Tag: position switches

3 Position Changes to Consider

With spring practice starting next week, I think it’s time to look at what position changes might occur to benefit the team. With a lot of pieces remaining the same on offense and a similar scheme on defense, we generally know what type of systems we’ll see on each side. It’s more of a question about which players might slide around a little bit to fill some holes.

Mike Barrett (RS Sr.): OLB —> ILB
Barrett is a former starting Viper in 2020 under former defensive coordinator Don Brown, but that spot was largely eliminated early in 2021 when Michigan played Daxton Hill at the slot corner position. Barrett didn’t play much early in 2021 until defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald was forced to make some adjustments. He started just one game last year and made 20 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack, and 1 pass breakup on the year. Now with middle linebacker Josh Ross headed to the NFL, Michigan loses a leader in the middle but returns a freshman All-American in Junior Colson at the other inside linebacker spot. While Nikhai Hill-Green also returns, I think Barrett and Colson are the two most productive linebackers; Hill-Green played okay but his youth showed with some missed reads and false steps. Plus if Barrett is going to have a minuscule role, I’m not sure he can be convinced to stick around for a fifth year. I think Barrett is enough of a well rounded athlete that he’s worth keeping around, and his speed and athleticism could be a plus if the defensive linemen and the scheme can keep him clean.

Hit the jump for more.

Four Position Changes for Michigan to Consider in 2019

With spring practice beginning in Ann Arbor, there will be lots of positive talk and fluff around the program. Every position will be better than last year, and every newcomer will be compared to a past standout at his position.

And there are often position changes from season to season, so here are some switches that the players and coaches might consider.

Position Switch: Drake Harris to cornerback

Drake Harris (image via Rivals)

Redshirt junior Drake Harris announced on Twitter that he’s moving from wide receiver to cornerback. Harris, who’s listed at 6’4″ and 188 lbs., caught 2 passes for 11 yards in 2016 and 6 passes for 39 yards in 2015.

Excited to start my next journey on the defensive side of the ball! Wide receiver ➡️ Cornerback ?

— Drake Harris (@drakeharris14) May 15, 2017

Harris was a highly touted recruit in the 2014 class, but he lost his senior high school season and his true freshman season to repeated hamstring injuries. Hamstring and other issues have continued to hamper him over the past couple years, and he missed the majority of this past spring due to injury. Fair or not, I can’t help wondering if the fact that he’s still 188 lbs. at 6’4″ contributes to his problems.

Anyway, despite being a front-runner at one point for playing time at receiver in 2017, that spot seems to be in good shape with the incoming freshmen. Tarik Black and Donovan Peoples-Jones both seem capable of playing immediately, and Michigan returns Maurice Ways, Jr., Eddie McDoom, Kekoa Crawford, and more. Harris had some deep speed, but he couldn’t work out chemistry with his quarterbacks – perhaps because of missing so much time – and 8 catches for 50 yards over two years isn’t very promising.

On the defensive side of things, cornerback is a concern coming out of the spring. Presumed starters Lavert Hill, a sophomore, and David Long, a redshirt freshman, don’t seem like sure things for this fall, and redshirt sophomore Keith Washington might have pushed ahead of one or both after the spring. Freshman Ambry Thomas enrolled early but looks very skinny, and freshman Benjamin St-Juste looks promising but isn’t ready to start yet. Competition might not be the answer, but it won’t hurt.

Meanwhile, Michigan sent three cornerbacks to the NFL in the past few weeks, including draftees Jourdan Lewis and Jeremy Clark, as well as free agent signee Channing Stribling. Clark was listed at 6’4″ while he was at Michigan, though he checked in at 6’3″ at the NFL Combine. Jim Harbaugh also helped get 6’3″ Richard Sherman to the NFL by making him a cornerback at Stanford.

This helps Michigan get longer at corner, provides competition at a position of need, and doesn’t seem to have much of a negative impact on the wide receiver group. Michigan fans have grown accustomed to not counting on Harris to produce much at receiver, so things will remain status quo on that front. If a need does arise on offense, Harris could presumably make another switch to fortify the receiver spot. And if he can’t contribute on defense, either, he may be exploring graduate transfer options in 2018.

5 Position Switches for Michigan to Consider in 2017

Where does Zach Gentry fit best? (image via MLive)

Going into the 2017 season, Michigan has some holes on the roster and some players who seem to be buried on the bench. Those buried players – and some established ones – can sometimes benefit the team at other spots. After all, Michigan took Chase Winovich – who started his career at linebacker before moving to tight end/fullback for a season – and made him a very effective defensive end (35 tackles, 9.5 TFLs, 5 sacks) in 2016.

Which players on this 2017 squad might be best served by finding a new position?

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Random Saturday Thoughts

Zach Gentry, Shane Morris, and Jake Rudock

Jim Harbaugh did a signing at The M Den yesterday, and some news bits came out of it. Because this time of year is slow, I’ll recap some of the bits and share my thoughts:

• Harbaugh said that QB Zach Gentry is now TE Zach Gentry. It was always thought that Gentry could play tight end, but he was a highly ranked quarterback, too. I think a move from quarterback to tight end for Gentry – who was getting decent practice reviews – indicates that Harbaugh is pretty comfortable with John O’Korn, Brandon Peters, and others in the quarterback pipeline. If the prevailing thought holds, it has O’Korn starting in 2016 and 2017, and then perhaps Peters taking over as a redshirt sophomore in 2018. If Gentry were to stay at QB and succeed O’Korn, that would possibly have Peters waiting until his fifth year senior year to take the job. Things rarely work that cleanly, and not many highly touted guys want to wait five years to play. It’s a good idea to spread out the talent and get your best athletes on the field.
• TE Khalid Hill is getting a chance to be FB Khalid Hill. The redshirt junior is not a great fit for fullback at 6’2″, 270 lbs. and with little experience carrying the ball, but he does provide a body at the fullback position that is severely depleted with seniors Joe Kerridge and Sione Houma graduating. I am more fond of the idea of playing tailback De’Veon Smith in the role that Houma held (part-time FB, part-time TB), but Hill is a talented pass-catcher and this would give Michigan a chance to get another starter-quality player on the field. There is a logjam at the tight end position, so it’s not a bad idea to spread those players out.
• LT Mason Cole is going to be working at center this spring. Cole played some center last spring, but snapping the ball was an issue. He will presumably be a little further along this spring. Someone needs to step up at center, and it seems that the coaching staff isn’t pinning their hopes on redshirt junior Patrick Kugler. As of right now, the line looks like it will probably be: LT Grant Newsome, LG Ben Braden, C Mason Cole, RG Kyle Kalis, RT Erik Magnuson. However, there are rumors that a further shakeup could take place before the season.
• Michigan will hold its spring game on the evening of April 1, 2016, which is a Friday. It will begin at 6:00 p.m. There is some grumbling that out-of-towners will not be able to make it to town, that it will be cold as the sun goes down, etc. Compared to other schools’ spring games, Michigan’s has not been anything special for a while. Maybe there isn’t even a need to make a glorified spring practice “special.” Regardless, it’s not the worst idea in the world to try something different. If out-of-towners are so dedicated that they’re grumbling about the time, then they probably won’t mind taking a day/half-day off of work to see the “game.”
• The first spring practice will be held on February 29th.