3Jun 2012
Video: Roundtree talks about SEALs training
online pharmacy buy aciclovir no prescription pharmacy
Okay, the results aren’t going to surprise anyone, but I thought I would toss out the question, anyway. Who’s going to be the offensive captain in 2012? I only selected seniors with starting experience, so guys like Elliott Mealer and Brandon Moore were left off the poll.
QB Denard Robinson: 91%
This was the obvious selection. The fans love Denard, and his teammates seem to love Denard. If he’s not a captain in the fall, I’ll be very surprised.
WR Roy Roundtree: 4%
Roundtree might be good captain material if not for the presence of Denard. He always seems to be in a positive mood, has a smile on his face, and seems to be a hard worker.
OG Patrick Omameh: 2%
Well, at least he got a few votes.
OC Ricky Barnum: 0%
So much for that idea.
 |
| Roy Roundtree and Denard Robinson pose with some Navy SEALs |
There’s nothing to this post except to share this photo, which was posted on the Michigan football team’s Facebook page
.
The famed Phil Steele released his preseason All-Big Ten list on Wednesday, and since Steele is often pretty accurate with his predictions, I’ll give them a look. You can click through to see the whole team, but here are Michigan’s representatives on his four-deep list:
FIRST TEAM
QB: Denard Robinson
WR: Roy Roundtree
OT: Taylor Lewan
SECOND TEAM
RB: Fitzgerald Toussaint
LB: Kenny Demens
CB: J.T. Floyd
S: Jordan Kovacs
THIRD TEAM
OG: Patrick Omameh
DE: Craig Roh
PR: Jeremy Gallon
FOURTH TEAM
WR: Jeremy Gallon
S: Thomas Gordon
I don’t have many qualms with Steele’s selections, but if we’re talking about pure talent, Fitzgerald Toussaint is superior to Rex Burkhead. Burkhead is a fine back, but he’s a four-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust running back. Toussaint has speed, power, and elusiveness. The only thing holding Toussaint back is the fact that he has to share carries with quarterback Denard Robinson in a “pro style” offense that also distributes the ball to tight ends and receivers. For Nebraska, the ball is in Burkhead’s hands or those of quarterback Taylor Martinez. That’s the only reason that the Cornhuskers running back had more rushing yards last season. In total, Burkhead had almost 100 carries more than Toussaint (284 to 187) but only had 316 more yards (1,357 to 1,041). If Michigan had given Toussaint the ball 97 more times and he only averaged 3.26 yards a carry, then he could have equaled Burkhead’s output. On the flip side, if Toussaint had maintained his 5.6 yards per carry for 97 more carries, he would have ended the year with 1,581 yards.
And that’s my case for Fitzgerald Toussaint being awesome.
And I hate to be a Debbie Downer for Michigan fans, but Roy Roundtree hasn’t shown that he can be one of the two best receivers in the conference; he was great as a slot receiver two years ago, but he struggled on the outside last season. I would also probably take Darqueze Dennard and/or Terry Hawthorne over J.T. Floyd for the second team, but statistically, Floyd isn’t a bad choice.
 |
| Thomas Rawls (#38) looked pretty solid in today’s spring game |
QUARTERBACKS
Denard Robinson didn’t play much. We know what we have in Denard, and we’re not going to know whether he can cut down on his interceptions until the fall. Devin Gardner looked very athletic. He seems to be faster and in better shape this year than last, but he struggled throwing the ball. He tried to force some throws, but the receivers really struggled to get separation from the defensive backs. That’s probably why Gardner scrambled repeatedly, and he made the defense look silly at times. Third stringer Russell Bellomy looked like what we’ve been expecting – a game manager type who can scramble a little and make check-down throws, but he seems to lack the requisite arm strength for pushing the ball downfield.
RUNNING BACKS
Fitzgerald Toussaint continues to look like a star on offense. Backup Thomas Rawls looks faster and stronger to me than he did in the fall. He seems like a viable #2 back and he runs angry. You could tell when he got the ball that the defense stepped up its intensity a little bit, because those guys knew they were going to have a fight on their hands to get him down. He did make a nice touchdown run early, but keep in mind that he ran through the tackle of backup free safety Jarrod Wilson, who should still be two or three months away from graduating high school. Vincent Smith continues to be subpar running inside, but he caught the ball well. To me it’s a wasted rep when he’s handed the ball to run up the middle. Justice Hayes is in the same boat. He doesn’t have any mass or strength behind him. If there’s an injury to Toussaint or Rawls in the fall, the coaches are going to have to look at freshman Drake Johnson or maybe moving Hopkins back to tailback.
FULLBACKS
Hopkins and Kerridge looked pretty solid. Michigan should be set at this position, especially with reinforcements coming in the form of Sione Houma.
WIDE RECEIVERS
As I mentioned above, the receivers really struggled to separate from the defensive backs. We didn’t see a whole lot of Roy Roundtree, but he and Jeremy Gallon looked decent. I would not be surprised to see Gallon lead the team in receptions this season. He’s going to be a tough matchup. After that nobody looked particularly impressive. Jerald Robinson had an embarrassing drop, Jeremy Jackson is who he is, etc. Games this season will continue to be won on the ground.
TIGHT ENDS
This continues to be a weak spot. Brandon Moore didn’t get any separation, and both Moore and Ricardo Miller struggled at the point of attack. They were playing against some pretty good defenders – Craig Roh, Jake Ryan, Cam Gordon – but tight end will be a liability this season, in both the running and passing games. I don’t think we’ll see as many two- and three-tight end formations as we did last season.
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN
Taylor Lewan is a very good left tackle. The starter at left guard was Joey Burzynski. All spring we’ve heard that Elliott Mealer was the front-runner for the left guard position, and I think that might still be the case. I have no inside information on this, but I have a feeling that Burzynski’s start was kind of a practical matter. The coaches didn’t want Lewan on the field much; with Michael Schofield as the primary backup at left tackle, they seemed to want Mealer to rotate in at right tackle when Schofield flipped. Burzynski doesn’t have the ability to play tackle. Burzynski looked fair against the pass and somewhat ineffective in the running game. Barnum blocked well, but he had two bad snaps because he failed to get the ball up to Denard before getting out of his stance. That will be something to watch heading into the season. Barnum also needs to speed up his shotgun snaps, which are noticeably slower than David Molk’s. He’s also got to work on calling protections. Omameh looked mostly solid but got blasted by William Campbell. Schofield struggled some in pass protection, but picked it up as the day went on. As far as backups go, the walk-ons played like walk-ons do, outside of Burzynski. Graham Glasgow doesn’t know how to pull. Kristian Mateus looks downright skinny. Erik Gunderson might be able to play in a pinch. Chris Bryant looked solid in the running game. Jack Miller still lacks size. Barnum must stay healthy this season.