Tag: Polls

Poll Results: Who will be Michigan’s leading receiver in 2011?

Roy Roundtree

Roy Roundtree: 48%

Poll Results: Michigan’s leading tackler in 2011?

Kenny Demens (#25) wraps up the ballcarrier with help from safeties Ray Vinopal and Jordan Kovacs (#32). Image via MichiganDaily.com

The results:

Kenny Demens, MLB: 64%
Cam Gordon, SLB: 15%
Jordan Kovacs, S: 7%
Jake Ryan, SLB: 6%
Marell Evans, LB: 2%
Carvin Johnson, S: 1%
Other: 1%

Well, Demens wins the poll in a landslide victory.  As the middle linebacker and the most likely starter to retain his position, he’s probably a good choice.  Demens was the third-leading tackler in 2010, accounting for 82 total stops in just 7 starts.  That’s 11.7 tackles per start, which admittedly isn’t a perfect measurement, since he did play a backup role to Obi Ezeh before usurping the MLB job.  Demens was my hoice.

I’m a little surprised that Cam Gordon finished #2 in the voting.  He was the fourth-leading tackler in 2010, with 77 total tackles.  He’s heavier than the 207 lbs. at which he played last season, but it might be a bit of a stretch to expect him to be a force at SAM for the upcoming year.  He’s going to face a stiff challenge from the larger redshirt freshman Jake Ryan, who earned rave reviews in the spring and had a solid spring game.  They might split the snaps there.

Safety Jordan Kovacs is the leading returning tackler (he finished just one tackle behind departed senior linebacker Jonas Mouton, 117 to 116).  Kovacs started 13 games last season, which gave him 8.9 tackles per start.  He has touted sophomore safety Marvin Robinson pushing him for playing time, but I would expect the two-year starter to retain his job, at least for the beginning of the season.  His overall number of tackles will almost certainly drop, though, due to a [hopefully] improved defense that will get off the field a little quicker.

Strongside ‘backer Jake Ryan finishes #4.  He had zero tackles last year, mostly because he watched from the sidelines.  I think he’ll be a force in stopping the run, but expecting a first-year starter and redshirt freshman to lead the team in tackles is a bit of a stretch for me, especially if he and Gordon are neck-and-neck for the job.

Fifth year senior Marell Evans picked up only a few votes, which was slightly surprising to me.  Evans started at MLB this spring when Demens had shoulder surgery, and he’s my bet to be the starting weakside linebacker on September 3, provided Demens is back at full strength.  Evans only has 4 tackles and half a sack in his college career, which consists of one start back in 2008 and a bunch of special teams action.  He transferred to Hampton after the 2008 season and didn’t see the field for the past two years, but he looked solid during spring practices.

Carvin Johnson, the other projected safety, got a few votes, too.  Johnson was the 16th-leading tackler in 2010 while starting only three games due to injury.  He had an impressive spring, though, looking comfortable in the new defense and picking off a couple passes in the spring game.

I would be interested to hear which player(s) were the reason for “Other” votes, since defensive linemen and cornerbacks rarely lead teams in tackles.  The only other possibilities seem to be safety Marvin Robinson or weakside linebacker Mike Jones, both of whom I project as backups.

Poll Results: Michigan’s Fastest Player?

Denard Robinson blazes out of the blocks with former Michigan offensive line coach Greg Frey watching from the background.

Denard Robinson: 87%
Troy Woolfolk: 6%
Josh Furman: 3%
Michael Shaw: 1%
Darryl Stonum: 0%

In a predictable landslide victory, Denard Robinson wins the race.  I wasn’t fully convinced that Robinson was the fastest dude on the team until the Notre Dame game last year.  His acceleration on that 87-yard touchdown run was incredible.

The only player that I thought might give him a run for his money was Troy Woolfolk, an indoor track runner himself.  Woolfolk’s nickname when he was playing free safety back in 2009 was “The Eraser” for the way he made up for everyone else’s mistakes.  I have yet to see him truly get burned in a footrace, so hopefully he can return from his ankle injury without lingering effects.

Furman and Shaw are both speedsters in their own right.  Furman reportedly ran a 4.37 forty yard dash in high school, and Shaw was a potential qualifier for the Junior Olympics in high school if he had decided to stick with track.

Stonum is a little too boozed up to run straight right now, so I guess that’s why he didn’t get any votes.

Poll Results: Starting running back in 2011?

Stephen Hopkins tries to break a tackle against Bowling Green State

Recently I asked the question: Who will be Michigan’s starting running back in 2011?

The results:

29% – Stephen Hopkins
28% – Michael Cox
18% – Michael Shaw
10% – Thomas Rawls
6% – Fitzgerald Toussaint
4% – Justice Hayes
2% – Vincent Smith

Some of this voting seems a bit dubious.  First of all, if you’re a frequent reader, you know that I’m a fan of Michael Cox’s running ability.  You’ve heard reasons why he didn’t play much the past couple seasons (couldn’t learn the plays, fumbled in practice, etc.).  But you’ve also seen me make a case for why his in-game production (8.9 yards a carry, frequent big plays) warrants a longer look.  Cox supposedly had a class conflict with some afternoon practices this spring, which caused him to miss some practice time.  That has reportedly hurt him in the eyes of the coaches, which doesn’t make any damn sense at all.  I guess student-athletes who get punished for missing classes (they have to push a 45-pound weight plate up and down the field 15 times) ought to . . . miss classes and become athlete-students if they want to get on the field.

I can see why Hopkins would be the leading vote-getter because, after all, he was able to attend every single one of the spring practices, and that made the coaches happy.  Yet he averaged 4.1 yards a carry in 2010 (the lowest average on the team) and I didn’t see a single impressive run in spring practices or in the spring game.  Of course, all the Youtube clips and highlights don’t encapsulate everything a kid accomplishes over 15 practices, but one would think that a starting running back would have at least a couple highlight-worthy runs.

Shaw is another guy who seems to have been knocked down a peg or two because he had a broken hand and wore a cast for most of the spring.  He’s perpetually injured but when he plays, he looks good.

The other vote-getter I take issue with is Justice Hayes.  With all the options available, 4% of voters chose Hayes.  I don’t see how a 182 lb. incoming freshman is going to unseat a bunch of bigger, faster, and (in my opinion) better backs.  But especially when one considers that he received double the amount of votes as last year’s starter Vincent Smith, something’s wrong here.  I guess a bunch of Justice’s family members must have been visiting this website over the past week.

Overall, I don’t see how one can justify playing Hopkins over two guys who put up good numbers last year (Cox averaged 9.3 yards a pop; Shaw averaged 5.4 and had 9 touchdowns), but it’s a new coaching staff, a new offensive system, and I guess anything can happen.

Poll Results: Most likely All-America linebacker?

Terry Richardson, Shane Morris, Mario Ojemudia, and James Ross at the Nike Football Training Camp in May (image via MGoBlog)

Last week I put up a poll about Michigan’s four linebacker recruits for 2012.  I asked the question, “Which of Michigan’s four linebacker commits is most likely to be an All-American?”

The results:

44% James Ross
37% Royce Jenkins-Stone
12% Joe Bolden
5% Kaleb Ringer

In case you haven’t been able to tell from my comments and commitment posts, I voted for Ross.  He’s the best athlete of the bunch, and while he might be the smallest (Ringer is listed at the same height but a few pounds heavier), that doesn’t matter a whole lot in college football.  In fact, this voting finished in the exact same order that I would rank these players.

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