two sacks this season (one from Thomas Gordon, one from Mike Martin) against teams that have thrown the ball a great deal (111 pass attempts in 3 games, an average of 37 per game).  The competition level will only get better once Michigan reaches the Big Ten season, and I’m guessing Big Ten quarterbacks are licking their chops.  Big yards without getting pressured?  Yes, please!

Let’s see less of this guy on defense . . . Jordan Kovacs.  Before you get bent out of shape, read the rest of the entry.  It’s not that Kovacs is doing a bad job, and I don’t want him benched permanently.  But if Marvin Robinson is healthy this week against Bowling Green (he missed the UMass game due to a shoulder injury), then I’d like to see what Robinson can do on defense.  I don’t think Kovacs is the long-term answer at Bandit, although he’s probably the best guy for the position right now.  Kovacs could be part of a decent defense, but if Michigan’s going to be an elite team in the next couple years, I think he needs to be replaced.

MVP of the UMass game . . . Michael Shaw.  One reason that Shaw was able to run for 126 yards on 12 carries and score 3 touchdowns was because of the threat of Denard Robinson.  So while it’s tempting to pick Robinson again, Shaw was the most explosive player on the field Saturday.  He had a 34-yard touchdown run and added a 50-yarder.  Even if you take those two big runs out of the equation, Shaw had 42 yards on 10 carries, which is still a solid average of 4.2 yards per carry.

Unsung Hero of the UMass game . . . Kelvin Grady.  He earned a lot of hype during fall practices, but he hadn’t done much this year until Saturday.  Grady had a nice over-the-shoulder catch of 43 yards and a 15-yard run on an end around.  Grady’s not going to get the ball a ton, but he has the ability to make big plays because of all the other homerun threats around him.

2010 Countdown: #62 Kelvin Grady

Name: Kelvin Grady
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 167 lbs.
High school: East Grand Rapids High School in Grand Rapids, MI
Position: Slot receiver/running back
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #19
Last year: Not ranked.

The brother of former Michigan running back Kevin Grady, the younger Grady came to Michigan to play basketball. But he didn’t quite fit in Coach Beilein’s system and left the basketball team. Grady then decided to walk on to the football program in 2009 after having been a star high school running back. Grady was impressive enough that he earned starter-level playing time early in the season. He caught 10 passes for 102 yards and 1 touchdown, but was surpassed late in the season by Roy Roundtree; Grady started dropping passes and then didn’t even play in the final three games of the year.

The word from insiders is that Grady will be given a shot to earn playing time at either slot receiver or running back in the fall. Without a returning starter at the running back position – and underwhelming performances during the spring game – Grady might offer some depth. I’m not expecting much from him this fall. He’s too slight to play running back in the Big Ten, and there are better options there; and the combination of Roundtree and Martavious Odoms at slot receiver is potentially deadly, not to mention up-and-comers Terrence Robinson and Jeremy Gallon. It’s a good thing for Michigan that someone with Grady’s talent might be its fifth best player at the position; it’s a bad thing for Grady himself.

Prediction for 2010: Scarce duty as backup slot receiver. He won’t match the stat totals from 2009.