Poll results: Thoughts on Devin Gardner wearing the #98 jersey?

Tag: Polls


19Sep 2013
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Poll results: Thoughts on Devin Gardner wearing the #98 jersey?

A couple weeks ago, I posed a question about Michigan fans’ thoughts on Devin Gardner being awarded the #98 jersey in honor of former Heisman winner Tom Harmon. Here were the results:

Perfect fit. Good job, Michigan: 54%

Good choice, but #98 should have stayed retired: 23%


Good choice, but quarterbacks shouldn’t wear #98: 19%

Stupid, stupid, stupid: 2%

I’m in the camp that thinks #98 should have remained retired. Maybe sometime down the road, you need to start unretiring jersey numbers because they get too scarce. But there’s nothing wrong with a couple retired numbers, especially when one was a) the best player in the country for at least one season and b) a war hero. Keep it in the vault. And besides, it’s not like the #98 is in high demand from football players. That number is most often worn by a defensive tackle in the game of football, not exactly the highest profile position.

However, I do think Gardner was the best choice for the current team. If it had to be unretired, it might as well go to someone like Gardner, who’s Michigan’s most dynamic player these days. If Gardner turns it on down the stretch – and basically eliminates his silly turnovers – he could still get into the Heisman conversation, and the same could happen if he sticks around for 2014.

13Sep 2013
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Poll results: Which 5-star prospect do you want most at Michigan?

This was a poll I took in May, which was prior to Peppers’ commitment to Michigan.

Jabrill Peppers – CB – Paramus (NJ) Catholic: 68%
Peppers committed to Michigan in late May, so Michigan fans got their top pick.


Da’Shawn Hand – DE – Woodbridge (VA) Woodbridge: 31%
Hand took his official visit to Michigan for the Notre Dame game last weekend, and things seem to be continuing an upward trend. Most analysts think he’ll choose Michigan at the announcement on his birthday, which is November 14.


Andrew Brown – DT – Chesapeake (VA) Oscar Smith: 0%
Brown had Michigan in his top ten at one point, but now he’s one of two 5-star prospects committed to the University of Virginia.

Adoree’ Jackson – CB – Junipero (CA) Gardena Serra: 0%
Jackson, a native of Illinois, spoke highly of Michigan early on. However, he wants to run track in college, and Michigan has basically fallen off of his radar as he has his sights set on triple-jumping his way to the Olympics.


John “Juju” Smith – S – Long Beach (CA) Cal Poly: 0%
Smith is sort of a wild card at this point, because he could play multiple positions – cornerback, safety, or wide receiver. Michigan would likely still take him, and he does like the Wolverines . . . but the chances are fading.

7Sep 2013
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Poll results: Who will lead Michigan in rushing for 2013?

It’s not the most timely thing, but I set up a bunch of polls during the summer and never “released” the results. It’s still early enough in the year to be relevant, though, so I’ll be kicking out some posts about predictions for the year. Today’s question: Who will lead Michigan in rushing?

Fitzgerald Toussaint: 52%
Fifth year senior Toussaint was the obvious choice, since he was a two-year starter coming into 2013. Unfortunately, a broken leg last fall put his status into question. He had 57 yards in the opener against Central Michigan.

Derrick Green: 40%
True freshman Green got more votes than I thought he would, but maybe it was warranted after a 58-yard debut against the Chippewas. After being listed near the bottom of the depth chart for week one (perhaps due to a sprained ankle he suffered at the beginning of August practices), he’s the #2 guy going into Notre Dame.

DeVeon Smith: 1%
Smith, another true freshman, had just 12 yards against the Chips. In my opinion, he does not have the speed to be a dynamic back, but injuries have felled Toussaint frequently, so there’s a chance; unfortunately, that chance probably would involve bad things happening to the guys ahead of him.

Drake Johnson: 1%
There’s no chance for redshirt freshman Johnson, who tore his ACL early in the season opener. He’ll finish the year with 2 carries for 9 yards.

Thomas Rawls: 1%
Rawls, a junior, had 4 carries for 12 yards in the opener. He looks quicker than he did last season, but he’s still pretty low on the depth chart after a couple uninspiring years.

Devin Gardner: 0%
Sacks will probably prevent fifth year senior Gardner from having a real shot at leading the team in rushing. He has the speed to turn broken plays into big runs (or passes), but his 52 yards against Central Michigan were largely a function of CMU’s inability to hem him in. More athletic teams probably won’t struggle quite as much, although Gardner will get his share of yardage.

Dennis Norfleet/Other: 0%
Sophomore Norfleet had 38 yards on a reverse last week, but as a slot receiver, he won’t get a ton of opportunities.

Justice Hayes: 0%
Redshirt sophomore Hayes has been near the bottom of the depth chart for his entire career, and that seems not to have changed. He was the last running back to get a carry against Central, and his lone rush netted him 7 yards.

1Sep 2013
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Poll results: How many games will Michigan win in 2013?

This poll was taken prior to kickoff of the game against Central Michigan. I asked readers – who are mostly Michigan fans, I presume – to vote on Michigan’s final win total. The following results are out of 379 total votes:

10 wins: 41%

11 wins: 24%

9 wins: 15%

12 or more wins: 14%

8 wins: 2%

5 or fewer wins: 1%

6 or 7 wins: 0% each

14Jul 2013
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Poll results: Which recruiting site do you prefer overall?

This has been an issue brought up more often recently now that 247 Sports seems to be making a strong push in the recruiting world. I have to admit that I used to be strongly entrenched in Rivals’ camp, at least as far as Michigan-related sites go. Lately, I have been looking to 247 Sports more and more. Underneath the votes I have some pros and cons for each sites:

Rivals: 34%
Rivals has shown to be the best when it comes to recruiting rankings. The guys who go on to NFL careers were generally rated higher by Rivals than ESPN or Scout (247 Sports is too new for this to be relevant). The site is also easily navigable, and it’s simple to sort through positions, recruiting classes, schools, cities, etc. The Wolverine, which is the Michigan-specific site, lost a lot when Josh Helmholdt got promoted to midwest analyst. His replacement, Tim Sullivan, doesn’t have the contacts or the football acumen to fill Helmholdt’s shoes, so content on The Fort (the premium message board) has been lacking and/or slow.

247 Sports: 30%
247 Sports popped onto the scene with some technological advancements that sped past its competitors. If you go to a recruit’s profile, it has a timeline that reports dates of offers, camp visits, campus visits, official visits, commitments, etc. It also links highlights from various other sites (Youtube, Hudl, etc.) and shows a Twitter feed with mentions about that particular player. The two newest features are the 247 Composite ranking (which averages together a recruit’s rankings from the four major sites) and the Crystal Ball, which shows updated predictions on where the prospect will go. The message board can be a little unwieldy, but writer/moderator Steve Lorenz does a good job of keeping up with recruits, even some that are just barely on the fringe of Michigan’s radar.


Scout: 15%
Scout seems to have been most affected by the arrival of 247 Sports. The website is very difficult to navigate and looks like it was designed by amateurs. (By the way, I freely admit that I’m an amateur when it comes to site design, so I’m not handing out criticism I’m unwilling to take – but this is a hobby for me, and it shouldn’t be for them.) The best thing Scout’s Michigan site has going for it is Sam Webb, who seems to be the guy most plugged in to Michigan’s coaching staff and the program. Finding rankings by position, state, etc. can be difficult with Scout, so I mostly avoid the site, except when a) a player commits and I need his Scout ranking or b) they update their top 300.

None of the above: 11%
These people probably either don’t care about recruiting or they just care about the free stuff that filters over to free sites, message boards, etc. To each his own.


ESPN: 8%
As far as recruiting goes, Wolverine Nation’s Tom VanHaaren does a great job of keeping up with recruiting news. He and 247’s Lorenz both seem to be on a fairly even plane. The message board gets updated regularly, and the moderators spend plenty of time online. Chantel Jennings adds some feature-like items and Michael Rothstein handles mostly basketball recruiting stuff and then some features on current and former Michigan players, so it’s pretty much VanHaaren’s show. ESPN is slower to rate players and updates its rankings less often; whether that’s good or bad might be up to its audience to decide. Personally, I think rankings are updated too often by some other sites (especially 247), but ESPN could probably start earlier with their initial rankings. Individual recruiting profiles lack highlights or links to highlights, so the site relies solely on ESPN videos of camps and such, which load slowly and are full of commercials. I would expect a better product for all the money ESPN has to throw around.

Full disclosure: I currently have Rivals and 247 Sports subscriptions. I let my ESPN subscription expire. I have never been a member of Scout.