Explanation of the Countdown

Tag: Kevin Leach

16Jul 2010
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Explanation of the Countdown

It shouldn’t be a surprise that Brandon Graham was Michigan’s MVP last year.

As I started the 2010 Season Countdown, I assumed (wrongly) that people would remember the series from last year. But after fielding several questions on the topic, I realized that . . . well . . . nobody really read my blog last year. This still isn’t an extremely popular destination, but hey, 1,700+ hits for a full-time teacher and coach isn’t bad.

On to the explanation . . .

The countdown is designed to highlight each player and offer some opinions and analysis on each one. They are listed in order of “Least Important” to “Most Important” for the 2010 season. In other words, Christian Pace is at the bottom of the list because he’s the most likely to redshirt. Therefore, his impact on Michigan’s 2010 performance will be almost nil.

Last year’s 2009 Season Countdown had the following players in the top five:

1. Brandon Graham
2. Tate Forcier
3. Donovan Warren
4. Obi Ezeh
5. Brandon Minor

Now imagine if Brandon Graham had been lost to injury – Michigan would have lost 10.5 sacks and its defensive leader, and perhaps former walk-on Will Heininger would have drawn into the lineup. More likely, Ryan Van Bergen would have moved to defensive end full-time and Renaldo Sagesse, Greg Banks, or Will Campbell would have played 3-tech defensive tackle. Yeah . . . trading in Brandon Graham for Renaldo Sagesse – albeit a serviceable player – scares me, too.

Think about this: if Tate Forcier had been lost to injury and Denard Robinson had made the same number of passing attempts (281), Robinson’s 12% interception rate would have translated to approximately thirty-three (33!) interceptions. Michigan fans would have been clamoring for Nick Sheridan.

Without Warren (and Boubacar Cissoko, who got booted off the team), imagine potentially having J.T. Floyd and Teric Jones as your starting corners. Yikes!

It turns out, Obi Ezeh was injured in 2009, which partly caused him to have his worst season as a starter. In his stead, Michigan played redshirt sophomore, 206 lb. Kevin Leach.

I probably overestimated Brandon Minor’s importance to the team, since there were other running backs to pick up the slack. I still maintain that Minor was Michigan’s best back for the past two seasons, but the drop-off between Minor and Carlos Brown isn’t nearly as significant as, say, Brandon Graham to Will Heininger or from Forcier’s 13 interceptions to Robinson’s estimated 33 picks.

So I’m presenting the 2010 Season Countdown. On average, one player will be revealed each day until the beginning of the season, and the #1 guy is – in my estimation – the most important player for Michigan’s success this coming season.

16Jul 2010
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2010 Countdown: #49 Kevin Leach


Name: Kevin Leach
Height: 6’1″
Weight: 200 lbs.
High school: Grand Rapids Catholic Central in Grand Rapids, MI
Position: Spur/inside linebacker
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #52
Last year: I ranked Leach #60 and said he’d be a special teamer. He started 4 games at linebacker, making 46 tackles, 1 sack, and 1 interception.

As many people probably did, I underestimated Leach’s role on Michigan’s defense last year. He had earned some hype as a redshirt freshman and finally got a chance to show off his skills as a redshirt sophomore. Due to some poor linebacker play from the starters – and a then-undisclosed back injury to Obi Ezeh – Leach beat out guys like J.B. Fitzgerald and Kenny Demens for playing time, despite the fact that Leach was about 206 lbs. and a former walk-on. He finished the season with 46 tackles, which is an impressive number for such an undersized kid.

By this past spring, Leach’s weight had been whittled to 200 lbs. and he was a backup Spur, which is like a strong safety. I question why the coaches didn’t try to bulk him up and keep him at weakside linebacker. He doesn’t have a frame to carry 240 lbs., but he could have probably added enough meat to get up in the 220 lb. range. Leach doesn’t seem to have the speed or athleticism to cover too many guys in open space. He earned his playing time in 2009 by being fundamentally sound, not by being a superior athlete. Regardless of whether he plays Spur, weakside linebacker, or middle linebacker, 2009 was probably the zenith of his football career. He could be a solid backup in 2010, but unless there are significant injuries, I don’t think he’ll be making 46 tackles again.

Prediction for 2010: Backup spur, special teams coverage

2Nov 2009
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Illinois 38, Michigan 13

Carlos Brown taken down on first contact? Inconceivable!
Nope…wait a minute…yeah, that’s conceivable.
This was a day that will go down in history as . . . a loss to Illinois.

What I learned from Saturday was that Rich Rodriguez is not the savior of the Michigan program. He is not a genius who can make lemonade out of . . . I don’t know . . . used bicycle tires. He is a football coach who has huge flaws, especially when his team has huge flaws itself.

Illinois was a 1-win football team before Saturday, and that win didn’t even come against an FBS school. They beat the winningest program in college football history, and it wasn’t even close. Michigan’s inexperienced and untalented defense gave up 500 yards total, 377 of which came on the ground. Illinois had not one 100-yard rusher, but two (running backs Micheal Leshoure and Jason Ford) . . . and that’s not counting the 97 yards rushing from their nearly-benched starting quarterback, Juice Williams.

In last week’s game against Penn State, the offense seemed to blame. They consistently failed to give Michigan’s defense a chance. This week both sides of the ball seem to have regressed from earlier in the year. Michigan continues to turn the ball over on offense (3 fumbles) while failing to get turnovers on defense (uhhh . . . 0 fumbles, 0 interceptions). Prior to Saturday’s game, Michigan was 105th in the country. I’m assuming they’re even lower now, although I refuse to look up the stats.

I have to admit that I turned off the game with a few minutes left in the third quarter. I’m usually very calm when watching games on TV, but when free safety Mike Williams lost contain on Juice Williams for about the tenth time on the zone read option, I screamed “Stop doing that!” at the TV. I figured that meant I had had enough, so I shut it off. Mike Williams goes full speed all the time. Unfortunately, he’s often aimed in the wrong direction, despite racking up 16 tackles. Other leading tacklers this year include walk-on safety Jordan Kovacs and walk-on linebacker Kevin Leach, so when safeties and/or slow, undersized quasi-linebackers are notching the majority of your takedowns, something is wrong.

Speaking of something horribly wrong . . . 38-13. Against a one-win team. A one-win team that led by a score of only 14-13 at halftime.

Offensive game ball goes to…Roy Roundtree? Sure. I guess. I don’t know. The offense only mustered one touchdown and two field goals against a bad defense. Choices are slim.

Defensive game ball goes to…Brandon Graham. Seven tackles, one sack, one blocked punt.

Let’s see less of this guy on offense…Carlos Brown. I can’t believe Rich Rodriguez left Brown in on the goal line. That was the most ridiculous coaching decision from yesterday. Brown is fast, but he hasn’t broken a tackle since that one time in his freshman year when he was playing Madden and hit the truck stick. If Minor is healthy enough to come in on fourth down, he’s healthy enough to come in on first down. And if he’s not? Put Moundros in at fullback and Kevin Grady at tailback. Hell, put John McColgan in at fullback with Grady at tailback. Put Vincent Smith or Michael Shaw at tailback. Brown pussy-footed his way into the hole on 3rd down (maybe 2nd down) and I let out a loud sigh. That whole set of downs was asinine.

Let’s see less of this guy on defense…Michael Williams. I’m sorry for predicting that he would/should start at safety prior to the season. I thought he was better than this. He’s not. He was single-handedly responsible for Juice Williams’s rushing TD and about 50 more of Juice’s yards. My high schoolers can defend the zone read option better than he did. Put Troy Woolfolk back at strong safety, move Kovacs to free safety, and plug J.T. Floyd back in at cornerback. I’d rather have a bad cornerback than a bad safety.

20Sep 2009
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Michigan 45, Eastern Michigan 17

Hyperspeed: Engaged.
Yesterday’s final score represented what most Michigan fans expected. The score before and during halftime . . . not so much. Michigan jumped out to a whopping 3-0 lead before Eastern Michigan tied it at 3-3. They were tied again at 10-10 and went into halftime with Michigan leading, 24-17.
The star of the game was Carlos Brown, who ran only eight times in the first half but gained 163 yards in that span. Brown started the game in place of Brandon Minor, who’s still feeling the effects of a sprained ankle. It wasn’t apparent that Minor was injured, so as the game went along, I thought to myself, “Brandon Minor must be a horrible teammate and completely uncoachable, because he’s the best back on the team and they won’t play him.” In a way, I’m glad he was injured because I like him and I’m hoping those thoughts aren’t true.
Star quarterback Tate Forcier had a bit of a tough day. He started off hot but only completed one of his final six passes, finishing with 68 yards in the air. Eastern Michigan did a good job of hanging right with Michigan’s receivers, who couldn’t get open. That’s a bit scary if you’re a Michigan fan. The Wolverines should have far superior athleticism and talent on the perimeter, but that just didn’t seem to be the case.
However, the story for Michigan was that the Wolverine running backs were much faster and more athletic than Eastern Michigan’s linebackers and safeties. Michigan finished the game with 39 carries for 380 yards, a 9.7 yard average. In other words, Michigan could have run the ball every play and practically never faced a second down. Brown finished with 187 yards while Denard Robinson had 60, Michael Shaw had 53, Mike Cox had 31, and Minor had 21. Michigan finished the weekend ranked #3 in rushing offense.
Defensively, Michigan still has plenty of work to do. Defensive end Brandon Graham and nose tackle Mike Martin can both command double teams, but Michigan’s inside linebackers continue to be unable to fill the running lanes sufficiently. In fairness to the linebacking corps, starting WILL Jonas Mouton missed the game after being suspended for a punch he threw in the Notre Dame game. His backup, former walk-on Kevin Leach, led the team with 10 tackles, but neither he nor starting MIKE Obi Ezeh recorded a tackle for loss. Leach hustles and did a pretty good job of being in the right place, but he’s simply not the athlete Mouton is. Eastern Michigan was consistently able to run the ball in the first half, running 28 times for 128 yards. Defensive coordinator Greg Robinson and his coaches were able to make some halftime adjustments and limit EMU to 51 yards on 20 attempts in the second half, but really, there’s no excuse for the way the Eagles were able to run the ball in the first half, especially when you consider how little success they had in the passing game.
On the subject of defense, Michigan cornerback Boubacar Cissoko was the victim of one of the most egregious pass interference penalties you’ll ever see. Former Michigan cornerback Johnny Sears, who now plays for EMU, was inserted into the game as a wide receiver in the first half. Eastern Michigan quarterback Andy Schmitt tossed a fade route to Sears against Cissoko, who was basically running the route for Sears and had position downfield. As Cissoko was sprinting downfield in front of Sears and reached for the ball, Sears climbed up his back and tackled the sophomore corner. Somehow the referee blamed the collision on Cissoko, who should have just as much of a right to the football as the receiver. It was atrocious and I’m sure the official will be getting a reprimand this week, whether it’s public or private.

Offensive game ball goes to . . . Carlos Brown (1). Brown carried the ball 13 times for 187 yards (14.4 yard average) and 2 TDs. One was a 90-yarder in the second quarter. Brown’s lack of tackle-breaking ability is still frustrating. For evidence, see his 30 yard run in the first quarter where he’s taken down by the wave of Darth Vader’s hand. But his speed is scary.

Defensive game ball goes to . . . Craig Roh (1). Roh made 7 tackles, including 1 tackle for loss, and had the first interception of his career on a pass tipped by Ezeh. He also combined for a sack with defensive end Will Heininger, giving Roh 1.5 career sacks.

Let’s see less of this guy on offense . . . Denard Robinson (2). I’m going to take flak for this because Robinson ran the ball well (3 carries, 60 yards, 2 TDs). But he can’t throw the ball. He’s not ready to be an FBS quarterback right now, and that probably won’t change this year. He threw the ball four times and completed none to his teammates, but two were caught by Eastern Michigan defensive backs. One INT was an underthrown ball to Martavious Odoms, who was double-covered. The other was an underthrown and woefully inaccurate post route to Roy Roundtree. Robinson’s quarterback rating is currently . . . wait, what? . . . seriously? . . . uhhh . . . -6.10. Yes, that’s a negative sign.

Let’s see less of this guy on defense . . . eh, I’m not going to pick anyone this week. The inside linebackers didn’t play great, but the options there are limited. Leach was in there because Mouton punched someone and he led the team in tackles, so that’s pretty good for a walk-on. Ezeh was just okay, but J.B. Fitzgerald and Kenny Demens aren’t any better.
4Aug 2009
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2009 Countdown: #60 Kevin Leach

Name: Kevin Leach
Height: 6’1″
Weight: 206 lbs.
High School: Grand Rapids Catholic Central in Kentwood, MI
Position: Weakside linebacker
Class: RS sophomore
Jersey Number: #52
Last year: 2 assists, 1 fumble recovery
Prediction for 2009: Spot duty on defense, special teams contributor

Rich Rodriguez has stated that he wants to get contributions from walk-ons, and Leach is one of those guys. Depth is thin at linebacker, but Leach was getting mentioned all last year as a guy who could play if needed. He probably won’t play much defense in 2009, but he’s capable of making plays on kick coverages.